Daily Archives: April 27, 2017

Putting the ‘happy’ in Happy Valley – Cascadia Weekly

Posted: April 27, 2017 at 2:27 am

Words YIMBY Putting the happy in Happy Valley Do It

What: YIMBY: Yes in My Backyard!

When: 9 am Sat., Apr. 29

Where: Firehouse Performing Arts Center, 1314 Harris Ave.

Cost: Free

Info: http://www.sustainableconnections.org

By Tim Johnson

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

The issues of housing affordability, of infill, of neighborhood character are frequently in collision. Acknowledged successes to bring these public goals into harmony are few, and can be slow and difficult to achieve. Andwithout meaning to be glib about a thorny problemone reason may be that efforts to approach these convergent public goals are seldom welcomed. Theyre resisted. We term it NIMBY, Not in My Backyard. And even that term draws growls of annoyance as we reduce complex concerns to terms of derision.

But what if we embraced the problem? What if, going in, we addressed the issues with better design and a greater sense of neighborliness, happy instead of annoyed?

The Happy Valley Neighborhood Association decided to work on solutions to its housing problem and volunteered to be a pilot project for detached accessory dwelling models and to test out assumptions of the citys Infill Housing Toolkit.

YIMBY (Yes in My Backyard) is an idea that our Happy Valley Neighborhood Association (HVNA) Board has been working on, with the goal to promote smaller, more affordable housing infill within our neighborhood, Wendy Scherrer relates. A Huxley graduate who helped grow the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association and became its executive director, Scherrer serves on the board of HVNA.

HVNA was one of 30 local organizations that received a grant from the Whatcom Community Foundation. The grant was targeted for projects to increase connections, build trust among area residents, and develop a sense of community and promote neighborliness, she said.

Its not surprising Happy Valley would take the lead on the issue. The neighborhood immediately south of campus already boasts the citys highest density of rental dwellings and multifamily housing forms.

Those rare successes? Youll find a lot of them in Happy ValleyBellingham Cohousing, Millworks CoHousing, Matthei Place, McKenzie Green Commons, Parkway Gardens, and similar intentional communities of small lots and tight design.

The neighborhood association decided to take their $5,000 grant to sponsor a series of events and information to demonstrate examples of building collaborations for increasing affordable housing stock, and the diverse development, walkability and positive aspects of living in Happy Valley.

A Saturday workshop will presentations, roundtable discussions and a trip through the neighborhoods where the group will examine alternative types of infill (such as single-family houses, cottages, ADUs and detached ADUs, tiny homes, cohousing, housing with smaller footprints, etc.).

A highlight of the day will be presentations from Bill Kreager, the architect behind Honey I Shrunk the Lots!, the initiative that touched off the conversation about infill and unique housing forms in Whatcom and Skagit counties in the past decade.

Focusing on the integration of sustainable site planning and building design, Kraegers work runs the spectrum from small, contextual infill development to large master-planned and resort communities. His passion for affordable and workforce housing is reflected in the successful completion of communities for housing authorities, nonprofit and for-profit developers across the nation.

We are all in this together. Lets work together to find solutions that do work for each neighborhood and create a model with great alternatives for housing a diverse set of demographics and people, residential designer Shannon Maris recently wrote in Whatcom Watch. Bellingham is a great place to livelets keep it that way (or make it even better!) and find ways to share that with others within our present boundaries. It might not be easy, but it will be worth it.

YIMBY is a project of the Happy Valley Neighborhood Association in collaboration with Sustainable Connections, City of Bellingham Planning and Community Development Department, NAM Films, LightSource Residential Design, Our Saviours Lutheran Church, Firehouse Performing Arts Center, Building Industry Association of Whatcom County, Whatcom County Association of Realtors, and the Kulshan Land Trust.

Photo courtesy of Max Illman Landscape Architect I.T.

Quick: name the ship whose sinking is responsible for the most deaths. The Titanic? 1,500. Lusitania? 1,198. Bismarck? 2,000.

No. The dubious honor goes to the MV Wilhelm Gustloff, a German military transport ship that sank off the coast of Poland in January 1945, torpedoed by a Russian

For the 26 years they were married, Alan Alberts and Phyllis Shacter did just about everything as a couple. They worked together in their own consulting business, traveled, played music, created a magic act, laughed a whole lot, explored their spirituality and generally supported each other

Before the 2016 election, before a million women took to the streets three months later to express their outrage that a misogynist and admitted sexual predator proud of his assaults now occupies the highest office in the land, the term feminism had faded from view. After all, the

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American Communities Program Fellows Share Research – CSULA University Times

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The culmination of the research was on the theme of The Humanities & American Cultures Stakes and Specificities.

