Home Care In Lake Providence, LA

The Miss Louisiana Pageant is celebrating 60 years of competition in Monroe.

Those vying for the Miss Louisiana 2023 title were introduced by the Miss Louisiana Organization at a news conference Monday in the lobby of the Jack Howard Theatre in the Monroe Civic Center.

"This is the kickoff for our 60th anniversary of Miss Louisiana in Monroe," Miss Louisiana Organization Executive Director Dewana Little said. "We're very excited. It's going to be a great week. We're blessed to be here with our families. Everyone has their health and looks forward to a great week of fun and crowning of the new Miss Louisiana."

The 2023 Miss Louisiana contestants are Aaliyah Armstrong, Hailei Beckwith, Jacie Brent, Sadie Brown, Lake Carpenter, Kelly Cole, Erin Gardner, Lily Gayle, Olivia Grace George, Leslie Hobgood, Jocelyn Holt, Sarah Catherine LaBorde, Morgan Lawrence, Anna Claire Lemoine, Megan Magri, Demi Martin, Caroline Marshall, Raven Moore, Kiera Owens, Kobi Painting, Chanley Patterson, Courtney Patterson, Makenzie Scroggs, Kyndall Smith, Elyce Thomas, Jourdan Waddell and Bailey Willis.

More:Meet the 2023 contestants of Miss Louisiana

Gracie Reichman, a Colfax native and kinesiology major at Louisiana Tech University, currently holds the title of Miss Louisiana.

"It's a beautiful day to be in Monroe, Louisiana," Reichman said. "We have such an exciting week ahead of us. Twenty-seven beautiful, accomplished young women from across our state are here to share their hearts, their passions, with each and everyone who attends this competition. I'm so excited to be a part of it... we've only spent less than 24 hours together, but I know whoever I crown Miss Louisiana will be in great hands. I'm so proud of you all."

The Miss Louisiana competition was first held in New Orleans in 1922 and was moved to Lake Providence during the Fourth of July Weekend in 1959. The competition has been held in Monroe since 1963, and the organization plans on commemorating the milestone.

More:Miss Louisiana 2022 Gracie Reichman talks about Miss America life after pageants and more

The organization will host a 60th anniversary Gala Celebration following the pageant on Saturday. Former Miss Louisiana titleholders will be making appearances during pageant festivities.

Sponsors of this year's competition include the City of Monroe, University of Louisiana Monroe, Discover Monroe-West Monroe, Louisiana Propane Dealers, Vantage Health Plans and Towne Place Suites Marriott.

Preliminary competitions will be 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday. The pageant finals will be at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Jack Howard Theatre and televised statewide.

Follow Ian Robinson on Twitter @_irobinsonand on Facebook at https://bit.ly/3vln0w1.

A local artist, and a few artistic kids in East Carroll Parish, hope to impart an important message through visual arts.

Brandon Virgil and the East Carroll Parish 4-H Club have collaborated to paint a mural in Lake Providence that seeks to promote unity and a sense of community.

The mural is located on the side of the Henry Wilson Insurance Agency building at 115 Scarborough St. in downtown Lake Providence.

The design of the mural incorporates the words "Together We Can" painted in yellow with fists painted in multiple colors on a black background.

Virgil said he chose the layout of the mural from a list of several designs and decided to incorporate the youth organization.

"I kind of made where it could be appreciated by young kids as well as adults," Virgil said. "I tried to make it for all ages to catch their attention. A message with hands coming together demonstrating unity in the community."

Virgil said plans for painting a mural in Lake Providence started following the completion of the Northeast Louisiana Human Services Authority-sponsored mural in Monroe in June.

The inspiration:Black artists paint mural in downtown Monroe to raise awareness of mental illness

"I instantly thought it would be the perfect message for my hometown so that's how I really started," Virgil said. "I decided it would be a personal project with my kids from my previous arts contest, the 4-H kids of East Carroll, to stay connected to them and give them another opportunity."

