Free Republic

In his first bid for public office, Clay Higgins — known as the Cajun John Wayne — defeated political veteran Scott Angelle on Saturday night in the contest to become Acadiana’s congressman.

The destruction and despair wreaked by hurricanes Katrina and Rita were unprecedented. So was the generous response of the residents of south Louisiana. They came from all walks of life. Mechanics, sales clerks, bus drivers, business owners, college students, schoolchildren. They came from every neighborhood, some alone and some with family. [. . .]Rarely has this region been more mobilized, more unified, more sure of what needed to be done. This was a chance to put that much-talked-about and often-practiced Cajun hospitality into high gear. What took place, on every level, was extraordinary — enough to make Acadiana volunteers The...

The destruction and despair wreaked by hurricanes Katrina and Rita were unprecedented. So was the generous response of the residents of south Louisiana. They came from all walks of life. Mechanics, sales clerks, bus drivers, business owners, college students, schoolchildren. They came from every neighborhood, some alone and some with family. In many cases, Katrina’s wild winds still churned as people poured into the Cajundome, into Acadiana’s shelters and churches, into our streets and our homes. They came because life in Louisiana had changed in those unthinkable moments when the levees burst. And then, even more came when, inconceivably, a...

A car rests against a mound of sand and debris Wednesday in Holly Beach. The destruction caused by Hurricane Rita on Sept. 24 in coastal Cameron Parish is still evident in the background. Mandatory evacuation in place as cleanup mucks along HOLLY BEACH -- The north-south route through Cameron Parish west of the Calcasieu Ship Channel is cleared and open, though crumbling in places. But the only structure still standing in the Holly Beach community that it once led to is the water tower. A full month and a half has passed since Hurricane Rita scoured coastal Cameron Parish...

Flood waters washing away rice crop Farmers working on what to do next By PATRICK COURREGES pcourreges@theadvocate.com Acadiana bureau VILLE PLATTE -- Flood waters have begun to recede in the area around northern Evangeline Parish but not before wiping out thousands of acres of rice. Agents of the LSU Agricultural Center's extension and research programs made the rounds in Evangeline Parish on Tuesday, talking about the things farmers worry about each year -- such as weeds and insects -- and the specific problems of the recent heavy rains. Days of heavy rains flooded parts of south Louisiana earlier this month,...

...Well, I remembered it as soon as I started listening, via the Internet, to KBON, a 25,000-watt FM station in Eunice, La. My wife picked up the KBON vibe first. "You gotta hear this,"... ...Lawtell Community Grocery, we learned, is where to find turtle meat, video poker, plumbing supplies "and rubber boots for adults and children." ...Wow. This was no test-marketed format... Paul Marx rattles away ... Ohhhhhhhhh, cher!... ...Chretien Point is an enclave of long verandas and big trees... in Grand Coteau, we found Catahoula's... ...Seale Guesthouse ... tin-roofed with a wraparound porch... D.I.'s... Savoy Music... Savoy himself... ...Dewey...