Marcela Valdivia, Staff Reporter April 26, 2017 Filed under News

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On Monday April 17, the American Communities Program (ACP) held a symposium where current ACP Fellows discussed their research on the theme of The Humanities & American Cultures Stakes and Specificities.

The American Communities Program is a non-profit organization jointly funded by Cal State LA and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The focus of the program is promoting humanities-based inquiry to engage faculty, staff, and the communities in teaching and learning through innovative research.

Maria Karafilis, Director of the American Communities Program, presented the culmination of research from the 2016-2017 ACP Fellows: Dr. Priscilla Leiva, Dr.Andrew Knighton, and Dr. Jose Anguiano. We are dedicated to examining the formation of individual and communal identities in America, said Dr. Maria Karafilis.

Dr. Priscilla Leiva, Chicana/o and Latina/o Cultural Studies and History Professor, shared her research on The Peoples Field: Race and Belonging in the City and Beyond. She opened her presentation with a story about the Christophers, an African American family that owned a house directly behind the right field pavilion of Griffith Stadium in Washington D.C.

I start with the Christophers to think about a shared history of Griffith Stadium in Washington D.C.; a history in which African Americans claimed ownership and belonging to the stadium located in a mixed class black neighborhood, said Dr. Priscilla Leiva.

Griffith Stadium, a desegregated stadium, was built by African American laborers and visited by white residents in a predominantly African American population. When plans to expand the stadium emerged, the Christophers opposed the idea, so the expansion of the stadium was built around their home.

As the expansion of the stadium continued, more decks were built on top of other established decks making Griffith Stadium a paradise for the neighborhood. By examining the history of Griffith Stadium, Dr. Priscilla Leiva has taken into perspective political, economic, and cultural aspects in historical sites of struggle.

Stadiums are in fact racial arenas that are not only windows to the city, but they are actually critical sites of racial formations for whites and communities of color, said Dr. Priscilla Leiva.

Dr. Andrew Knighton, English Professor, shared his research about Taking Thomas McGrath out of Baton Rouge. He spoke about the New Criticism movement in literary theory during the 1930s and 1940s. New critics considered this movement as the most influential in American literature studies that highly focused on a critical engagement on the format and structure of poems.

A poem is understood as a structural object in a context of isolated unity defined by tensions and by the way literary devices resolve those tensions. In other words, the reader of poetry should analyze the poems materiality, that is the architecture that holds it together, figuring out how the words work, and how they are arranged makes meaning, said Dr. Andrew Knighton.

Dr. Andrew Knighton played the poem Odes for the American Dead in Asia for the attendees to listen to the delivery. The monotone style in the delivery of the poem was completely intentional from the poet. McGrath didnt want the subjectivity of the poets voice to distract from the listeners appreciation of the formal and structural features of the poem, said Dr. Andrew Knighton.

Dr. Jose Anguiano, Chicana/o and Latina/o Cultural Studies and Honors College Professor, shared his research about Listening to the audience of The Art Laboe Connection. Art Laboes obsession for radio emerged since his childhood and he pursed his passion at Stanford University in radio engineering. By the1950s he moved to Los Angeles and created his own innovated radio program by taking dedication requests from people.

His radio station airs six nights a week for over thirty hours, known as Oldies But Goodies. Art Laboes theme for his radio show includes a collective and interpersonal connection. Fans utilize social media, especially Facebook, to engage with the radio show and express their dedications.

The Facebook page itself then is a valuable digital archive of how fans engage on the show and pour their heart into the dedication ritual, said Dr. Jose Anguiano.

At the age of ninety-one, Art Laboe continues to impact the media industry with his talent by bringing a closer connection within the public. I would say Art Laboe is one of LAs iconic voices, expressed Dr. Jose Anguiano.

The American Communities Program will hold another symposium next year for the 2017-2018 academic school year with new ACP Fellows that will conduct research on the theme of civility.

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Peggy Whitson breaks space travel record, gets call from the president – Radio Iowa

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Peggy Whitson and fellow astronaut Jack Fischer.

The American astronaut whos spent the most time in space is now an Iowa native.

Peggy Whitson, who was named the stations commander earlier this month, has spent a total of 535 days in orbit during her three missions. The previous record-holder was astronaut Jeff Williams with 534 days.

President Trump made a congratulatory call to Whitson this morning. Thats an incredible record to break and on behalf of our nation and frankly, on behalf of the world, Id like to congratulate you, Trump said. That is really something.

Astronaut Kate Rubins, President Trump, First Daughter Ivanka Trump.

