The Weekly Press Week of April 3, 2014

BATON

THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 2014

Richmond, Landrieu Announce $3M in Homeland Security Grants for New Orleans

Rep. Cedric Richmond

ROUGE,

LOUISIANA

VOL. 39 • NO. 32 • FREE

A PEOPLE’S PUBLICATION

Health Care Sign-Ups Surge Toward 7 Million

GOP Budget Slashes Spending, Aid to Poor

Senator Mary L. Landrieu

WASHINGTON – Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-LA, and U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., chair of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, today announced the availability of $3 million in homeland security grants for the New Orleans area. This funding is provided through the FY 2014 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations Act and will go toward protecting critical infrastructure and improving emergency management capabilities in Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines and St. Bernard Parishes. The grant will help state and local authorities and private-sector partners prevent terrorist attacks, fight illegal immigration and trafficking, and respond to natural disasters and other emergencies.

The grant is allocated through the Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI), which assists high-threat, high-density urban areas in building enhanced and sustainable capacities for preventing, mitigating and responding to acts of terrorism.

“I’m proud to announce

Jose Villanueva, left, and Doraisy Avila sit with Maria Gabriela, an agent from Sunshine Life and Health Advisors, as they price health insurance plans in Miami.

See GRANT, on page 3

See HEALTH CARE, on page 2

EBR Climbs 3 Spots to 15th in Latest County Health Rankings for Louisiana

East Baton Rouge is the 15th healthiest parish in Louisiana, according to the latest County Health Rankings released today by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute (UWPHI).

In the latest rankings, East Baton Rouge moved up three spots from last year’s 18th place.

The County Health Rankings rate the overall health of nearly every county in each of See RANKINGS, on page 3

Rep. Paul Ryan promises to balance the budget with wide-ranging cuts to programs such as food stamps and government-paid health care for the poor and working class.

Last week, Obama said 6 million people had enrolled in health insurance, and the number of sign-ups continued to rise over the weekend and into Monday.

The 7 million target was approached despite a series of glitches that struck Monday.

The federal HealthCare.gov website went down early Monday for four hours for what Health and Human Services Department officials called routine maintenance.

Outages and intermittent delays hampered customers throughout the day, as more than 2 million

people visited the site and more than 1 million had called the call centers by 8 p.m.

At one time, HHS spokeswoman Joanne Peters said, more than 125,000 people were using the site simultaneously. Officials with the federal and state exchanges said those who tried but couldn’t complete the enrollment process would be allowed to finish this week and still be considered to have met the deadline. Users of the federal site just need to show they made a “good faith” effort to enroll to get an extension.

“We have been completely overwhelmed,” said Liz Lee, community impact director for United Way, from her office in Cocoa, Fla. “We got to the point where we were booked up solid two weeks ago.”

In Connecticut, customers who were unable to get through to the state site were asked to call a toll-free number and leave their contact information so they could complete their enrollment this week, said Kevin Counihan, CEO

EBR Sheriff Sid Gautreaux Elected as Chair of Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement The Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement elected East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux yesterday to serve as Chair of the Board. Sheriff Gautreaux stepped in for Ascension Parish Sheriff Jeff Wiley who has served for the past six years. Nominated by the board, Sheriff Gautreaux ran unopposed and was unanimously elected. As Chair, Sheriff Gautreaux will be the Chief Executive Officer of the Commission and oversee all board meetings. The board consists of 54 members representing criminal justice agencies throughout Louisiana.

The Mission of the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement (LCLE) is to improve the operations of the criminal justice and juvenile justice system and promote public safety by providing progressive leadership and coordination within the criminal justice community.

To this end, the agency pro- Photo of Executive Director Joey Watson, Former Chair Ascension Parish See SHERIFF, on page 2 Sheriff Jeff Wiley and New Chair East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux.

TIGER WOODS: ACING HIS BIGGEST RIVAL YET

WASHINGTON - A budget plan stuffed with familiar proposals to cut across a wide swath of the federal budget got a vote of confidence from the House GOP’s top vote counter Wednesday and was steaming through the Budget Committee. Democrats assaulted its sharp cuts to health care coverage for the middle class and the poor, food stamps and popular domestic programs like highway construction, health research and education.

The GOP-controlled committee was on track to approve the plan Wednesday night after a partisan but civil debate. The plan by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the committee chairman and the party’s former vice presidential nominee, promises $5.1 trillion in cuts over the coming decade to help bring the government’s ledger into the black by 2024.

The plan is a nonstarter with the Democratic Senate and President Barack Obama, but gives Republicans a vehicle to polish their

BUSINESS NEWS

See BUDGET, on page 2

Recognition Awards Presented To Leaders In Reducing Impaired Driving Strong Enforcement Leads To Fewer DWI Deaths In Louisiana BATON ROUGE— Strong laws, increased enforcement, committed prosecutors and special DWI courts are helping reduce the number of people killed by drunk drivers on Louisiana roads, according to Louisiana Highway Safety Commission officials.

As part of efforts to keep a strong focus on the impaired driving problem, the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission on Tuesday presented recognition awards to leaders from a variety of professions who have helped save lives. The awards ceremony was the sixth year the Commission has honored law enforcement officers and others for their commitment to keeping impaired drivers off the roads.

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/btrbb-renaissance-baton-rouge-hotel/

LOCAL & STATE NEWS

budget-cutting credentials in the run-up to fall midterm elections in which they’re counting on a big turnout from GOP conservatives and the tea party.

Ryan’s plan would wrestle the government’s chronic deficits under control after a decade, relying on deep cuts to Medicaid, highway construction, federal employee pension benefits, food and heating aid to the poor, and Pell Grants for college students from low-income families. It would eliminate health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act while assuming the government keeps $1 trillion worth of Obamacare’s tax increases, and retains a 10-year, $700 billion cut to Medicare that Democrats drove through in 2010 when passing the health care law.

Republicans say such tough cuts are required to take on chronic deficits that threaten to sap the economy of its strength

HEALTH NEWS

Driving while intoxicated is a serious problem in Louisiana and across the nation. In 2012, 41 percent of the 722 people killed in Louisiana crashes were involved in alcohol-related incidents.

Col. Mike Edmonson, Louisiana State Police superintendent, told the awards recipients that they are on the front lines of efforts to protect the public against impaired drivers.

“Each year, impaired drivers are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people in Louisiana and thousands nationwide,” Edmonson said. “These statistics would be worse were it not for the tireless efforts of law enforcement officers and others to remove impaired drivers from our roads. We are seeing some progress but we still have a long way to go in the battle against impaired driving.”

Lt. Col. John LeBlanc, exSee AWARDS, on page 3

RELIGION

The devil walks around seeking whom he may devour because there are Christians whom he may not devour!...See Page 6

INDEX

TRAVELING EXHIBIT AT WBR MUSEUM The West Baton Rouge Museum’s It’s been 17 years – yes, 17 years – since 21-year-old Tiger Woods torched Augusta National at an unheard of 18-under par, besting Tom Kite by a record 12 strokes to win the Masters. It was the first of four green jackets, and 14 major championships, for Tiger....See Page 8

newest traveling exhibit Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War examines how President Lincoln used the Constitution to confront three intertwined crises of the Civil War..See Page 2

NEW RECORD HIGH OF $11.8 BILLION

For the second year in a row, Louisiana farmers had record-breaking values for many of their commodities, which led to a new high value of $11.8 billion for the agriculture sector of the Louisiana economy in 2013. ..See Page 5

NEW CLASS OF RESIDENTS Sixteen new doctors will be coming

to Baton Rouge General Medical Center’s campuses to complete residency training in family and internal medicine. National Resident Match Day results were announced last week...See Page 7

Local & State............................2 Commentary.............................4 Business....................................5 Religion....................................6 Health.......................................7 Sports.......................................8

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Weekly Press • Thursday, April 3, 2014

STATE & LOCAL

Former Gov., Ex-Convict Edwin Edwards to Run for Congress

Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards said last Monday he’s running for the state’s 6th Congressional district.

Edwards, who was released from federal prison three years ago after serving nearly a decade on charges of racketeering, conspiracy and extortion, made the announcement at a Press Club meeting in Baton Rouge.

“I acknowledge that there are good reasons why I should not run.

I know that, but there are better reasons why I should and good reasons have to give way to better reasons and therefore, I will be a candidate for congress in the sixth congressional district this year,” Edwards said.

The 86 year-old Democrat began serving his sentence in February 2001 for the charges stemming from a casino license scheme.

The state’s 6th Congressional seat is held by Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy, who announced last year he would run for the Senate, challenging Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu.

Edwards has stoked speculation recently that he had plans to launch a bid for the open seat, telling Bloomberg in February, “I’m just See EDWARDS, on page 7

Lincoln: The Constitution, the Civil War Dilemma Traveling Exhibit Coming to The West Baton Rouge Museum PORT ALLEN, LOUISIANA - The West Baton Rouge Museum’s newest traveling exhibit Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War examines how President Lincoln used the Constitution to confront three intertwined crises of the Civil War— the secession of Southern states, slavery and wartime civil liberties.

The exhibition is composed of informative panels featuring photographic reproductions of original documents, including a draft of Lincoln’s first inaugural speech, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment.

The main exhibit themes are: “Secession Winter,” “Oath of Office,” “Crisis of Secession,” “Crisis of Slavery,” “Crisis of Civil Liberties,” and “Lincoln’s Legacy: The Gettysburg Address in His Time and Ours.”

Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States in 1860, at a time when the nation was on the brink of war. Lincoln struggled to resolve the basic questions that divided Americans at the most perilous moment in the nation’s history: Was the United States truly one nation, or was it a confederacy of sovereign and separate states?

How could a country founded on the belief that “all men are created equal” tolerate slavery? In a national crisis, would civil liberties

be secure? President Lincoln used the Constitution to confront these three crises of war, ultimately reinventing the Constitution and the promise of American life.

Lincoln is widely acknowledged as one of America’s greatest presidents, but his historical reputation is contested. Was he a calculating politician willing to

accommodate slavery, or a principled leader justly celebrated as the Great Emancipator? This exhibition provides no easy answers.

