Jennings Daily News » Editorials

Free materials could help struggling students

Graphic Designer 2 — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:35:45 +0000

Whether through learning disabilities or learning difficulties, school is sometimes an oppressing task rather than an educational journey. Students who do not absorb or understand lessons as easily as others need extra help. Sometimes this help comes through teachers, classmates and parents. While those people do their best to help struggling students, sometimes, it is not enough. There are private tutors and tutoring facilities available, but such services are expensive and not an option for some families. Especially during this time of the year, when parents are shelling out money for school supplies, uniforms and other school necessities, hiring a tutor or buying self-help books or DVDs is out of the question.

And as much as a struggling student might despise school, sometimes their parents feel the same way as they sit with the child each evening, stressing through another day of homework.

With that said, Jeff Davis Parish residents should take advantage of free instructional materials that have been donated through Rotary District 6200 and the International Orthodox of Christian Charities. The materials are available to anyone – teachers, tutors, parents, public and parochial school students, as well as students who are home-schooled. The materials cover every subject, including language arts, math, English, Spanish, social studies, history and science for students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. Any person who wants such materials can visit 101 South Palmer Street in Welsh this coming Saturday, March 23, from 8 a.m. until noon. Attendees must box and load their own materials, but that is nothing when you consider just how expensive educational materials can be.

Those materials may not prove helpful for every single student, but considering that it is free, it is certainly worth trying.

Those with questions may call Welsh Rotarian Project Chairman Clarence Prudhomme at (337) 842-5790 or Chip Kyle at (337) 370-3852.

Be aware of air quality

Graphic Designer 2 — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:57:03 +0000

It is important for citizens and businesses to be aware of the air quality.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has lowered the standards for many criteria air pollutants which makes areas that have had excellent air quality in the past much closer to being out of attainment with federal standards.

While only one area of the state, the Greater Baton Rouge Area, is currently out of attainment for the pollutant ozone, Shreveport, Lake Charles, Lafayette, New Orleans and Houma/Thibodaux are close to nonattainment. These areas have joined the EPA Ozone Advance program to take measures to reduce pollutants. An important part of the program is citizen participation.

An easy way to keep informed about air quality is through the EnviroFlash notification system. EnviroFlash is a free e-mail and text alert system that delivers air quality information straight to an inbox or phone.

To subscribe, citizens can fill in basic information such as their e-mail, ZIP code and the frequency with which they would like to receive notifications. The subscriber will then receive alerts either daily or when ozone or particle pollution is expected to be unhealthy. Another benefit to subscribing to EnviroFlash is that the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will send out manual emails to subscribers when there is an event, such as a fire, that affects the air quality.

“DEQ is encouraging all citizens to sign up for EnviroFlash, the free air quality notification system,” said DEQ Secretary Peggy Hatch. “It’s a simple way to stay informed and take appropriate steps to protect your health and help the everyday citizen minimize his own pollution footprint when necessary. Everyone has a stake in the quality of our air and environment. Knowing all you can about air quality can help everyone be part of the solution to a better environment.”

To stay better informed about ozone and other air quality matters, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality encourages the general public sign up for the EnviroFlash system. To sign up in the Lake Charles area, visit the website http://lakecharlesarea.enviroflash.info.

For more information on current air quality, visit the DEQ Web site: http://www.deq.louisiana.gov/aqinfo, or visit the interactive EPA Web site http://www.airnow.gov.

Early detection is key

Graphic Designer 2 — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 16:51:33 +0000

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an opportunity to promote screening and early detection of breast cancer.

Roughly one in eight women in the United States will get breast cancer. Next to skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common kind of cancer in women. According to the American Cancer Society, 3,320 Louisiana residents will be diagnosed with the disease this year.

In Jeff Davis Parish, organizers for the Melissa Doise Hope for the Miracle 5K Run/Walk are doing their best to raise funds and spread awareness about the disease that affects not only the patient, but their families and friends too. The walk is set to hit the streets of Jennings for the third year on Saturday, Oct. 27. The Melissa Doise Foundation is a non-profit organization that helps breast cancer sufferers in tribute to the foundation’s namesake, Hathaway’s Melissa Doise, who succumbed to the disease. Their mission is to raise public awareness about breast cancer and also to assist patients that have been diagnosed with the disease.

Organizer Kim Precht, who is also breast cancer survivor, said that she could have bought a house for all the treatments, doctor visits, surgeries, and everything else that went in to her recovery.

“Nobody knows better than somebody who has been through this experience. For women, it’s a very degrading disease,” Precht said. “It takes a lot away from us that makes us women. One of the hardest things for me was not having hair. I had eight surgeries in two years. To say that my body was transformed is probably an understatement. When these women are going through this, you have so many decisions that have to made immediately and its really tough.”

