Lane Foundation’s 10th annual Code Red Chili & Salsa Cook-Off is set for Saturday, March 22, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. in Downtown Zachary, 4650 Main Street. The competition is open to amateurs and professionals of all ages. There are five cooking competition categories: Judges Red Chili, Judges Nontraditional, Judges Salsa, People’s Choice Chili and People’s Choice Salsa. The Team Spirit award is about how well the team embodies the spirit of the cook-off through their presentation, team costumes, decorations and overall attitude.
Admission and parking to the family-friendly event are free. There will be an arts & crafts market, kids zone, games, food trucks and live music at the gazebo all day Team entry fees range from $40-$60. Compete in one category or all. To register a team, sponsor the event, participate in the arts & crafts market, or volunteer contact the Lane Foundation office at (225) 658-6699 or email tpayment@ lanermc.org. Proceeds from the Code Red Chili & Salsa Cook-Off will benefit the Lane Foundation.
Heart health screening offered CIS is hosting a free cardiovascular screening at CIS Zachary, 6550 Main St., No. 1000, Zachary, on Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m Guests will receive free electrocardiogram and blood pressure screenings. Results will be reviewed on site. Registration is required. Reserve a spot by calling (985) 873-5058. Blood drive set
A blood drive is set for Feb 28 at the Bank of Zachary, 4743 Main St. Hours are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mardi Gras T-shirts will be given out while supplies last. Visit donor.lifeshare.org/ donor/schedules/drive_schedule/280626 to sign up for an appointment.
Pardi Gras parade
Must Luv Dogs’ Pawdi Gras parade is looking for kids to take part as a Kiddie Krewe in the parade at 2 p.m., March 4. The theme is “Space Paws.” Children will ride in their wagon floats. Entry fee is $10. All proceeds go to Must Luv Dogs Rescue Secure a spot with the discount code KINDERFLOAT. For information, call 225-252-3029, or visit www.mustluvdogs.org for information or to register Bark in the Park is from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Race for the dogs: Before the parade, the Krewe of McKey
Bronco seniors celebrate with win
The Bronco’s boys basketball team celebrated senior night Feb. 13 with a 68-55 win over Woodlawn High. Seniors celebrated included Rashaed Smith, Marquis Hampton, Jaiden Cockerham, Xavier Ferguson, Terin Landor and Jayden Edmond.
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Zachary Elementary student serves as a council member for the day
BY OLIVIA MCCLURE Contributing writer
Attilio Romero, a fourth grader at Zachary Elementary School, recently got a taste of what it’s like to serve on the City Council. As part of a Zachary’s Elementary PTO, or ZEPTO, fundraiser, Attilio was named councilman for a day. He spent much of Feb. 4 with council member Ambre DeVirgilio learning about different functions of city government, touring facilities and meeting
in government
Mayor outlines plans for road improvements, upgrades
BY OLIVIA MCCLURE Contributing writer
With 2025 well underway, Mayor David McDavid is making preparations for a variety of projects, including a renovation of City Hall and road improvements.
McDavid highlighted the plans in his annual “state of the city” statement, in which he also looked back on accomplishments from 2024. Among those achievements were completing the new Zachary Police Department headquarters, raising police officers’ starting pay by 6%, adding new inclusive playground equipment and fencing to the Hug Your People Community Park, opening new restrooms at the Zachary Youth Park, making upgrades to the city dump and installing smart water and gas meters.
“As we reflect on the past year and look forward to the future, one theme remains constant — our commitment to ensuring that Zachary continues to thrive,” McDavid wrote in the statement. “This year, we are embracing the motto ‘Thrive in ’25’ as our guiding principle for growth, innovation and community strength.”