First Daughter Ivanka Trump and astronaut Kate Rubins were also on the call. Whitson, a native of Beaconsfield, is scheduled to be aloft another five months. In a Radio Iowa interview from orbit in December, Whitson was very upbeat about sharing the station with four other astronauts.

Since I flew the last time, weve probably increased the internal volume by almost 30%, so its actually not really feeling very crowded at all up here, Whitson says. Theres still many days where I work by myself in a module on a task and the guys are in their own modules and maybe one of the Russians will come down and ask, Hey, wheres Shane? and Im like, I dont know, have to go look.'

Several of the new laboratories are the size of school buses and the station overall is roughly as big as a football field. Plus, the famed cupola has been added since Whitson was last there, a large circular porthole through which astronauts can watch the clouds and continents drift past.

We dont really feel too crowded here, its actually very nice to be able to have an opportunity at mealtimes, usually lunch but always at dinnertime, to get together and talk and share what weve been doing over the day, what was hard, what was funny, Whitson says. Its fun to get together at the end of the day.

During her missions to the station in 2002 and 2007, Whitson said one of her biggest challenges was coping with the monotony of the food. Thats improved, she says, as she shares the truly-international station with one other American, a Frenchman and two Russians.

Takuya Onishi, a Japanese guy, was up here before and he didnt get to eat all of his bonus food, so weve been tasting on that as well as Thomas Pesquets French food, Whitson says. Were having a good time with a little bit more variety than normal. I dont know how long the leftover Japanese food will last, but hopefully well be able to share more of Thomas French food.

Whitson turned 57 in February and is the oldest woman ever to fly in space. She also has the record for most spacewalks (eight) by a woman. NASA chose to add three months to her current mission and shes now scheduled to return to Earth in September.

Even with the extra time, Whitson wont beat the all-time space duration record held by Russian cosmonaut Gannady Padalka at 879 days over five missions.

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[ April 26, 2017 ] Gravitational wave testbed repurposed as comet dust detector News – Spaceflight Now

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In the final months of Europes LISA Pathfinder mission, scientists have found an unexpected use for the trailblazing testbed for a future gravitational wave observatory by tracking the tiny dings made by microscopic particles that strike the spacecraft in deep space, exploiting the impacts to learn about the population of dust grains cast off by comets and asteroids across the solar system.

Launched in December 2015 aboard a European Vega rocket, LISA Pathfinder spent more than a year in orbit around the L1 Lagrange point, a gravitationally-stable location nearly a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth in the direction of the sun.

The $630 million missions primary purposewas to test the major advancements required in laser ranging, metrology and other fields to make a space-based gravitational wave observatory possible.

Developed by the European Space Agency with assistance from NASA, LISA Pathfinder contains two identical solid gold-platinum cubes, each about the size of a golf ball, suspended inside separate vacuum enclosures. The spacecrafts computer receives data from accelerometers, which measure forces and movements acting on the platform, and issues commands to two sets of micro-thrusters to continuously correct its orientation, keeping the two test cubes in suspension inside their cages.

The remarkable precision required for such maneuvering, called drag-free flight, means LISA Pathfinder essentially flies around the test cubes buried inside the spacecraft.

Astronomers can measure gravitational waves by tracking the distance between two masses that are cocooned from other influences, such as solar light pressure, debris impacts and the gravitational pull from the planets.

Scientists are now using LISA Pathfinder, which ESA estimatesis 10,000 times more stable than any satellite flown on a previous science mission, to catalog the impacts of tiny grains of dust shed by comets and asteroids transiting the inner solar system.

NASA says the study will help scientists better understand the physics of planet formation, and aid engineers designing spacecraft, helping future missions carrying astronauts better withstand collisions of minuscule dust particles in deep space.

Grains that hit a spacecraft at high speed, sometimes greater than 22,000 mph (36,000 kilometers per hour), can cause major damage.

Weve shown we have a novel technique and that it works, said Ira Thorpe, a U.S. scientist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland who works on the European-led mission. The next step is to carefully apply this technique to our whole data set and interpret the results.

When something strikes the LISA Pathfinder spacecraft, the micro-thrusters swing into action to maintain position and prevent the probe from spinning, keeping its twin test masses in free fall.

At maximum power, the European-developed cold gas nitrogen thrusters produce the energy equivalent to around four mosquitos landing on the probe. A set ofelectrospray jets made by the Massachusetts-based company Busek and funded by NASA were also demonstrated in space for the first time aboard LISA Pathfinder, proving they could keep the craft pointed with an accuracy equal to the diameter of a DNA helix.

