SERVING THE PARISHES OF EAST FELICIANA AND WEST FELICIANA
The
W atchman
Leila Pitchford AROUND THE FELICIANAS
Fight Bac Board to charge for zoning applications T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
Layne Langley, of the LSU Agriculture Center, will lead Fight Bac, an interactive session on hand hygiene at 11 a.m., Wednesday, June 16, at the Clinton Branch of the Audubon Regional Library. Children will learn why hand washing matters, how to prevent food borne illness, and proper hand washing techniques.
Other summer library events West Feliciana: The West Feliciana Parish Library 2025 Summer Reading Program, runs through July. Readers of all ages can log reading hours for a chance to earn prizes. The final day to log reading is July 31, with prize winners announced Aug. 7. The library will host free events designed for children, teens and adults. At 11 a.m. July 16, the children’s performer will be The Noiseguy. The next art workshop for ages 8-12 is Clementine Hinter flowers at 10 a.m. July 17. Registration is required for the art class. Ages 11-17 are meeting every Tuesday from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Upcoming adult workshops (ages 16+) are at 6 p.m. July 11 is Painted Record Art Workshop and July 25 is Upcycled Magazine Bowl Workshop. Registration is required. Information and registration can be found at www.wfplibrary.org/summer. East Feliciana: East Feliciana Parish Library branches include Clinton, 11023 Bank St., (225) 683-8753; Jackson, Jackson Square Plaza, 2637 La. 10, (225) 634-7408; and Greensburg, 6108 La. 10, (225) 435-7135. n July 25: Dr. Magic’s Summer Fun Magic Show features magic, family friendly comedy, audience participation and prizes. There are no loud noises nor sharp objects. Live animals are used. 10 a.m., Jackson; noon, Clinton; 2 p.m., Greensburg. n Tuesdays at 10 a.m.: Storytime at Audubon Regional Library, Clinton and St. Helena branches. This will include a mix of themed stories, songs and rhymes, and a craft at the end. All ages are welcome. Event highlights: n Children’s performances (ages 6-10) No registration required. All programs begin at 11 a.m. July 23: Harvey Rabbit & Friends July 30: Dinosaur Experience n Kids art workshops (ages 8-12) Registration required. All programs run 10 a.m. to noon. July 17: Clementine Hunter Flowers July 24: Watercolor Landscapes July 31: Blue Dog by George Rodrigue n Teen nights (ages 11-17) No registration required. 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. every Tuesday.
Vacation Bible school set Jackson United Methodist Church will have Vacation Bible School from 9 a.m. to noon July 14-18. Children ages 4-12 are invited to “Road Trip” on the go with God at 1727 Sycamore St
BY JAMES MINTON
Contributing writer
Eying the town’s bottom line, the St. Francisville Board of Aldermen agreed July 8 to begin charging fees for handling applications for zoning and subdivision changes. The move follows last month’s adoption of a budget for the fiscal year that began July 1, in which Mayor Andy D’Aquilla trimmed
expenses to avoid deficit spending. In the past, the town has not charged for following through on zoning and subdivision applications, other than passing on third-party expenses such as publishing required public notices. The board’s fee schedule includes $250 for Planned Unit Development
conceptual, preliminary and final plan applications, as well as $150 for rezoning, variance and conditional use permit requests and major subdivision applications. To develop a major subdivision, the developer would be charged a $200 application fee, plus $25 per lot. Other fees in the schedule are $75 for reconnecting any utility, $50 for a property zoning verification and $100 for a minor subdivision appli-
PHOTOS BY FRANCES Y. SPENCER
Recording artist Clay Parker leads a selection Saturday after also guiding the guitar course of the Songbird Music School.
Songbirds sing, jam, fly all over town
cation. Any costs incurred by the town, such as public notice charges or third-party consultant fees, will be passed on to the applicant. Town engineer Bianca Hillhouse reported that bids will be opened in time for the board’s August meeting on a project to control erosion behind the old town hall on Royal
ä See BOARD, page 2G
BY JAMES MINTON Contributing writer
Participants in the annual Songbird Music School weekend proved one can’t have enough nests as the flock returned to the Birdman Cafe, 3D Tourist Courts, and flew to the newly-opened Art House July 10-13. The Arts for All event brings together musicians from levels ‘singing in the shower” to recording artists. The only requirement was a commitment to having a good time and sharing the mutual melody of music, arts and magic. A songwriting mini course started the event Thursday and Friday led by Eric Schmitt and Heather Feierabend. The weekend musical buffet included voice with Feierabend;
ä See JAM, page 3G
ä See FLOOD, page 2G
BY FRANCES Y. SPENCER
Lynn ‘Mama Bird’ Wood overlooks a joint jam session at the Songbird Music School weekend. Wood is a longtime organizer of the Songbird event and the Arts for All council.
