Daily Archives: August 30, 2020

Ascension Parish suffered minor impacts after Hurricane Laura made landfall near Cameron Parish early Thursday morning but officials remained on alert throughout the day.

Sheriff Bobby Webre reported roads that were blocked with downed trees had been already cleared Thursday morning and power outages affected fewer than 1,000 households then.

"We've been so fortunate," Webre said.

He said residents and local officials had a lot of time to prepare and it showed.

Entergy restored power earlier on Thursday to 200 people in Sorrento and was working on outages in Gonzales and north of the city. DEMCO has reported that fewer than 50 customers lost power.

The parish is still dealing with lingering bands from the hurricane that could bring some wind and rain.

Parish government officials announced Thursday afternoon that all parish employees should report back to work Friday.

In Ascension, Friday's are half days for many employees. Many employees were directed to work from home on Thursday, with some key exception for the storm response.

The parish's Emergency Operations Center was partially activated Thursday, and Public Works and law enforcement officials, and the storm tracking team are located.

The Citizens Service Center is staffed and open for non-emergency calls at (225) 450-1200. For emergencies, call 911.

In Assumption Parish, a possible tornado was reported by the National Weather Service to have touched down Wednesday in Paincourtville, but local officials said Thursday they were unable to find any damage.

John Boudreaux, the parish homeland security director, said the twister matted down sugar cane stalks in fields in the small community along Bayou Lafourche and off La. 70 and La. 1 but did not uproot them.

He said he doubts the tornado actually touched the ground but speculated it could have been heavy winds.

Boudreaux added the parish has weathered Laura with no significant damage nor any house flooding. Storm surge from Laura pushed backwater into the Lake Verret basin up 6 inches. The spring floods were worse.

St. James Parish escaped the impacts of the hurricane, with no power outages and no road closures, officials said.

We were fortunate and fared very well, Eric Deroche, director of the parishs Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said.

According to the National Weather Service, a weather station at the Louisiana Regional Airport south of Gonzales saw 0.7 inches of rain since 2 p.m. Wednesday.

Winds have been strongest Thursday morning. Sustained winds have remained around 20 mph to 30 mph, with gusts of 30 mph to 40 mph.

As of 10 p.m. Thursday, the highest gust reported so far popped up for the 8:15 a.m. measurement at 41 mph.

Ascension Parish President Clint Cointment reported in a statement shortly before noon that all pumping stations are still staffed, including Sorrento, Marvin Braud and Henderson Bayou. The floodgates at Frog Bayou are also closed, protecting homeowners in the Spanish Lake area and Ridge Road.

Sand and bag locations remain open and the animals from the parish animal shelter, Cara's Houe, remains at Lamar-Dixon Expo Center is on standby alert.

Cointment said the parish remains under a flash flood watch, a tornado watch, a wind advisory, and a coastal flood watch until at least 7 p.m. Friday.

The threat is not over yet! Be vigilant and be alert, he said.

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Ascension Parish 'so fortunate'; major impacts avoided in Assumption, St. James, officials say - The Advocate

Murfreesboro, Tenn. - On September 1, Ascension Saint Thomas will officially partner with Rutherford County to provide on-site and near-site clinic services at three sites of care for Rutherford County employees, the employees dependents and County retirees.The near-site clinics are located at:

Walter Hill Elementary Stewarts Creek Elementary, Ascension Medical Group New Salem Clinic.

Rutherford County Government employees and their dependents as well as County retirees will be offered a full service primary care practice offering services including:

Disease Management and Health Coaching Medical Examinations and Assessments Health/Self-care/Consumer Education and Promotion Administration of Health and Wellness Incentive Programs Acute Care and Primary Care Case Management Services Retail Availability for Extended Clinic Services Telemedicine Mobile Health Unit Mobile Mammography

This unique partnership of on-site and near-site clinics with Rutherford County is an example of Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford's overall commitment to care for the community it serves, said Gordon Ferguson, President & CEO, Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford. We look forward to the opportunity to work with the County to keep our community members healthy.

County employees, their dependents, and our retirees are fortunate to have Ascension as a valuable healthcare asset, said Mayor Bill Ketron. We are excited about the addition of the new clinic as well.

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Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford Partners with Rutherford County to Deliver On-Site, Near-Site Clinic Care - Wgnsradio

The main event in Las Vegas features a fun light heavyweight matchup between two men who love to punctuate their presence on the feet.

