Newsmakers of the year

WRDA signed into law

For seven years, Louisiana had sought to get the Water Resources Development Act approved by Congress.

In the wake of the 2005 hurricane season, lawmakers nationwide finally gained a better understanding of this region’s need for coastal protection, a vital component of WRDA. Included in the multi-billion dollar legislation is the long-awaited Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane protection system, a 72-mile series of levees, locks, floodwalls and pump stations designed to protect Terrebonne and portions of Lafourche Parish from the surge of a category three hurricane.

Despite approval from the House and Senate, President George W. Bush vetoed the bill in November.

However, the veto would be short-lived. In a 48-hour span, Congress united in overriding President Bush.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 361-54, which was followed by the Senate’s 79-14 vote to override.

With WRDA’s authorization, state and parish officials can now begin the process of seeking federal funding to build the much-needed levees.

Elections bring surprising results

In Louisiana, politics is a contact sport. And in November 2007, the election season didn’t disappoint.

Terrebonne Parish businessman Michel Claudet is in; longtime Sheriff Jerry Larpenter is out. In Terrebonne, Lafourche and St. Mary parishes, some new faces and some returning faces were seated.

By far, the most attention-getting debacle came in the final days of the campaign when Democratic incumbent Carla Dartez, state representative in the House’s 51st District, reportedly signed off on a telephone call with the mother of the Terrebonne Parish NAACP president with the words, “Talk to you later, Buckwheat.”

Jerome Boykin, the president of the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was joined by a number of black religious leaders in opposing Dartez and demanding an apology.

The story gained national attention when MSNBC interviewed “Good Times” actor Jimmie “J.J.” Walker, who weighed in on Dartez’s chances for re-election.

The comment ultimately helped to open the door for Dartez’s opponent, Joe Harrison, to claim the seat.

Lafourche audit raises questions of wrong-doing

In October and November, Lafourche Parish officials had more than the election on their mind. The parish was the subject of a compliance audit by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor.

State auditor Steve Theriot cited poor spending and accounting practices by the parish’s government. His report discovered discrepancies, mostly in record-keeping procedures the parish used to document charges and expenses related to credit card charges, cellular telephone minutes and travel expenses.

A $200 speaker’s fee paid by a Washington, D.C., think tank to Parish President Charlotte Randolph – and later repaid by Randolph to the parish – would fuel bad feelings between the parish chief and Council Chairman Tommy Lasseigne.

Randolph implemented many of the changes suggested in the audit to ensure accountability, but not before the issue reached the parish council. By late December, the council had voted to seek ethics opinions from the state Attorney General’s office, state Ethics Board, state police and the parish District Attorney’s office. The issue will likely carry into the coming year.

Record low jobless rate

Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes continued to tie with Lafayette Parish, showing the state’s lowest unemployment rates in 2007.

With the jobless rate hovering around 2.7 percent throughout the year, the Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux metro area led the state. And while jobs were plentiful, companies continued to struggle to find qualified workers to fill shifts. A by-product of the continued growth, the workforce demand has caused a bidding war between employers and would-be hires.

Across the board, workers continue to be needed. In response to the demand, regional community colleges began offering free courses in welding, construction and high-demand positions.

LA 1 groundbreaking

Described by Congressman Charlie Melancon as a “critical lifeline to Louisiana’s working coast,” Louisiana Highway 1 serves as the only hurricane evacuation route for thousands of coastal residents and offshore workers. It is also the main artery to Port Fourchon.

In spring 2007, ground was broken for the six-mile segment of the elevated highway project that will eventually connect Port Fourchon to the town of Golden Meadow. Work is underway to extend the road from the completed Leeville overpass south to the intersection of Louisiana Highway 3090, the road leading to the port.

The new two-lane road will be approximately 40 feet wide and rise some 23 feet above sea level.

According to state officials, over 1,200 trucks a day use the highway to provide the port and offshore support companies based there the products needed to sustain the oil and gas industry.

Work on the overpass at Leeville crossing Bayou Lafourche is expected to be complete by 2009. The six-mile elevated segment from Leeville south to the port should be done by 2011.