In an interview, McDavid outlined further details on projects he hopes to undertake soon, including:
n Renovating City Hall and bringing all city employees under one roof. “We’re waiting for the audit to be finished up to see where we’re at financially,” McDavid said. The city may seek bonds to finance the project, which could involve purchasing an adjoining piece of property to expand City Hall’s footprint. “We’ve got a nice drawing so far of what it could look like, and we’re hoping to proceed with that down the road,” he said.
n Widening Church Street between Old Slaughter Road and La. 19 and extending turn lanes on Church Street at Old Scenic Highway and at Plank Road to alleviate congestion.
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Council members split on residential development moratorium proposal
BY OLIVIA MCCLURE
Contributing writer
Try as they might, members of the Zachary City Council just can’t seem to get along lately
The sticking point? Three of the panel’s five members want to take their time studying a pair of agenda items which propose a temporary ban on residential development in Zachary and changes to minimum lot sizes for two zonings before voting on them. But the council’s other two members think their colleagues are stalling for no good reason. Brandy Westmoreland, who introduced the proposals in the fall, and her fellow council members John LeBlanc and Ambre DeVirgilio have succeeded in tabling the items — and keeping them tabled — until later this month. They argue that council members James Graves and Jennifer Landry, who believe the issues already have been adequately discussed and researched, are trying to rush important decisions. The complex situation has driven a wedge between the two factions of the council and led to intense discussions in recent months. At its Feb. 11 meeting, the sharply divided panel had its most heated debate yet when Graves placed an item on the agenda “seeking the immediate discussion” of the zoning and moratorium proposals — which have been considered in tandem — and to take votes. At its previous meeting on Jan. 28, the council agreed on a 3-2 vote to table the items until its second meeting in February Before that, the items were tabled in December Graves’ effort to bring the matter to a resolution touched off 20 minutes of fiery exchanges before it failed on two separate votes. Mayor David McDavid had to intervene a few times, pounding his gavel and ordering the council members to speak one at a time. Accusations flew even as a fourth grader sat at the center of
dais. Zachary Elementary School student Attilio Romero, who had
Xavier Ferguson makes the first 2 points of the game against Woodlawn.
PHOTOS BY SONYA GOSS Cambren Price at the free throw line after being fouled during a recent game against Woodlawn High.
PHOTO BY OLIVIA MCCLURE
Attilio Romero, a fourth grader at Zachary Elementary School who recently served as councilman for a day, signs a copy of a resolution he and Councilwoman Ambre DeVirgilio, left, wrote together Mayor David McDavid looks on at right.
McDavid
ZACHARY
Community news report
Maggie Fletcher was named 2024 Most Valuable Player of the Year at Lane Regional Medical Center
Fletcher is the revenue cycle coordinator in the Revenue Cycle Department and was recognized for her dedication, outstanding work ethic and customer service skills, a news release said. She was nominated by a coworker who said, “Maggie deserves a huge shout-out. She has been working behind the scenes to correct thousands of patient accounts due to the Epic conversion She is one of the hardest working and dedicated employees that Lane has and deserves recognition. Maggie has been working ex-
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tremely long hours to get the corrections made and hasn’t complained (too much)! Maggie, you are so loved and appreciated.”
2024 MVP of the Month nominees
January: Michael Bua Environmental Services
February: Brittany Casey, Staff Development
March: Sydney Price, Emergency Room
April: Jeanesa Jackson, Respiratory
May: Sierra Lanus, Surgery
June: Maggie Fletcher, Revenue Cycle
July: Cindy Conerly, Respiratory
August: Russell Arceneaux, Endoscopy
Center
September: Danielle Dixon, Lane OB/GYN
October: Sydnie Parnell, Cath Lab
November: Toshika Brown, Medical/Surgical Unit
December: Adrienne Richardson, Imaging.
truck and learned about the firefighters’ 24hour work schedule. Attilio and DeVirgilio also had the chance to help plant crape myrtles along Mount Pleasant Road
“We got to plant some and we got to pick up some litter that people threw on the ground ” Attilio said. Attilio and DeVirgilio
also stopped by his school and had a working lunch at South Plains Food Company, where they wrote a resolution that encourages people to do their part to keep the city clean and beautiful and recognizes the ZEPTO councilman for a day program. Their resolution was read out loud at the council’s Feb 11 meeting, where Attilio sat at the dais alongside elected officials behind a nameplate recognizing his role as an honorary council member
Clearing the fog and healing up
The flu bug that has been hitting the United States got to yours truly the last couple weeks and I am still trying to recover, catch up on what was missed and move forward to the extent possible.
