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Chris Landry / The Abbeville Meridional
Delcambre mayor Pam Blakely discusses the departure of an officer from the town’s police department. Blakely sought to get a pay raise for two police officers from $13.50 an hour to $15 an hour. The aldermen said that the town doesn’t have a way to pay for a raise right now, but Blakely said it will cost a lot more if the town loses two officers. ‘What I’m saying is, it’s going to cost us a lot more than 15 dollars an hour if we have two less policemen,’ Blakely said.

Delcambre officer says he was led to believe pay raise would be coming soon

Wed, 08/23/2023 - 8:54am

DELCAMBRE — The town of Delcambre is losing at least one member of its police department, the Board of Aldermen learned at its monthly meeting on Monday.
The officer told the board he is leaving because he had been led to believe he would receive a pay increase from $13.50 an hour to $15 an hour, but that raise never came to fruition.
The policeman said he had been led to believe on three or four occasions that a raise would be forthcoming.

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Because of the lack of rain, some sugarcane in the parish has grown three or four feet, when it should be at least 10 feet high at this time of year.

Farmers facing tough decisions if Mother Nature does not provide rain

Mon, 08/21/2023 - 11:37am

Sugarcane needs water; without it, it will not grow and could die.
Over the last month, the parish has received little or no rain and has dealt with 100-degree temperatures. Today’s sugarcane can handle high temperatures, but it cannot take not having rain over an extensive period.
The parish is dealing with extreme drought conditions, the worst in at least 25 years.
Sugarcane can grow 10 to 13 feet high when Mother Nature cooperates. Today, some sugarcane crops are only four to five feet tall, and the leaves are turning brown because of the lack of water.

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Assistant superintendent Marc Turner (right) instructs Ken Small (left), head of the school district’s transportation department, to send an email to all bus drivers letting them know to start their pickup route with all of the windows down on the busses. In the middle is Scott Myers, who is the risk manager for the school district.

Is it too hot to ride in a school bus these days?

Wed, 08/16/2023 - 1:57pm

Riding on hot school buses has been an issue throughout the United States, not just in Vermilion Parish. However, that does not help cool off the daily bus rides that students have to make.
In Vermilion Parish, the temperature has hovered around 100 degrees for the last three weeks with an average heat index of 105.
On Thursday, public school began in Vermilion Parish, and on the second day of school, KATC TV3 interviewed a parent about her child riding a hot school bus.

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Temperature shows 87.3 degrees in a bus traveling 40 MPH.

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It was 88.4 degrees inside the school bus at it traveled on the streets of Abbeville at a slower speed.

Temperature in traveling school bus was 87 degrees

Wed, 08/16/2023 - 1:53pm

How hot does it get in a school bus when the temperature is 97 degrees outside?
On Monday, assistant superintendent Marc Turner and school district risk man ager Scott Meyers went on a school bus ride at noon to see the actual temperature in a school bus with no air conditioner.
Long-time school bus driver Tony Meaux drove the bus through Abbeville and then to Perry. Half of the windows were down, creating a nice breeze when the bus moved.
The temperature outside at noon was 97 degrees in the sun and 96 in the shade.

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After driving into a drainage ditch, an SUV caught fire. The driver and passengers managed to escape without injuries. (photo taken by Mandy Brook Trahan)

Joy ride goes wrong

Wed, 08/16/2023 - 11:16am

Three people decided to go joyriding in a sugar cane field off Montgomery Road. The ride, however, did not end too joyfully.
A 20-year-old male, his girlfriend, and a friend decided to go off-road riding in a sugar cane field on Sunday just after 8 p.m. The male was driving a Cadillac Escalade SUV through a sugar cane field, and then he crashed head-on into a drainage ditch.
The three got out of the SUV before it caught fire and burned.
Volunteer fire departments responded and were able to put out the fire before it spread into the field or homes nearby.

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