Mathews mother murders her two children

Lafourche Parish residents were shocked to wake to the news that 40-year-old Mathews mother Amy Hebert had allegedly stabbed her two children to death in August.

“This is an incomprehensible tragedy that is unprecedented for our area,” Sheriff Craig Webre said at a news conference later that day.

When Hebert didn’t show up for work, a co-worker dropped by her St. Anthony Street home. Hebert’s car was parked in the carport and the doors were locked from inside, but no one answered the door. A family member who lived nearby and an off-duty officer entered the home to find Hebert, conscious, under the covers in her bed with her two children, Braxton, 7, and Camille, 9. The children and the family dog had been fatally stabbed.

Authorities recovered several knives from the bedroom.

Hebert sustained allegedly self-inflicted knife wounds to her wrists, neck, chest and abdomen. She was treated at Ochsner St. Anne Hospital and, upon release, was transported to the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women in St. Gabriel.

She pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to two first-degree murder charges in October 2007. Hebert will return to court later this month.

Pull up your pants – it’s the law!

Lafourche Parish became the pioneer of the nation’s first “sagging pants” law.

The council adopted an ordinance in July 2007 making it unlawful for “anyone in public to be found in a state of nudity, or partial nudity, or in dress not becoming of his or her sex, or any indecent exposure of his or her person or undergarments, or be guilty of any indecent or lewd behaviors.”

Other parishes and counties would soon follow suit, also making national headlines.

The fine for exposing one’s underclothing is $50 for a first offense, $100 for a second offense or a $100 fine and 16 hours of community service for a three-time offender.

The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office has said it will begin enforcing the ordinance this year.

K Partners named for civic center hotel

San Antonio-based K Partners Hospitality Group was selected in December to build either a Hilton Garden Inn or a Courtyard by Marriott hotel next to the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center.

The site for the hotel, a 3.65-acre plot of land between the civic center and the Terrebonne Parish Main Library, became the focus of dispute when it appeared a children’s wetlands museum project would be squeezed off the site. The project continues to raise monies to build a museum near the civic center.

The project also came under fire when local real estate agent S.P. LaRussa’s bid for the hotel project was rejected. LaRussa represented a south Louisiana land developer who vowed to spend $12 million on the project. K Partners, in the meantime, said it planned to spend approximately $18 million on the construction of the hotel.

The Terrebonne Economic Development Authority recommended the council approve the K Partners deal.

Priest’s murder solved 15 years later

Fifteen years after he was bludgeoned to death inside the church rectory, the murder of a St. John Episcopal Church priest was finally solved.

The Rev. Hunter Hudson Horgan III was assaulted Aug. 12, 1992, with a blunt metal object consistent with a hammer and a sharp object consistent with a knife. And his Toyota Camry was missing. But that was all the evidence authorities had to go on.

The vehicle was recovered a half day later, but it would be 15 years before the Thibodaux Police and Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office would solve the murder case.

In August, Derrick Odomes, 28, who was already being held on unrelated charges at the Ashland Detention Center in Houma, was charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery.

Authorities said Odomes, who was 14 at the time of the murder, allegedly went to the church to rob the priest. “He’s a very belligerent individual – a man who lacks conscience,” Sheriff Craig Webre said of Odomes at a press conference shortly after his arrest.

Fletcher seeks 2-year accreditation

Fletcher Technical Community College announced in the summer of 2007 that it was a candidate for membership in the main academic accrediting organization for higher education in the South, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Fletcher is expected to become a member of SACS this year, according to Chancellor Travis Lavigne.

Most post-secondary schools in the south offering general academic courses have SACS membership.

It’s another major milestone for the college.

In 2003, Fletcher was one of 42 technical colleges in Louisiana. That year, it became a community college after the state Board of Regents allowed the school to begin offering academic coursework.

Since gaining its initial candidacy status in SACS, Fletcher can begin offering the two-year Associate of General Studies degree. The SACS membership will also allow Fletcher students to transfer academic credits to other schools.

When Fletcher is accredited by SACs, it will be a member of the association and the Council on Occupational Education.