RSS Feed

ERATH — A mass of Christian Burial for, Elwood Paul LeBlanc, 80, will be held on Saturday, 2:00PM, January 13, 1018, at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Erath, with Father Bill Melancon officiating. Burial will follow at Our Lady of Lourdes Mausoleum.
Visitation will be in David Funeral Home of Erath Friday January 12, 2018 from 4:00PM until 9:00PM, with recitation of the Rosary at 7:00PM, and will continue Saturday from 8:00AM until time of service.
Elwood, passed away Wednesday January 10, 2018 in Consolata Nursing Home in New Iberia. In his early years, he served as an altar boy until 1961, he was an active member of the Junior Holy Name Society. He then moved to the Senior Holy Name Society in Henry. In 1961 he moved to Erath Holy Name Society and joined the Knights of Columbus Council 3872 in Erath. All in all, he had thirty three years of council work. He has not missed a Knights of Columbus State Convention since 1984. He received the Grand Knight Award in 1984 and 1986. He was named Knight of the Year for 1984, 1985, 1989, and 1990. He was also Knight of the Month and Family of the Month from 1980 until 1992. He was also given The Outstanding Citizen Award and had perfect attendance at all KC meetings. He served on the Board of Directors for Erath Community Center and also Vice-President from 1987 until 1992. He was very active on the Board of Directors, serving as Grand Marshal for the Fourth of July Association. As District Deputy, he received Star Council Awards, The Columbia Award, The Father McGivney Award and the Founder’s Award. He was involved in the Basketball Free-Throw competition at district and state. He has participated in the district and state cook-off competition. He was a U.S. Army Veteran. He was a lifetime member of the Henry Fire Dept. He was a member of the Vermilion Cattlemen’s Assoc.
He is survived by his daughter Bettina “Tina” LeBlanc Sharon and husband Joseph W. of Liberty MS; siblings Nelies LeBlanc Dugas, Francis LeBlanc and wife Connie and Russel J. LeBlanc and wife Mona all of Henry; two granddaughters Brittany Nicole Broussard and husband Eric of Rayne and Callie Elizabeth Desormeaux of Delcambre.
He is preceded in death by his wife Beverly Jane Suire LeBlanc; his parents Simonet A. and Eula Primeaux LeBlanc , a brother Wilson LeBlanc and a special friend Judith White.
Serving as his Pallbearers will be Joseph Sharon, Eric Broussard, Clint Dugas, Francis Matthew LeBlanc, Dustin Dugas, and Cody Dugas
The family would like to thank Eastridge Nursing Home and Senior Assisted Living, Consolata Nursing Home , and Heart of Hospice for their wonderful care and support.
Condolences may be made to the family at www.davidfuneralhome.org.
David Funeral Home of Erath is in charge of arrangements 209 East Putnam Street, Erath LA 70533, 337-937-0405.

This story is from a paper in Vermilion, Ohio., where the police department received messages regarding Deyshia Hargrave’s arrest at Monday’s Vermilion Parish School Board meeting.