Precht said the walk gives those recently diagnosed with breast cancer an opportunity to share their experiences with other survivors.

The walk helps also helps breast cancer patients in the parish financially. Recipients have been able to receive vouchers for groceries and gasoline, from local businesses. The vouchers help free up funds for medical bills acquired along the way. Also, because the vouchers come from businesses in the parish, all the money stays local. The foundation is able to give back to the community as it donates.

The Melissa Doise Foundation also can provide special magnets or shower hangars that remind women to perform a self-exam monthly. Area high school nurses are also receiving such items for their health classes, getting the word to young girls.

Their mottos is: “early detection is key,” because when cancer is found at stage one, the battle can be a lot easier than when diagnosed at stage four.

Also, breast cancer is not just limited to women. Men can get breast cancer too and there is usually less awareness around it.

So far, the foundation has helped approximately 36 ladies, given out around $20,000 in food vouchers, gas and prosthetics, as well as care packages that contain a lot of information for women that are newly diagnosed with breast cancer.

Cancer survivors and sufferers are being asked to attend, even if they cannot participate in the race. For more information on the Melissa Doise Foundation or the Hope for the Miracle 5K, call (337) 824-5708. To print the registration form, visit http://www.doisemiraclerun.com/.

Play responsibly during National Problem Gambling Awareness Week

Graphic Designer 2 — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 16:52:03 +0000

In Louisiana, we know how to have a good time, but the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) would like to remind residents to play responsibly, with National Problem Gambling Awareness Week during March 4-10.

The goal of this campaign is to educate the general public and health care professionals about the warning signs of problem gambling and raise awareness about the help that is available both locally and nationally. The NCPG is the national advocate for programs and services to assist problem gamblers and their families.

All players are encouraged to follow these tips:

· Play only for fun.

· Consider any money lost as the cost of entertainment.

· Set a dollar limit and stick to it.

· Never borrow money to gamble.

· Don’t allow gambling to interfere with family, friends, or work.

· Never gamble to win back losses.

· Never use gambling as a way to cope with emotional or physical pain.

A problem with gambling may include a preoccupation with gambling, exaggerating winnings and minimizing losses, and feeling the need to bet more money more frequently, according to NCPG. Problem and pathological gambling can have a detrimental effect on an individual’s personal relationships, finances, and employment.

Problem gamblers accounted for 1.7 percent of the Louisiana’s population, according to a 2008 study conducted by the Louisiana Compulsive Gambling Committee. Pathological gamblers made up 1.4 percent. Overall, the problem gambling rates statewide have remained relatively stable over the past decade.

Additional information on problem gambling and treatment options can be found on the National Problem Gambling Awareness site, http://www.npgaw.org, or by visiting http://www.dhh.louisiana.gov and contacting the Louisiana Office of Behavioral Health. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call state’s toll-free hotline at (877) 770-7867.

Giants they will always be

Graphic Designer 2 — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 17:19:03 +0000

In Jeff Davis Parish, we’re accustomed to seeing our firefighters each day. Naturally, if a fire occurs, they are on the scene; but even in natural disasters, automobile crashes and medical emergencies, our men and women are there, no matter the day, hour or weather.

Thankfully, this area has seen years without losing one of our firefighters in the line of duty. While they do battle burns, bruises, cuts, injured limbs and more, this area is quite blessed to know our firefighters are heading home safely after each shift.

But that’s not the case across the state. On Saturday, March 10, seven Louisiana firefighters will be memorialized for giving their lives in order to save someone else’s. The Louisiana Fallen Firefighters’ Memorial will add the names of those seven heroes to 97 other Louisiana firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice.

The Memorial is located at 8181 Independence Blvd. in Baton Rouge. The event itself will be attended by representatives from various fire departments, fire service organizations and families of those firefighters who have died in the line of duty. A luncheon will be held immediately following the ceremony. The event and luncheon are free and open to the public.

“We owe a great deal to those who selflessly put themselves in harm’s way every day to protect us. This ceremony is an opportunity for the public to come and join the families and friends of those who paid the highest price and to let them know that they will never be forgotten.” State Fire Marshal Butch Browning said. “This beautiful memorial is a place of reverence; a place where you can walk among the names of giants.”

And giants they will always be. Even though the fallen firefighters might not have directly served Jeff Davis Parish by the department they were affiliated with, they have certainly reminded us of the great neighbors we have in this state and the even greater fire departments that work each day to make our lives better and keep us safe.

For more information regarding the ceremony, please call the State Fire Marshal’s Office at 225-925-4911.