Charlene Virgil, Virgil's wife, and artist Sara Beth Howard also contributed to painting the mural, which took four days to complete. The mural was partially funded by the community, Virgil said, through sponsorships and donations.

For subscribers:Old East Carroll Parish Courthouse one of state's most endangered historic places

The mural was unveiled to the community on Sunday where the kids and sponsors received "Together We Can" souvenirs, such as T-shirts.

Virgil said community murals are important because not only do they make neighborhoods look beautiful, but they also create dialogue.

Elsewhere:Black artists painting mural at local park, look to finish in time to celebrate Juneteenth

"You may not always get to connect word of mouth with individual people but people may pass it and see it, and still send that same positive message throughout the community when they see it," Virgil said. "It adds more value to a space in a rural area like my hometown. It adds value to me, in more ways than one."

The Louisiana Board of Commerce and Industry formally canceled contracts with a Lake Providence biotechnology plant that has been closed since 2016, a move that will allow East Carroll Parish officials to collect two years worth of back property taxes on the facility.

The board easily approved the measure at its meeting Friday, capping off efforts by local activists to get economic incentives taken away from The Myriant Lake Providence Inc. facility.

"We finally have some justice," said Sister Bernadette Barrett of Delta Interfaith, a group of about a dozen northeast Louisiana churches that was supported by Together Louisiana, an advocacy group pushing back against incentives for industrial projects across the state. Barrett noted that 40% of the population of East Carroll lives at the poverty level.

Myriant Technologies LLC, based in Quincy, Massachusetts, and founded in 2009 as BioEnergy International, built a bio-based succinic acid plant that opened in 2013 at the Port of Lake Providence. The company had plans to hire 49 full-time workers, but a drop in oil prices in 2014 made the price for the petroleum alternatives produced at the plant uncompetitive.

The plant had 24 Industrial Tax Exemption contracts. After the plant shut down, Myriant was granted a continuation of the contracts at a Board of Commerce and Industry meeting in September 2016, contingent upon receiving letters of local support. Louisiana Economic Development received letters, so the exemptions stayed in place through the end of 2017. Myriant made no effort to continue 13 contracts that were not set to expire at the end of 2017.

LED officials said the company believed property taxes were being paid on all of the site since the end of 2017. However, LED said taxes are being paid only on the 11 contracts that expired at the end of 2017.

Myriant Lake Providence LLC had $4.2 million in taxable value in East Carroll Parish in 2019 and was to pay $497,663, according to Louisiana Tax Commission records. In 2018, the company was expected to pay $504,730 in property taxes. By comparison, Myriant's tax bill was only $166,746 in 2017, due to exemptions even while the plant was shut down.

In other matters, the board upheld a decision by LED staff approving ITEP applications for Nalco Co. and Marathon Petroleum Co. submitted in St. John the Baptist Parish. The parish council unanimously rejected the applications at a meeting in November, but LED said it did not receive notifications of the denials and that the rules say the requests should be approved.

Editor's note: This story was changed on Feb. 24, 2020, in its reference to Together Louisiana.

Frank Thornhill of Transylvania is a regular at The Dock.

“You’re not going to share your frog legs with me,” ask Tammi Arender with KNOE.

He and his wife don’t miss a chance to come to eat the seafood at this little lakefront eatery in Lake Providence.

“Lot of other times when you buy fish they cook them too long. These are just right every time I ever eat here,” said Frank Thornhill.

“We knew what we liked. A light batter. Seasoned of course. So we came up with our own seasoning,” said Margaret Toney.

Margaret Toney and her husband Lee decided to follow their stomachs and jump into the restaurant business. Neither had a culinary background.

“I did accounting and Lee did air conditioning and refrigeration.”

But their talented taste buds and business savvy have created this dining destination known as the Dock. It gives travelers a chance to try some authentic Cajun cuisine.

“A lot of people want to taste alligator, crawfish. Some have not ever even tasted catfish. Ok, we got it!”

