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
|
W e d n e s d ay, F e b r u a ry 18, 2026
Super retrievers
$1.00N
WEST FELICIANA
La. bird dogs and their owners vie for canine supremacy
Council to once again wrestle with zoning map BY JAMES MINTON Contributing writer
STAFF PHOTOS BY MICHAEL JOHNSON
Kaizen bounds through the course with a duck dummy for handler Cody Best at the Super Retriever Series event in Amite on Jan. 30. BY AIDAN McCAHILL
The West Feliciana Parish Council will try again on March 9 to adopt a new zoning map to match a 2023 ordinance that governs land development in the parish. A new zoning map had not been drawn when the land development code was adopted nearly three years ago, and two slates of parish council members have been unable to agree on a map establishing zoning classifications in the parish’s unincorporated areas. As a result, the council is using an Metz older map showing land-use zones. At the council’s Feb. 9 meeting, Councilman Justin Metz introduced an ordinance establishing a new map, saying it is essentially the same as a map he attempted to have approved in 2024. The map “matches the new zoning ordinance,” Metz said. The council did not discuss the measure but set a 5:30 p.m. public hearing on Metz’s proposal. In other action during the half-hour meeting, the council reappointed Grant Ollenburger, Penny Comena and Phillip Curwick to the parish Library Board of Control, and appointed Lindsay Stewart to the seat held by Kelli Daniel. The council also reappointed Craig Dalferes, Magruder Hazlitt and Dyvar Anderson to the parish hospital board and named Patrick Tanner to the board that governs Gas Utility District 1.
Staff writer
ST. FRANCISVILLE
A rubber tube plops on a wet field in Ethel. Haddie, a 5-month-old black Labrador retriever, fights the urge to bolt toward it, her tail wagging in violent anticipation. “Heel … heel … Haddie!” calls her owner, Casey Parker. At the command, her tiny legs churn through the grass to snatch up the toy. Parker then blows a whistle — a new concept meant to signal the young pup to return. On the way back, Haddie veers off course, drops the tube, and … pauses to relieve herself. Such a blunder would mean instant disqualification in the world she is destined to experience. But today is only practice, and time is on her side. Behind her, members of the Amite River Hunting Retriever Club are preparing for the season, which runs from February through the summer, while duck hunting is closed.
Board passes on mayor’s pick for town attorney, appoints Black BY JAMES MINTON
Handler Kevin Bearden releases Gracie toward one of four dummy ä See RETRIEVERS, page 1G ducks at the Super Retriever Series event in Amite.
Leila Pitchford AROUND THE FELICIANAS
Hear from local civil rights activist At 2 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 21, the West Feliciana Parish Library will host Ronnie Moore, a civil rights activist, community development consultant and photographer, for a program reflecting on his 70+ years of activism and community leadership. Moore was a key figure during 1964’s Freedom Summer in West Feliciana Parish, where he worked to register African American voters and helped establish local organizing efforts that reshaped
ä See AROUND, page 3G
After pandemic, four-day school weeks are gaining popularity in Louisiana BY CHARLES LUSSIER
Staff writer
Two decades ago, the East Feliciana Parish school district shifted to a four-day school week. Seven years later, the district discontinued it and reverted to a traditional five-day school week. After a 13-year hiatus, it is trying the four-day week once again. Starting in August, classes will run Tuesday through Friday, with Mondays off. Each school day will be an hour longer. Back in 2006, the only four-day-week district in Louisiana was neighboring St. Helena Parish. A handful of individual schools across the state also had shortened weekly schedules, but a lot has changed in the past 20 years. Currently, 15 school districts hold classes only four days each week.
Webster
Lincoln
49 DeSoto
Bienville
East Carroll
20
Caddo
Ouachita
Richland
Caldwell
Franklin
16 school districts will have a 4-day week for the 2026-27 school year.
Madison
Jackson
Red River
Four-day school week in Louisiana
West Morehouse Carroll
Union
Claiborne
Bossier
Winn
Current 4-day school weeks
Tensas
4-day school weeks to begin in August
Catahoula Natchitoches
Grant
Sabine
LaSalle Concordia
Rapides
Vernon
Avoyelles
W. Feliciana E. Feliciana
Allen
10
Jefferson Davis
Evangeline
Pointe St. Landry Coupee
Cameron
Washington
Acadia Lafayette St. Martin Vermilion
Iberia
Bogalusa
EBR WBR
Calcasieu
Tangipahoa
St. Helena
49 Beauregard
Nontraditional annual calendars
St. Tammany
Livingston
St. John Iberville Ascension St. James Assumption
St. Mary
Jefferson
St. Charles Lafourche
10 Orleans
St. Bernard Plaquemines
Terrebonne Staff map Source: Staff research
That’s nearly a quarter of the districts in Louisiana. They tend to be smaller, rural school systems. They range from Catahoula Parish, home to about 800 students, to Acadia Parish, with to about 9,000 stu-
dents. Like East Feliciana Parish, districts such as Avoyelles and Evangeline parishes have repeatedly swung back and forth.
ä See SCHOOL, page 4G
Contributing writer
The St. Francisville Board of Aldermen balked at supporting the mayor’s choice for a town attorney during a brief meeting Feb. 10. Mayor Andy D’Aquilla wanted the board to back his appointment of Charles Griffin as the town’s legal representative, but a motion to that effect was met with silence. Alderman Tommy Wheeler’s motion died for the lack of a second, with board member Abby Cochran finally explaining that she had philosophical differences with Griffin because of past litigation that the veteran lawyer had brought against the town during previous administrations. D’Aquilla, who is a lawyer, said Griffin has experience in municipal legal issues and he had called on him for advice at times. To wrap up the failed nomination, the board voted 4-1 against hiring Griffin, with Wheeler dissenting. D’Aquilla then nominated Jessie Cannon Black as his next choice to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Ben Klein last year, and the board voted unanimously to support the appointment. On another matter, the mayor offered a proposed ordinance to raise all traffic fines by $50 each, providing the board with fine schedules for several regional municipalities for comparison. The ordinance would cap fines at $500. A public hearing on the proposal will be held March 9. In other action, the board: n Learned that the contractor working to fill the town’s oxidation ponds had encountered more acidic silt in them than expected and is putting in additional lime to raise the pH level. When the desired level is reached, D’Aquilla said, the ponds will be capped with fresh dirt. n Recognized maintenance employees Donald Stephens and Tyrone “Popeye” Davis for their service of 32 and 33 years, respectively. n Heard the mayor’s report that U.S. Representative Julia Letlow, now a Senate candidate, had secured the release of $2.2 million in federal funds approved during the Biden administration but held up by the Trump administration. The money, together with $1.1 million in state funds, will be used for major improvements to a section of Commerce Street, including burying overhead electrical lines and adding parking in the area.