Stuck at home to make sure I do not inadvertently “share” fever and congestion adds to the level of difficulty What was missed?
Warren Brady ZACHARY SPORTS
The Zachary High girls and boys wrestling teams competed in the EBR City Meet to close out January
The ZHS boys finished fifth overall. Top finishers were Landon Blackwell (second at 106 pounds, Matt Umali (second at 138 pounds), Cordell Banks (fourth at 144 pounds) and Tyson Breda (fourth at 165 pounds).
Jacury Johnson continued a proud Bronco tradition winning the 150-pound weight class. Johnson pinned his first two opponents in the first period and scored major decisions in both his semifinal and title match.
The ZHS girls also finished fifth overall. Top finishers for the girls were Jaiden Dyer (fourth at 107 pounds), Nachell Weaver (second at 126 pounds), Marlee Ballmer (third at 152 pounds) and Adia Wells (fourth at 185 pounds).
The girls and boys competed at the LHSAA State Championship in Bossier City on Feb. 14-15 to close out the season.
Coach Jason Davis’ powerlifting team competed in the LHSPLA St. Amant Gator Invitational on Jan. 27. Top girls finishers were Julia Graves (third at 97 pounds), Irie Brown (third at 105.8 pounds), Megan Rousell (third at 148.8 pounds), Kai Richard (first place at 165.3 pounds with a three lift total of 805 pounds) and Mila Duhe (first place at 198.2 pounds with a three lift total of 820 pounds).
The Broncos boys dominated the heavier weight classes with Richard Tayvion finishing first at 275.5 pounds with a three lift total of 1170 pounds. Braden White was right behind him placing second at 275.5 pounds and K.J. Bailey finished third in the super heavy weight division.
The girls regional is Feb. 22 at St. Joseph’s
Academy followed by the boys regional at Catholic High on March 1. The state meet will be in Kenner at the Pontchartrain Center on March 27. The ZHS indoor track and field teams competed in the LSU Last Chance meet on Feb. 8 to secure as many spots as possible for the state championships at LSU on Feb. 22.
Top finishers for the ZHS girls were freshman Serenity Early, third in the 60-meter hurdles; the 4x200m relay team of Abiah Simpson, Mariah Myles, Early and Lauren Vessel finished third; the 4x400m relay team of Vessel, Simpson, Early and Kerrington London also finished third. The ZHS boys 4x400m relay team of Tyler Jackson, Anthony Jackson, Connor Conachen and Caleb Hilton finished third; the 4x800m relay team of Conachen, Tyson Franklin, Noah George and Maximo Gennaro finished fourth and Isaiah Stokes finished fifth in the long jump.
Prior to the flu my plan on Feb. 7 was to run up to see the ZHS girls basketball team for senior night game as soon as my flight landed. They did not need me there as they crushed Scotlandville and also defeated Liberty on Feb. 11 (68-43) to go into the District finale on Feb. 14 with a spotless record in district to play an also undefeated in district Woodlawn Panthers team on the road. The Broncos fell short (63-71), but the playoffs start this week and there is still an opportunity for a state title. The ZHS boys basketball team struggled at the end of January and early February losing 3 of 4 against quality opponents (Shaw, Slidell, and Liberty). They picked up a home district 4-5A win (68-55) over Woodlawn on Feb. 13. They will close out the regular season at home against district rival Catholic High on Feb. 21. At the time of writing the Bears are 25-3 and could present a strong challenge for the Broncos.
Warren Brady covers sports for The Plainsman. He can be contacted at zachary@ theadvocate.com.
