• Blake Champagne made the Presidents list with a 4.0 GPA for the Fall of 2021 at the University of Louisiana Lafayette. Blake is a resident of Belle Chasse and a 2019 Belle Chasse High School graduate. He is the President of the UL Interfraternity Council (IFC), Vice-President of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity and member of the Army ROTC program.

Three redistricting meetings have been completed and a few folks have a better understanding of the process and the task ahead for the parish council and school board. I say a few folks, because the meetings were sparsely attended. I skipped them myself but I did watch the recorded versions of all three.

On Jan. 12, the Louisiana First Responders Christian Faith Association inducted Fire Chief Roy A. Robichaux, Jr. of the Belle Chasse Volunteer Fire Department into the 2021 Fire Chiefs Hall of Fame at the Heymann Performing Arts Center in Lafayette, LA. Chief Robichaux has dedicated 44 years as Chief and was recognized for his leadership activities in the state and community. In attendance was his son Jeff Robichaux and his wife Shara, wife Denise Robichaux, Assistant Chief Melvin Kiff and his wife Joyce and Deputy Chief Marty Martinez.

The Plaquemines Parish Port Harbor & Terminal District (PPHTD) has officially taken over ferry operations from the Plaquemines Parish Government (PPG), and with the ferries going through an extended period of atrophy— both the ferries’ infrastructure and their ability to provide services—due to the financial crisis afflicting PPG, the port is looking at a long and expensive journey to improve the ferries.

The Plaquemines Parish Government has officially sold 649.11 acres of “the forested wetland property known as Woodlands Preserve” to the Woodlands Conservancy so the property is “permanently protected” from development and preserved as a green space for foreseeable—perhaps permanent—future.

A Coastal Protection & Restoration Authority press release—published on January 19—outlining $2.6 Billion in funding for United State Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) projects in Louisiana featured a massive apportionment of money for Plaquemines Parish levees.

Just what is COVID-19 and how is it impacting our lives? When it first arrived, it created significant fear because it was new and had a high mortality rate. Nations around the world shut down, workers were ordered to work from home, and schools closed in the hopes of limiting exposure to this disease.

Perception and reality often intertwine. At Louisiana’s flagship university as well as other major universities across the country, any talk of the so-called “revered tradition of amateurism” has gone by the wayside. College athletes are now able to shop their athletic abilities to the highest bidder and jump from school to school at will.