Tag: louisiana

Inaugural King Cake Festival in Downtown Thibodaux Had Large Turnout

Thibodaux’s inaugural Bayou King Cake Festival had a large turnout as thousands went out to crown the best king cake, according to this article from HoumaToday.

The inaugural Bayou King Cake Festival was held in Downtown Thibodaux at the beginning of February, serving as a festive beginning to the Mardi Gras season. The event, which was hosted by the Lafourche Education Foundation,served as a way for locals to sample and rank a diverse array of locally baked King Cakes, enjoy the Krewe of King Cake Children’s Parade, and listen to live music from Nonc Nu & the Wild Matous.

In total, 28 bakeries competed in the King Cake contest portion of the festival, where visitors voted Slidell’s Sugar Love Bakery the best-in-show. For the past eight years, Sugar Love Bakery has had a ship along Englewood Drive in Slidell, but before that owner and baker Sierra Zerangue ran the business out of her mother’s kitchen for the initial six years.

Sugar Love Bakery was a popular shop at the festival, as they were offering visitors small portions of their “King Cake on a Stick,” which according to Zerangue is the company’s invention along with “King Cake Charcuterie.” This nontraditional charcuterie offering came in the form of a king cake with cups of all the available fillings for dunking.

After Sugar Love Bakery received 183 votes, they were awarded first prize; to which Zerangue said, “it’s amazing, it means a lot to a bakery or any small business.” Second place went to Cut Off’s Cajun Pecan House with 182 votes, and Spahr’s Restaurant finished in third place.

Deanna Lafont is the Executive Director of the Lafourche Education Foundation, and she estimated that since they sold over 2,000 tickets to festival goers in advance, ticket sales along with preorders and scholarships had generated about $50,000 in funds for the Foundation, which will be going towards teacher grants, some festival overhead, and future events.

She went on to comment, “when we were setting the event up, we sold about 700 tickets almost two days before, so we were hoping to get 1,000 people. I think it was just the right time, the right place, the right event, and the right weather. I’m still in shock about how successful the event was.”

The festival had a larger turnout than initially expected; this was due to the fact that festival organizers occupied a section of downtown Thibodaux that’s usually used by Big Boy’s Main Street Cook-Off. Since that festival usually attracts about 1,000 people, Lafont admitted that they’ll need to try and “emulate the Fraternal Order of Police Mudbug Boil-Off because it is a larger event.” This will mean that next year’s event will occupy a larger section of downtown Thibodaux, centered along LA. 1 and Bayou Lafourche, which initially seemed unnecessary for an inaugural event.

Reportedly hundreds of festival goers had stood in line at the two entrances, filling up over two blocks waiting for their king cake samples. Due to the higher-than-expected turnout, many booths and shops were out of king cakes early on. For instance, the Culinary Department of the Lafourche Career Magnet Center saw Kalena Dehart and her coworkers down to seven king cakes from the dozen they brought to the festival within the first hour.

The event was kicked off officially at 1:30 pm with a parade of 15 children-toting wagons and five marching bands marching from the old Capital One building on West 2nd Street to St. Phillip Street and back. Next year, Lafont hopes to organize more events for the children festival goers outside of the parade, saying: “we had the children’s parade, but we’re really talking about having a kids’ area. I would love to see a kids’ king cake baking contest.”

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Louisiana’s Largest Marsh Creation Project On Track to 2025 Completion

Louisiana’s largest marsh creation project, which will create approximately 2,800 acres of marshland near Shell Beach, recently received a project update, according to this article from The Advocate.

The Lake Borgne Marsh Creation Project is a $115 million project that began its construction last year and is set to conclude in August 2025. The $115 million is being financed with settlement funds related to the 2010 BP oil spill; however, the federal government will be paying for a separate plan to restore wider wetlands that have been degraded by the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, or MRGO. The Lake Borgne Marsh Creation project is Louisiana’s single largest marsh creation project currently under construction. The area was visited by St. Bernard Parish officials, Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) representatives, and members of the Louisiana Legislature in order to gain a perspective on the project’s current level of completion ahead of the Coastal Protection Authority’s annual plan and the update of the state’s 50-year, $50 billion master plan.

Recently, the chair of the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, Chip Kline, and other state and parish officials were able to visit the Lake Borgne Marsh Creation Project in order to provide an update ahead of the Coastal Protection Authority’s five-decade master plan that is updated every six years. Kline and other state and parish officials were able to visit St. Bernard Parish’s Shell Beach as well as take an airboat ride so that they could survey the eroded marsh that’s located between the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet and Lake Borgne.