Embracing more of a traditional muay Thai arsenal, Anthony Smith brings a well-rounded skill set of violence to the table. Carrying a menacing feel to the way in which he marches down his opposition, Smith is capable of making pressure his friend, using it to fuel his forward assaults.

Despite his long reach and frame, the Nebraska native does a deceptively good job at changing his ranges on strikes mid-stroke or combination, following fleeing opponents when appropriate. Traditionally favoring to fight on the inside, Smith keeps an array of unforgiving elbows and knees at the ready, especially when going into or off of clinch breaks.

However, since working more exclusively with coaches like Marc Montoya and James Krause, Smith has also shown an improved jab and overall striking process, using it to either set up or disrupt offense. That said, defense has not typically been Smiths strongest suit, which means he will need to mind the returns of Aleksandar Rakic.

Utilizing his long and athletic frame, Rakics striking base shines through in his flexibility of approach.

In his first few fights under the UFC banner, Rakic demonstrated an ability to pressure effectively behind his kickboxing, mixing in leg kicks and level-changing takedown threats to boot. And in his latest outing opposite Volkan Oezdemir, Rakic showed more of his countering savvy, electing to play a bit more on the outside as he looked to come over the shoulders or underneath the guard off of Oezdemirs offense.

Although Rakic clearly carries the confidence of a young fighter, the 28-year-old, to his credit, does well at staying defensively aware (relative to his contemporaries, anyways). Whether he is rolling his head off crosses or slipping off of the lead side, Rakic does a decent job of moving his head and maintaining the range to his liking.

Regardless if Rakic looks to come forward or counter, I suspect hell be looking for the uppercut given the success Glover Teixeira had with it against Smith. But if Rakic starts to slip or look too liberally for his shots, then he runs the risk of eating a sweeping head kick or hook from his formidable foe.

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UFC on ESPN+ 33 breakdown: Will Aleksandar Rakic resume his ascension against Anthony Smith? - MMA Junkie

Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign

The Ascension Parish Sheriffs Office has announced its participation in the Louisiana Highway Safety Commissions Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over traffic safety campaign. Additional deputies, whose primary focus will be to locate and arrest impaired drivers, will be on duty, according to a news release. During the Labor Day holiday period, there is a higher likelihood of impaired drivers on the roadway. This increases the potential for alcohol related crashes involving serious injury or death, the release said.

The additional patrols run until Sept. 7, in efforts to detect, stop and arrest alcohol impaired drivers. Deputies will also conduct traffic enforcement activities to promote safe and attentive driving.

Terrariums first became popular in the 1970s. Make your own decorative terrariums with sand, gravel, rocks and moss and design it with any dcor that will fit into the jar. Stop by at any Ascension Parish Library location during September to pick up your terrarium packet. Call the library in Donaldsonville, at (225) 473-8052; Gonzales, (225) 647-3955; Dutchtown,(225) 673-8699; or Galvez at 622-3339 for the details. Crafts will be available on a first come, first served basis.

As part of efforts to fight litter and clean up Ascension Parish, President Clint Cointment announced that Ascension Parish is accepting white goods at the Recycling Center on Churchpoint Road.

White goods are any large machines used in routine housekeeping, such as cooking, food preservation or cleaning, whether in a household, institutional, commercial or industrial setting. White goods include refrigerators, freezers, stoves, washers, dryers, dishwashers and water heaters.

Cointment said the parish has been accepting scrap metal and has a separate bin specifically designated for metals.

The Recycling Center is at the Department of Public Works headquarters, 42077 Churchpoint Road in Gonzales. Operating hours are Monday to Thursday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

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Around Ascension for Aug. 26, 2020 | Ascension | theadvocate.com - The Advocate

The East Ascension Spartans did not finish the 2019 football season as planned, after losing to Ruston in the second round of the 5A playoffs. The team goal for this season is to win a state championship.

Coach Darnell Lee begins his fifth season as the head coach and with so many unknowns heading into an abbreviated season, much is left to ponder. Like most teams, we did not have a spring, 7 on 7 workouts or a normal off-season, these are the times we are in," Lee said.

The Spartans were 9-3 last season and lost some key players, talented guys that are now preparing for college football. Wide receivers Jyrin Johnson (Texas Southern) and Steven McBride (Kansas) will certainly be missed on offense, as well as quarterback Cameron Jones.

