SERVING THE PARISHES OF EAST FELICIANA AND WEST FELICIANA
DEMOCRAT THE ST. FRANCISVILLE
T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
WEST FELICIANA
Parish could miss out on tax money generated by data center
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W e d n e s d ay, J a n u a ry 22, 2025
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Downgraded fire rating could mean higher insurance costs ST. FRANCISVILLE
BY JAMES MINTON
Contributing writer
Beefing up the town’s fire department appears to be one of the first tasks facing St. Francisville’s mayor and aldermen in their new terms. In a Jan. 14 meeting, their first since taking their oaths of office,
the town’s aldermen heard new Mayor Andy D’Aquilla report that the Property Insurance Association of Louisiana downgraded the town’s fire insurance rating after an inspection last year revealed some problems.
ings range from Class 1, the best, to Class 10, which is considered completely lacking in fire protecHigher insurance costs for town tion. homeowners will follow as policies As of Dec. 10, PIAL downgraded are purchased or renewed. the town’s rating from Class 3 to Insurance companies use the as- Class 4, D’Aquilla said. The major shortcomings noted sociation’s ratings to set premium costs for the fire insurance portion ä See RATING, page 2G of homeowners’ policies. The rat-
BY JAMES MINTON Contributing writer
West Feliciana Parish will not be able to collect sales and use taxes on the electronic and computer components installed in the proposed Hut 8 data center, according to Parish President Kenny Havard. A law passed in the regular legislative session last year exempts data centers from paying sales taxes on the bulk of the equipment that will be used in the center, Havard told the Parish Council at its Jan. 13 meeting. Before the law was passed, data centers were allowed to receive a refund for state and local sales taxes paid on equipment purchases. But the Legislature changed the law during
ä See DATA, page 3G
PHOTO BY MELINDA RAWLS HOWELL
Bessie Made Quiet-Foster calls bingo at the Jackson Council on Aging site.
What was it like to be the first Black nurse in East Feliciana? BY MELINDA RAWLS HOWELL
Contributing writer
Growing up on a farm on Highway 10 in Jackson, Bessie Mae Quiet-Foster decided
PROVIDED PHOTO
Former participant of the Break Up with Salt series, Lillie Pinkey, makes a Mediterranean Salad during the Break Up with Salt Reunion Class.
Help your heart with less salt Break Up with Salt is a program to help adults at risk or with hypertension/high blood pressure learn about managing their condition through goal setting, diet, label reading, portion control and cookLeila ing. Pitchford The four-part AROUND THE educational FELICIANAS series will be at 2 p.m. Feb. 5, 12, 19 and 26 in the Community Room at RKM Primary Care in East Feliciana Parish, 11990 Jackson St. Each session should last 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The program will be
ä See AROUND, page 2G
she didn’t like farm work early on, but she also decided at an early age that she loved science. “Given the chance I might have blown up things doing
experiments,” she said with a smile. She did go on to break something later — the color barrier in the field of nursing in her home parish of East
Feliciana. She was born Jan. 17, 1947. Her parents were Johnny and Marie Quiet. They were
ä See FIRST, page 2G
It’s a mile wide, and a road runs through it Do drivers know they’re cutting through a crater? BY ROBIN MILLER
Staff writer
It measures a mile in diameter, and a highway runs through it. But the occasional drivers cutting through St. Helena Parish along La. 37 wouldn’t know they are passing through a meteorite’s crash site. No sign announces it. No history marker tells the story of how it fell to earth a few miles outside of Greensburg more than 10,000 years ago, though geologist Paul Heinrich now believes the crater may be even older. However, Lee Miller was more curious about the existence of the crater than its exact age. “I’ve heard that there may be a crater in the area where I live,” the Clinton resident said. “But is it true? And if it is, where is it?” It’s true. Miller could easily find the crater by driving a few miles into St. Helena Parish from his East Feliciana Parish home — that is, if he knows where to look. Where to look is the missing piece of the puzzle. Heinrich was a research associate with the Louisiana Geological Survey at LSU when he pinpointed the exact spot in 2023. He even provided a landmark as a guide. “A volunteer fire station stands along the road where the crater starts,” he said. Heinrich has since retired from his post at LSU, but he’s still learning about the crater, which is why he believes the crater may be older than originally believed. Again, there are no markers
You’ve got questions — we find answers What do you wonder about the people, places and culture of Louisiana? Curious Louisiana is a project that connects you with our newsroom’s reporting to find the answers to Louisiana-specific questions you may have wondered about for years. The feature focuses on a reader-submitted question each week to report on stories that matter to you the most. You share your questions about Louisiana — and our journalists track down answers. If you asked the question, we will connect with you and keep you updated along the way as we dig deeper into Louisiana’s oddities. To submit a question, go to theadvocate.com/curious louisiana. acknowledging this site, save for a few souvenir T-shirts spotted by Heinrich at a Greensburg store a few miles away. “The T-shirt was designed by a
local artist,” Heinrich said. “They were sold in a local drug store. I don’t know if they’re still selling them.” Maybe not, since Brushy Creek Crater isn’t exactly a tourist destination. That’s what it’s called now, named for a nearby waterway. Getting to the crater requires a few zigs and zags along country backroads, and once there, time seems to stand still in the silence of the grassy fields on either side of the road. This is what Brushy Creek Crater basically looks like — fencedin grassy pastures with a pond on the north side. With the exception of the highway, the crater occupies privately owned land. On its western rim stands the St. Helena Fire Department District #4 FireRescue Headquarters with a clear view of the highway’s slope into the crater. “When you’re driving, the road will cross the rim, go down to the edge of the bowl of the crater, then go back out,” Heinrich said. “But again, most people don’t know this.” The crater came to Heinrich’s attention when he and others in the Louisiana Geological Survey were doing geological mapping of the area. At one point, they spotted a circular shape in one of their thematic laser images. It didn’t show up as a definitive crater bowl such as, say, the Meteor Crater Natural Landmark near Flagstaff, Arizona. Still, Brushy Creek’s diameter is slightly larger than the Arizona
PROVIDED PHOTO BY PAUL HEINRICH
Paul Heinrich, retired associate researcher with the Louisiana Geological Survey at LSU, discovered citronelle formations in the fractures in the clayey, or clay-like, sands exposed in the ditch bordering La. 37. The highway cuts through the rim of Brushy Creek Crater near St. Helena Fire Department District #4 Fire-Rescue Headquarters. The formations are the result of an extraterrestrial impact. tourist attraction. “We thought it looked like an impact crater,” Heinrich said. “I just took it from there. I can’t correctly recall when that was what or what mapping project we were on, but it may have been a few years before 2008. There aren’t any volcanoes here, and there are no salt domes in this part of the state, so we knew that something strange was happening.” Heinrich, along with a team of LSU geologists, took a trip northward from LSU to St. Helena
ä See CRATER, page 4G