DENHAM SPRINGS • LIVINGSTON • WALKER • WATSON • AMITE • HAMMOND
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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, A p r i l 22, 2026
1GN
French Settlement residents oppose energy office request Company is contracted to build pipelines for carbon capture project BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer
A company involved with a proposed carbon capture and storage project in Livingston Parish asked one of the parish’s small towns if it could just lease available office space inside the village hall. But some parish residents immediately fought against the idea, claiming that any affiliation with carbon capture, in any shape or form, is bad. On Wednesday, over a dozen residents gathered in the village
Darlene Denstorff
of French Settlement’s town hall after a meeting agenda for “Enbridge office space request consideration and discussion” made its rounds on social media throughout the parish. Officials with both Livingston Parish and French Settlement made public statements about the meeting beforehand. Enbridge is a pipeline and energy company that was contracted to build a pipeline for another company’s facilities to store carbon dioxide underground north of Holden in Livingston Parish, according to a 2025 statement from the compa-
nies involved in the project. French Settlement Mayor Jeremy Aydell said that recently, he received a call asking about the open office space in the village hall, so he wanted to put it on the agenda for discussion. “I’m here basically stating that I got that request,” he said at the meeting. “I knew it would be contentious; I didn’t quite know it would be this contentious.” Aydell and the rest of the town leadership present expressed they wanted to keep the village’s best interests in mind and that the
agenda was solely for discussion and no action would be taken right now. The mayor remarked that the meeting was the most attended in the past two years. French Settlement has just over 1,000 residents. “We’re a quiet town and we do things the right way,” Aydell said. “It’s caused a little bit of a stir, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Summer Smith, a Holden resident, spoke at the meeting, stating that she opposes carbon capture and that the company is not wanted in the area. “We don’t appreciate the fact
that y’all are even entertaining this,” she said. “Anyone politically involved with these people will be voted out of office.” The mayor at one point said that the company having an office locally could allow residents to ask questions and raise concerns in a more accessible way, but some residents in the meeting were against that. Some even suggested renting the space to the community or a congressional member. Livingston Parish council member Dean Coates, who represents a southeast portion of the parish
ä See PIPELINES, page 3G
IN APPRECIATION OF SERVICE
AROUND LIVINGSTON
Spring Festival set for Denham Springs Don’t miss the Denham Springs Spring Festival, set for Saturday in the city’s downtown district. The day includes hundreds of vendors, games, children’s rides, food booths, antique stores open for shopping, art exhibits, tours the Old City Hall exhibits and music at the Old Train Station. Browse the main street area, rest at the sitting areas, sample the fare in the restaurants and visit the comfort stations.
Class of ‘76 reunion planned If you’re an alum of the Denham Springs Class of 1976 — my class — your help is needed to organize the upcoming reunion. The event is planned for June 13 at Forrest Grove in Denham Springs. To volunteer or share your information with the organizers, email daleh76DS@gmail.com.
Livingston kindergarten registration underway Livingston Parish Public Schools is accepting online registrations for incoming kindergarten students for the 2026-27 school year. A child must be 5 years old on or before Sept. 30 to register for kindergarten. Online registration is available at www.lpsb.org/ parent_resources/registration_info/register_for_kindergarten_2026-2027. Currently enrolled Pre-K students are automatically rolled over and do not need to register. More information about the registration process, visit www. lpsb.org/parent_resources/registration_info.
Pre-K application open in Livingston Parish Livingston Parish Public Schools is accepting applications for pre-kindergarten enrollment for the 2026-27 school year across the district. A child must be 4 years old on or before Sept. 30 to qualify. Round 1 of the online Pre-K application period runs through May 1. The online application can be accessed at applytolppsearlychild.schoolmint. com. Anyone needing assistance completing the online application can visit district staff members on April 17 at the Livingston Parish Public Schools Professional Development Center, at 17457 Wes McLin Road, Suite F. Staff members will be available with laptops to assist from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. that day. Parents or guardians who attend this help session should
ä See AROUND, page 3G
PHOTOS BY RICHARD MEEK
A worker, silhouetted in the morning sun, discard old shingles on April 13 while replacing the roof of Vietnam veteran Mike McKey.
Vietnam veteran gets new roof thanks to Purple Heart group, volunteers BY RICHARD MEEK Contributing writer
A little more than two years ago, as disabled Vietnam veteran Mike McKey was relaxing in his Denham Springs home and his wife, Melita, asleep on the sofa in the living room, a thunderstorm blew through packing winds with enough punch to blow a large section of a tree through a portion of the mobile home’s roof. Fortunately no one was injured but little did McKey know at the time the real storm was just beginning. Insurance did not cover the roof replacement and after a series of denials by insurance companies he has spent the past two years using rudimentary stopgap measures, such as tarps, buckets and futile attempts to
replace shingles, to capture the water. He said three insurance companies dropped his coverage, two without notification, because of the roof damage. “I paid all of that money in and got no relief,” McKey said. “If I had known that I would have tried to build a house instead of getting a double-wide (where he has lived for the past nine years). “Nobody in Louisiana wants to insure a double-wide, which is what they call it, but I consider it a house.” Anxiety has been McKey’s daily companion, affecting his sleep as he fretted over what was next. His thoughts were focused on the urgency of having the house repaired or perhaps putting it on the market.
Michael McKey admires a roof that was recently put on his Denham Springs home at no charge through a combined effort of the Louisiana Military Order of the Purple Heart, Garcia Roofing and Owens-Corning. A new roof was cost prohibitive but the actual kernel of frustration for McKey was the understanding that if the insurance company had paid “like they were supposed to,” the work would have been completed in a timely
manner. “I was getting a little disgusted,” McKey, who spent 30 years working as a licensed plumber, said. “I am not a real religious
ä See ROOF, page 3G
Livingston Parish teams poised for action in baseball playoffs won outright district The LHSAA baseball titles. There are no guarplayoffs started last week, but there were five Livantees in the playoffs, but entering the playoffs in ingston Parish teams that the second round with a had to wait until this week home-field advantage certo begin postseason play. Charles tainly doesn’t hurt. That’s because every one Salzer of those teams earned firstFor French Settlement, SPORTS round byes by finishing the the District 9-2A champiROUNDUP regular season near the onship was the first it has top of the power ratings in captured in five seasons their respective divisions. under head coach Kade PHOTO BY RICHARD MEEK The five schools — Walker, Scivicque, which is not to say that French Settlement’s Remy Cramer at the plate during an end of season Doyle, French Settlement, Holden ä See SALZER, page 2G and Maurepas — all shared or game against Live Oak.