State News
Jindal education plan jolts establishment
BATON ROUGE – Gov. Bobby Jindal’s agenda for overhauling Louisiana public education rubs the establishment the wrong way. Jindal on Tuesday unveiled a plan that would revise teacher tenure laws, gr...
Jan 18, 2012 | 0 0 comments | 32 32 recommendations | email to a friend
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Teen trio allegedly beats man for less than $100, leaves him dying in street
ABBEVILLE – Three Abbeville teenagers face the death penalty for allegedly robbing and killing a Vietnamese for less than $100. The juveniles, whose names are withheld, were arrested and charged wi...
Jan 17, 2012 | 0 0 comments | 32 32 recommendations | email to a friend
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Privates go public, official wants to ban wearing PJ bottoms outside home
SHREVEPORT – Call them leisure wear if you like, but Caddo Parish Commissioner Michael Williams knows pajamas when he sees them, and one place he doesn’t want to see them is at Walmart or other pub...
Jan 13, 2012 | 1 1 comments | 36 36 recommendations | email to a friend
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<strong>By: MICHAEL BORDELON
News Editor</strong>

Rice farmers throughout the parish are busy and they are beginning to harvest their rice crop, which is good news for them since rice prices are at record levels and will help to offset the escalating costs they face.<!--break-->

The current world market price is at a very good $27-28 per barrel (one barrel is 162 pounds), according to LSU AgCenter Extension Office’s Keith Fontenot, county agent.

While $28 per barrel is as high as the price has ever been, Fontenot said farmers are facing the highest operation costs they have ever encountered. Expenses per acre are climbing ever higher, with some reaching well over $700 per acre. Fontenot said with the increase in diesel and fertilizer costs farmers are still feeling the pinch, even with record prices per barrel.

 He stated last year, $19 was a very good price, and in the last two to three years, he has seen farmers sell rice at $12, $14 and $16 per barrel. While it may not be the highest price ever, it is a welcome relief for our local rice farmers. As recent as 2002, the price was as low as $6.10 per barrel.

Fontenot said many farmers are beginning to plant hybrid rice as it has been doing pretty well in this parish. He said approximately 18-20 percent of the rice grown in Evangeline Parish last year was hybrid rice, and that number is expected to be much higher this year.

Fontenot also wanted to make motorists aware of farm equipment as farmers begin harvesting.

“Be cautious on the road,” he said. “There are big pieces of equipment that will be moving from field to field, especially as the harvest gets into full swing. Please have patience when you’re driving because these things don’t go 55 miles per hour and they are not very forgiving in a collision. Please be careful when passing.”
Rice crop sets record yield, sugar cane and sweet potato production dips
ALEXANDRIA – “Good weather conditions for the growing and harvest seasons helped rice to set a statewide record in 2011,” said Nathan Crisp, Director of the Louisiana Field Office of the USDA’s Nat...
Jan 12, 2012 | 0 0 comments | 29 29 recommendations | email to a friend
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From left: Dr. Mark Zappi, dean of College of Engineering; Brad Mosing, UL Lafayette President Dr. Joseph Savoie. Sitting: Donald Mosing.
Mosing donates $2.83 million to UL Lafayette College of Engineering
LAFAYETTE – A personal gift from Lafayette businessman Donald Mosing is the largest of its kind for UL Lafayette’s College of Engineering. Mosing, of Frank’s Casing Crew & Rental Tools, Inc., donat...
Jan 12, 2012 | 0 0 comments | 34 34 recommendations | email to a friend
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Traffic stop leads to discovery of 34 pounds of weed, arrest of three
BROUSSARD – State Police booked three persons, including a juvenile, after seizing 34 pounds of marijuana following a traffic stop Wednesday. Troopers stopped a pickup truck on U.S. 90 in early aft...
Jan 12, 2012 | 0 0 comments | 36 36 recommendations | email to a friend
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VP man dies in head-on crash
DURALDE – A vehicle hit a transport truck head-on Wednesday afternoon, killing the driver of the wayward vehicle. State Police said the crash happened on La. 103 west of La. 13. According to invest...
Jan 12, 2012 | 0 0 comments | 29 29 recommendations | email to a friend
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BESE follows governor's lead, appoints White ed superintendent
The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education selected John White as Louisiana's new State Superintendent of Education. "John's done a great job for the Recovery School District and he's going to...
Jan 11, 2012 | 0 0 comments | 27 27 recommendations | email to a friend
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Alario makes Senate committee assignments
BATON ROUGE – Senate President John Alario on Wednesday announced the following new committee assignments for the beginning of the 2012-2016 Louisiana Senate. Senate Finance Committee District...
Jan 11, 2012 | 0 0 comments | 26 26 recommendations | email to a friend
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Man tell cops that ain't Goldilocks sleeping naked in his house
A Eunice man might have felt like he stepped into a nursery tale when he awoke Sunday morning to find a strange man sleeping in an empty room in his house. Eunice Police received a call around 6:3...
Jan 11, 2012 | 0 0 comments | 27 27 recommendations | email to a friend
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Four held in homemade bomb-tossing spree
Four men were arrested Sunday night after allegedly going on a homemade bomb-throwing spree around Eunice. According to radio logs, Eunice Police received a report at 9:47 p.m. of suspects throwing...
Jan 10, 2012 | 0 0 comments | 36 36 recommendations | email to a friend
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Slower going on I-10 East at night for month or so
Lafayette – The right lane of the I-10 Atchafalaya Basin Bridge will be closed in short sections in the eastbound direction from Jan. 10 until Feb. 10 between the hours of 7 p.m. and 6 a.m., said M...
Jan 09, 2012 | 0 0 comments | 35 35 recommendations | email to a friend
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