Rather, it encourages visitors to form a nuanced view of Lincoln by engaging them with Lincoln’s struggle to reconcile his policy See LINCOLN, on page 7

Sheriff from page 1 vides a forum for all elements of the criminal justice system to come together in common cause and to develop multi-agency programs which serve the needs of a wide range of criminal justice organizations, support proven, critical, or innovative operational initiatives through the grant programs administered by the agency, promote the highest professional and ethical standards in law enforcement through high quality training programs, and to provide quality services to the criminal justice community and victims of

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crime within the framework of state and federal law and policy.

Public safety is a key element in the quality of life for all Louisiana citizens. The Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement seeks to create an environment in which all aspects of the criminal justice and juvenile justice system work together to promote the security of

all people in the state. We seek innovation where old solutions are not working, and seek proven programs in those areas where success has been attained. In decision-making processes, we seek to bring together representatives from all aspects of the criminal justice community, so that decisions reflect the needs of the whole, and build on strengths

of all agencies involved.

The Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Criminal Justice is an Equal Opportunity Employer pursuant to the requirement of federal and state law. Applications for employment are handled through the Department of State Civil Service.

Health Care from page 1 of the state’s insurance exchange.

Despite the problems Monday, White House reaction was positive, said Jay Carney, Obama’s press secretary.

“There has been a remarkable story since the dark days of October and November, which has resulted in a situation where here on the last day of enrollment we’re looking at a number substantially larger than 6 million people enrolled,” Carney said.

Monday’s surge and delays mirrored those on Oct. 1, the first day the exchanges were open. Then the federal site couldn’t handle the initial crush of interest and crashed often until a “tech surge” of Silicon Valley experts worked virtually around the clock to fix the site by Nov. 30. Since then, enrollment has risen.

The site’s problems led the Congressional Budget Office, which last year estimated that 7 million people would use the exchanges to buy health insurance, to cut the estimate to 6 million last month. A

decline in enrollments in February led some analysts to wonder if that goal would be met, a fear dispelled by last week’s announcement.

“I daresay that there are few people in this room, including some of the folks who work in the White House, who would have predicted that we would get to that number,” Carney said Monday.

The late enrollment success has not slowed the opponents of the Affordable Care Act, who unsuccessfully tried to kill it in Congress, hoped the Supreme Court would rule it unconstitutional in 2012 and passed more than 50 bills in Republican-led House to repeal it. Led by House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, they have accused Obama of manipulating enrollment figures and hiding the number of people who have actually paid their premiums.

“The president’s health care law continues to wreak havoc on American families, small businesses and our economy, and as I’ve said many times, the problem

was never just about the website — it’s the whole law,” Boehner said in a statement. “We will also continue our work to replace this fundamentally-flawed law with patient-centered solutions focused on lowering health care costs and protecting jobs.”

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Monday that at least 80% of those who have enrolled have paid their first premiums, while California officials have placed that figure at 85%. On Monday, California reported that 1.2 million people have signed up for health insurance in the nation’s most populous state.

“We are being swamped with huge interest, which is slowing down our system,” said Peter Lee, executive director of California’s exchange.

Health insurer Aetna has received premiums for about 80% of their newly enrolled members, said spokeswoman Susan Millerick.

Cigna spokesman Joseph Mondy also estimated about 80% of people have paid their premiums.

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ILLUSTRATION SHOWING AN ACCIDENT

If this happens to you call Attorney McManus

Call the McManus law office and get all you deserve

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marge's

Chit Chat

Just a thought: The first time I took a trip, it was in a book.

Pierce

enjoy late recreation.

The games start at 9:00 p m.

Have You Heard of “Turn the Page” litair!! eracy campaign. It is To a l l y o u a program to get chilweather watchers, dren to read widely and who need the pollen often. This program Marge and the sunshine to afpromises to boost chilfirm you, give those dren’s reading levels Lawrence of us who like the by two years. (If the fall some relief - please!! All leaders can pull this off it would the sneezing and wheezing and be wonderful!!) Children should coughing and red eyes are not read one book daily and one helping anyone enjoy this sea- book with chapters for middle son. There are so many different school students weekly. This type allergies in the air that the reading helps them to write well doctor must ask our diagnosis and to self-expressions. (When before he can treat us!! The flu they are called to a microphone bug is biting the children and there will not be so much pausadults, even the ones who took ing and repeating and no good the dreaded flu shot. Get over expressions.) the big deal of this season, let Election campaigning has us be well. begun in our area and it pays to The 100 Year Celebration study the candidates and their this month of Southern Uni- platforms before making a deciversity at Baton Rouge makes sion. You have time to do this the community proud. While so your decision would be one there are two universities in you were proud to make after this area, there was only one we the election is over. could count on for attending and Get Well wishes are exgraduating. Many in this area tended to Ian Crump, Ms. Doris are proud, very proud graduates Gilliam, Joseph Hubbard, Samof Southern University and join uel Harris, Ms. Naomi Lee, and in this great celebration.

Ms. Leatrice Sims.

The Grandsons of Italy (40 The March Madness Brackmembers strong) sponsored a ets in many households will not feast, including casseroles, ses- win one copper penny from Warame cookies, rock candy, fried ren Buffet. He promised one biland sugared pastries, spaghetti, lion dollars for a perfect bracket, fish and boiled eggs to honor but Duke and Wichita spoiled St. Joseph. It is a tribute to St. this! Of course Warren knew Joseph given by parishioners the money was safe. throughout the area and elseOur Sympathy and prayers where. The assortment of food go to the families of the late was harvested by the members Joseph Ricardo, Jr. Native of and distributed to the less for- Donaldsonville and a resident of tunate. (Sounds like a winner.) Houston, Texas whose funeral The Louisiana State Univer- was last weekend at St. Catherine sity (LSU) Lady Tigers fought Church and to the family of the a good fight in their NCAA win late Julia Batiste who was laid over Georgia Tech and West Vir- to rest on last Wednesday here ginia. The consistency of which in Baton Rouge. Condolences they displayed their skills was to you. amazing. They ran up the scores Happy Birthday to Michael early on and continued to pounce Williams and his brother Angello on their opponent until victory Williams, Ms. Dawn Harris, and was theirs. That’s great skill and Ms. DeLicia Hawkins. should be congratulated!! Much ObamaCare sign in ended luck in the sweet 16. on last weekend. Sure hoping Are You Ready for some you have health insurance. good basketball? Well, the Have a very blessed weekCrown Kingz play on Monday end. Enjoy the cool weather. and Saturday evenings at the Wellness Center at 5100 Osborne Love, Avenue. Good food, entertainMarge ment and cheers to the folk who Spring is in the

Budget from page 1 in coming years as government borrowing squeezes out savings and investment and spiraling costs of federal retirement and health care programs promise to swamp taxpayers. Ryan cited Congressional Budget Office studies that show curbing deficits and debt would lead to a healthier economy in the long term - and claims $74 billion in such macroeconomic effects to promise a balanced budget in 2024.

“Just as a weak economy can drag the budget into the red, a responsible budget can help propel the economy forward,” Ryan said. “If Washington is serious about helping working families - or serious about getting families out of work back to work - then it needs to get serious about the national debt.”

But Democrats cast Ryan’s

plan as an all-out assault on the poor and working class. More than $700 billion in cuts to Medicaid over 10 years would force hundreds of thousands of seniors from nursing home care, for instance, while $135 billion cut from food stamps and other nutrition aid would increase hunger. Eliminating a mandatory funding stream for Pell Grants would mean fewer poor kids could dream of college, they said, while cuts to education, scientific research and NASA would harm U.S. competitiveness.

“This dog-eat-dog budget is nothing short of an assault on Americans struggling to stay afloat economically. It absolutely decimates safety net programs like (food stamps) and Medicaid - designed to stop people from falling into deep poverty,” said Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen,

Thursday, April 3, 2014 • The Weekly Press • Page 3

Scotlandville Club Celebrates 60th Anniversary with Program, Exhibit

Recently the Joviette Civic and Social Club, Inc. of Scotlandville celebrated its 60th Anniversary with a program and an exhibit at the SU Museum of Art (SUMA).

Joviette Geraldine White, president, welcomed guests, gave a brief history of the club and introduced the club members. Joviette Eileen Kennedy provided the meditation and highlighted the civic, community and social activities that the Joviettes have supported and promoted over the sixty years. Joviette Irene

Tucker exhibited several of her paintings that were displayed in the museum gallery. Joviette Dorothy Davis read original poetry, including a poem she composed and dedicated to one of Joviette Irene’s painting. All club members contributed to a dynamic power point presentation of memories from the past sixty years.

The Joviette Civic and Social Club, Inc. was organized in February 1954 with the late Amy Brazier Pugh serving as the lead member.

All Invited to Come Celebrate being 44 Years Wild!

BATON ROUGE — BREC’s Baton Rouge Zoo will host its annual Zippity Zoo Fest on Saturday, April 5 and Sunday, April 6. Marking the anniversary of the Zoo’s Easter Sunday opening in 1970, Zippity Zoo Fest also kicks off the beginning of spring at the Zoo. “Zippity Zoo Fest is one that’s particularly near and dear to the Zoo,” said Phil Frost, Zoo Director. “Not only does it provide the perfect atmosphere for children and their parents to shake off their cabin fever, but it allows all of us to look back on how far we’ve come since

Awards from page 1 ecutive director of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission, said Louisiana ‘s efforts to reduce the number of DWI-related deaths and injuries involve commitments by a wide range officials and organizations.

“Any progress we are making in our impaired driving efforts is due to the work of many individuals and organizations,” LeBlanc said. “These include legislators who write laws designed to protect us from drunk drivers, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges and many others.

It’s truly a team effort but the men and women who actually make the DWI arrests are on the front line and deserve great credit.”

the Zoo first opened. And as BREC begins wrapping up town hall meetings and online input for Imagine Your Parks 2, we’re especially excited this year to hear what vision the community has for the Zoo in the future.”

