News

Readers needed for Bible marathon

The Jubilee of the Word Marathon – 100 hours for 100 years — is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. April 4 in the Square of St. Martinville. The marathon will conclude on Divine Mercy Sunday at 4:30 p.m. The Bible will be read publicly cover to cover without pause during the marathon.

Crawfish season off to slow start

A south Louisiana winter that has been colder than normal so far has caused a sluggish start to the 2018 crawfish season. But industry officials are optimistic that crawfish will be a lot more plentiful by March or April.

Mardi Gras captain urges runners to wear costumes

The Eunice Mardi Gras Run is one of the biggest events for the Cajun Prairie Capital during the year and the Feb. 13 event promises to be a return of the revelry that’s been occurring for more than a 100 years.

Veteran musician’s career told at display

Eston Bellow, 86, of Eunice, will have a display of memory books of his music career. The display will be on hand for the public viewing at the Cajun Music Hall of Fame & Museum, located at 240 S. CC Duson Ave. in Eunice, through the weekend after Mardi Gras.

Task force aims to streamline felony classes

Members of a task force convened to streamline Louisiana’s criminal code voted Tuesday to recommend that the Legislature introduce a felony class system that would place more than 660 felonies into eight categories and provide more consistent sentencing.

Louisiana state finances ranked 7th most transparent

While Louisiana has a website ranked among the nation’s best in providing access to spending data, Republican lawmakers said on Tuesday that they would like to improve it as part of negotiations to solve the state’s impending budget shortfall.

UL Lafayette biology major to reign over New Orleans’ largest Mardi Gras parade

University of Louisiana at Lafayette student Hannah Autin wanted yellow flowers, and yellow flowers she got. Wishes, after all, do come true for the Queen of Endymion. Presiding over New Orleans’ largest Mardi Gras parade brings duties beyond riding alone in her own float.

Trump the unifier? Don’t buy it

President Donald Trump, who’s never been shy about hammering his rivals and skewering his opponents, used his first State of the Union speech Tuesday night to call for unity as the nation attacks some of its biggest challenges.

‘Dreamers’ and demons

Xinran Ji, 24, had big dreams. But demons demolished them. The bright hopes of young Xinran Ji, a University of Southern California engineering student from Inner Mongolia, died in 2014 at the hands of a then-19-year-old “Dreamer” and his thug pals.

Of an old tree and drunken robins

Last week we took down the big chinaball tree that has shaded our back courtyard for many, many years. It was way past its prime and diseased, was dropping branches regularly, and had spread thick but brittle limbs threateningly over the roof of our house and a neighbor’s garage.