VERMILION, Ohio — On Tuesday, the police in this small town were going about their business, posting on the department’s Facebook page about icy morning roads.
“Be careful and slow down” is a typical message.
Over the weekend the site posted pictures of a stray dog that residents and officers had been trying to rescue from the cold, asking for people to keep an eye out for him. Another post, complete with photos, listed a goose that was spotted sitting in the road in front of the town library. The cops managed to catch the frightened pup, but the goose got away.
But all that changed Tuesday morning, when the tenor of the citizen responses grew taxing, even for a department that will spend time searching for a lost goose.
Messages starting seeping in by way of email and social media sites. Suddenly, the small department was on the receiving end of hatred from — well, all over.
“So is everyone in your district crooked cops or just you guys,” emailed Julia. The department’s autoresponse kicked in, replying to Julia that no one was currently available at the moment, but they would be back shortly and listed a number to call if she couldn’t wait.
It seems Julia was angered by this, too.
“I don’t need fake police,” her response began, and from the content of her message it was clear she was voicing her displeasure at the Vermilion police for arresting a schoolteacher the night before.
The teacher addressed the school board during a public forum and questioned the superintendent’s pay raise. She was removed from the meeting, forcibly handcuffed and booked into jail.
But here’s the catch: The event took place in Vermilion Parish, La., 1,189 miles from the Lake Erie Vermilion that straddles Lorain and Erie counties.
“Hi Julia, I bet you have some issues with the Vermilion Parish police in Louisiana,” the department replied.
She thanked them for the correction with a laughing-so-hard-I’m-crying emoji. But that really was just the warmup act for the avalanche that was to come. Hate, disgust, destroyers of freedom of speech — all of it swelled up and overran the internet feeds of police Chief Chris Hartung.
A particularly stinging one came from “out-of-the-country-Al” who wanted him to know that watching his department arrest a teacher for questioning a pay raise was symptomatic of everything wrong “with police in America.”
“You guys should be a shamed of yourselves,” Hartung read. “‘A. Shamed. Two words.”
Hartung sighed.
“I said, ‘That’s not us. You’ve got the wrong state,’” Hartung said, and suddenly the venom collapsed. “Oh, sorry about that,” Al said.
The group Copwatch, which lists complaints against police officers and often videos police making arrests to post online, put the department on notice.
“They posted a warning: ‘We’ve got boots on the ground, and we’re watching your agency,’ ” Hartung said.
“Not us.” The warning vanished.
“And then there’s my personal favorite,” Hartung said, an expletive-filled rant left as a comment under an ice advisory on the department’s Facebook page Wednesday afternoon. His only response: “Wrong Vermilion.”
By then other comment writers were trying to stem the tide, too, including one person who helpfully posted a link to the actual Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office site.
“Now say you’re sorry,” another person urged.
Shortly after that, Hartung posted again. “The teacher was arrested in Vermilion Parish in Louisiana. This is Vermilion in Ohio. Please stop sending us your hate mail.”
Hartung said he called the new mayor, Jim Forthofer, to warn him.
“I had to call him and say this is what’s happening and there’s a chance people are going to be calling you next and saying your police department is doing all these things,” Hartung said. “He was reserved and appreciative, but I’m sure that’s not what you want to hear when you’ve been mayor for a week.”
Hartung said he has been thinking about reaching out to Vermillion, S.D. He knows from experience that the South Dakota town likely won’t escape the Vermilion backlash, even if they do spell their name with two “L’s.” When his own town made headlines in recent years, the South Dakota force caught some flak.
“You know, my father-in-law stopped in on his way through there a few years ago, got a picture with the chief,” Hartung said. “We’re thinking about calling and asking them if they were getting this stuff.”

August 8, 1943 ~ January 9, 2018

KAPLAN — Funeral services will be held at 3:00 PM on Friday, January 12, 2018 at Vincent Funeral Home - Kaplan honoring the life of Betty LeBlanc Broussard, 74, who died Tuesday, January 9, 2018 at her residence. She will be laid to rest at Kaplan Cemetery with Reverend Mark Miley officiating the services.
She is survived by her two sons, Gary B. Broussard of Erath and Christopher D. Brousssard of Erath; one daughter, Annette Broussard of Erath; four sisters, Helen and her husband, Ray Richoux of Kaplan, Judy and her husband, Mike Trahan of Abbeville, Ruby and her husband, Donald LeMaire of Kaplan, and Mary Harrington of Cow Island; five grandchildren, Kristie Fremin, Brock Moreno, Zach Moreno, Ross Broussard, and Brayden Broussard; and four great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Ronald P. Broussard; her parents, Biel LeBlanc and the former Gertie Hargrave; and one brother-in-law, Randall Harrington.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Kaplan, 300 N. Eleazar Ave., on Friday, January 12, 2018 from 9:00 AM until services with a rosary being prayed at 11:00 AM.
All funeral arrangements are being conducted by Vincent Funeral Home of Kaplan, (337) 643-7276 [Service Information 225-5276]. Condolences may be sent to the Broussard family at www.vincentfuneralhome.net.