December 2019

Slave cemetery poses questions for Florida country club

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The rumors swirled for decades: A dark history long lay buried under the grassy knolls and manicured lawns of a country club in Florida’s capital city.

Over the years, neat rows of rectangular depressions along the 7th fairway deepened in the grass, outlining what would be confirmed this month as sunken graves of the slaves who lived and died on a plantation that once sprawled with cotton near the Florida Capitol.

No critical injuries reported in crash

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A two-vehicle crash on La. 26 just north of Jennings saw a few individuals transported to an area hospital Monday evening, but no critical injuries were reported.

Elton adopts budget, shows healthy finances

ELTON - The Elton Town Council adopted their budget for the 2020 fiscal year.

The town council held a special meeting Friday, Dec. 20 at the council meeting chambers at Elton City Hall. No public comments were made on the matter.

Certified Public Accountant Casey Ardoin said the town is in good financial shape.

“There is nothing out of the ordinary and the budget is pretty much in line with last year,” he said.

According the budget, total revenues are projected to be up by 2.5 percent, coming in at $1,150,115.

City looks ahead to 2020 projects

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(Editor’s note: This is the second of two in a series of stories highlighting the previous calendar year for the City of Jennings.)

Jennings Mayor Henry Guinn recently sat down with the Jennings Daily News to reflect on highlights from 2019, as well as talk about projects on the horizon for 2020.

Financial Health

The 2019-2020 fiscal year includes $2.8 million in capital outlay projects and significantly more in cash reserves. In 2017, the city held around $6.1 million in cash versus $10.4 million in 2019.

LSU’s Stingley to be tested by OU passing attack

(AP) - Derek Stingley Jr. sat flanked by the Heisman Trophy favorite and LSU coach Ed Orgeron, as usual the youngster in the group.

Quarterback Joe Burrow even felt compelled to offer a reminder about the Tigers cornerback after both had starring roles in the Southeastern Conference championship game.

“In case anybody forgets, Derek is a freshman. In case anybody forgets that,” Burrow said. “I forget it a lot.”

It’s easy to forget.

Orgeron named Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year

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BATON ROUGE – Ed Orgeron picked up another national award on Friday as the LSU head coach has been named the recipient of the 2019 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award, the Football Writers Association of America along with the Sugar Bowl announced.

Selected by the Football Writers Association of America, Orgeron will be honored on the evening of Saturday, Jan. 11, during a reception in New Orleans, two days before the CFP National Championship at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Looking down on a decade: Satellite images tell the stories

(AP) - There has been no shortage of big news over the last decade. Spanning the globe, some stories were expected while others caught the world off guard. Some were so massive they were visible from space, captured through state-ofthe-art imaging satellites belonging to technology company and imagery provider Maxar Technologies. Together, The Associated Press and Maxar assembled a selection of the most striking images.

HURRICANES

2017 was the year America’s hurricane luck ran out.

It’s raining blessings! Crop duster drops holy water on town

ABBEVILLE(AP) — A Roman Catholic church in Louisiana decided to disperse some blessings to a local town via crop dusters.

According to a Facebook post from the Diocese of Lafayette on Sunday, members of St. Anne Church in Cow Island called upon crop duster pilots to help spread their blessing to the community.

Researchers bringing rice ancestors back for new variety development

CROWLEY — The LSU AgCenter H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station is collaborating with a Cornell University-based project aimed at studying the ancestors of what became the modern rice plant.

Researchers hope the work will uncover useful traits from the wild lines of rice that have been lost through domestication.

Three wild strains of rice from China, Laos and Indonesia were used in the project. “They represent distant cousins of the ancestors that gave rise to modern rice,” said Cornell University geneticist Susan McCouch.

Mark Dwain LeGros

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Memorial aervices for Mark Dwain LeGros, 59, of Jennings will be held at Matthews and Son Funeral Home in Jennings Saturday, Dec. 28, 2019, at 11 a.m., with Father Charles McMillin officiating.

A gathering of family and friends will be held at the funeral home Saturday, Dec. 28, 2018, from 9 a.m. until the time of his service at 11 a.m.

Mark was born in Jennings on March 13, 1960, to Placide LeGros and Gertrude Stroderd LeGros. He was called from this earthly life by his Heavenly Father on Dec. 22, 2019.