PUBLIC NOTICE
The East Feliciana Parish BoardofSupervisorsofElections will meet Friday, February28, 2025, at 10:00 AM at the East Feliciana Parish Clerkof Court’sOffice,12305 St. Helena Street, Clinton to select Commissioners forthe March29, 2025, PrimaryElection and the May3,2025, General Election.
David Dart ClerkofCourt EastFeliciana Parish
The Zachary High student section cheers during senior night.
Terin Landor and his family celebrate Senior Night.
PHOTO BY SONYA GOSS
Zachary High basketball coach Johnathan McClinton, center, with seniors, from left, Rashaed Smith, Marquis Hampton, Jaiden Cockerham, Xavier Ferguson, Terin Landor and Jayden Edmond during senior night.
Broncos’ Alden Givens hits the shot Feb 13 putting Zachary High in the lead at 30 to 17 at the end of the second quarter against Woodlawn.
Zachary High’s Deezy Collins shoots during the second quarter of the varsity game against Woodlawn.
Zachary High beats Woodlawn High during Senior Night 68 to 55 on Feb 13.
Big second half makes difference when girls basketball powers meet
BY ROBIN FAMBROUGH Staff writer
Zachary roared out the gate and led by as much as nine points in the first half, but Woodlawn finished strong.
The Panthers outscored the Broncos by 16 points in the second half to claim a 71-63 victory in a District 4-5A girls basketball showdown that concluded the girls basketball regular season Friday night at Woodlawn.
“At halftime, I framed it for them this way: I asked them if they were hungry or if they just wanted to eat,” Woodlawn coach Alicia Dedeaux said. “If you just want to eat, you get satisfied.
“But if you’re hungry, you ll do whatever it takes to get what you want.”
The Panthers outscored Zachary 43-27 in the second half and led by as much as 13 points in the final minutes.
Amijah Price led Woodlawn with 19 points, followed by McKenzie Haynes (18) and Taigen Heck (14) With the victory, Woodlawn (23-6, 5-0) wins the 4-5A title. Zachary finishes 22-4 4-1.
“We knew if we won this game we would be district champs,” Haynes said. “So, we had to pick it up in the second half. We came out stronger than they did in the second half.”
Tiarra McPipe led Zachary with a game-high 23 points. Ava Raymond added 11 for the Broncos, who entered No. 3 in the LHSAA’s Division I nonselect power ratings. Woodlawn sits at No. 3 in the Division I select power ratings.
Two free throws by McPipe gave the Broncos an 11-6 lead with 4:49 left in the first quarter Zachary ex-
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Fitness 5K race will be held, starting and ending at HugYourPeople Park in Zachary Entry is $30. A T-shirt is $10. The kids fun run starts at 8 a.m. and the 5K at 8:30 a.m. Some of the proceeds will be donated to Must Luv Dogs and to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. A post-race party will have food
tended its lead to five again, before Price countered with a 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 15-13 at the 2:18 mark.
Woodlawn scored the first nine points in the second quarter A 3-pointer by Heck got Woodlawn within 22-20 But the Broncos scored twice in the final 30 seconds and took a 36-28 lead into halftime.
Zachary’s lead shrunk to three points by the end of the third quarter The Panthers kept pushing the pace and were aggressive on defense. Woodlawn broke through, taking a 54-53 lead on Price’s put-
trucks and live music, and Bark in the Park and the Must Luv Dogs parade follows.
Register for baseball
Spring baseball registration runs to March 13. The fee is $75.
Register at www.zacharyyouthpark.org.
Practices are March 31 to April 24, and games are April 28 to June 5.
Divisions include T-ball ages 4-6 and coaches’ pitch 6-8, 10 under, 12 under and 14 under April 30 is
back by with 6:13 remaining.
The lead changed twice before Woodlawn scored 17 of the final 25 points.
“I knew it would be this type of game,” Zachary coach Tami McClure said. “They would make a run and we would make a run.
“It was going to come down to who made the right decisions at the end. Hats off to Woodlawn. They won it. Now, I hope they go win a state title.”