This specific area has seen drastic erosion and changes over the past few decades thanks to saltwater intrusion, erosion, and subsidence that has been gradually degrading the area. It’s generally understood and accepted that most of Shell Beach’s erosion can be attributed to the MRGO after it fully opened in 1968 as a shipping shortcut from New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately, this shortcut channel was also labeled as a “hurricane highway”after 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, when the channel was responsible for helping expedite the storm surge that hit New Orleans.

One member of the local community, Robbie Campo, spoke about the drastic need for a new marsh environment by saying, “if we don’t do something over here, the lake is going to be into the MRGO. We’re going to lose it all.” Campo’s family operates Campo’s Marina at Shell Beach, and the marina has existed for 120 years, meaning that he has slowly observed the wetlands eroding over his lifetime. While Campo is concerned that the area’s fishing environment will be changed on account of future separate river diversions, he is reportedly relieved to see progress on the new marsh construction.

Thankfully, the $115 million Lake Borgne Marsh Creation Project is set to use approximately 13 million cubic yards of dredged soil to create around 2,800 acres of marsh. It’s estimated that this project, like others of its kind, will have an expected lifespan of 20-30 years. Chip Kline spoke about what Louisiana’s experience with detrimental storms has taught it by saying, “I think one of the greatest lessons that we’ve learned over the last few decades is that a natural buffer is just as important as your hurricane risk reduction system. This natural buffer – our marshes, our wetlands – are helping protect us.”

During the visit, parish and state officials were able to see construction excavators work to build a containment dike and mud berms to hold in sediment. After the tour concluded, a press conference was held, and St. Bernard President Guy McInnis spoke about the project by saying, “it’s all for the resilience of our community, and to keep our culture and our heritage for future generations.”

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Study Names Some Louisiana Cities Among Best in the Nation for Remote Work

It was recently announced that two Louisiana cities were named among the top five small cities in the country for remote work, according to this article from The Daily Advertiser. The study, which comes from Forage, named Lafayette, Louisiana as the fourth-best city for remote work and Metairie, Louisiana as the fifth-best city for remote work.

The study that placed Lafayette and Metairie as the fourth and fifth best small cities in the nation for remote work was from Forage, the virtual platform website that has been connecting over 1.7 million students with potential careers at over 100 companies since 2017. Forage was able to determine a city’s placement for the remote work rankings by looking at a town’s actress to high-speed internet, library funding, and a variety of other lifestyle factors.

For its rankings, the Forage study analyzed data from over 130 metropolitan statistical areas of a certain size. All of the metro areas looked at for the study had populations between 100,000 and 200,000 people. The factors analyzed for the study included the combined aircraft and road noise levels that are perceived within the city’s limits, a city’s percentage of residences that had high-speed internet access, the city’s public library funding, the percentage of residents spending 30% or more of their income on housing, and the unemployment rate. Additionally, the study also took into account the median listing price of homes on the market, real estate price levels compared to the national price level, the number of arts, entertainment, and recreation businesses per 10,000 residents, and the amount of non-alcoholic beverage bars or coffee shops per 10,000 residents.

With these factors considered, the cities of Lafayette and Metairie topped the list as the fourth and fifth best small cities for remote work. According to the study’s data and findings, approximately 94.9% of Lafayette’s residences have access to high-speed internet, its noise level was registered at a grade of 40.85, which is higher than 68% of the cities analyzed for the study. Meanwhile, Metairie’s noise level was graded at 14.2% and its registered access to high-speed internet was at an impressive 99.4%, which was the highest percentage of all cities in the study. The study had named Davenport, Iowa as its top small city for remote work; Carmel, Indiana was ranked as 2nd in the nation, and Topeka, Kansas was 3rd in the nation.

In its simplest form, remote work is the ability to do your job from anywhere. This can mean working from home, a coffee shop, or even another country. As long as you have an internet connection, you can be a digital nomad and work from wherever you want. The rise of remote work has been made possible by advances in technology, particularly the internet and cloud-based applications. With these tools, it’s possible for businesses to have a fully distributed workforce with employees working from different locations. There are many benefits of remote work for both employers and employees. For businesses, it can lead to increased productivity and creativity, as well as lower overhead costs. For employees, it offers greater flexibility and freedom when it comes to where and how they work.

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work has been on a steady increase in popularity, but it was already gaining traction prior to the pandemic. There are a few reasons why remote work has become more popular in recent years. First, the internet has made it easier for people to connect and communicate from anywhere in the world. Second, advances in technology have made it possible for people to do their work from anywhere with a computer and an internet connection. Third, the global economy has made it easier for companies to hire employees from different parts of the world. Finally, the rise of the gig economy has made it easier for people to find short-term or freelance work that can be done remotely.