Activities at Zippity Zoo Fest will include the Children’s Village, face painting, feature keeper and horticulture chats, the Safari Snapshot photo booth, Ed-Zoo-Cation station, live entertainment stage and special guests from across the region.

Admission gates will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Zoo grounds close at 6 p.m. Regular Zoo admission applies. For more information on Zippity Zoo Fest 2014, please visit www.brzoo.org/ zippityzoofest or call (225) 775-3877.

BREC’s Baton Rouge Zoo BREC’s Baton Rouge Zoo is a place where people connect with animals, including tigers, giraffes, rhinos and alligators. The world-class Realm of the Tiger, Flamingo Cove, Giants of the Islands, Safari Playground, L’aquarium de Louisiane, Parrot Paradise and KidsZoo exhibits offer fun and education for all ages.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), a distinction reserved for only the top 10% of zoos in the nation, accredit the Baton Rouge Zoo. For more information, please visit www.brzoo.org.

St. Michael’s students and teachers pose with SU students and employees at the end of celebration

By Bridget Udoh BATON ROUGE, LA - The Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center, in conjunction with JAGS in Ag, kicked off the Annual National Ag Day which was on Tuesday, March 25, 2014. The event was launched, March 24 and ended on Wednesday, March 26. National Agriculture Day is a day set aside to recognize and celebrate the abundance provided by agriculture. Every year, producers, agricultural associates, corporations, universities, government agencies and countless others across America join together to recognize the contributions of agriculture. The theme for this year’s celebration is “365 Sunrises and 7 Billion Mouths to Feed” Activities showcasing a Barnyard Display and Petting Zoo at St. Michael’s Episcopal Day School in North Baton Rouge ushered in the three-day celebration, in which youth 2-5 years old along with their teachers were taught or reminded about the sources of food and benefits of agriculture.

Southern University students majoring in agriculture joined SU Ag Center employees in interacting with the students at St. Michael’s School, showing them young animals like chicks, goat kids, and rabbits, and telling them about their uses in daily life.

On Tuesday, the National Ag Day kicked into full gear with Ag Center Display in Rm. 191, A.O. Williams Hall, along with Poster Presentation by JAGS in Ag students followed by an evening reception with performances

by Scotlandville Middle Magnet School Choir and a live jazz band from EBR public school. The celebration concluded on Wednesday with adopt-A-Classroom at Southern University Laboratory School where agriculture-related activities was performed to teach youth how Ag affects their everyday living.

BATON ROUGE – After a long, cold winter it is time to splash in East Baton Rouge Parish. BREC will open Park Splash Pads at City-Brooks, Forest and Greenwood Community Parks on last Monday for the 2014 season. Each location will operate splash pads from March-Oct. daily from 8 a.m.-8 p.m.

City-Brooks Community Park Splash Pad can be activated with a green push button on the three foot brown pole next to the spray feature area at the edge of the brick near the landscaping.

Forest Community Park Splash Pad can be activated with a green push button on the three-foot light blue pole located in the splash pad spray area.

Greenwood Community Park can be activated with a See BREC, on page 7

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Jags in Ag student holds goat kid for youngsters to pet “This is an opportunity for the public to understand the value of agriculture in our everyday lives and its profound impact on this country and the world,”

said Dr. Renita Marshall, event coordinator who can be reached at 225-771-0252.

For further detail on National Ag Day, visit www.agday.org.

Registration is now in progress.

All camp sites will be open for walk-in registrants.

Visit the site at which you want to attend camp and register in person.

Spaces are limited; first come-first served.

Grant from page 1 $3 million in Homeland Security grant funding is being allocated to make the Greater New Orleans area more secure,” Rep. Richmond said. “New Orleans received by far the most funding of all the cities that were excluded last year. This is a sign that the Administration recognizes how important our area is in the fight to protect the Nation. From my post on the Homeland Security Committee, I will continue to make the case to the Administration why funding to secure our region, including our ports and waterways must be a national priority.

Rankings from page 1 the 50 states. The Rankings allow counties to see how well they are doing based on 29 factors that influence health including smoking, high school graduation rates, employment, physical inactivity, and access to healthy foods.

The complete 2014 Rankings are available at www.countyhealthrankings.org.

BREC Opens Park Splash Pads for the Summer Season

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Happy 44th: BREC’s Baton Rouge Zoo Hosts Annual Zippity Zoo Fest 2014

SU Ag Center Launches Nation Ag Day

“Team Working Success Through Through Quality Performance” “Team Working ForForSuccess Quality Performance”

“Teaming with Shreveport for progress”

“Teaming with Louisiana for progress” W.T.South Winfield, Manager 225-383-0822 Baton Rouge Civil Engineers NeededOffice 318-222-0639 Shreveport Office 1-866-324-WTAA Toll Free 1-866-324-WTAA Toll Free W.T. Winfield, Manager

COMMENTARY Thursday, April 3, 2014 • The Weekly Press • Page 4

A Compelling Look at Childhood Trauma Leesburg, FL – Releasing on April 1, M. Dolon Hickmon’s chilling story introduces a riveting and accessible approach to the issues of child abuse and recovery. At the same time, 13:24 – A Story of Faith and Obsession is a stayup-all-night crime thriller.

“I have written and published research on child abuse and excessive corporal punishment since 2006,” Hickmon says. “I eventually realized that although studies were being done and papers being written, the latest advances in our understanding of early trauma were not reaching the public. My solution was to create a fast-paced crime thriller that would combine my own experiences as a victim and survivor with true crime headlines and cutting-edge research into the neurobiological basis of PTSD.” The result is an acclaimed novel that sensitively guides readers through the spiritual, physical, and emotional consequences of child abuse and the lifelong process of overcoming it.

“Mr. Hickmon writes with the clarity, power and passion of someone who really knows what he is writing about, and who understands the wide range of responses human beings experience when trying to deal with lives affected by ongoing trauma,” declared Bristol University trauma researcher and emeritus professor Dr. Kim Etherington, in her pre-publication review; “There are textbooks that explain the scientific mechanisms that underpin post traumatic stress disorder, but this book tells a story that reaches out to help us all understand.”

The novel opens with a troubled teenager named Chris. Struggling with a flood of emotions toward his mother’s ex-boyfriend, he chooses to resolve things with lethal violence. When Chris’s mother is also found brutally murdered, Detective William Hursel is left with only a handful of clues. While the media obsesses over Chris’s infatuation with the violent lyrics of a popular heavy-metal band, Detective Hursel searches for a deeper motive.

Links between Chris and the band’s lead singer, Josh, soon emerge, drawing the detective into a web of crime and past family violence. Framed by scenes of rockstar glamour, political intrigue, and police adventure, Chris and Josh’s stories converge at the intersections of religion and psychology, love and revenge, destruction and redemption.

M. Dolon Hickmon is a writer, activist, and a survivor of religious child maltreatment. His writings can be found on news websites like AlterNet, Salon, and the Spiritual Abuse Survivor’s Blog Network, and his opinion pieces have appeared in newspapers such as the Scotsman, the South Lake Press, and the Bainbridge (GA) PostSearchlight.

Hickmon’s original research continues to be cited by many and was included in a 2010 civil rights presentation to a committee of the US Congress. His hobbies include reading, songwriting, and playing acoustic and electric guitar.

He lives with his wife and their daughter.

For more, please visit the website: http://1324book.com

Conviction, Compassion and the Offender Patient

By Hakim Hazim Did you ever look into the eyes of a child who killed his parents or an adult who viciously stabbed a man to death? Have you conversed with hit men or former gang members who in defense of their turf or profession discuss taking lives as nonchalantly as ordering food at a drive thru? Anyone like me realizes the fictionalized protagonists you see on film are far from accurate descriptions. In fact, violent offenders make up less than 40% of our jail and prison population.

All inmates need hope. Regardless of the crime, two obvious characteristics stand out in regard to the incarcerated: poverty and color. Beyond that, it is equally clear that the majority of people who find themselves in our criminal justice system have mental health issues stemming from severe trauma, abuse or addiction. We are increasingly dealing with an offender patient. Most cases should have been a patient that has all five characteristics.

The chart below includes key codes that illustrate the criminal profile and the justifications behind the punitive and historical indifference of society and the criminal justice system: • (E) Environment • (TEA) Traumatic or abuse experiences • (G) Genetics The approaches behind these phrases were accepted as axioms— self-evident truths—that were unquestioned. Historically in the U.S., sentencing guidelines were indeterminate and individualized.

A team of officials decided when a prisoner was ready for release.

In the 1970s, political pressure mounted from researchers, prisoner rights groups, and victims (citing arbitrariness in regards to release dates was the charge) to fix sentencing guidelines from an individualized team approach to a determinate one. Shrewd politicians achieved election by taking a “get tough on crime” approach and the war on drugs only exacerbated the crisis. Fortunately, statistics and

science are teaching us to look at individualized approaches once again. Most of the funding focuses on treatment and programming that equips offenders and their families.

On March 5, 2014, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced President Obama’s $173 million dollar Criminal Justice Reform budget proposal.

Here are some highlights from the reform initiative: • $15 million in funding for U.S. attorneys that will promote prevention, re-entry work and alternatives to sentencing via the establishment of specialized courts (family, mental health, drug and veteran) • $15 million in funding to federal residential treatment for drug offenders • $14 million for state and local residential treatment for offenders • $115 million for the Second Chance Act Grant program that is focused on reducing recidivism In many ways, Holder’s hand was forced by an external and internal factor: the untenable pace of incarceration and a conscience disquieted by the status quo and the following statistics.

In 1970, we had roughly 200,000 adults incarcerated in the US, with a population of about 203 million. One in 1,000 adults were incarcerated. In 2010, the US population grew to 309 million (314 million today). Our incarceration rate has ballooned to a range of 2.2 – 2.4 million. Based on more advanced data from Wonkbook, we now incarcerate one in 100 adults in this country. Drug offenses lead the way with 51% in federal custody and 20% in state facilities.