Dedeaux later added, “Back at them I’d love to see them win one too.”
cutoff date for age determination. Also, coaches and assistant coaches are needed.
School calendar changes
Revisions were made to the 2024-25 school calendar to compensate for the lost required instructional minutes due to recent weather-related closures. Visit zacharyschools.org to see the changes.
Some specifics to watch for: n March 5 was revised to a remote learning day for students.
Specific grade-level appropriate learning packets will be sent home.
n May 23 will have no students, no paraprofessionals and no cafeteria staff. The Zachary Community School District School Board approved the updated 2025-26 school calendar during the Feb. 4 board meeting.
Ag Spring Fest is coming The Zachary High Ag Spring Fest is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
HEARTTO
CHECK YOUR TICKER
March 15. The Easter Bunny will be available for photos from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and a shop will be in the school greenhouse. Attendees can expect games, a petting zoo, face painting, ag crafts, Easter egg hunts and more. Concessions will be sold.
Cost is $5 a person. Under age 2 is free.
Send news and events for the Zachary area to zachary@ theadvocate.com by noon Friday or call (225) 388-0731.
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PHOTO BY APRIL BUFFINGTON
Woodlawn’s Amijah Price gets fouled by Zachary’s Tiarra McPipe during the match up held at Woodlawn Hgih on Friday.
Zachary’s Ava Raymond steals the ball from Woodlawn’s Aaliyah Gaddis.
been named councilman for a day as part of an initiative of Zachary’s Elementary PTO, quietly took in the spectacle unfolding around him, getting more of a lesson in politics than he probably bargained for when he showed up for his honorary service on the council.
Graves explained that he felt there was productive discussion of the items particularly the zoning matter — at the council’s last meeting and was hopeful a decision could be reached. He has worked with the city’s planning and zoning staff to refine Westmoreland’s proposed lot size increases in the residential estate, or RE, and residential rural, or RR, zonings
“I’ve been working for the last two months or longer to try to help this city, to try to help the council, to try to help everyone figure this out,” he said.
He presented a plan — and said information on it had been shared with the council before the meeting — to keep minimum lot sizes at 1 acre in RE zones and 3 acres in RR, as they are now, while creating a new residential large tract zone with a 10-acre minimum.
Westmoreland’s original idea was to bump the minimum RE lot size up to 3 acres and RR to 10. She has cited concerns about Zachary’s rapid pace of growth also the basis for her proposed development moratorium — and few options for homebuyers who want larger pieces of property than what can be found in the city’s many subdivisions.
Her suggested changes, however, would have meant many existing lots would no longer comply with the requirements of their zoning her colleagues have said.
“What we have here in front of us is a very good solution. We have all our bases covered. This would be almost probably 90% or more conformities,” Graves said of his plan.
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n Working with state and local partners to improve Old Scenic Highway, which has seen an increase in traffic as new subdivision crop along the two-lane, state-owned roadway.
Westmoreland said she appreciated Graves’ work but remained unwilling to rush.
“This has been a BandAid since ’21,” she said, referring to when the RR zoning was created. “I feel like we owe it to our citizens to get it right one final time. That’s what we’ve been doing — fixing BandAids and doing things, and so I want to make it good.“
She also took issue with Graves’ agenda item, saying it limited the opportunity for public input
“I don’t think putting a resolution on here for immediate attention sits well with the public,” she said. “We don’t do this on any other agenda items.”
Landry disagreed.
“To me, it looks like we’re lacking transparency when we get here with an agenda item and for five months we table it with no reason explained,” she said. “I think the public deserves to know why we’re sitting on this for five months.”
Graves then accused Westmoreland of holding things up by coming to meetings unprepared, pointing to the last council gathering when he presented some maps drawn up by the city’s planning staff to illustrate an earlier version of his proposal regarding RE and RR lots.
Graves said the maps were shared with the council two weeks before the meeting; at the time, Westmoreland claimed she didn’t see them until the meeting and moved to table the zoning and moratorium items.
