It's been five years since Katrina struck New Orleans and broken levees loosed water and all hell on the city.

The more I learn about the proposed Master Plan for Ascension Parish the more convinced I am that this plan will take our parish in a direction far from its roots: rural character, wonderful people and rich culture.

With the next Republican State Central Committee meeting around the corner, I think it is time the members begin looking to the future of the party.

I have a relative that just started school last week at Lakeside Primary in Galvez. Apparently, they have no playground and no set activities for the children during recess time.

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to a new school year and wish you the best in educational endeavors.

We would like to clarify the misinformation circulating about the Ascension Parish Library’s budget and finances.

It's been five years since Katrina struck New Orleans and broken levees loosed water and all hell on the city.

Sunday afternoon, June 6, 2010, was a prosperous day for Alzheimer’s Services of the Capital Area.

The liberals in Washington have brought their ideas to Ascension Parish in their proposed Master Plan. Our local government can take our land for their purposes or so highly regulate how we use our property that we can do little with it.

I want to say “Thanks You” to the person/persons that put a U.S. Flag at every driveway in Lake Park Subdivision, off Hwy 431, Friday, July 2.

If anyone has been standing around over the past two months waiting for a bit of good news to come out of the BP Gulf oil spill, they may have received it Thursday when the White House announced that BP will establish a $20 million escrow fund to pay for claims and cleanup costs.

If anyone has been standing around over the past two months waiting for a bit of good news to come out of the BP Gulf oil spill, they may have received it Thursday when the White House announced that BP will establish a $20 million escrow fund to pay for claims and cleanup costs.

The evolving impact of the BP oil spill continues to grow, an upward spiral of ecological and economic bad news few expected when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded April 20.

The concept of community planning can be difficult to grasp at times.

We purchased a home on Keystone Blvd., in August 2009 under the assumption that the subdivision would be completed according to plans submitted to and approved by the proper Parish Government Committees.

Everyone knows that litter is ugly.

The total rejection of the proposed amendments to the Parish Home Rule Charter by voters in Saturday's special election surprised many people, including us.

When one lives in a lowlying hurricane prone area of the nation, as we do in Louisiana, one learns to deal with natural disasters.

One of our favorite places on the planet is a long and winding road.

We’re talking, of course, about Louisiana’s “Great River Road.”

To travel this byway along the father of waters even once is a great thrill. Growing up on the road has proven an irresistible lure for many Louisianans in the River Parishes. For them, where the river and the road flow is home.

Now, the River Road has been designated a national Scenic Byway by the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration.

This honor accorded the 717 miles along the river route and through 18 Louisiana parishes does more than make our chests swell with pride.

It means that Louisiana tourism promotion will have additional opportunities on state, local and federal levels, and that dollars for improving the road are also more likely to come down the pike.

The Great River Road now joins Louisiana’s only other byway to be part of America’s Byway system. The Creole Nature Trail in Calcasieu and Cameron parishes in the southwest part of the state, another of our favorite roadways, was designated an All-American Road in 2002.

Without a doubt, the River Road, home as it is to Oak Alley Plantation, Houmas House in Ascension Parish, San Francisco Plantation, Laura Plantation, plus all the small and large surprises and joys one inevitably encounters on while riding the road, deserves its new designation.

Officially, Scenic Byway or All-American Road designation, means the highway must have archaeological, enriching, historical, natural, entertaining and scenic intrinsic qualities.

The Louisiana River Road designation was earned primarily on the basis of historical qualities that include Native American mounds, historical structures and cities within the river corridor.

It doesn’t really matter that stopping off in a rundown little grocery and being able to order a world-class po-boy, or riding down the road during sugar cane harvest season and breathing the sugar fragrant air, are not on the qualification list.

The Great River Road is now officially part of America’s Byway system. Folks traveling the road will still be free to enjoy the little things that have contributed to the mystique of the road that locals have treasured over the many years.
 

In response to Mr. Rushin’s (Craig Rushin, March 16 Opinion Page) opinion on the “Urbanization” of Ascension Parish, I feel I must set the record straight. Many of the things he fears will happen are misunderstandings of the draft Master Plan Documents or are based on fear - not facts.