Rebuilding America: A look at the new normal in Terrebonne and Lafourche and across the U.S.

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SPORTS | B1

PHOTOS | B15

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

SEEN ON SCENE Photos from the 2020 graduation of the Virtual Academy of Lafourche

Nicholls men’s coach makes ESPN list of risers

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In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, political leaders, business owners and entrepreneurs from every corner of the country are seeking ways to thoughtfully begin Rebuilding America

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Police, fire fighters honor colleague with parade By Colin Campo Correspondent

P O S T- PA N D E M I C O N T H E B AYO U

South Louisiana has endured its share of hardships, and the coronavirus pandemic is certainly among them. This area has managed to retain its unique culture and identity after all of them, and we are confident this crisis will be no different in that regard. With this project we try to determine just what the Bayou, and the rest of this country, will look and feel like, in both the short and long term, after COVID-19.

Two Sheriffs Departments, a police department and fire fighters gathered Saturday to honor of one of their own who has recently been placed in hospice care. Over 50 people created a parade of law enforcement vehicles and fire trucks, to surprise their friend as he sat on his front lawn. Dean Blanchard, 62, was diagnosed with cancer in March. He is spending the rest of his days now with his family, and when his colleagues, both current and former, learned of his situation, they gathered to show their appreciation. Friends and colleagues from Lafourche Parish Sheriffs Office, Assumption Parish Sheriffs Office, Thibodaux Police Department and Fire Protection District 2, showed their appreciation through a parade and gifts. “We know he’s going to pass, and I’m glad all these people came out here to see him,” said his son, Roy Peter Blanchard. “It was something to see him light up like that.” The parade passed down McCulla St. with lights and

ILLUSTRATION BY KYLE SLAGLE/USA TODAY NETWORK; GETTY IMAGES

See HONOR, A7

REBUILDING AMERICA | THE NEW NORMAL

INSIDE

If and when local schools reopen, things will be different

Mardi Gras

By Colin Campo

Virus demands novel approaches for America Pandemic’s legacy may include a spark of creativity to revive a changed nation

Correspondent

Marco della Cava | USA TODAY

America will rebuild. But much like shop owners removing boards off windows in the wake of a natural disaster, Americans aren’t quite sure what the aftermath of the deadly coronavirus pandemic will look like. Will our economic engine need to change what it sells and how it sells it? Will the same consumer habits return? Can the familiar rhythms of the nation’s unabashedly capitalist system resume? The galvanic forces exerted by pandemics always have shaped global history, says Marina Gorbis, executive director at the Institute for the Future, a nonprofit think tank in Palo Alto, California. “Whether it’s the bubonic plague, the Spanish flu or coronavirus, pandemics inevitably are both health events and social events that cause transformations in society and politics,” she says. Leading indicators — from soaring unemployment to looming bankruptcies — suggest a rough re-start. As the nation opens, scientists continue a feverish search for a vaccine while health officials remain concerned that the coming fall and winter could bring a spike in new virus cases that require renewed quarantines. But those possible obstacles aside, those who study the human march through history say it is vital to remember the nation’s future can be better than its past. “This isn’t a snow day where you’re waiting for the sun to shine and the world to return, because the world we have lived in for so long in many ways is never coming back,” says Jamie Metzl, technology futurist and co-founder of OneShared.World, an online group that promotes a globally interconnected response to the pandemic. “This is an all-hands-on-deck moment for the country, the world and our species,” says Metzl. “Everyone has a role to play to build back something better than what is being destroyed.” From Maine to California, reconstruction has started, in most places with equal parts excitement and caution. See REBUILDING, A11

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Classified ................. B15 Comics .................... B13 Obituaries ................ A12

Opinion ................... A13 Sports........................ B1

Will Houma-Thibodaux’s parades roll in 2021? B4 High school sports What will high school football season look like? Will the games be played at all? B2

Oil industry What will it take to revive the area’s biggest employer and economic engine? A4

Local colleges When will students return to Nicholls State University in Thibodaux and Fletcher Community College in Schriever? A4

It remains uncertain when the nearly 37,000 students in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes will return to public and parochial school classrooms. One thing is certain, that if and when they do, lots of things will be changed in an effort to minimize the risk that students and school workers will spread the novel coronavirus. “We are planning to open in the fall, but there’s so many contingencies to that, that I cannot say that with a definite,” Terrebonne public schools Superintendent Philip See SCHOOLS, A11

EDITOR’S NOTE

LOCAL COVERAGE INSIDE We’ve dedicated the front of The Comet to the Rebuilding America project. You can find our usual local coverage inside and throughout the paper.


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