Contrary to popular opinion, juvenile justice incarceration is at its lowest rate since 1975. The Annie E. Casey Foundation noted a 41% decline in the last 16 years, and this is largely due to our emphasis on social science.

Armed with conviction, science and empathy, we must now broaden the narrative to include all of the factors that lead to a burSee CONVICTION, on page 7

Buy Black: An Economic Empowerment Strategy

By George E. Curry NNPA Columnist Margarita “Maggie” Anderson wants to transform “Buy Black” from a leftover 1960s slogan to a modern economic empowerment strategy. And because she has lived it, there is no person better qualified to lead the charge.

Anderson and her family spent all of 2009 purchasing goods and services exclusively from Black merchants. She is author of a book cataloguing her experience titled, Our Black Year. She also authored an essay in the State of Black America report issued Thursday by the National Urban League titled, “Facts vs. Fiction: Buying Black as an Economic Empowerment Strategy.”

Like the farmer trying to get his mule’s attention, Anderson whacks us across the head in the National Urban League report with two disturbing facts.

Fact #1: “…Most of the products and services African Americans consume – Black media and entertainment, Black dating websites, Black hair and skin care, Black toys, and Black fashion –are neither produced nor distributed

by Black-owned firms. Behind this consumption are billions of dollars in business contracts, business growth, advertising revenue, entrepreneurial opportunity and economic empowerment that, while driven by Black consumer spending, are not empowering the Black community.”

Ouch!

Fact #2: “In practice, selfhelp economics seems to be more proactively and effectively leveraged by other ethnic groups.

For example, in Asian communities, a dollar circulates among the community’s banks, retailers, and business professionals for up to 28 days before it is spent outside of the community. In the Jewish community, the circulation period is 19 days; in the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) community, it’s 17 days; and in the Hispanic community, it’s 7 days. Yet, in the Black community, the dollar lives only six hours before it leaves the community.”

Enough, I feel ya!

Anderson says we have not harnessed our $1 trillion a year spending power because our civic and religious leaders, unlike Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., are unwilling to exhort our community to “Buy Black.”

In his last speech, Dr. King said: “…We’ve gotten to strengthen our Black institutions. I call upon you to take your money out of the [White] banks downtown and deposit your money in Tri-State Bank. We want a bankin movement in Memphis… We have six or seven Black insurance companies in Memphis. Take out your insurance there. We want to have an ‘insurance-in.’”

He explained: “We begin the process of building a greater economic base. And at the same time, we are putting pressure where it really hurts.”

Anderson wrote, “While ‘buying Black’ is at least as old as Emancipation, ‘buying Black’ has not been a highlight of the modern, post-Civil Rights era struggle for economic empowerment, much less a noticeable movement or public approach embraced by our community’s institutions,

professional and civic organizations, universities, or churches.”

The rich irony is that our business organizations are demanding that federal and local governments award at least 10 percent of public contracts to Black businesses, yet we won’t spend 10 percent of our outlays with those same businesses.

“According to the landmark Northwestern University’s Kellogg Business School study based on The Empowerment Experiment, out of close to $1 trillion in Black spending power, maybe 3 percent of that goes to Black professionals, suppliers and firms,” Anderson wrote. “But if Black households with annual income of $75,000 or more –middle and upper income African Americans – were to increase spending with Black professionals and firms from 3 percent to just 10 percent, we could create close to 1,000,000 jobs.”

She explained, “This 10 percent includes direct spending with local Black-owned businesses, as well as indirect spending through the support of Black vendors, agents, dealers and franchises of mainstream firms. The new jobs would be created from the money we already have and currently spend – no government program and no corporate social responsibility outlay necessary.”

Some African Americans, especially those who like to romanticize about Black life under Jim Crow, like to say Blacks were more willing to support Black businesses in the past because of segregation.

But like goods in a White-owned store, Anderson isn’t buying.

“Segregation did not compel the ingenuity, intelligence, and investment that created those busi-

Ella Baker: My Civil Rights Heroine

By Marian Wright Edelman NNPA Columnist Until the killing of Black men, Black mothers’ sons, becomes as important to the rest of the country as the killing of a White mother’s son—we who believe in freedom cannot rest until this happens. – Ella Baker The quote above is from Ella Baker 50 years ago, and like so much about this visionary civil rights leader it is still just as relevant today. She was talking about the murders of Civil Rights Movement workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, who disappeared together in Mississippi in June 1964.

Chaney was Black, and Goodman and Schwerner were White.

Ella Baker was an outspoken warrior against injustice and inequality her entire life, and always, always unwilling to rest. Her words continue to be a rallying cry for all of us who believe our nation still does not see and value Black and White children’s lives the

same way.

I first met Mrs. Baker during my senior year at Spelman College in Atlanta. She was a staff member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and was often a powerful behind-the-scenes adviser to close colleagues like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ella Baker believed in servant leadership and shared leadership rather than charismatic leadership and encouraged young people like me to find and lift our own voices and join them with others.

She was instrumental in founding the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and fought to make sure we retained our own independent organization as students rather than simply becoming the youth arm of the Dr. King-led SCLC. Julian Bond, Diane Nash, Bob Moses, and many other fellow student activists and young activists were all influenced by her example, counsel and convening and share a special debt of reverence and gratitude.

Ella Baker was born in 1903 in Norfolk, Va. She had a strict mother, a warm and caring father,

and a large extended family of grandparents, uncles, and aunts who shared what they had with the poor. She was a fighter and as a child beat up White children who called her names. Since there was no schooling for Black children beyond elementary years in her area, she went off to boarding school at Shaw University in Raleigh, N.C. and was valedictorian of her high school and college graduating classes.

She moved to Harlem, got caught up in its excitement, and went everywhere to hear lectures and speeches and read in libraries to learn everything she could.

After working as a domestic and as a waitress, she got a job with the Negro National News published by George Schuyler who later recommended her for a job at the NAACP. She rapidly rose through NAACP ranks. “Wherever she went,” her biographer and friend Joanne Grant wrote in Ella Baker: Freedom Bound, “she created a whirlwind, leaving a scatter of papers, notes, leaflets, church programs, and phone numbers in her wake. . . She never let up her

nesses [North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, Black Wall Street, Madam C.J. Walker’s hair products] nor did unjust laws force Black people to believe in each other,” Anderson stated. “To accept that the viability of a consumerdriven economic empowerment strategy depends on segregation or oppression of a community is to fall prey to the notion that the Black community must be forced into greatness…On the contrary, I believe we can bring back the economic empowerment that sustained the Black community before and until integration.”

To do that, however, we need to leverage modern-day technology.

“It is now easier than ever before to learn about, mobilize, seek and support Black-owned businesses,” Anderson wrote.

“Therefore, technology enables us to involve consumers in an economic empowerment strategy by educating, inspiring and facilitating their practice of self-help economics.”

Now, does she have your attention?

George E. Curry, former editorin-chief of Emerge magazine, is editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service (NNPA.) He is a keynote speaker, moderator, and media coach. Curry can be reached through his Web site, www.georgecurry.com. You can also follow him at www.twitter.com/currygeorge and George E. Curry Fan Page on Facebook.

struggle to increase the role of the rank and file.”

Ella Baker pushed for organizational structure and rules in the NAACP just as she did later at SCLC and SNCC. Ella Baker was the one who sat down with Bayard Rustin and Stanley Levinson to discuss how to create a continuing movement out of the Montgomery bus boycott, which led to SCLC’s formation. As the first staff member hired for SCLC, it was Ella Baker who tried to put the new organization in operating order so that Dr. King was not just a leader who reacted to and jumped from one event to the next. She worked to give SCLC the capacity to plan and implement action. And Ella Baker was the one who convinced Dr. King to bring me and about 200 other Black college students who had been arrested for engaging in sit-in protests to open up lunch counters around the South to a meeting at her alma mater, Shaw University. My first plane ride ever was from Atlanta to Raleigh for that meeting. SNCC was the meeting’s result.

See BAKER, on page 5

The views expressed in the editiorial columns are not necessarily the veiws of The Weekly Press or its staff. Address all opinions and comments to: Letters to the Editior, P.O. Box 74485 Baton Rouge, La. 70874 or E-mail them to: theweeklypress@yahoo.com

Thursday, April 3, 2014 • The Weekly Press • Page 5

April 3 Opening of Baton Rouge’s Newest Chick-fil-A Restaurant Creates 80 Jobs Celebration Includes Food Drive to Help the Needy and Awarding 100 Free Year’s Supply of Chick-fil-A Meals BATON ROUGE, La. – Baton Rouge’s newest Chickfil-A restaurant will open April 3 at 15055 Airline Highway, bringing 80 new jobs and the chance for 100 adults to win free Chick-fil-A meals for a year as the chain marks the 50th anniversary of its signature Chickfil-A chicken sandwich.

Chick-fil-A’s “First 100” event, which began in 2003 as a way to celebrate the first standalone Chick-fil-A in Arizona, immediately became the cornerstone of every Chick-fil-A grand opening when the first person arrived the day more than 18 hours in advance wondering where to get in line. Others soon followed and by the time the restaurant opened for business the next day, more than 100 were waiting.

Humbled and surprised by the dedication of its fans, Chickfil-A quickly implemented the “First 100” at every grand opening and in the past 10 years has given away almost $21 million in free food at more than 750 grand openings.

The new Airline Highway

restaurant will be the scene of the latest Chick-fil-A grand opening celebration. The first 100 adults, ages 18 and older with identification, in line when the doors open around 6 a.m. on Thursday, April 3, each will win a one-year supply of 52 free Chick-fil-A® Meals – a total of more than $30,000 in free food. The line officially opens at 6 a.m., Wednesday, April 2. If there are more than 100 people in line at that time, all 100 spots will be determined by a drawing held that morning with those selected needing to camp out to secure their spot. For complete rules, see Chick-fil-A First 100 Promotion.