Every time microscopic dust strikes LISA Pathfinder, its thrusters null out the small amount of momentum transferred to the spacecraft, said Diego Janches, a Goddard co-investigator. We can turn that around and use the thruster firings to learn more about the impacting particles. One teams noise becomes another teams data.

Scientists hope the LISA Pathfinder data will yield insights into the interplanetary dust environment, similar to the way NASAs Long Duration Exposure Facility, a satellite launched by a space shuttle in 1984 and retrieved by a different shuttle in 1990, helped researchers understand the micrometeoroid and debris several hundred miles above Earth.

Microscopic dust grains stream off comets and asteroids as they orbit the sun, producing clouds moving in different directions at various speeds, according to scientists. The dust population in low Earth orbit, where LDEF flew, likely favors smaller and slower particles.

Small, slow particles near a planet are most susceptible to the planets gravitational pull, which we call gravitational focusing, Janches said in a NASA press release. This means the micrometeoroid flux near Earth should be much higher than that experienced by LISA Pathfinder, located about 930,000 miles closer to the sun.

Scientists adapted a software algorithm to help cull data on the spacecrafts thruster firings to pinpoint the exact location and force of a dust grain impact, allowing experts to reconstruct its trajectory and try to tie the particle to known asteroids and comets, NASA said.

Weve demonstrated the dust experiments with both sets of thrusters, although most of the data weve looked at to date has been from the European thrusters, Thorpe said. The reason is that much of the time in the U.S. mission phase is taken up by experiments to test the thrusters themselves which introduces (deliberate) disturbances on the spacecraft.

This is a very nice collaboration, said Paul McNamara, the LISA Pathfinder project scientist at ESA.This is data we use for doing our science measurements, and as an offshoot of that, Ira and his team can tell us about micro-particles hitting the spacecraft.

LISA Pathfinder recently departed its Lissajous-type orbit around the L1 Lagrange point, using its cold gas nitrogen micro-thrusters to nudge the spacecraft away from L1 and into a heliocentric orbit centered on the sun, according to Thorpe.

This was accomplished using the cold gas micro-propulsion system, which meant that achieving 1 meter per second (2.2 mph) of delta-v (velocity change) took nearly a week of continuous thrusting! The benefit is that for the rest of the mission, we no longer have to maintain the Lissajous orbit so we get round-the-clock science operations for a few more months, Thorpe wrote in an email to Spaceflight Now.

Gravitational waves are vibrations in the fabric of spacetime, ripples of cataclysmic events billions of light-years away that can only be detected by finely-tuned instruments on the ground or in space. Movements of massive objects in space, such as supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies, generate gravitational waves that spread throughout the universe, giving astronomers a new way to probe the cosmos without relying on conventional telescopes sensitive to light waves.

A ground-based array called theLaser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO, made the first detection of gravitational waves in 2015, finding a signal from the merger of two black holes 1.3 billion light-years away.

The faint waves travel through space at low frequencies, so an observatory needs multiple detectors spread over thousands or millions of miles to feel them.

LISA Pathfinder is smaller than a compact car too small to detect gravitational waves but it carries sensors similar to the detectors needed for a future space-based observatory, tentatively named LISA, that will include three spacecraft flying in formation about 3 million miles (5 million kilometers) apart

LISA will extend the precision demonstrated by LISA Pathfinder within a single spacecraft over millions of miles.

Within the first day of LISA Pathfinders science mission in early 2016, the ground team confirmed the crafts high-tech suite of detectors, lasers, accelerometers and thrusters met the requirements for the LISA gravitational wave observatory.

Scientists have spent the last year refining the sensitivity of LISA Pathfinders instrumentation, exceeding the performance needed by the LISA triplets, which will be capable of detecting gravitational waves at frequencies a hundred to a million times lower than the ground-based LIGO array.

ESA is planning to lead the design, construction and operation of the LISA observatory, which could launch in the early 2030s. The agencys science program committee is expected to meet in June to formally select a design for the LISA mission.

NASA aims to be a junior partner on the LISA mission, responsible for about 20 percent of the program cost, according to Paul Hertz, director of NASAs astrophysics division.

But our 20 percent includes involvement in the mission architecture and systems engineering aspects of the mission, as well as contributions of technology both to the consortium for inclusion in the payload, and to ESA for inclusion in the spacecraft, Hertz said Monday at a meeting of NASAs Astrophysics Advisory Committee.

NASA might contribute phasemeters, micro-thrusters, lasers, telescopes or components of the missions charge management system, according to Hertz.

The U.S. space agency is funding technology development efforts in several areas, including micro-thrusters and lasers, that could be employed on LISA.

