February 2020

Welsh Rotary Club welcomes guests

Article Image Alt Text

Teressa Stallion, special education teacher at Welsh High School and Regan Troutman, fourth grade teacher at Welsh Elementary School (shown at right) briefed Welsh Rotary Club members on the Interact and Early Act club activities at both schools. The programs are sponsored by the Rotary Club. Both clubs are doing community service projects and working in their schools. The Interact Club is gearing up for the district convention in March. Above, fifth graders Draven Quiles-Caswell, Zaelon Thomas and Alan West led the club in the pledge.

CADA Coordinator Visits Jennings Group

Article Image Alt Text

Cynthia Petry (left, pictured with Rotary Club President Walter Parker), children’s advocate/outreach coordinator with Jeff Davis CADA, was the Jennings Rotary Club guest speaker Feb. 18. Petry spoke on teen relationship violence and recognizing patterns of behavior that are potentially dangerous. 

Virus cases balloon in South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Schools were shuttered, churches told worshipers to stay away and some mass gatherings were banned as cases of a new virus swelled Friday in South Korea, the newest front in a widening global outbreak.

The country said two people have died and 204 have been infected with the virus, quadruple the number of cases it had two days earlier, as a crisis centered in China has begun strongly reverberating elsewhere.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

Calendar Guidelines

Wave to the Crowd

Article Image Alt Text

Even the littlest revelers in town hit the streets to show their Mardi Gras spirit. Save the Children Head Start students participated in a festive parade, tossing beads and candy to spectators Friday morning.

 

Intel officials: Russia boosting Trump candidacy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Intelligence officials have warned lawmakers that Russia is interfering in the 2020 election campaign to help President Donald Trump get reelected, according to three officials familiar with the closeddoor briefing.

Trump pushed back Friday accusing Democrats of launching a disinformation campaign.

“Another misinformation campaign is being launched by Democrats in Congress saying that Russia prefers me to any of the Do Nothing Democrat candidates who still have been unable to, after two weeks, count their votes in Iowa. Hoax number 7!” Trump tweeted.

Edwards administration: Politics involved in banks selection

BATON ROUGE (AP) — Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration accused Louisiana’s treasurer and other Republican state leaders Thursday of sidelining one of the nation’s largest banks from working on multimilliondollar state borrowing deals because of the bank’s firearm restriction policies for corporate customers.

Italy sees virus cases quadruple in day as cluster emerges

CODOGNO, Italy (AP) — The number of people in Italy infected with the new virus from China more than quadrupled Friday due to an emerging cluster of cases in the country’s north that prompted officials to order schools, restaurants and businesses to close.

Many of the 14 new cases represented the first infections in Italy acquired through secondary contagion and brought the country’s total to 17. The cluster was located in a handful of tiny towns around Lodi, in the Lombardy region, said the Lombardy regional health chief Giulio Gallera.

New enforcement operation focuses on meth trafficking hubs

ATLANTA (AP) — Federal authorities are targeting methamphetamine “transportation hubs” around the country in an effort to block the distribution of the highly addictive drug, officials announced Thursday.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Administrator Uttam Dhillon visited Atlanta to announce the launch of Operation Crystal Shield. Atlanta is one of eight cities the agency has identified as a hub where methamphetamine from Mexico arrives in bulk for distribution around the country.

Higher red snapper ‘target’ for charter boats now permanent

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — After Gulf of Mexico charter boat captains stayed within federal limits for red snapper, regulators are making permanent a rule that lets them catch more of the fish.

The rule initially was to be just for one year. The change will likely mean that the 2020 charter boat season for red snapper is seven or eight days longer than it otherwise would have been, according to an announcement Thursday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries division. The popular sport and table fish is recovering from disastrous overfishing.