‘Dark Minds’ a disappointment to locals

Graphic Designer 2 — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:59:18 +0000

Thank you, Investigation Discovery channel, “Dark Minds” series producers and crime author M. William Phelps for disappointing all of Jeff Davis Parish and pouring salt on open wounds.

Since word broke late last week that the national television series “Dark Minds,” which follows Phelps as he looks into cases thought to be connected to serial killers, all of Jennings and Jeff Davis Parish has been abuzz. What would the show find? Could new information finally lead to a killer or killers? It seemed hope was building in all of us that someone with no connections to this area could offer a new perspective or even information on the unsolved murders of eight local women.

Well, if you missed last night’s episodes, you missed nothing that hasn’t been rehashed over and over in the media, on the internet and through the local rumor mill.

For “Dark Minds,” of course, the local murders are a sensational mystery that the rest of the nation has yet to be exposed to. But for those of us here, last night’s show was a major let down and frustrating to those who personally loved and had relationships with the victims; anyone hoping to gain answers gained nothing.

At least we know that the desire to see these murders solved goes much further than the parish line. But that does nothing to ease the pain from the immense loss of life that has been suffered by these eight murder victims and their loved ones.

Smoke ‘em while you’ve got ‘em

publisher — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

You can already see them on the Internet, but soon, you’ll be seeing them in stores – the new U.S. Surgeon General’s warning images on cigarette packs.
The FDA will require those images to take up the top half of cigarette packs starting in 2012, and the hope is that the images wills stop people from smoking.
It’s a pretty brazen move by the government, one must admit – especially since the images are kind of gruesome. They include smoke coming out of a man’s tracheotomy tube, pictures of a diseased lung and even a baby surrounded by cigarette smoke. The government is hoping that such images will create a strong negative response to cigarettes and will drive people to seek help in quitting, and the method being used is the same one cigarette companies have used to entice smokers for years. The tobacco industry continues to spend $34 million per day on advertising and promotion in the United States. That works out to $42 for every person in the U.S., and more than $275 for each U.S. smoker aged 18 years or older.
The fact remains that tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, this year approximately 5 million persons worldwide will die from tobacco-related heart attacks, strokes, cancers, and other diseases. In the United States, that number is approximately 443,000.
But will they work? The CDC also states that more than 90 percent of men and women cigarettes smokers in 12 countries reported noticing a package warning in the last 30 days. That statistic comes from a 14-nation study. Of those who noticed, only 50 percent were thinking about quitting. What smoker hasn’t considered quitting at one time or another, however? (This comes from a newspaper where the great majority of our staff are smokers, for the record.)
At the same time, the CDC states that in California over a 15-year period, every dollar spent on tobacco control saw a $50 return, thanks to reduced health care costs. It also costs the government virtually nothing to force tobacco companies to place the images on their packs and advertising. It seems that the only ones who stand to lose here are the tobacco companies and the die-hard smokers who won’t quit no matter how unhealthy it makes them.
The verdict? Smoke ‘em while you’ve got ‘em, smokers. They’re coming for you, and they’re not going to stop any time soon. Are smokers’ rights being intruded upon? You can certainly argue that, but in today’s political climate, you’re almost guaranteed to lose. Quitting is starting to look smarter and smarter by the day, if only because it’s looking more and more inevitable.

Sunday is World Drug Day

publisher — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

World Drug Day is June 26, an international day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking established by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 1987.
The UN passed a resolution in 1987 as an expression of its determination to strengthen action and cooperation to achieve the goal of an international society free of drug abuse.
A review completed that same year the International Conference on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking resulted in the reaffirmation that illicit drugs continue to pose a health danger to humanity, culminating in the establishment of the UN’s world drug control system.
A society with rampant drug abuse undermines socio-economic and political stability, as well as sustainable development.
World Drug Day is an occasion to take a stand against a problem that affects everyone. Of Jennings’s nearly 1,350 arrests made in 2010, over 23 percent were made for directly drug-related crimes, according to Jennings Police Department records.
The goal of this year’s campaign is to mobilize support and inspire people to act against drug use, particularly drug use by the world’s youth.
Young people often talk about the “highs” induced by illicit drugs but may not be aware of the many “lows”. Illicit drug use is a concern because it poses a threat to health.
Negative effects vary depending on the type of drug consumed, the doses taken and the frequency of use. All illicit drugs have immediate physical effects, but they can also severely hinder psychological and emotional development.
According to the campaign’s website, around 200 million people take drugs at least once a year. Of these, 25 million are regarded as drug dependent. Every year 200,000 people die from drug-related illnesses.
Young people are more susceptible to drug use. Prevalence of drug use among young people is more than twice as high as drug use among the general population. Much more needs to be done to provide young people with the skills, information and opportunities to lead healthy and fulfilling lives.
The most effective way to prevent drug use in your community is by supporting drug prevention programs. It has been shown that, for every dollar spent, these programs can save up to 10 dollars.
There are several emotional signs to look for to determine if a person is abusing drugs:
• Mood swings ranging from elation to sudden withdrawal and depression
• Anger for no reason
• Loss of interest in school or extra-curricular activities
• Difficulty getting along with others
• Playing truant
• Falling grades and poor academic performance
• Short attention span
If you or someone you love is suffering from a drug addiction, call the Louisiana Drug Rehab Center Hotline at 1-800-501-9330.