In addition to the First 100 celebration, Chick-fil-A at Airline Highway Operator Greg Salomone is hosting a food drive at his new location on Wednesday, April 2 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. He will be collecting non-perishable food to restock the shelves at the Baton Rouge Food Bank. Individuals donating at least five items will receive a card for a free Chick-fil-A sandwich, one per a person. Those camping out also will be engaged in a competition to see who can collect the most items by engaging family and friends to donate in their name.

The top collector will receive an additional prize.

Celebrating nearly 30 years of being a Chick-fil-A See JOBS, on page 7

Baker from page 4 Ella Baker was fully aware of but unintimidated by the men she worked with who devalued the advice of women and sometimes resented her forcefulness, prodding, and “mothering.” She made no special effort to be ingratiating.

She labored at SCLC as she had at the NAACP to raise money, conduct voter registration drives, speak to citizens groups (sometimes ten times a day), and travel to community after community to help people help themselves.

I remember her counsel as I think about sustaining and strengthening the Children’s Defense Fund’s mission today and future tomorrow for the long haul struggle to create and maintain a level playing field for every child. I learned from her the

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We all honor Ella Baker by keeping her belief in freedom and equality alive until it becomes reality for every mother’s child.

Marian Wright Edelman is president of the Children’s Defense Fund whose Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. For more information go to www.childrensdefense.org.

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Louisiana Ag Economy Grows to New Record High of $11.8 billion in 2013

By Linda Foster Benedict BATON ROUGE, LA – For the second year in a row, Louisiana farmers had record-breaking values for many of their commodities, which led to a new high value of $11.8 billion for the agriculture sector of the Louisiana economy in 2013 – up 3.8 percent from 2012.

“Records broke records for the second year in a row, which is very unusual in agriculture,” said John Westra, the LSU AgCenter economist in charge of the Ag Summary, which is a compilation of the numbers from the more than 200 agricultural commodities grown and raised across the state.

The AgCenter prepares the Ag Summary annually – and has since 1979 – to gauge the status of the agricultural economy, which is second only to the petrochemical industry in value in the state, Westra said.

The main contributing factor to record yields for the second year in a row for corn, grain sorghum, soybeans and sweet potatoes and record yields for cotton and rice was good weather.

“We had ideal conditions during the fruiting or growing season for these crops,” Westra said, adding that harvest season went smoothly for the most part as well.

Not only did temperatures stay out of extreme ranges, but also there were no hurricanes or major problems with disease or pests.

Although cotton and sweet potatoes had record average yields – 1,221 pounds per acre for cotton and 481 bushels per acre for sweet potatoes – they had record low acreages, Westra said. Cotton was harvested on 124,000 acres, down 101,000 acres from 2012, and sweet potatoes were harvested on only 7,300 acres, down 2,400 acres from 2012.

The acreage for cotton has been steadily going down as farmers have switched to the higher-paying crops of corn and soybeans. This year, 2014, however, some of the corn farmers may switch back to cotton because the cool spring temperatures are preventing them from getting corn planted by about mid-

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April for the crop to be profitable in Louisiana, Westra said.

Even with high yields, the low cotton acreage resulted in a drop of 33 percent in cotton’s value from 2012 to 2013 – $278 million to $185 million.

The total value of sweet potatoes went up nearly 8 percent – from $80 million to $86 million. Sweet potatoes are more of a high-risk crop in Louisiana because their harvest coincides with prime time for hurricanes in September and October, during which heavy rains can rot the underground crop before farmers can harvest it.

With record high prices for soybeans the past few years, farmers have turned over some sweet potato land to soybeans.

Soybean prices continue to be good, and combined with a record average yield of 49 bushels per acre in Louisiana; the total value in 2013 was $909 million, up 13 percent from 2012.

Corn has a similar story. The good prices combined with a record average yield of 186 bushels per acre in Louisiana led to a total value in 2013 for feed grains – mostly corn – of $930 million, which was up 17.1 percent from 2012. Feed grains also include grain sorghum and oats.

The big winner among crops was rice, which increased in value

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nearly 37 percent from 2012 to 2013 to $659 million. Rice farmers had record-high yields of an average 76-hundredweight per acre amid strong prices for rice. In 2012, rice farmers had problems with bad weather and disease, Westra said.

Still among the top five commodities for 2013 at $771 million, sugarcane dropped in value by 23 percent from 2012.

“The production was high, but the sugar prices were low,” Westra said.

Louisiana’s cattle industry did well with a value of $663 million in 2013 – up 18 percent over 2012.

“The drought and bad weather in other parts of the country helped keep prices high,” Westra said.

“Also, demand for meat products is going up as the economy improves.”

Poultry, Louisiana’s largest animal industry, also did well with a record high of $2 billion in 2013 – up 6 percent over 2012.

Although Louisiana’s dairy industry continued to lose farms and cows, its value went up more than 11 percent over 2012 to $132 million. Westra said the number of producers went down from 135 in 2012 to 125 in 2013, and the number of cows went down from 16,000 to 15,000 in 2013.

The price for dairy products was up nationally for all milk classes, fueled in part by strong

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export demand for U.S. dairy products, Westra said.

“This translated into higher prices and revenues for dairy producers in Louisiana, despite lower cow numbers and production,” Westra said.

In total, the animal and livestock commodities reached a record high for the second year in a row with a value of $3.3 billion.

Fisheries and wildlife commodities also reached a record high for the second year in a row at $1.13 billion. The biggest share of that was a marine fishery at $537 million – up nearly 3 percent.

Next was the aquaculture industry, which includes farm-raised crawfish and alligators. It was valued at $444 million in 2013 – up 3 percent from 2012.

Forestry, Louisiana’s biggest plant crop, improved slightly over 2012 at $2.88 billion, up 1.3 percent.

“This is because of the improving housing market,” Westra said.

Louisiana’s forestry industry has two sectors – the lumber market, which largely depends on the housing market, and the paper products industry.

“It’s unlikely we’ll break records in 2014,” Westra said of Louisiana agriculture. “Soybean and corn prices keep going down.

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Page 6 • The

Weekly Press • Thursday, April 3, 2014

RELIGION THE CHURCH LADY REPORT What Should I Look For in a Mate?

The Church Lady Hey Babies how ya’ll doing?

I am so glad to be among the living cause baby if you dead it ain’t nothing going on but the dirt. Chile, but do you know some of these people act so cold and stiff that you would think they were dead.

Honey I say if you dead then you need to be buried because life is for the living so if God has blessed you to be here then you need to live! Life is too short to be half living. I don’t think that you need to half do nothing. If you are going to die; then die, but if you are going to live; live.

Be present in the here and now and stop going back, looking back or holding back! Live!

Live, Live and act like you want to be here. Some of you old saint’s God has kept you here seventy, eighty, ninety plus years, and instead of living ya’ll jump in the pit and act like you’re dead already.

You can’t do this, and you can’t do that. Forget about what you can’t do and start focusing on what you can do; you just might be surprised.

How in the world can you walk around all day preaching I can’t, when the good book tells us that we can do all things through Christ Jesus, which strengthens us? Sure maybe you can’t, but you are forgetting He can.

Then you know what gets me some of these strong warriors; people who have beat Cancer and heart attracts….now they are just sitting aimlessly by and allowing the likes of arthritis and other little minor stuff take them out! Now I know that Arthritis can be a monkey on your back, but people you had better shake it off and pack it under your feet! Then do a little

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By Creflo Dollar

victory dance and tell the devil to take his arthritis and get on back to hell where they both belong. If you are reading this you are not dead so stop acting like it!) Get you butt up and complete the mission.

God is not finished and it’s not over till he says it’s over. There is still so much you can do. All kind of ministry is waiting for you to get off of the bench.

You can write letters or send cards; you can call people who are lonely and just talk to them. There is so much ministry that can be done right from your chair. So you have no excuses; none. You are not dead and neither is God. You know there is this new movie out called God’s not dead, and I believe it was actually filmed right here in our fair city. Babies I tell you that this movie was really good. It had a great message and good story line. The best part about it is that it is a movie about God playing in major movie theaters everywhere.

It does not matter that they put it in the smallest room way at the end of the movie theater; it’s still there! They put Mary and Joseph See CHURCH LADY, on page 7

The Bible makes it clear that Believers have a very real enemy whose objective is to utterly destroy us. Our enemy, the devil, goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

The devil walks around seeking whom he may devour because there are Christians whom he may not devour! They are Believers who are submitted to, and who trust in, God’s grace. The secret to winning in spiritual battle is grace. Grace puts the odds in your favor in the midst of spiritual warfare, because it enables you to access God’s rest.

When engaged in spiritual warfare, we’re sometimes tempted to do things our own way, through self-effort. But self-effort is not the way to wage effective spiritual warfare against the crafty, deceptive wiles of the devil. You’re not warring against flesh and blood but against master spirits who are the rulers of this world’s present darkness (Ephesians 6:12, AMP).

You’re fighting against a foe you can’t see; that’s why it’s called spiritual warfare. You can’t defeat the enemy in your own strength and ability. So don’t allow your pride to get in the way and insist on doing things your way. The Bible tells us, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4).

Be humble and submit to God’s will and His way. God resists the proud, but He gives grace—His

enabling power—to the humble (1 Peter 5:5).

“Ephesians 6:11 instructs us to “Put on the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

Your armor is total dependence on God’s empowering grace to deliver you. When you submit to God, He gives you more grace. His power equips you to resist the devil, who will flee from you (James 4:4-

7). He has no defense against you in spiritual warfare when you’re trusting in God’s grace (2 Corinthians 12:9, NIV).

Jesus has already secured victory for you. He opened up the door and gave you access to God’s great grace (John 1:17). This makes you armed and extremely dangerous to the kingdom of darkness! You no longer fight for victory; you fight from a place of victory!

“In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides]” (Ephesians 6:10, AMP).

Meditate on this truth until you develop full trust and confidence in Christ’s finished work on the cross. Draw your strength from Him. Through your union with Him, you’ll remain strong, firm, and unmovable in the midst of every challenge and battle you’ll ever confront in life.

“I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]!

For I have overcome the world.

[I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]”(John 16:33, AMP).

