DONALDSONVILLE • DUTCHTOWN • GEISMAR • GONZALES • PRAIRIEVILLE • ST. AMANT
THE ASCENSION
ADVOCATE T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
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W e d n e s d ay, F e b r u a ry 4, 2026
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Donaldsonville council introduces recording ordinance BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT Staff writer
The Donaldsonville City Council is set to significantly revise an ordinance that restricted recording public meetings, with the city’s attorney saying it should put the city “in full compliance” with state and federal laws.
Darlene Denstorff AROUND ASCENSION
Ascension Mambo rolls Saturday The Krewe of Ascension Mambo rolls at 2 p.m. Saturday through Gonzales. This year’s theme is “Coming to Ascension.” The parade begins on Irma Boulevard, turn onto Cornerview, travel to La. 44 ending on La. 30. The Grove Recovery Center will host Sober Gras at 202 N. Burnside Ave., Gonzales, during the Krewe of Ascension Mambo parade starting at 2 p.m. Feb. 7. Attendees are asked to bring chairs and their family. The center will provide jambalaya. Veterans Freedom all set from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Gonzales Price LeBlanc PACE Center. The Board and Staff of the Microbusiness Enterprise Corporation of Ascension, event sponsor, invite everyone to attend and support veterans programming at the ball. David St. Romain and Songs of Survivors will perform. The Freedom Ball is a public recognition program fundraiser to support veteran service entrepreneurial, workforce, and economic development programs in South Louisiana. The Freedom Ball includes all the traditions and fanfare of a traditional Carnival ball and is under new management. Proceeds from the ball will be reserved to provide services that benefit the economic prosperity of veterans and to honor those who serve, have served and have given their lives to protect us all. For sponsorship information, call (225) 445-1383. For tickets, visit tinyurl.com/66p8uez9.
The City Council unanimously approved the original ordinance last year, which placed restrictions on the recording of public meetings and threatened jail time for violators. Among a list of stipulations, it required people recording meetings to provide notice to the council and banned the publication of record-
Rodeo coming soon The Southeast Louisiana Junior and High School Rodeo starts on Feb. 27 and continues through March 1 at the LamarDixon Center in Gonzales. Action continues at 7 p.m. Feb. 28 and 9 a.m. March 1. Rodeo athletes in fifth through 12th grades from all of Louisiana will compete. Admission is $10. A weekend pass is $15. Kids 5 and under are free.
Jambalaya Festival is in May The 2026 Jambalaya Festival is set for May 21-24.
Egg a home for Easter Cara’s House Animal Shelter is “egging” houses in the Ascension area. Prices range from $20 to $85 for 25 to 150 eggs. Stuffed eggs will be delivered to the requested yard after
ä See AROUND, page 2G
find the ordinance in violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and alleged the ordinance was passed as retaliation for Daigle filming part of an alleged fight involving a councilman in May. At the council’s Jan. 27 meeting, the city introduced a new ordinance to modify the previous one.
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Changes include removing criminal penalties for recording, dropping requirements of prior notice to the council and content regulations over published recordings. The ordinance is set to be voted on by the council Feb. 24. Attorney Larry Bankston, who
ä See COUNCIL, page 2G
GONZALES
Baseball fields dispute continues BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT Staff writer
PHOTO BY WENDY LOUP
Prairieville Boy Scout Troop 67 cook pancakes on Sunday during the Gonzales Lions Club annual Pancake Breakfast at East Ascension High School. From left, are Nathan Desormeaux, Kofi Adegbe and Brent Wells.
Lions Club’s pancakes raise money for projects to help children BY WENDY LOUP Contributing writer
Temperatures outside were in the 20s Sunday morning, but inside the East Ascension High School cafeteria, hot pancakes and sizzling sausage were served during the Gonzales Lions Club annual Pancake Breakfast and Jambalaya Lunch. More than 800 attendees ate breakfast while watching performances by the Center Stage Performing Arts Academy singers and dancers. The popular all-you-can-eat pancake
Learn how to make shoebox Mardi Gras float A shoebox Mardi Gras float workshop and Tiny Krewe parade is 6 p.m. Saturday at Tinker CoLab, 602 Railroad Ave., Donaldsonville. The cost for the workshop is $35 and includes supplies.
ings edited in a “form which misrepresents the manner in which the meeting was conducted or the events that occurred during the meeting.” Shentelle Daigle, a member of the board of adjustments who has also live-streamed meetings for years, sued the city in December. Her lawsuit asked the court to
breakfast is the Lions Club’s biggest fundraiser of the year. Raffles featuring products and gift baskets and cards are provided by local businesses. Admission for breakfast was $15 per person and included two concessions and raffle tickets. Jambalaya was also served for $5 a plate. Children who were 5 years and younger attended for free. “One hundred percent of the proceeds are given back to the community,” Lions
ä See PANCAKES, page 4G
City and parish officials have yet to reach an agreement about who can use local baseball fields in Gonzales after three council members voted to reject a proposed policy for the second time in January. The agreement between the Ascension Parish government and the City of Gonzales would have allowed the parish to use the city’s eight baseball and softball fields at Tee Joe Park, Municipal Park and Bergeron-Gaudin Park for parish programming. This programming includes the parish’s agreement with AP Baseball, a league with more than 1,300 registered players. AP Baseball manages both the parish and city’s recreational baseball programs. Council members Cynthia Gray James, Tyler Turner and Terri Lambert voted against the agreement. Much of the dispute centered on whether travel baseball teams could use the fields, because the agreement permits field rentals for a fee when scheduling allows, but Ascension Parish, with the large AP Baseball program, would have power over booking fields. Travel team fees bring money into the city of Gonzales and help cover the cost of keeping the fields in good shape, according to council members. However, the agreement makes getting those games booked more difficult, said Randell Williams who spoke on behalf of travel teams at the meeting. Also part of the discussions was the fact that, last year, Gonzales signed an agreement directly with AP Baseball, which included an expense of $40,000 to help cover the cost of baseball officials. The new partnership with the parish would have eliminated the fee after the parish council approved an $80,000 payment last fall to cover the costs.
ä See BASEBALL, page 4G
St. Amant student recounts deportation to Guatemala BY ELYSE CARMOSINO Staff writer
An Ascension Parish high school student seeking asylum in the U.S. was detained by federal agents and deported to Guatemala two weeks ago, according to the student and people who spoke with her. Maria Bolvito, a senior at St. Amant High School in St. Amant, was taken into custody on Jan. 20 when she joined her father for a routine check-in with immigration officials, those close to the teen said. Bolvito, who recently turned 18, said she did not speak with a lawyer or go before a judge. Three days later, she and her father were deported. “I felt sad,” Bolvito, who had been in the U.S. since she was about 10 years old, said in a text message to The Advocate last week from Guatemala. “I didn’t want to leave yet.” A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson could not confirm that Bolvito was deported. A spokesperson for Ascension Parish schools referred questions to
PROVIDED PHOTO FROM BRITANY MOLINA
Maria Bolvito, a student at St. Amant High School in Ascension Parish, was taken into custody by immigration agents while attending a routine check-in with her father for the family’s asylum case ä See STUDENT, page 2G in New Orleans last week. Both were deported to Guatemala days later.