July 2020

Rose Blanchard Spell

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The family and friends of Rose Blanchard Spell are mourning the loss of their loved one who was called from this life on July 28, 2020, at the age of 87.

Funeral services for Rose B. Spell will be held at Matthews and Son Funeral Home Chapel Friday, July 31, 2020, at 2 p.m., with Reverend Trey Ange officiating.

Visitation will be held at the funeral home Friday, July 31, from 9 a.m. until the time of her service, with a rosary recited at 11 a.m. Burial will follow her services in Calvary Cemetery.

Why are Latin America’s citizens counted in our census

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A little over a year ago I wrote about another Trump administration immigration policy failure. Trump wanted to add a census question that asked if the respondent was a citizen of the U.S. Adding that question should have been a simple administrative procedure since conducting the census is an executive branch function.

But nothing is simple where Trump is concerned.

Michael Stolzle

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Michael Stolzle, 67, unexpectedly passed away Friday, July 24, 2020, from a heart attack suffered two months earlier. He was being treated at Baylor Hospital, Dallas, Texas.

Services, led by Rev. Walter Parker, will be held at Jennings United Methodist Church Saturday, Aug. 1, 2020, at 10 a.m.

A family visitation will be held at the church Saturday from 9 a.m. until service time.

Interment will be immediately after the service at Pinehill Cemetery in Iowa under the direction of Matthews and Son Funeral Home of Jennings.

JDP landfill receives clean audit

The Jeff Davis Parish Sanitary Landfill Commission received its annual audit for the previous fiscal year, with no findings of noncompliance noted in the entity’s financial statements.

The Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office (LLAO) recently released an independent auditor’s report on financial statements for the year ending Dec. 31, 2019.

The 51-page report was completed by certified public accountant J. Aaron Cooper, of Jennings.

Welsh photo contest deadline set for Friday

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WELSH - The entries are piling up for a photography contest here that aims to capture images of a little bit of everything in the town.

Lauren Bergeaux with Welsh City Hall said the photography contest is open to two age divisions, including ages 18 and below and ages 19 and older. The contest is open to any photographer, no matter where they reside, but pictures must be taken in the Town of Welsh. The deadline to enter is Friday, July 31.

“The photo can be of anything in the town,” said Bergeaux. “We’ve had people send pictures of plants, sunsets, fields and more.”

Fire destroys structure on Short Street

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The Jennings Fire Department responded to a late night call on Tuesday that resulted in the structure being nearly completely destroyed by the blaze. At this time, the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

“We received the emergency call at 21:59 after a neighbor dialed 911 to report fire and smoke,” said Fire Chief Bobby Vasseur. “Upon our arrival, the structure was fully engulfed in flames.”

Alligator hide is recommended gear for those wading into journalism

When it comes to self-promotion, you’ve got to hand it to Bari Weiss. Her trenchant resignation letter from The New York Times has generated a whole lot more attention than her columns ever did.

Or maybe that’s just me talking. I rarely, if ever, read her work. When it comes to Israeli apologists, I long ago concluded that regarding Israel and the Palestinians, both sides are right, both sides are wrong, and nobody ever changes their mind. I understand that Weiss wrote about other topics as well, but none that caught my attention.

La. remains highest in per-capita COVID-19 cases

Governor John Bel Edwards announced that Louisiana now ranks number one per-capita in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country.

“That number one ranking should be an alarm bell for everyone to fully understand just how serious this pandemic is here in Louisiana and how much COVID-19 that we have had,” he said. “We knew we were on this trajectory over the past couple of weeks and knew we would get there reporting the case numbers that we were.”

Parish unemployment down in June

Parish unemployment figures released recently revealed job growth in the parish is still being affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

According to preliminary estimates released by the Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC), the unemployment rate in Jeff Davis Parish for June was 9.2, down from 11.8 in May. There were 11,418 employed and 1,162 unemployed according to the report.

In April, the figures were even more grim with the unemployment rate coming in at 12.5 percent.

When we all vote

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When we all vote, the age and race gap is closed in the U.S. election system.