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Entergy Louisiana Donates to Nicholls Tour Tuesday Initiative

It was recently announced that Nicholls State University’s program that strives to bring underrepresented students to campus for collegiate tours, the Tour Tuesday initiative, recently received additional funding for its longevity, according to this news release from the school. Since its inception in 2016, Nicholls’s Tour Tuesday initiative has accounted for nearly 1,000 Bayou Region high school students to tour the campus. Luckily, thanks to a $10,000 donation from Entergy Louisiana, this exciting program can continue.

Renee Hicks is the Assistant Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness, Access, and Success at Nicholls State University, and she commented on Entergy’s contribution by saying “Entergy Louisiana has been a tremendous partner to Nicholls State University in identifying students in our region who may have thought college wasn’t an option for them. When we get students here and show them all Nicholls has to offer and explain the different financial avenues they can utilize to attain a college degree, their outlook changes to one of hope.”

The Tour Tuesday initiative allows Bayou Region high school students from underrepresented groups an opportunity to see what can be offered by higher education. In order to make the most of their program, Nicholls works with high school guidance counselors from the Bayou Region in order to identify the low-income or first-generation high school students who meet the admissions standards at Nicholls.

CEO of Entergy Louisiana Phillip May commented on investing in Nicholls’ Tour Tuesday program by saying, “a community’s quality of life is directly tied to educational and workforce opportunities, which is why it’s so important that we support initiatives like Nicholls’ Tour Tuesday program. Our youth are future leaders, innovators, and lawmakers, and this tour is another way we can provide tools and resources that can help them reach aspirations right here, at home, in Louisiana.”

This $10,000 donation wasn’t the only gift that Entergy Louisiana had given to Nicholls in 2023, as this news came just after it was announced that the company had donated $160,000 to the Nicholls State University Coastal Center.The donation was intended to support the Coastal Center Coast, Climate, and Culture Literacy Program, which is designed to bring organized presentations, publications, group tours, exhibits, and an additional web page to the program.

Nicholls’ Coastal Center, which is scheduled to begin construction in 2023, will be an institution that works directly with the Bayou Region Incubator in order to help small businesses and create jobs that are specific to the Bayou community and the Nicholls Farm to help test the real-world application of the center’s coastal research. Additionally, the Coastal Center will also serve as an educational resource that’s accessible to the public.

Entergy’s Phillip May commented on the company’s commitment to this program by saying, “this program is dedicated to preserving the Louisiana coastline. In partnership with Nicholls State University, Entergy is committed to enhancing coastal education and outreach initiatives that are impactful today and in the future. Coastal restoration and protection are not only important to us but directly benefit the communities we serve.”

Entergy Louisiana, LLC brings its service to approximately 1.1 million electric customers in 58 Louisiana parishes. In Baton Rouge, Entergy Louisiana is also able to provide natural gas service to approximately 96,000 customers. Additionally, Entergy companies employ approximately 4,5000 people in the state of Louisiana, and about 2,200 Entergy retirees reside within the state. Thanks to Entergy Louisiana’s two donations to Nicholls, future generations will be able to enjoy more of what the University’s campus and Louisiana’s coastline will have to offer.

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Louisiana Travel’s Feed Your Soul Wins Showmanship Award at 2023 Rose Parade

Earlier this month, the spirit of New Orleans and the rest of Louisiana was alive and on display in Pasadena, California at the 2023 Rose Parade, especially with Louisiana’s Feed Your Soul parade float, presented by Louisiana Travel. According to this article from The Houma Times, the float was designed to showcase Louisiana in both a classic and reimagined light, and it turned out to be a great success.

Louisiana’s Feed Your Soul float, presented by Louisiana Travel, was designed as a way to honor what representatives call “the best of what Louisiana has to offer.” The float itself featured 21 Louisiana fair and festival queens from across the state and a former patient of Shreveport’s Shriners Hospital. Aesthetically, the float depicted an undisputed icon of Louisiana culture and history– the riverboat, which is also known as the paddlewheel steamboat. This riverboat was decorated extensively with live flowers, leaves, and seeds to recreate the foliage and aesthetic nature of the Louisiana wetlands.

Before the float took to the streets of Pasadena, California, Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser was asked about Louisiana’s participation in the parade, to which he said, “we’re excited to return to the Rose Parade to showcase all the ways you can Feed Your Soul in Louisiana. All of our riders are an excellent representation of the celebratory spirit of Louisiana. We love a parade in Louisiana and we will be kicking off carnival season a few days early [in] January when our float rolls through the streets of Pasadena.”

Louisiana’s Feed Your Soul float, presented by Louisiana Travel, also served as an opportunity to represent convention bureaus, visitors bureaus, and tourism boards from across the state in the form of five premier sponsors. Those sponsors included the Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission, Natchitoches Convention & Visitors Bureau, Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau, Tangipahoa Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Visit Baton Rouge.