ESAs operations team is scheduled to switch off LISA Pathfinder around July once its final demonstrations are complete.

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Scientists Created an Artificial Womb, and Also Maybe the Singularity Is Near – The Mary Sue

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ARCH+ 228: "StadtlandThe New Rurbanism" – E-Flux

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ARCH+ 228: "StadtlandThe New Rurbanism" Spring 2017

"ARCH+ features 60Stadtland": April 27, 79pm silent green Kulturquartier, Gerichtstrasse 35, 13347 Berlin

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The new issue of ARCH+ Journal for Architecture and Urbanism, entitled "StadtlandThe New Rurbanism," investigates the dialectical relationship between city and countryside. (The word Stadtland is a portmanteau of the German words for city and countryside originally coined by Martin Wagner in the 1930s.) This is a relationship that has always been ideologically contested. Yet with the steady advance of urbanization, the antithetical distinctions between city and countryside, center and periphery, culture and nature have increasingly dissolved. Simultaneously, the romanticization of rural space as a site of the natural and authentic, as a victim of industrialization and urbanization, is coming into question. The countryside is becoming an ambivalent actorin certain respects a culprit, in others a forerunner.

According to philosopher Armen Avanessian, to whom this issues special feature is dedicated, Today, city and country(side) must by necessity be thought as technological and computational. He argues that cities today should be viewed more from the perspective of the countryside, and that this countryside is as far from natural as the rest of nature.

Under the spatial regime of Stadtland, there is no return to the landand above all no return to nature. Indeed, more than anywhere else, its the countryside that attests to the looming technological revolutions that challenge our ways of life and even our very humanity.

Avanessian continues: In the countryside of the future, which has already begun, we also find the server farms that have recently prompted Rem Koolhaas to think about a posthuman countryside and an architecture without human occupancy. Beyond questions concerning the aesthetics of posthuman architecture, I am interested in the effects server farms have on the countryside or, in more precise and metonymic rather than metaphorical terms: I am interested in how a new paradigm of computation does not simply change living and thinking in our software society but affects the smart cities and countrysides themselves where we live and work.

"The taskfor architecture as for the theory of architecture, for politics as for philosophyis to live up to the challenge of this spatially and temporally complex social landscape where the human can no longer claim epistemic primacy over against computers or algorithms. For that reason and because algorithms have no presentneither an aesthetic nor any other kind of presenceit is nostalgic and regressive to posit the living present of human beings, their aisthetic presence and aesthetic concerns, as the exclusive criterion for thinking architecturally about city and countryside.

Read the English translation of Avanessians essay Whole Cities and Divisible Countries, or Speculative Thoughts on a New Mereo(to)politics for the Twenty-First Century here.

The issue is published in German, and includes contributions from Armen Avanessian, BeL Soziett fr Architektur, Pierre Blanger, Giorgio Ciucci, Marta Doehler-Behzadi, Kerstin Faber, Ulrike Gurot, Peter Haimerl, Thomas Krger, Achim Menges, Philipp Oswalt, Rural Urban Framework, Christian Schmid, Manfred Speidel, Issei Suma, Stephan Trby, Zhang Ke, Juli Zeh, among others.

Table of Contents

ARCH+ features 60: Stadtland On April 27, 2017, coinciding with the publication of the ARCH+ issue "Stadtland Der neue Rurbanismus", as part of the ARCH+ Features series, the event ARCH+ Features 60: Stadtland will be held in Berlins silent green Kulturquartier. With architects Peter Haimerl, Thomas Krger, and Marta Doehler-Behzadi (Managing Director of IBA Thringen), moderated by Kerstin Faber (IBA Thringen)and Anh-Linh Ngo (Editor, ARCH+).

ARCH+ is Germany's leading publication for discourse in the fields of architecture, urbanism, and related disciplines. Founded in the wake of the student protests of 1967, ARCH+ continues to situate the built environment within its social context. Quarterly issues examine a diverse range of topics to decipher the cultural and political conditions that produce space. In print and online, through projects and events, ARCH+ functions as an independent platform for critique. ARCH+ is edited by Nikolaus Kuhnert, Anh-Linh Ngo, and Christian Hiller. Art direction by Mike Meir.

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ARCH+ 228: "StadtlandThe New Rurbanism" - E-Flux

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Around Ascension for April 27, 2017 – The Advocate

Posted: at 2:24 am

Alzheimers center

A free virtual tour and information session for the new Charlies Place II Activity and Respite Center in Ascension Parish will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Sister Vernola conference room at St. Elizabeth Hospital.

The program is meant to provide a purposeful day for adults with mild to moderate Alzheimers or memory-related dementia while providing their caregivers a break.