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CHURCH DIRECTORY

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. - Hebrews 10:25 Let the community know whats happing at your place of worship. Email your church event or religious organization news to The Weekly Press @ theweeklypress@yahoo.com or call 225-775-2002

Email your church event or religious organization news to The Weekly Press @ thewpress@yahoo.com or call 225-775-2002

Pastor Rev. Dr. Roosevelt Florida, Jr. Co-Pastor Rose J. Florida

VISION CHRISTIAN CENTER, INTERNATIONAL 1047 Rosenwald Road Baton Rouge, LA 70807 Telephone: (225) 774-8125 • E-Mail - visionchristianc@bellsouth.net Sunday Worship.........................................................................10:00 a.m.

Holy Communion2nd Sunday.................................................... 10:00 a.m.

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ALL ARE WELCOMED. No Dress Code-Come as you areCasual Wear

5856 Greenwell Springs Road • Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806 Telephone: (225) 926-0246 • Facsimille: (225) 925-8022 Toll Free: 888-700-6174 Websites: www.newhopebr.com

Come enjoy the Sweet atmosphere of love with us. Please bring you children for the children are the future to tomorrow’s World. You will experience blessings of Healing, Deliverance, Freedom of Bandages, and so much more of what the Lord has for you, your family and your love ones!!!

Direction to Hope Christian Center is located at 5013 Windfalls Coutts If you are coming from Airline Highway north or south come to Hank Drive. Once on Hank Drive go through two (2) STOP SIGNS and to you left will be 5013 Windfalls Court to your immediate left Hope Christian Center is located at 5013 Windfalls Courts, Baton Rouge 70812 For more information, please contact either of these numbers (225) 355-8194 or 225-673-1633.

Rev. Leo Cyrus Sr., Pastor Order Of Services Sunday Worship...................................................... 11:00 A.M. Holy Communion.................................. 3rd Sunday 6:00 P.M. Sunday School..........................................................9:00 A.M. Bible Study................................................Thrusday 7:00 P.M.

Thursday, April 3, 2014 • The Weekly Press • Page 7

Edwards from page 2 figuring out all the legalities and how to set up a super PAC, and then I’m going.”

Edwards served two consecutive terms as governor from 1972 to 1980. He was elected to a third term in 1983 and a final term in 1991. The former U.S. Navy aviation cadet and lawyer began his career as a city councilman and state representative before being elected to Congress, and then governor.

Edwards married his third wife, Trina, who is 51 years his

junior, shortly after leaving federal prison in 2011. They starred in a short-lived reality TV show “The Governor’s Wife” on A&E, chronicling Edwards’ post-prison life.

The Republican Party of Louisiana pounced on Edwards’ announcement, saying the former governor’s tenure brought the state “higher taxes, increased gambling and a culture of corruption that has harmed our image and business climate for decades.”

Lincoln from page 2 preferences with basic American ideals of liberty and equality. Utilizing educational panels, reproduction documents, images, and artifacts, this exhibition develops a more complete understanding of Abraham Lincoln as president and the Civil War as the nation’s gravest constitutional crisis.

The National Constitution Center and the American Library Association Public Programs Office organized the traveling exhibition, which was made possible by a major grant from

the National Endowment for the Humanities. The traveling exhibition is based on an exhibition of the same name developed by the National Constitution Center. It will be at the West Baton Rouge Museum April 2-June 1.

For more information, contact the West Baton Rouge Museum at 225-336-2422 ext.

15 or visit www.westbatonrougemuseum.com. The West Baton Rouge Museum is located at 845 N. Jefferson Avenue, Port Allen LA 70767.

BREC from page 3 green push button on the two three foot yellow poles located in the splash pad spray area.

At each park, the button will engage the systems spray features and run for approximately two to three minutes and turn off. Push-

ing the button will activate the system again until 8 p.m.

For more information, call 225-272-9200 or visit brec.org/ aquatics.

It is the BREC mission to provide parks and rec.

Conviction from page 4 geoning criminal class stuck in an endless cycle of recidivism.

Every offender is different and requires a unique approach and one that will cast a vision of a better future upon release. Acquiescence to despair brings out the worst in people; tangible hope brings out the best. I remain com-

mitted to this task and I hope you will join me in this arduous swim upstream.

Hakim Hazim is the founder of Relevant Now and cofounder of Freedom Squared. He is a nationally recognized expert in decision analysis, criminality and security.

Record from page 5 And the cold weather we’ve been experiencing may have some effect.”

AgCenter extension agents and specialists compile the Ag Summary statistics parish-by-

parish. The total values reflect the value received by the farmer (farm gate) and the value when the commodity is sold at the next step in the process, which is called value-added.

Jobs from page 5 Operator that also includes operating the Siegen Lane standalone location that opened in 2002, Salomone’s legacy with the chain has truly grown to become a family affair that includes watching two of his three sons become Chick-fil-A Operators, his daughter serve as a marketing director for his restaurants and his wife and daughter-in-law also involved in the business. Salomone joins a small percentage of Chickfil-A Operators to be given two stand-alone Chick-fil-A locations with a career that includes earning several awards such as the chain’s highest Operator award – Symbol of Success – two years. Salomone graduated with a degree in marketing from Southeastern Louisiana University.

“Our focus on freshly prepared food and personal customer service is as central to our new restaurant as it was the day Truett opened his first Chickfil-A location,” said Salomone.

“That commitment continues for me and my team members at our new Airline Highway location where we can’t wait to continue welcoming and serving our guests in the community.”

The new Airline Highway Chick-fil-A restaurant is the fourth stand-alone Chick-filA restaurant in the market that includes two mall locations and one licensee. The chain first entered the state with an opening in New Orlean’s Plaza in Lake Forest in February 1975. The

Airline Highway opening brings the state’s total to 36 Chick-filA locations.

The new restaurant seats 132 and offers free Wi-Fi. Along with featuring the chain’s latest kitchen design and one of the area’s only indoor playground, the restaurant includes dual drivethru ordering lanes to expand its award-winning drive-thru service. Two drive-thru lanes will welcome motorists who will place their orders at separate screens and then merge into a single lane to pay and pick up food. With a majority of customers at Chick-fil-A stand-alone restaurants choosing drive-thru, the ability for two drivers to simultaneously order will mean quicker service. The restaurant is open Monday through Saturday from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., serving a full breakfast menu until 10:30 a.m.

For more information on the Airline Highway Chick-fil-A restaurant visit www.chick-fil-a. com/airlinehighway .

Atlanta-based Chick-filA, Inc. is a family owned and privately held Restaurant Company dedicated to serving the communities in which its restaurants operate. Credited with inventing the chicken sandwich, Chick-fil-A serves nutritious, freshly prepared food in nearly 1,800 restaurants in 39 states and Washington, D.C. More information on Chick-fil-A is available on the chain’s website, located at www.chick-fil-a.com.

Church Lady from page 6 in a stable and Jesus still came.

Hallelujah! I feel my help coming now. Help me Jesus! Chile do you know that there are three movies about God and Jesus playing right now; besides this one there is Son of God and Noah. Noah was good, but it is long…so go early if you are going. I am not going to tell you about any of them, but they were all pretty good and worth seeing so go see

them and don’t just buy those five-dollar horror copies. They deserve for you to them without other people’s heads showing while you watch. Hee, hee you people are something else.

Ya’ll go see the movies and do something to make yourselves useful you hear. Remember God is good all the time and all the time, God is good! I’ll see you church.

HEALTH healt Baton Rouge General Welcomes What’s Good For Your Heart Is G New Class of Residents to Family tantRum from page 6

apart. You must continue to hold on to your faith and stay before the Lord. But, it may be that the time has come when you may need to take some quality time for yourself and spend some of that time with God. Get on your knees before God and tell him of how you are feeling inside.

And maybe LA. the words BATON ROUGE, – Sixwont come out exactly as you teen new doctors will be coming wish but you can have a good to Baton Rouge General Medical weeping, wailing crying falling, Center’s campuses to complete out tantrum and give all those residency problems training to him. in family and internal medicine.

While you are National praying, Resiyou dent Match results anmight forgetDay some of thewere things nounced lastyou week ceremonies that vexed butatGod knows for academic centers he and what you aremedical going through. graduate procan readmedical the pain,education which flows grams across country. through your the tears. even though “Baton Rouge General’syou, new he knows what’s troubling physician residents the he still wants to tellrepresent him about top medical among it and bringtalent yourselected problems and thousands of him. candidates nationwide burdens to and we are pleased to continue to expand our medical training programs with the addition of this year’s class of residents,” noted Dr. hildRen Floyd Roberts,from Baton Rouge page 4 General’s Chief Medical Officer and Dean for Tulane University ering all children.

School of Medicine’s satellite the CDF Action Council, buildcampus at Baton Rouge General. ing on the best practices in states

C

and lessons learned about children falling through the bureaucratic cracks of Medicaid and SChiP, strongly urged Congress to enact the All healthy Children Act, S. 1564/h.r. 1688, introduced by representative Bobby Scott (D-VA) in the house and Senator Bernie Sanders (i-Vt) in the Senate. the measure would provide comprehensive benefits including dental and mental health,LA. simpliBATON ROUGE, – If fiedwere bureaucracy, andaascreening national you able to get eligibility plan for families uplife, to that could possibly save your 300 percent would you? of the federal poverty level.Colorectal We thank the 62 house cocancer is the secsponsors for their support. howond leading cause of cancer-related ever, we that neither a single deaths inregret the United States. * Achouse republican nor any other cording to the American Cancer Senator joined them to push Society, approximately 1 infor 20 coverage for all children. people will develop colon canthe CDF Action Council strongly cer. And while over 90 percent of supports long overdue health covcolorectal cancersinare foundasin erage for everyone America adults over the age of 50, it can soon as possible—because children occur a much earlier comes age. up cannotatwait.

As SChiP Fortunately, colon cancer again for reauthorization in earlyis preventable through regular screen2009, we hope every Member of ing and early “I want Congress will detection. insist on covering everyone to know that colonmother cancer every child and pregnant isnow a preventable disease,” says Dr. by enacting and adequately Oleana GastroenterfundingLamendola, the provisions of the All ologist with BatonAct. Rouge General healthy Children Physicians.