“You had that for 14 days. You was ill prepared. And you are the one saying, ‘What are we doing?’” Graves said, referring to a question Westmoreland posed when she first raised the notion of a moratorium in the fall. “No what are y’all doing over there?
We’re trying to make this city move forward, legislate and do our jobs.”
The two went back and forth, talking over each other at one point
“I didn’t cut you off,” Westmoreland told Graves. “Don’t cut me off. It’s called respect — which clearly we don’t have any of that.”
DeVirgilio spoke up next, turning to the side of the dais where Graves and Landry were seated.
“This contentious look isn’t a good look,” DeVirgilio said. “I appreciate what you’ve done on this item, but it’s her (Westmoreland’s) agenda item.”
Landry responded that Westmoreland’s original proposal wasn’t a good one, saying it “was going to create over 1,000 nonconforming lots.”
“This is not about whose agenda item it is,” Landry continued. “I don’t care whose name is behind an agenda item, and if we’re worried about that, then we’ve got some priority issues.”
DeVirgilio countered that Graves’ proposal isn’t perfect either — for example, she said she had concerns about creating the new 10-acre-minimum residential large tract zoning. She said time is needed to figure out a better solution.
Finally, McDavid had heard enough and urged the feuding council members to make a motion. Westmoreland moved to deny Graves’ request for immediate action and was quickly seconded by DeVirgilio. LeBlanc supported Westmoreland’s motion and Landry opposed it while Graves abstained.
McDavid tried to move on to the next agenda item but was interrupted by Graves with a motion to reconsider his request. Graves again questioned whether one his fellow council members was adequately prepared for the meeting, this time asking LeBlanc whether he had reviewed information on the zoning proposal.
“Whatever I vote on, I’m familiar with it,” LeBlanc said. “So I don’t appreciate you acting like you’re acting tonight. You are off the charts.”
Landry seconded Graves’ motion. That was followed by three “no” votes from Westmoreland, LeBlanc and DeVirgilio. With that, the discussion ended — for the night. The council’s next gathering, where the matter will be considered yet again, is set for Feb. 25.
Hospital CEO speaks to Rotary in Zachary
On Feb. 6, the Zachary Rotary Club heard from Frank Corcoran, the new CEO of Lane Regional Medical Center, as its guest speaker
A Louisiana native, Corcoran shared his vision for the hospital, updated the group on the hospital’s renovations, and reaffirmed the hospital’s commitment to providing exceptional health care to our community
ZACHARY POLICE BOOKINGS
The following people were booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison or issued a summons by the Zachary Police Department from Feb. 7-12:
KATELYNN BURKINS: 29; 9919 Gwendale Ave., Baton Rouge; failure to appear on outstanding bench warrants
FAITH THOMAS: 36; 3779 Eaton St., Apt. K, Baton Rouge; failure to appear on outstanding bench warrants
LONDON TURNER: 18; 20808 Leviticus Drive, Zachary; resisting an officer
Zachary student makes Champlain College honors list
Community news report Nicholas Funk, of Zachary, was named to the Champlain College president’s list for the Fall 2024 semester Students on the list have achieved a grade point average of 4.0 or higher during the semester Funk is majoring in Game Design. The school is in Burlington, Vermont.
n Studying the possibility of building a new fire station on Flanacher Road, a water tower on the north side of Zachary and another gas distribution site.
n Continuing efforts to attract new businesses and working on a plan to offer incentives to developers. McDavid noted that road repairs will play a role in economic development, too. “We have a lot of stuff on Old Scenic being look at right now, and that’s why we’re concerned about the roadway,” McDavid said. He added that Zachary is in particular need of more grocery stores, especially in light of the recent closure of the local Winn-Dixie.
PHOTO
From left, Heather Prejean, Rotary president; Frank Corcoran; Lane Regional Medical Center CEO Frank Corcoran’ Julie McLin, public relations LRMC; and Zachary Mayor David McDavid at the Feb 6 Rotary meeting