No registration is required.

Help in the fight against cancer by participating in the American Cancer Societys Relay for Life at 6 a.m. Saturday at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center 4-H Building in Gonzales.

To register or learn more, visit relayforlife.org, call (800) 227-2345 or Lexie Grush at (985) 788-7982 or email lexie.grush@cancer.org.

Capital Area United Way, St. Elizabeth Hospital and The Church of Donaldsonville are hosting a free Day of Caring community health event from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at the church, 810 Martin Luther King Drive, Donaldsonville.

The event includes health screenings, information about community resources and food.

Ascension Parish Librarys Lego Club for children of all ages meets at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Donaldsonville Branch.

Legos will be provided, as well as Duplo Blocks and Mega Bloks for younger children. Young builders should leave their own Legos at home.

Call (225) 473-8052 for details.

Ascension Parish will participate in the National Day of Prayer on May 4 with the eighth annual National Day of Prayer Luncheon at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center. Lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m., followed by the program at noon.

Visit nationaldayofprayer.com to learn more about the National Day of Prayer.

The TOPS, or Taking Off Pounds Sensibly, weight-loss support group meets Thursdays at Carpenter's Chapel Church, 41181 La. 933, Prairieville. Weigh-in starts at 5 p.m. and ends when the meeting begins at 6 p.m.

Call Sylvia Triche at (225) 313-3180 for details.

Learn about holistic psychotherapy and how it may be integrated into psychotherapy sessions during a workshop from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. May 5 at the Red Cross building, 4655 Sherwood Common Boulevard, Baton Rouge.

The workshop is sponsored by Ascension Counseling Center.

Child Advocacy Services is in need of volunteers to advocate for abused and neglected children through its CASA program. Training begins May 22 and consists of 30 hours of combined classroom and independent study.

Volunteers spend an average of 10 hours a month gathering factual information to help a child reach a safe, permanent home.

Call (225) 647-2005 to set up an informational session with a CASA recruiter.

The Class of 1977 of East Ascension High School will gather for its 40th class reunion at 6 p.m. Aug. 19 at the Clarion Conference Center in Gonzales.

All East Ascension High graduating classes are invited to the celebration, which includes food, a cash bar, dancing and music by Kenny Fife.

Cost is $50 per person in advance or $55 at the door. Registration forms will be emailed upon request. Email trudybates@yahoo.com or l.rhett.bourgeois@gmail.com for details.

Contact Darlene Denstorff by phone, (225) 388-0215 or (225) 603-1996; or email, ascension@theadvocate.com or ddenstorff@theadvocate.com. Deadline: noon Monday.

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Around Ascension for April 27, 2017 - The Advocate

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Ascension Parish Civil Court Cases for April 10-13, 2017 – The Advocate

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Ascension Civil Court cases filed in Ascension Parish between April 10-13:

Blake Michael Martin v. tutorship.

University of Louisiana System Board and University of New Orleans v. Chenetra Lynette Hall, promissory note.

Wells Fargo Bank NA v. Edward Raymond Pfeiffer aka Eddie Raymond Pfeiffer, executory process.

Wells Fargo Bank NA v. Daniel S. Saxon, executory process.

Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC v. Darlene White, open account.

Gas Pipeline Acadian v. Alfredo Ott III, Aubrey Marchand aka Aubrey Delisa, Charmaine Marchand Stiaes, Claudia Udah, Curtis Marchand, David Julien, Debra M. Domio, Desiree Marchand Shelling, Dianne Jupiter, Donnata Antoine aka Donata Julien, Eileen M. Julien, Eric Johnson, Francine Ott, Gail Iheke, George Marchand Sr., Gerald Johnson, Geraldine J. Wardlaw aka Geraldine Julien aka Geraldine Julien Black, Harold L. Julien LLC, Henry P. Julien Jr., Janet Julien Brown, Janvier Pierre Marchand, Keith Theard, Kenneth Johnson, Lynn Julien Hoggard, Michael Johnson, Paul Bertrand Jr. aka Paul Julien Jr., Paul Marchand Jr., Paulette M. Lundy, Reginald Ott, Ricardo D. Marchand, Roslyn Johnson Smith, Sandra Julien Wheeler, Sharon Johnson, Sheila M. Richards, Sylvia Marchand Moore, Theodore Marchand, Walter Johnson Jr., Warren Johnson, Wayne Julien, West Riley III, Wanda Williams, Kendall Marchand, Heirs of Percy Marchand Jr., Heirs of Paul Marchand, Heirs of Gerald Marchand, Heirs of Clytie Marchand, Heirs of Doris Marchand Riley, Heirs of Alfredo Ott Jr., Heirs of Edward P. Julien and Heirs of Henry P. Julien, expropriation.

