Other than hurricanes, floods, ice storms and other natural disasters there are few top stories that nearly shut Eunice down.
But the Eunice High School Bobcat Class 3-A state championship victory nearly shut the city down on the Friday of the game.
The Bobcats defeated Sterlington 59-47 on Dec. 7 in the Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans.
The teams traded touchdown kickoff returns to begin the game, which started about one and half hour late.
Eunice High coach Paul Trosclair previously led the Bobcats to title games in 1997 and 1998. This year’s title win was the first for the Bobcats since 1982.
The opening of two splash pads in July may not be as flashy as a state title win, but the spray parks will likely be family crowd-pleaser for years. Once opened, the splash pads quickly filled with children cooling off in the July heat as moms and dads watched from the sidelines. The water parks, which cost about $314,000, were paid for through funds generated by a 30-year Cleco franchise contract.
For the youngsters in Eunice and in the area, the splash pads probably rank as the top event during the year. Located at Fairground Park and near Central Middle School, the splash pads are likely to be a perennial favorite watering hole for the younger crowd.
On the business front, Riceland Crawfish’s announcement of a $3 million expansion at its Sub-Zero plant east of the city on U.S. 190 was big news locally and noted across the state. Dexter Guillory, owner, said the facility would be used to process its bagged boiled crawfish and alligator.
Riceland Crawfish has cultivated what used to be local favorites such as boiled crawfish, packaged crawfish tails and alligator into products that reach tables across the nation.
On the city’s political scene, Mayor Scott Fontenot and Police Chief Randy Fontenot won re-election in first round voting in November. The mayor’s race was decided with Scott Fontenot receiving 82 percent of the vote. The police chief’s election was clinched with Randy Fontenot winning 78 percent of the vote.
Ernest “Ernie” Blanchard won the Ward 3 alderman’s job outright as did Connie Thibodeaux in Ward 4. Marion “Nootsie” Sattler was unopposed in the alderman at-large election.
In the December runoff, Chad Andrepont won the Ward 1 position and Germaine Simpson won the Ward 2 job.
Parishwide, the defeat of two tax propositions sent St. Landry Parish School Board members back to the drawing board about the school system’s future. About 75 percent of voters rejected taxes for an employee pay raise and a building improvement proposal.
In a follow up meeting to the March vote, School Board members voted 7-5 to table school consolidations and closings, which were part of the plan.
Eunice Board members Albert Hayes Jr. and Mary Ellen Donatto were in the minority in urging the Board to continue on with cost-saving portions of the plan that could be executed without additional tax revenue.
Hayes, in the April meeting, urged the Board to move forward and Donatto said the Board should look beyond its noses. “We need to face reality and quit nitpicking and try to look at this city (Opelousas) as a whole,” Donatto said.
In other school news, Eunice Elementary was hit by a fire that damaged 11 classrooms days after opening for the school year in August. About 110 students were displaced by the fire. Third-graders were dispersed throughout the remaining areas of the school while fourth-graders were sent to Highland Elementary. The students were eventually returned to temporary buildings on the campus.
The fire-damaged building is expected to be repaired by the 2018-2019 school year.
Also in education news, in the state’s annual scoring, Eunice schools were among the best in the a parish and state. East Elementary earned an A along with the Magnet Academy of Cultural Arts in Opelousas. Eunice High earned a B, but missed being an A school by 0.3 points. East Elementary, Eunice High and the magnet school were recognized as Equity Honorees. East Elementary and Eunice Elementary were among the parish’s Top Gains schools. The school scores were announced in November.
In March, it was announced that Shreveport-based Allegiance Health Management had reached an agreement to acquire Acadian Medical Center in Eunice and Mercy Regional Medical Center in Ville Platte. Allegiance has hospitals in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Arkansas.
The Eunice hospital had been part of LifePoint Health, which is based in Tennessee.
In January, Eunice Mayor Scott Fontenot announced the city had received a $1.6 million grant to convert its street and recreation lighting to LEDs. Nothing occurred though until near the end of the year. In August, Fontenot said implementing the energy efficiency program through the state Public Service Commission was delayed as the city and Cleco worked out details. When done Fontenot expects the lighting to be brighter and save the city about $200,000 a year in energy costs.
Perhaps long overdue, the city’s fire department received two new fire trucks in May. The city will pay nearly $800,000 for the trucks that replaced 1979 and 1984 model trucks. Fire Chief Mike Arnold expected the fire department’s maintenance costs to be reduced with the new trucks. The city may not be done with acquiring fire trucks. After the new trucks, the next newest vehicles date to 2005.
A splash of colorful fun closed out the year when a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for a can’t-miss-it downtown mural by Eunice artist Hannah Gumbo. The abstract art at Walnut and 2nd streets was funded by a $5,000 grant from the Acadiana Center for Arts ArtsSpark program and Lafayette Economic Development Authority.