Returning to lead the Spartan offense at the skill positions are quarterback Kullen Wheat, running back Kendall Washington, H-back Jaquel Mack and wide receivers Navell Chopin, Troy Dunn and Jordan Goodlow. Add in running back Walter Samuel and athlete Kael Babin to an already explosive offense. That group of names will certainly keep a defensive coordinator up all night trying to devise a plan to slow them down.

A definite strength of our team will be on the offensive line to protect our QB and open holes for our skilled guys, said Lee.

The offensive line will be physical and big. Projected starters include DezMond Schuster (65 300), Gavin Soniat (61 295), Marcus Banks (61 295), Nico Williams (64 265) and Jayven Richardson (66 255). Thats an average of 282 pounds across the front.

Ethan Bagwell was the punter last season and has graduated, Evan Kern will handle those duties. Logan Kern returns as the kicker and is solid.

Defense wins championships is a slogan we always hear when it comes to football, if that is the case, then the Spartans are in great shape heading into 2020. Gone from last years defense is Javon Carter (Grambling) and DaJon Jones (Dodge City CC). The defense is loaded with pieces that have the potential to form a very good defense. The defensive line returns Ashton Milton (320), Demarcus Ester (295) and Jerrell Boykins (290). Boykins is listed as a 3-star recruit that has several colleges hoping he commits to them.

We have experience returning on this defense and it starts up front, the defensive line is a strength, the coach said.

The linebackers include Blake Thompson, Rionte Jones, Marcellus Taylor and Brenton Ragusa. A solid group of linebackers that can run and tackle in space. Jones returns as the leading tackler. The secondary has talent but several new faces and names. We have some youth in the secondary, they are talented players, Lee said.

Justin Walker, Jalen McBride, Antwon Foster and Rashaad Barnes are the projected starters. Due to the season beginning later, we will all miss out on a great week 1 and 2 matchup, the Spartans were set to play Zachary and Haughton respectively. One thing about the Spartans, they dont shy away from competition. Non-district games against Warren Easton and St. Charles will prepare the Spartans for arguably the toughest district in 5A. District 5-5A includes Catholic, McKinley and Woodlawn plus rivals Dutchtown and St. Amant.

The Spartans have all the makings for a championship run, following the lead of their head coach will be vital in achieving the ultimate goal in 2020, a state championship.

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East Ascension Spartans looking for more in 2020; championship is team goal - The Advocate

Marie BrownhillGame Industry News is running the best blog posts from people writing about the game industry. Articles here may originally appear on Marie's blog, Fan Collective Unimatrix 47.

Star Trek has been about family, found and otherwise, almost as much as it is about going where no one has gone before, from the found family in the TOS Triumvirate to Janeways fierce protectiveness for her crew. In Moist Vessel, Lower Decks focuses its lens on the rocky relationship between Ensign Mariner and her mother. Unfortunately, while theres great content in the episode, the shows episodic nature means that most of that growth will get lost in space.

The episode opens with a traditional mission brief in which Captain Freeman explains that the Cerritos and the Merced will be towing a defunct generation ship back to a Starbase for analysis. Starfleet hopes that its scientists will be able to analyze the mysterious terraforming technology and adapt it for use in the Federations own colonization efforts. Ensign Mariner, bored with the brief, proceeds to irritate her mother enough that Freeman conspires with Ransom to find a way to force Mariner to request a transfer. She initially plots to accomplish this goal by assigning Mariner to the worst jobs on the ship, including holodeck waste removal, but Mariner finds way to inject joy into each of these tasks. Freeman escalates her plan by promoting Mariner to full Lieutenant and expecting her to take her place in Starfleet middle management. Predictably, Mariner hates every minute of her promotion.

Ensign Tendi fares a bit better in that she accepts an invitation to watch an Ascension Ceremony. Lieutenant OConnor has ostensibly been seeking to become one with the universe in the most literal sense, and Tendi, in her enthusiasm, ruins the ceremony. OConnor wants nothing to do with her, which drives Tendi to provide help. Frustrated, OConnor demands that she leave him alone, but Tendi only redoubles her efforts.