Bank of America NA v. Samantha S. Thibodeaux, open account.

Bank of America NA v. Glen Fournet, open account.

Beverly Hill v. Kmart Corp. and Kellermeyer Bergensons Services LLC, damages.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. and Clorissa Curtis v. Beatrice Johnson and Equity Insurance Co., damages.

JPMorgan Chase Bank National Assoc. v. Derek B. Polk, executory process.

JPMorgan Chase Bank National Assoc. v. Sherman L. Anderson Jr. aka Sherman Lee Anderson Jr., executory process.

JPMorgan Chase Bank National Assoc. v. Stacey L. Rome and Lowell P. Rome, executory process.

Barbara Bush and Paire Bush v. Pat Arceneaux and Liberty Personal Insurance Co., damages.

Allison M. Dickey v. Geico Advantage Insurance Co. and Joseph Wang, damages.

Kenneth J. Diaz v. Jenny L. Bassford, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. and Safeco Insurance Co. of Oregon, damages.

Our Lady of The Lake Ascension dba St. Elizabeth Hospital; Stephen Manale, MD; and James Williams, MD v. Medical Review Panel and Raymond Liotto Jr., medical review panel.

Nationstar Mortgage LLC v. Nicki Merrill Spillman aka Nicki M. Sanchez Picou aka Nicki M. Spillman Picou aka Nicki Merrill Landry, promissory note.

Citimortgage Inc. v. Jesse Lee Hawkins Jr. and Joanus Riley, executory process.

Neighbors Federal Credit Union v. Jalisha Anderson and Talisha Anderson, executory judgment.

Bank of New York Mellon FKA and Bank of New York v. Angela Matthews aka Angela M. Smith aka Angela D. Matthews, executory process.

Bradley Morris v. Geico Casualty Co. and Chante Ballard, damages.

James Oxner v. Allstate Fire and Casualty Co., damages.

Nationstar Mortgage LLC v. Steven J. Gilbert, executory process.

GMFS LLC v. Brett Courtney, executory process.

Jarius Carey v. Hope Haven Marble and Granite LLC, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., Geico Casualty Co. and Mona Rodrigue, damages.

Wells Fargo Bank NA v. Linda Daniel Deglandon, executory process.

Kimberly Howard v. Mack Wayne Black, injunction.

Darlene Braud v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., damages.

Cavalry Spv I LLC v. Juanita Clarke, executory judgment.

Monica E. Fernandez v. Francisco Ricardo Fernandez, divorce.

Leisa Bennett v. Joseph Bennett, divorce.

Brandi Johnson and state Department of Children and Family Services v. Lonnie Johnson Jr., child support.

Brynn Lambert Brown v. Adam Michael Brown, divorce.

Stacy H. Stanley v. David Scott Stanley, divorce.

Todd Andrew Atkins v. Dani Varnado Atkins, divorce.

Ronald Christopher Gonzales v. Mona Lisa Sanchez Gonzales, divorce.

Nicholas M. Breaux v. Mallory Dupree Breaux, divorce.

Ellen Anne Maree Carpenter v. Cody T. Carpenter, divorce.

Nohemi Granados and state Department of Children and Family Services v. Barron Jones, paternity.

Yves Joesph Sheets v. Terra Mancuso Sheets, divorce.

Succession of Robert Earl Bergeron

Succession of Kevin D. Michelli

Succession of Warren Joseph Burns, Patricia Delatte Burns

Succession of Deborah Gautreaux Brenn

Succession of Margaret Babin Burns

Succession of Mae Dell Sevier Galloway

Succession of Emile Johnson

Succession of Jewelers Inc. dba Sterling, Jewelers Kay

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Ascension Parish Civil Court Cases for April 10-13, 2017 - The Advocate

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Ascension Crime Briefs – Donaldsonville Chief

Posted: at 2:24 am

Hayed Pleads Guilty to 2014 Armed Robbery

On April 17, 2017, Kenneth Hayes III of 8056 Gus St. New Orleans, 20, pled guilty to Armed Robbery following the 2014 robbery of a convenience store in Gonzales. Hayes was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Joni Buquoi, and presiding over this matter was the Honorable Judge Jessie LeBlanc. This guilty plea was the result of a plea agreement with prosecutors.

