DENHAM SPRINGS • LIVINGSTON • WALKER • WATSON • AMITE • HAMMOND
ADVOCATE THE LIVINGSTON -TANGIPAHOA
T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
|
W e d n e s d ay, A p r i l 2, 2025
1GN
Deputies wrangle 9-foot gator out of a Maurepas kitchen Darlene Denstorff AROUND LIVINGSTON
Cavalier House Books sets book signing for Louisiana’s astronaut Louisiana astronaut Hayley Arceneaux is coming back to the state to promote her new picture book “Astronaut Hayley’s Brave Adventure!” She’ll be signing and discussing her book at 2 p.m. April 5 at Cavalier House Books in Denham Springs. Arceneaux, who attended school in Baton Rouge and has roots in West Feliciana, is a physician assistant at St. Arceneaux Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a career she committed to after surviving pediatric bone cancer. She served as an ambassador for the hospital when she joined the first allcivilian orbital space mission, Inspiration4, in 2021. At 29, she became the youngest American to orbit the earth, the first astronaut with a prosthetic body part, and the first pediatric cancer survivor to go to space.
BY ELLYN COUVILLION
Staff writer
Livingston Parish Sheriff’s deputies wrangled a 9-foot alligator out of someone’s kitchen Thursday night with the help of a volunteer and released the ambitious gator back into the wild. “The family tells us this gator broke in through their screened-in porch,” Lori Steele, sheriff’s office spokeswoman, said. The 911 call came in about 10 p.m. from a Maurepas home on the Division Canal in the Waterfront East subdivision. Sgt. Bradley Harrell and Deputy Nicholas Bean were able to get a rope around the alligator’s head,
with one of the officers at one point standing on the kitchen island to get good traction on the rope. A video of the safe capture of the alligator, which made bold “death rolls” as it gripped a chair pillow in its jaws, was posted to the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page. With the help of a parish resident volunteer, deputies got control of the alligator’s head, then used electrical tape to tape closed its mouth. The incident took about five to 10 minutes, Steele said. Deputies measured the gator at 108 inches. The team of three alligator wranglers can be seen in another
ä See GATOR, page 3G
SCREENSHOT FROM LIVINGSTON PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE VIDEO
FEST
OF FANS
Hungarian Heritage Day Visit the Albany Hungarian Presbyterian Church, 30795 Hungarian Presbyterian Church Road, Hammond, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday for Hungarian Heritage Day. The free event features vendor booths, goulash cook-off, Hungarian dancing and tours of the museum, church and cemetery. For more information, call Mindy Starkey at (985) 9746883 or Emily Miller, (985) 874-2667.
Breast cancer screening Woman’s Hospital brings breast imaging to Livingston Parish with its mobile mammography coach. A physician’s order is required, and appointments are strongly encouraged. The coach will stop at RKM Primary Care in Springfield on April 11. Call (225) 395-8022 to schedule. Visit Mandy’s Primary Healthcare in Denham Springs on April 21 for the screening. Call (225) 791-2400 to schedule. For more information including the full mammography coach schedule, visit Womans. org.
ä See AROUND, page 3G
PHOTOS BY DAVID NORMAND
Varland Owens, left, as Glinda, and Vanessa Williams as Elphaba, both characters from ‘Wicked,’ talk to Brynlee Seidel before their performance Saturday at the annual Livingston Parish Library Comic Con held at the Denham Springs-Walker branch in Denham Springs.
Fans celebrate at Denham Springs Comic Con
Cherie McDonald, right, demonstrates crochet technique to Darina Mae Paulk, left, and Elizabeth Dubreuil at her booth.
Community news report Varland Owens and Vanessa Williams, dressed as Glinda and Elphaba, respectively, the main characters in “Wicked,” treated attendees to a performance Saturday during the annual Livingston Parish Library Comic Con Saturday at the Denham Springs-Walker Branch Library. The library’s largest event of the year, inspired by the annual megaevent that takes place in San Diego, offered fans of all genres of pop culture a chance to cosplay as their favorite characters as well as many activities and demonstrations and a wide array of items for sale.
ä More photos. PAGE 4G
Live Oak softball in the thick of district race Last week, the Live Oak softball team finished off a stretch of three District 5-5A games in four days by impressively scoring a combined 29 runs in wins over Walker and East Ascension. Even though Live Oak lost the first game to Dutchtown in 14 innings, the following two wins were just what the Eagles needed to stay in the thick of the race for the district title. Afterward, Live Oak coach Katie Prescott praised her team for playing 27 innings of solid, competitive softball in four days. “We told the kids, ‘Y’all are tough being able to play this many innings so many days in a row,’ ” Prescott said. “The games ended up being closer than we ex-
Charles Salzer SPORTS ROUNDUP
pected, but it’s softball. We’ll play any day.” The 2-1 week left Live Oak at 12-10 overall and 5-3 in league play. The Eagles were 10th in last week’s Division I power ratings. Led by St. Amant at No. 3, District 5-5A had five teams in the top 10. “Obviously, there are a lot of quality programs throughout the
state, but our district is challenging to say the least,” Prescott said. “I like it because it means your coaches and your players have to be ready every single game.” The Eagles were ready Thursday when they collected 14 hits in a 16-6 win over Walker. A day later, in a game that was moved up because of weather concerns, the Eagles pounded out another 14 hits in a 13-4 win over East Ascension. What caught Prescott’s eye was her team’s error-free play in the field. “Pitching and defense is what gets us going,” she said. “As far
STAFF FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON
ä See SALZER, page 2G Live Oak head coach Katie Prescott during a 2024 game.