On board the Merced, Captain Durango directs his ship closer to the generation ship because he needs to demonstrate that he heads up the mission, not Captain Freeman. The change in position results in a piece of the hull breaking off from the generation ship and releasing the terraforming goo into space. The tractor beam pulls the goo onto the Merced, where it begins converting the ship into living matter. Some goo finds its way onto the Cerritos, leaving the crew to find a way to stop the terraforming process. Freeman and Mariner work together to make it to the ships environmental controls, and Mariner suggests gassing the goo and then irradiating it in order to neutralize it. Freeman, proud that her daughter read the mission brief, orders the computer to do so.

Tendi and OConnor try to escape Engineering as the goo transforms the section into a water habitat. Tendi apologizes to OConnor, again, for ruining his ascension, explaining that she only wanted him to like her. OConnor confesses that he has been faking his efforts for years and shamelessly used her to cover for his own failure. Tendi concludes that they are now best friends about to die together, but OConnor pushes her out of the way of a falling rock, sacrificing himself in the process. When the gas neutralizes the goo, the rock disappears, but OConnor ascends due to his selflessness after sharing a kiss with Tendi. He reveals that the universe is balanced on the back of a smiling koala.

Though their actions saved the Cerritos, Mariner and Freeman determine that the Merced is too far gone to be saved. Mariner beams the Merceds crew aboard the generation ship, depositing them into the stasis chamber. Upon arrival at Starbase, an Admiral awards both Freeman and Mariner with a medal, and Mariner mocks the Admirals pronunciation of sensors, offending the admiral and forcing Freeman to demote her daughter back to Ensign.

Most Vessels is a Mariner-focused episode almost to the exclusion of all of the other characters. Rutherford barely appears, and Boimlers only contribution is to dump hot coffee all over Commander Ransom at the absolute worst time to do so. The Tendi B-story exists mostly to take up air time and provide laughs, and the less said about the koala, the better. Her interaction with OConnor just reminds us that Tendi is deeply driven to seek approval, which we already knew. If anything, the kiss she shares with OConnor pre-ascension could pose a wrinkle to any romantic relationship she might pursue with Rutherford, but that is unlikely, considering that OConnor is no longer corporeal.

The real heard of the episode is the fractious relationship between Mariner and her mother, which could be new ground for Star Trek. No other franchise installment wrestles with what it might be like for an adult child to work with a parent in a direct chain of command. That kind of situation can only go well or badly; there is no middle ground. Unsurprisingly, Lower Decks runs with the latter. The episode does a great job of showing just how difficult working with ones mother might be while still being sensitive to the real love between the characters. Mariner is the star of the show, so it would be very easy to write Freeman as simply being a domineering mother. Writer Ann Kim does not do that; she allows Freeman to be awesomely capable in her own right. Even when she nags, Freemans nagging is all advice intended to protect Mariner. However, Mariner demonstrates that shes capable enough not to need that advice. Mariners point, that she can handle the challenges posed by the life she chose for herself, is valid. When Freeman tells her daughter that she should act like the capable adult she actually is, her point is just as valid.

Significantly, Freeman never pretends that middle management is fun, nor does she pretend that certain responsibilities are anything but tedious. No one enjoys audits or sitting through arguments about upgrading conference room furniture, but part of being an adult is recognizing their necessity and doing them anyway. Certainly, Freeman chooses the worst of these tasks to give Mariner, but Freeman will also attend Ransoms birthday party. She presumably sat through the The United Federation of Characters one man show, and we know she participated in the worlds worst poker game. She never really asks Mariner to do a task that she is unwilling to do herself, subtly reinforcing the point that enduring mandatory fun is part of being not only an adult but also an aspect of being on the command staff.

Mariners real problem is that she wants to be taken seriously but only when its convenient for her. We saw that in Temporal Edict, and her conduct in Moist Vessel reinforces the point. Freeman tries to teach her daughter that it doesnt work that way. She cannot straddle the line between being the ship rebel and a capable officer. Freemans efforts ultimately prove futile because this lesson is one Mariner must learn on her own, but Freeman would not be a mother if she didnt try. Mariner wouldnt be herself if she didnt ignore her mothers advice. The show appears to side with Mariner as the final visual is a contented Mariner settling onto her lower deck Ensigns bunk, resetting all of that progress. Ensign Mariner ends the show at odds with her mother, resuming the status quo. Mores the pity.

Three and a half cups of Earl Grey Tea

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Moist Vessel: Ascension the Hard Way - GameIndustry.com