The people of Welsh need to make a decison

publisher — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

There are two questions on the lips of residents and officials in the Town of Welsh: “How did our problems get so out of hand? How do we fix what appears to be so broken?“ Well, sometimes the person with the answers is staring back from the mirror.
A number of people would say that the escalating violence in Welsh stems from a family feud that has been underway for decades. Others say it’s because those causing the problems are selfish, refusing to put down their fists and weapons. Some people blame Welsh police, claiming they ignore citizens’ concerns.
The truth is, each and every member of the Town of Welsh, from the Board of Aldermen to the police, from residents in the northwest neighborhood to those toeing the city limits, are responsible for the condition of that community. It doesn’t take one person to decide the fate of a town; it takes everyone inside that town.
The Jennings Daily News cannot ignore that past and present concerns regarding the Welsh Police Department and its leadership are valid, and in some situations, the people have deserved better. But what everyone must remember is that police, here and across the globe, can only do their job and do it well if the community supports them and works with them. Welsh police cannot solve crimes they are unaware of. They cannot make a case out of silence. If one person has information about any type of crime but refuses to share that information, they are allowing the problems to continue. They are allowing those people who choose to make others’ lives miserable the chance to cause even more chaos. It’s understandable to fear retaliation from those people and their friends and family. But it’s not okay to allow your town to continue crumbling under that fear.
The inactions of the entire community are the reasons State Police are now needed. Following the special meeting Saturday where the resolution to ask for state assistance was adopted, some residents were quite bitter about the move. They complained State Police would be too hard on them.
What exactly do those residents want? How can they say Welsh police aren’t doing enough but State Police would be doing too much? Obviously, those residents don’t have the best answers judging by the fact that the problem has become so out of hand. Perhaps they don’t even know what it is they want.
But remember this: No person in Welsh can say it’s not their problem, because it is. Your choices affect your town. How you choose to live your life affects the lives of those around you. And if you choose to remain silent with information that could help police get some of the biggest troublemakers off the streets, then you are making the statement that you do not care. Whether fear holds you back or you feel speaking up is not your place, you are still responsible for the fate of your community.
There is no excuse for letting the innocent pay for what could have been prevented all along. State Police will likely descend on the Town of Welsh but the people will not be able to hide behind them forever. If the people aren’t willing to truly stand up for the town now, they might as well take a seat and watch it all come tumbling down.

Police pay raise is the right move

publisher — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

And so it goes: One of our readers recently complained that she felt police weren’t doing enough to stop speeders in her neighborhood. She felt like the street on which she lives had become a “drag-racing strip.”
Two weeks later, the same woman complained that police had nothing better to do than give people speeding tickets. “Why don’t they go catch the real criminals?” she moaned.
Of course, the difference in the two situations is that in the second one, she’d been ticketed as a speeder. When this was pointed out to her, she laughed good-naturedly, but it makes a point about law enforcement that seems to be largely true: We want the cops to bust the “bad guys,” so long as the “bad guys” are someone else. And of course, the “bad guys” are always someone else. Our reader was mad when police “didn’t protect her” from speeders, but angrier when they “protected” other people from her own speeding.
Still, the public response surrounding the Jennings Police Department has been largely positive in the past year. There’s always someone upset at the police – which is how you know they’re doing their jobs – but for the most part, we seem to be recovering from years of negative perception.
We wanted to applaud the city’s decision to raise the base starting pay for city officers, a move that everyone hopes will help the JPD recruit and retain the best and brightest. It’s the right thing to do, and even though it probably should have been done before now, we’re willing to accentuate the positives. It’s a smart move for a city that’s on the move. The Jennings Daily News has long been a proponent of increasing pay for the men and women in blue, and we’re glad to see it become a part of this budget in a responsible manner.
The community should be proud, too, of the way it has worked together to help the police do their jobs. The anonymous tips line has been a windfall for detectives, and that’s thanks to the populace.
The moral of the story is that when we all work together, our city becomes better.