“Screening is key Specious claims that we couldto prevention. strongly recommend not find theI money—$70 billion over five years—to cover all children is belied by that amount spent in eleven months for tax cuts for the top one percent of richest Americans and in seven months for the iraq War. We do not have a money problem in America: We have a priorities and political will deficit. it is time for all adults to protect the health of our children.

therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hands of God, that he may exalt you in due time, “casting all your cares upon him, for he cares for you,”(1st Peter 5:6-7).

After you finished having your tantrum. You may have a stopped up nose and swollen eyes and mucus running down your lip and dried tears on your face, but you’ll feel better after emptying yourself of those things which had been heavy on your heart.

Sometimes we go for weeks or months trying to take matters into our hands and try to solve our own problems. We are not super humans; we can’t handle everything alone. We need God’s help.

We have to let go of those situations and let God handle them. there are some things we can’t humanly do anything about.

(NAPSM)-A survey commissioned by two leading health organizations found that although two out of three African Americans (61 percent) expressed concern about developing heart disease and two out of five (40 percent) expressed concern about developing Alzheimer’s, only about one in 20 are aware that heart health is linked to brain health. the Alzheimer’s Association is joining forces with the American heart Association to educate African Americans that by managing their cardiovascular risk, they may also strengthen their cognitive health.

“What’s good for your heart is good forfaculty your brain,” says Baton Rouge General family medicine residency member (L)Jennifer Vincent AssociaShaw, Jr., MD, with physician resident (R)Manly, JovanaPh.D., Kakish,Alzheimer’s MD. tion spokesperson. “every healthy heartbeat pumps about one-fifth of “As a community hospital cultivation of our community’s your blood to your brain to carry on and serving as the inaugural satel- future clinical leaders and access the daily processes of thinking, problite citizens campus for Tulane University to high-quality healthcare as well the of the nation must lem solving and remembering.”

School of Medicine, Baton Rouge as the advanced medical demand that our leaders free our “Bygrowth the yearof2030, the number of General is proud to support the training and clinical research children from the false ideological African Americans age 65 or olderin is and political tugs of war among expected to more than double to 6.9 those who put excess profits ahead million,” said emil Matarese, M.D., of children’s lives.

American heart Association spokeshow well did Congress protect person. “Although Alzheimer’s is children in 2007? Not well enough: not part of normal aging, age is the 276 Members of Congress had greatest risk factor for Alzheimer’s good CDF Action Council Condisease. So it is important that Afgressional Scorecard scores of 80 rican Americans take steps now to percent or higher, and 198 of those decrease their risk of heart disease, had stellar scores of 100 percent. which research has shown could But 231 members scored 60 percent also decrease the risk of cognitive ormy lower—a grade our or colorectal decline.” cancer, visit BRGenpatientsfailing who are 50from or older school have adays. family history of colorectal eral.org/Services/Gastroenterology.

Whether of Congress cancer get Members screened for the disease.

Baton Rouge General Mediare liberal,save conservative It could their life.”or modcal Center is a full-service comerate; By Democrat, republican finding and removingorpre- munity hospital, with 527 licensed independent, children all of cancerous polyps thatneed can develop beds between two campuses. As them vote, lobby, speak andthe the first hospital in Baton Rouge, into to cancer, doctors canfor stop protect Adults need to listen cancerthem. before it ever starts.

Know- opening its doors inan1900, (NAPSi)-here’s alert Baton worth carefully to what candidates sayand Rouge ing the signs and symptoms General has aAccording long history paying attention to: to they will do for children and famiunderstanding your risks is impor- of groundbreaking milestones, as the American Diabetes Association lies and, once they are in office, tant. While your age, personal and well as providing the Greater (ADA), learning your risk for Baton type 2 we need to hold them accountable. family histories are risks you canRouge community with high diabetes could save your life. qualPlease thank your Members of Connot control, youroflifestyle andordiet ity Diabetes healthcareisfor generations.

From a serious disease that gress with scores 80 percent are controllable. obesity, our birthnearly center21tomillion senior services, strikes children above and let thoseSmoking, with scores of low physical activity and heart and canand state-of-the-art adults in the U.S. it is named 60 percent or below knowand youheavy are the “silent killer” because one-third alcohol use are all linked to higher cer care, Baton Rouge General prodissatisfied with their performance. of those withfor thethe disease--more thanat6 incidence of colorectal cancer. vides care whole family And please convey that same mesmillion--do notevery know stage they have it. any of these candidate. risks apply every age and of life. sage toIf each presidential For many, diagnosis may come to you or someone you love, it’s Baton Rouge General is affiliWe must demand that our leaders seven to 10 of time tototalk to your about ated with andyears also after servestheasonset a satelcommit children as adoctor condition type 2 diabetes. early diagnosis is the best screening option for you. lite campus of Tulane University of our vote. critical for and For more information about School of successful Medicine.treatment In addition canserving delay or some of the screening and prevention asprevent a satellite campus Marian Wright Edelman is Presi- of to complications such as heart diseases, dent of the Children’s Defense Fund blindness, kidney disease, stroke and and its Action Council whose Leave amputation.

No Child Behind® mission is to that’s one reason the ADA holds ensure every child a Healthy Start, the American Diabetes Alert® Day, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe a one-day wake-up call to inform the Start and a Moral Start in life and American public about the serioussuccessful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.

Baton Rouge,” said Mark F. Slyter, President and CEO of Baton Rouge General.

More than 100 residents and medical students train at Baton Rouge General each year, and through its education programs, the hospital trains a total of approximately 500 medical students, residents, fellows, nurses, pharmacists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and radiation technologists. In addition to its academic footprint, Baton Rouge General’s medical education and training programs support and strengthen the local and state economies. The annual economic impact of its physician residents upon graduation is more than $63 million and 252 full-time jobs. * Learn more at BRGeneral.org/ Education.

Colorectal Cancer is More Preventable than Most Cancers, Screening is Key

Research shows a link between heart and brain heal heart function could students lead to impaired for Tulane medical in the brain functio LEAD (Leadership, Education, Advocacy and Discovery) Academy program, Baton Rouge General also offers a Family Medicine Residency Program, Internal Medicine Residency Program, Sports Medicine ness Fellowship of diabetes, Program, particularlySchool when increased p of and School Radio- delay or pr it isNursing left undiagnosed and of untreated. logic Technology.

Rouge diabetes. the day is held on the Baton fourth tuesday General, an accredited teaching of every March.

Among hospital since committed on that day,1991, peopleis are encour- for type 2 to exceptional aged to take themedical Diabeteseducation risk test, weight, sed and a diverse population eitherserves with paper and pencil or online. 45 and hav that is representative of the types diabetes. Af the risk test requires users to answer seven simpleinjuries, questions about age, of patients, illnesses and Native Ame weight, lifestyle andmost family history-- islanders a healthcare needs frequently all potential risk factors for seen by physicians in diabetes. private are women People scoring points or more are more than practice.

For 10 more information, at a high risk for type 2 diabetes the Dia visit BRGeneral.org, find usand on are encouraged to talk with a health Facebook at Facebook.com/Bacare professional. and follow us tonRougeGeneral estimated 54 million AmerionAn Twitter at @BRGeneral. cans have pre-diabetes. those with pre-diabetes have blood glucose levels higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. early intervention via lifestyle changes such as weight loss and

Could You Be At Risk?

Louisianachildren.Org Announces Child Well-Being Summit April Visit 16-17, 2014@ Us Online talk RROUGE, adio from BATON LA –page The 4

well-being and health of Louisiana’s children will be the focus in all funny or remotely appropriApril as hundreds ate about the useof ofpractitioners a lynching reference aboutbackgrounds Michelle obama,’’ from various and he said. ‘’it’s - i’m speechless.’’ disciplines gather to hear from As President Bushscience pointed says out researchers on what so eloquently during thewhen Blackit should be the priorities history event, theimprovnoose comes to Month investing in, and represents ‘’morein than tool of ing, child welfare ourastate. murder a tool of intimidation’’ Thebut Louisiana Child Wellto generations African-AmeriBeing Summit of will be held April cans. Nooses not only robbed 16-17 in Baton Rouge andsome will of their lives but many of their offer a unique opportunity for peace of mind. participants to collaborate with ‘’As civil society, must local andanational expertswe from the understand that noose displays legal, child welfare, medical, menand lynching jokes are deeply tal health and law-making comoffensive. they are wrong. And munities. The Summit is designed they have no place in America intoday,’’ response to an increasing need he said. for Neither the opportunity of ingraham researcho’reilly nor ers and direct service providers has been reprimanded by their recoming to share spectivetogether employers evenscientific though knowledge, address the did need for the Fox News personality offer increase public awareness, and a half-hearted apology. propose changes in policies and At least ingraham didn’t drop practices counteractthat the the l-wordthat but can her suggestion high level of risk thatpresidential children in Sharpton, a former Louisiana face. candidate and respected member of “The Summit on community Child Wellthe African-American Being will provide the opportunity and beyond, is a petty thief reeks for planning of discussion race-baitingand and negativeacross stereotyping of disciplines to African-Americans improve the quality men in particular. ofand lifeblack for children in Louisiana,” ButDr. it’s John hardlyWyble, the firstexecutive time eistated ther has ventured into questionable director, LouisianaChildren.org, and offensive territory. how can “and, we believe this discussion is long overdue. Not only will we focus on best practices but we will alsoyStem look closely how 4policy fromat page has benefited, or not, children and families.” cally pointed out that The Summit willchanges feature which occur in a human being is leading researchers in the field, redirectedthe to pull from the core including following keynote of his own humanity to reaffirm speakers: self worth and purpose. he will • Joy D. Osofsky, Ph.D. - Clinthen by nature acquire the will to ical and developmental psycholodo for himself and others. gistSpace and Barbara Lemann Professor is not available to cover inconcerns the Departments of Pediatrics of so many people and Psychiatry at Louisiana State

S

University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans.