The theme of the 134th annual Rose Parade was titled, “Turning the corner,” which asked premier sponsors to share how their area of the state had turned a corner into a brighter future. This float proved to be a great success, as it won the 2023 Rose Parade’s Showmanship award for the most outstanding display of both showmanship and entertainment. According to The Orange County Register, the float was among 23 award-winning floats at this year’s Rose Parade.

Lt. Governor Nungesser commented on how Louisiana fits this theme by saying, “t is thrilling to be joined this year by our sponsors and to host these 20 Louisiana queens aboard the Louisiana float. All our efforts in the travel and tourism industry in Louisiana are focused on working with our local partners to drive visitation to every corner of the state. As I always say, if you can eat it, shoot it, catch it, or dance to it, we name a festival after it in Louisiana. This year’s riders are wonderful stewards of our festivals and culture, but also outstanding members of their community that demonstrate the welcoming and neighborly nature of Louisianans.”

The Louisiana Office of Tourism had invested $350,000 to produce their entry in the 134th annual Rose parade, but according to Assistant Tourism Secretary Doug Bourgeois, the “faux steamboat is meant to lure onlookers from around the globe to visit the Bayou State” as it is a “is a promotional bargain for the state.” Outside of the Rose Parade, this was the second time in two months that a Louisiana-themed parade float had been present on a national stage, due to the $1.4 million alligator float that took to the streets of New York City in November’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. With these multiple Louisiana-themed parade floats being showcased nationally, soon more and more will come to Louisiana to be enriched by the deep-seated culture that the state has to offer.

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Federal Funding for Louisiana’s “Hurricane Highway” Likely on the Way

Louisiana’s “Hurricane Highway” might finally be next in line to receive federal funds to repair a collection of widespread ecological damage from the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MRGO) shipping channel, according to this article from NOLA.com. The Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet shipping channel is a 76-mile channel constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during the mid 20th century that provides a shorter route between ships traveling from the Gulf of Mexico to New Orleans’ inner harbor Industrial Canal via the Intracoastal Waterway, and ever since Hurricane Katrina struck the area in 2005, New Orleans residents have cursed the area, and state officials and activists have labeled it a “hurricane highway.”

It’s expected that Congress will soon approve legislation that will indicate that the federal government is responsible for financing a plan to restore wetlands eroded by the Mississippi River-Gulf outlet, or “Mr. Go,” as it’s often referred to. Despite the fact that the money would still need to be appropriated, the fact is that this years-long dispute over determining who should pay to restore the wetlands will finally come to a close. This note of legislative closure will be seen as a major victory for Louisiana officials, once passed.

U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge, who has worked closely on the issue in Congress, commented on this issue by saying, “overall in terms of ecological productivity and buffer, this is an important project that needs to happen, and it is mitigating the adverse impacts of the federal project that was the MRGO.” Rep. Graves was formerly the state’s point man on coastal restoration.

The provision of funds is only a part of broader legislation that will authorize water-related projects nationwide, and Nola.com provided a list of the other Louisiana levee and flood protection projects that would be included in that authorization. The U.S. House of Representatives approved the legislation recently, and the Senate is expected to do the same in the coming days.

The shipping channel, which is 76-miles, was originally built as a shortcut from the Gulf of Mexico to the “doorstep” of New Orleans.  It has since been labeled a “hurricane highway” by Louisiana officials due to the fact that many storm surges were funneled through the MRGO during Hurricane Katrina, contributing to the devastating levee failure that allowed for the city to be inundated. While the Army Corps of Engineers has since reportedly downplayed the channel’s role during Katrina, MRGO’s long-term effects are still considered to run much deeper.

Since the channel fully opened in 1968, it has helped erode vast areas of marsh and wetlands in the passing decades. This has resulted in the damaging of the New Orleans area’s natural storm buffer and the alteration of the ecosystem at large. Additionally, saltwater intrusion through the MRGO, which was originally not used as heavily as was originally intended by the shipping industry, has aided in the destruction of cypress and tupelo swamp that once bordered the city of New Orleans.

Whenever the channel was closed in 2009 with the construction of a rock dam at Bayou La Loutre, it was disputed who should pay for the damage the channel left behind in its wake and where the funds should have originated from, making this recent indication of a nearby victory all-the-more encouraging.

Amanda Moore, the director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Gulf Program, is also the coordinator of the MRGO Must Go Coalition. She spoke about the issue by saying that this new legislation “marks a crucial milestone for addressing the disastrous legacy of the MRGO. More than 17 years after Hurricane Katrina, Congress has clarified its original intent – to fully and federally fund implementation of the MRGO ecosystem restoration plan.”

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