East Feliciana Police Jury opposes reservoirs in Amite flood control plan Facing an overflow crowd that demanded action, the East Feliciana Parish Police Jury voted July 7 to oppose reservoirs in an Amite River flood control master plan and booted its representative on a regional panel that proposed it. Jurors voted 7-1 to replace Ed Parker, of Jackson, who represents jury President Louis Kent on the Amite River Basin Drainage and Water Conservation Commission. Kent abstained from the vote to replace Parker, while Juror Richard Oliveaux of Port Hudson voted against the resolution. Residents who were opposed to two master plan proposals for reservoirs straddling East Feliciana and St. Helena parishes packed the jury’s small meeting room and what appeared to be an equal number waited outside the building. Others left when they found they could not get inside. The two proposals in the master plan drawing fire are “Upper Amite Detention (Major) Site 2” and another labeled “Upper Amite Detention and Retention (Major) Site 3.” Site 2 would include a 3-mile
Contributing writer
Group: Nuclear plants rack up low-level safety, security findings BY DAVID J. MITCHELL
The East Feliciana Summer Day Camp is from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. July 18 at Redwood Baptist Church, 5182 La. 412, in Slaughter. Activities include yoga, cooking, nutrition, outdoor adventures, arts and crafts, STEM, gardening and line dancing. Registration is open and costs $52 a camper. This include lunch and a T-shirt. Register at tinyurl.com/3a7zje4t or email Kayla Banta at kbanta@agcenter.lsu.edu. Call (225) 683-3101.
Entergy Corp.’s three nuclear power plants in southern Louisiana and Mississippi had some of the most safety and security issues among plants of their type in the nation over the past three years, but most, if not all, were in the lowest risk category, an environmental group says. The group, the Union of Concerned Scientists, reached that conclusion in an analysis of federal data as part of a broader critique of nuclear regulators’ color-coded inspection rating system. The group contends the system may miss or under-represent emerging risks by failing to account appropriately for high numbers of the lowest-level “findings,” or issues raised in inspections. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which issues the findings, called the group’s methodology flawed and not in line with how it operates. Entergy dismissed the report as inaccurate and not “in good faith.”
ä See AROUND, page 2G
ST. FRANCISVILLE
$1.00N
FILE PHOTO
4-H day camp set
West Feliciana Parish Parks and Recreation has opened registration for flag football.
W e d n e s d ay, J u ly 16, 2025
Darling Creek flows beneath Otis and Willie Matthews Road, Nov. 26, 2019, in Darlington.
Staff writer
Flag football coming
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lished thresholds,” Victor Dricks, NRC spokesman, said in a statement. “The assessment process allows NRC to integrate various information sources relevant to plant safety performance, make objective conclusions regarding their significance, take actions based on these conclusions in a predictable manner, and effectively communicate these results to licensees and the public.”
Questioning the system ADVOCATE FILE PHOTO BY RICHARD ALAN HANNON
Aerial view of the River Bend Nuclear Station near St. Francisville. The raw tallies of NRC safety findings from 2022-2024 made the plants along the Mississippi River the first- and second-most-cited single-unit plants in the nation over the three-year period, it said. Waterford 3 in New Orleans had the fifth most findings. But the NRC says all three Entergy plants remain in the regulator’s “highest performance catego-
ry in safety and security” after the agency applies its “action matrix” that accounts for a variety of factors, not just safety and security findings. “The NRC uses multiple inputs to assess performance, including inspector findings and objective performance indicators showing how well a plant is performing when measured against estab-
The Union of Concerned Scientists used a relatively new NRC database to generate the tallies. Most, if not all, of the findings the group uncovered were rated “green,” the lowest risk category that doesn’t trigger extra levels of scrutiny from the nuclear agency. “Green” findings have “very low safety significance,” the NRC says. But the group faults this colorcoding system and created its own metric to try to assess what a large number of “green” findings
ä See NUCLEAR, page 3G