• Judyo’reilly’s Cameron,less-thanPh.D. - Prowe forget fessor, Department of Psychiatry, informed comments regarding a dinner he shared last year School with University of Pittsburgh Sharpton at Sylvia’s in harlem? of Medicine. o’reilly expressed • Brenda Jonessurprise Harden,over Ph.D. how similarSylvia’s to Institute other - Associate Professorwas at the restaurants in New Yorkthe restaufor Child Study under Departrants. ment of Human Development at ‘’there wasn’t one person in University of Maryland College Sylvia’s Park. who was screaming, ‘M-Fer, i want Jellinek, more iced tea,’’’ • Michael MD. - Prohe said. fessor of Psychiatry and of PediAs theHarvard Washington Post’sSchool. robatrics, Medical inson sadly observed on MSNBC Former Chief of Child Psychiatry inatFebruary, ‘’All General you canHospital, go by Massachusetts is his words and his actions. And Boston, MA. he keeps saying these things that To register for the Summit, sound pretty darn racist to me.’’ view listing,anything and learn has the talk course radio learned more about child well-being from imus’ decline and fall? of in Louisiana visit www.louisianacourse not, because it didn’t take children.org. imus too terribly long to get a The Summit is a partnership new gig. coordinated

by LouisianaChildren. our nation’s media outlets org including: Advocacy should not provideChild a platform for Centers of Louisiana, racialhostility and hatefulLouisiana speech CASA, Foundation, now or in Pennington the future. What kind of Prevent Child AbusetoLouisiana, messageare we sending our chilDaveour Thomas Foundation, Blue dren, nation and our world?

Cross Blue Shieldelection of Louisiana, in such an historic year, Louisiana Department Chilwe cannot stand aside and of allow individuals to use the airwavesthe dren & Family Services, asLouisiana an outletSupreme for insensitive Court, and Court misguidedcommentary. if you of Improvement Program, March hear something that offends you, Dimes of Louisiana, Department speak up. of Psychiatry - LSU Health Sciences Center, AmeriCorps VISTA, Louisiana Chapter of the American Association of Pediatrics, Louisiana Children’s Trust Fund, Louisiana Children’s Justice Act, and concerned with the conditions National Association of Social atWorkers, Jetson. it is happening there.

Louisiana Chapter.

What iThe do know that most posiof CASAis program these youth can be changed, from tively influences the lives of chilcontrition in a prepatory school dren by training volunteers to look for Angola to rehabilitation for for the best interest. aout positive lifechild’s that may lead to a Many times, thereglory. is notThat one conlife of meritorious is sistent the Wayadult I See who It! is a voice in the child’s life. CASA volunteers are

www.theweeklypress.com

men and women who want to help unteer provides individualized the children in their community. one-on-one advocacy and works They come from all walks of life with all agencies and parties in... have a variety of backgrounds volved to gather information and to Line 356-0703 ...Land young and(225) old ... working and provide an independent report for Cell Phone (225) 235-6955... and the Court with recommendations retired ... are all volunteers GSRASAC E-mail: Goodshepherdbapt@bellsouth. they all have the same desire ... to based solely upon the child’s best make a difference in the8am life of net Hours: Mon-Thurs – 8anpm interest. Without CASAs, many abused or neglected child. abused children spend their lives The volunteer gets to know moving fromCenter one foster home to Good Shepherd Substance Abuse all aspects of the child’s life and another, never having a family to Intensive Outpatient / Inpatient Therapy then lets the judge and others in the call their own.

For Drugs, Alcohol, Anger Management system know the child’s perspecTo find your local CASA protive as well as the child’s needs. gram, visit www.louisianacasa.org.

2873 Mission Drive Rev. Donald Britton, MA, LAC Following training, being a CASA A children’s advocacy center Baton Rouge, LA 70805 Clinical Director volunteer only takes 8 hours of (225) 315-0740 Bishop HarrisSee Hayes, Overseer SUMMIT, on page 8 time each month. A CASA vol-

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Page 8 • The

Weekly Press • Thursday, April 3, 2014

OPENING FALL 2014

SPORTS

Tiger Woods: Out Of The Masters, Is Facing His Biggest Rival Yet • Core Curriculum Classes • Spanish • Performing Arts • Technology Skills • Safe and Secure Campus • Strong Disciplinary Practices/TOR • Special Education Services • Caring & Supportive Faculty

Tiger Woods

By Dan Wetzel Yahoo Sports It’s been 17 years – yes, 17 years – since 21-year-old Tiger Woods torched Augusta National at an unheard of 18-under par, besting Tom Kite by a record 12 strokes to win the Masters. It was the first of four green jackets, and 14 major championships, for Tiger.

From that moment the golf world has been desperately seeking a viable rival for Tiger, perhaps to beat him, perhaps to challenge him, perhaps just to make things interesting. So many were propped up with varying degrees of success and longevity, from Phil to Vijay to Ernie to Rory to even, um, Sergio.

None quite took, at least not the way Palmer challenged Hogan or Nicklaus challenged Palmer or Watson challenged Nicklaus and so on.

Now, however, nearly six years since Woods won the U.S. Open, then hobbled off Torrey Pines never to be quite the same again, the rival that is undoing him, and likely will continue to, gets clearer and clearer.

Time, injury and now, perhaps most concerning, recurring defeats to the most dreaded injury in the sport: a bad back.

Tiger announced Tuesday that he will skip this year’s Masters after undergoing a microdiscectomy for a pinched back nerve. The surgery took place Monday in Park City, Utah, and could keep him out for as long as six months.

“After attempting to get ready for the Masters, and failing to make the necessary progress, I decided, in consultation with my doctors, to have this procedure done,” Woods said in the statement.

“It also looks like I’ll be forced to miss several upcoming tournaments to focus on my rehabilitation and getting healthy. … This is frustrating, but it’s something my doctors advised me to do for my immediate and long-term health.”

Never before has Tiger missed a trip to Augusta National, one of his preferred courses where even through struggles with his game or personal life he almost always finished well – 13 top-10 finishes, including 11 top fives.

And no matter the positive proclamation expressing a hopeful return after this “successful” procedure, the future is very much unknown. Perhaps this surgery solves it, but “perhaps” is the best anyone can legitimately say.

“There should be no long-lasting effects from the surgery, and it should not impact the longevity of his career,” a statement on Woods’ website proclaimed/projected.

The goal, Woods’ website stated, is to “resume playing sometime this summer.” Sure, that’s the goal, but the back, for golfers, is different than any other injury.

Woods has been uncommonly open – well, as open as he gets – discussing his back injury. He’s played terrible (by his standards) for most of the early part of the 2014 PGA Tour season. He noted that the problem with most of his other injuries through the years, be it knees, Achilles or wrists, was often the pain after a swing. He could still, conceivably hit it normally. He just had to brace himself for how much it was going to hurt after.

The back is something else, the essential muscle for every move in the game, and if that’s failing, you simply can’t play. Back injuries have plagued any number of golf careers, from Seve Ballesteros and Fred Couples all the way down to weekend duffers.

“I’ve had [a] knee injury, wrist injury, elbows, you name it,” Woods said earlier this year. “Now I’ve had back, neck. It is what it is. It’s the nature of repetitive sport. … You have repetitive injuries and most of my injuries are that. So that’s the nature of why we lift, why we work out is to try to prevent a lot of these things and keep us healthy

Summit from page 7 is a child-focused, facility-based program in which representatives from the investigative teamwork together to conduct interviews and make team decisions about investigation, treatment, management and prosecution of child abuse cases.

CACs are modeled on the simple but powerful concept of coordination between community agencies and professionals involved in the intervention system so further trauma to the child is minimized.

Child victims served through a CAC are three times more likely to receive the counseling they need than those children in communities without a Children’s Advocacy Center. Each year, CACs provide services to over 10,000 abused children in Louisiana, including forensic interviews for some 4,000 children who have been sexually abused. CACs rely heavily on financial support from individuals in local communities.

To learn more about CACs, or find your local Center, visit our website at www.cacla.com.

The mission of LouisianaChildren.org is to support evidence-based programs and services for vulnerable families. Our two programs – Louisiana CASA

(Court Appointed Special Advocates) and CACLA (Children’s Advocacy Centers of Louisiana) – serve 33 member programs that provide services to children and families in every Louisiana parish. Each year CASA and CAC serve over 11,000 children who have been abused or neglected.

CASA provides a volunteer advocate, appointed by the court, to speak up for the best interest of a child in foster care. CAC’s provide a comfortable, child-friendly environment for children who have been physically or sexually abused to receive services in a way that reduces further trauma to the child.

Since 1986, Prevent Child Abuse (PCA) Louisiana has been dedicated to accomplishing our mission: preventing the abuse and neglect of Louisiana’s children.

From help with potty training to keeping kids safe from sexual abuse, PCA Louisiana supports parents and children through intensive, evidence-based programs and community-based education.

The local affiliate of Prevent Child Abuse America, PCA Louisiana is the only statewide non-profit organization focused on child abuse prevention.

and keep us out here.

“As we get older, and I’ve learned it as I’ve aged,” he continued, “I don’t quite heal as fast as I used to. I just don’t bounce back like I used to. That’s just part of aging.

There are times that, watching my kids run around, I wish I could do that again. They just bounce right up, bruises, and they are gone in a day. It’s just not that way anymore.”

For years it was, of course.

Woods wasn’t just indomitable; he was indestructible. He swung harder. He hit the ball further. He was tireless, both physically and mentally, crushing opponents during the day even while, as we later found out, living a rather chaotic personal life at night.

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OPEN 24 HOURS | 7 DAYS A WEEK

The right care, at the right time.

Get convenient walk-in care for symptoms like: • Fever

• Vomiting or diarrhea

• Minor cuts

• Sore throats, coughs and colds

• Sprains, possible broken bones or simple fractures Located at the North Clinic 5439 Airline Hwy Walk-ins Welcome

• Stitches and more

LSU Patient Help Line:

1-877-578-8255 www.LSUHealthBR.com