On September 21, 2014, members of the Gonzales Police Department were dispatched to the Murphy Express convenience store located on S Airline Highway in Gonzales. Through the course of the investigation, detectives learned that two black males armed with guns approached a store clerk and two customers outside of the store. One of the customers was able to flee the area, but the store clerk and other customer were held at gunpoint. The two subjects escorted the clerk and customer back into the store, and the clerk was forced to take the money from the register and place it into a backpack, all while still at gunpoint. Both subjects fled the area in a 2003 Jeep. The same jeep used in the Gonzales robbery had been stolen during a carjacking in New Orleans approximately 1 hour prior to the robbery. Approximately 30 minutes after the subjects fled the Murphy Express in Gonzales, the two subjects committed another armed robbery at Birdies Food and Fuel located on Belle Terre Blvd. in Laplace. Shortly after fleeing the area of the Laplace robbery, St. John Parish Sheriffs Deputies were able to locate the getaway vehicle and engaged in a high speed pursuit. T

Upon entering a guilty plea to the above charge, as per the plea agreement with prosecutors, Judge LeBlanc ordered that Hayes be committed to the Louisiana Department of Corrections at hard labor for a period of 15 years with credit for time served. It was further ordered that the imposed sentence is to be served without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

Guilty Pleas

During the week of April 17-21, the following defendants pled guilty to various charges and were sentenced in the 23rd Judicial District Court, Parishes of Ascension, Assumption, and St. James.

Ascension Parish

Mark Burke, 4715 Point Claire St., St. Gabriel, 47, pled guilty to Felony Hit and Run and was sentenced to three years with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served, to be suspended, and placed on three years supervised probation.

Kenneth Hayes III, 8056 Gus St., New Orleans, 20, pled guilty to Armed Robbery and was sentenced to 15 years at hard labor with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served. The imposed sentence is to be served without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

Christopher Hendricks, 430 W Minor St., Gonzales, 25, pled guilty to Attempted Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon and was sentenced to three years with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served. The imposed sentence is to be served without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

The above cases were prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Joni Buquoi and Steven Tureau. Presiding over these matters was the Honorable Judge Jessie LeBlanc.

Kamron Kelly, 37144 La. 942, Darrow, 35, pled guilty to Possession of a Schedule IV Controlled Dangerous Substance and Possession of a Schedule I Controlled Dangerous Substance. Kelly was sentenced to four years at hard labor with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served on each count. The imposed sentences are to run concurrent with one another.

Donnell Bates, 103 Grisaffe Lane, Belle Rose, 28, pled guilty to Simple Burglary and was sentenced to five years at hard labor with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served.

Justin Hill, 616 Holly St., Bunkie, age 32, pled guilty to Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle and was sentenced to 18 months with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served, to be suspended, and placed on 18 months supervised probation.

Michael Jenkins, 9298 La. 22 St. Amant, 43, pled guilty to Forgery and was sentenced to 18 months at hard labor with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served, to be suspended, and placed on 18 months supervised probation and was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $3,200.

Russel Daigle, 3090 Laifton Lane, Port Allen, 26, pled guilty to Principal to Simple Burglary of an Inhabited Dwelling and was sentenced to four years at hard labor with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served.

Robyn Grosse, 43083 Weber City Road, Gonzales, 33, pled guilty to Attempted Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon and was sentenced to seven years at hard labor with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served.

Jay Johnson, 41065 La. 42 Prairieville, 35, pled guilty to Felony Carnal Knowledge of a Juvenile. Per Judge Turner, Sentencing was deferred Pending a Pre-Sentence Investigation.

Michael Roddy, 14015 Mazoch Road, Gonzales, 45, pled guilty to Simple Burglary and was sentenced to 18 months with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served, to be suspended, and placed on 18 months supervised probation.

The above cases were prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Kenneth Dupaty and Shawn Bush. Presiding over these matters was the Honorable Judge Alvin Turner Jr.

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Ascension Crime Briefs - Donaldsonville Chief

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Ascension gov’t may cut flood victims some slack, amid complaints – WBRZ

Posted: at 2:24 am

ASCENSION PARISH - Homeowners who were flooded out of their home and moved to another property may catch a break.

After receiving several complaints, parish officials are considering waiving the transportation impact fee.

"I just feel let down, I feel let down by the parish that they're imposting this on us," said Denise LeBlanc, who moved two miles away from her flooded Prairieville home.

LeBlanchad to pay a $1,700 transportation impact fee before she could move her home onto the new property.

"We've already lost so much," said LeBlanc.

The fee goes toward road maintenance. LeBlanc says she's paid enough already just to move back to Ascension Parish.

"We could have stayed where we were," said LeBlanc."We could have rebuilt in EBRparish but we wanted to come back home."

Parish officials said they are trying to address the issue and plan to go before the parish council to waive the fee for flood victims who were residents before August 2016.

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