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Domestic violence deaths on the rise in EBR
THE RIVER’S RECKONING
Authorities working with nonprofits to break the cycle of abuse
BY AIDAN McCAHILL | Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By DAVID GRUNFELD
The Old River Control Structures near Lettsworth keep the Mississippi River from changing course to the Atchafalaya River.
HOLDING BACK
THE RIVER
Keeping the Mississippi from changing course is vital for Louisiana and the nation, but new challenges are emerging Second in a series
BY MIKE SMITH | Staff writer LETTSWORTH — The giant steel doors below Russell Beauvais’ feet are holding back water that can determine the future of south Louisiana — and far beyond. On one side of the elaborate complex in this remote corner of the state lined with sugar cane fields is the Mississippi River. The other side leads to the Atchafalaya River. Allowing the two to merge — as nature would prefer — would be nothing short of epochal. “Without this, the nation and the state of Louisiana wouldn’t exist like it is today,” the 61-year-old Cajun from the nearby town of Morganza says of the Old River Control Structures, where he serves as operations manager. Of all the levees, gates and walls keeping the Mississippi River in place across the length of America’s spine, Old River Control may be the most consequential. Without it, river shipping, industry along the lower Mississippi, the region’s drinking water and communities along its banks — including New Orleans — would be forever changed.
Alanna Singleton, a 54-year-old real estate agent living in Central, knew what it was like to call 911 after multiple arguments with her boyfriend, Paul Varnado. In June, violence led to an arrest. Varnado, unable to find his keys, pushed Singleton down a flight of stairs, leaving her bleeding and bruised. The next day, Varnado, already convicted of domestic abuse in a previous marriage, was booked into jail. He quickly posted a $5,000 bond, agreeing not to communicate with Singleton or come within 100 yards of her. Singleton then wrote a two-page letter to East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore, asking him to lift a restraining order against Varnado. “I’m afraid of him losing his job,” she wrote. “I know Paul was not the only one at fault in this matter.”
ä See DEATHS, page 6A
La. stays out of redistricting melee State awaiting Supreme Court’s decision on its congressional map
BY MARK BALLARD | Staff writer
Russell Beauvais, operations manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Old River Control Structures, stands on one of the structure sections. But the structure’s operations were designed in another era, and a new set of pressing problems across the lower river have emerged. They range from saltwater intrusion moving upriver from the Gulf to how flood control systems along the Mississippi are operated. Changing conditions related to the
riverbed and intensifying rainfall are also stoking some concern about the possibility of the structure being overpowered one day, and whether the nation is underestimating that catastrophic risk.
ä See RIVER, page 10A
ä For more from this series, go to theadvocate.COM
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has urged Republican legislatures to take the rare step of redrawing congressional election maps halfway through the traditional 10-year cycle, launching a gerrymandering arms race that has spread to state capitols across America. The fight started in Texas, but now Republican-run states of Florida, Indiana, Ohio and maybe Trump Missouri also are gearing up to redraw election maps and send more GOP members to the House. In response, Democrats launched their own mid-cycle redistricting efforts in states
ä See REDISTRICTING, page 7A
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