“Let me drop the gator in over here,” said Lee toney.

So Lee and their son stay busy in the kitchen 7 days a week. They also make their own boudin for boudin balls.

There’s so much on the menu I want to try, I’m afraid my stomach won’t be able to cash the check my eyes are writing.

Besides the amazing food, The Dock is still part convenience store. Boaters can buy gasoline, at least when the water isn’t so high, or you can get your two-stroke motor oil when you pick up your locally made Panola Pepper sauce. You can also get a look at some vintage photographs of Lake Providence. Even when summer is over and the lake is quiet, The Dock is still decked out for diners.

“We’re closed 4 days of the year the major holidays and when the Saints go to the Super Bowl. It feeds my soul in a sense. When a customer comes in and tells us how much they enjoy the food, the service they had, the view of the lake. That’s what makes my day,” said Toney.

Editor’s Note: John D. Sutter is a columnist for CNN Opinion and head of CNN’s Change the List project. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+. E-mail him at [email protected].

CNN —

One reader called me in tears. Dozens sent e-mails. The overwhelming message: What can we do to help low-income people in East Carroll Parish, Louisiana, which has the highest income inequality of any county or parish in the country?

CNN featured East Carroll Parish and Lake Providence, the parish’s largest town, as part of the Change the List project. It’s a place where about 40% live in poverty and 16% are unemployed. There’s wealth there, too, but it’s far from evenly distributed.

Much of the response was incredibly heartwarming and generous. It reminded me that this country does have the empathy and caring it needs to mend our economic divisions.

“I just read portions of your story on Delores Gilmore,” a prison guard who lives on the poorer side of Lake Providence, “and I am moved to tears,” one reader said in an e-mail. “Although I know that structural change is the only way to truly help people like her, is there a way for me to make a donation to her and her family?”

Another wrote, “Thank you for the enlightening story. I hope I can help some way.”

And here’s an excerpt of what I think was the most powerful response, which I received by e-mail: “I watched this video and read the article this morning sitting in my 1,400-square-foot house, on my iPad. By the end I was bawling. My family is middle-class and we want for nothing. My husband and I are both college graduates, have great benefits, and our two young children have everything they need or want. … I have been one of those that bemoaned government assistance and had that ‘bootstrap’ mentality. However, as your article suggests, how can that happen when there are places where there are no opportunities to be had?”

Because so many of you asked how to help, I’ve compiled a list of a few nonprofit organizations that are helping people find jobs, paying people’s electric bills and strengthening neighborhoods in the area. You can find that list below. There’s information, too, on how to contact Gilmore, the woman featured in the op-ed “The most unequal place in America” and the digital documentary “Across Lake Providence.”

I’d also ask you to participate in CNN iReport’s “Cross the Gap” project. Part of fixing America’s income inequality problems is first acknowledging how wide the rich-poor gap has become.

If you have any further questions or would like more information, please send me an e-mail or a message on Twitter.

NOVA Workforce Institute of Northeast Louisiana

NOVA, based in nearby Monroe, Louisiana, provides jobs training programs in Lake Providence and surrounding communities. While I was in town, I met a woman who started her own restaurant in part because she was working with the group, and another man who was getting help with resumes and applying for work in the area.

NOVA takes donations through its website.

Together for Hope

A project of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Together for Hope tries to reduce poverty in some of the poorest communities in the United States. The group employs a missionary, Jenny Hodge, in Lake Providence. She has organized backpack drives and collected school supplies for all public school students in Lake Providence. Overall, the group focuses on neighborhood development, education and training and economic development. Hodge told me that while the group has a religious affiliation, “our mission is not to start churches, evangelize or proselytize any specific denomination or faith group.” It’s trying to help everyone in the community.

Together for Hope takes donations online. There’s a field where you can designate funds for Lake Providence, specifically, if you choose.

Catholic Charities

A satellite office of Catholic Charities is open in Lake Providence a couple days a week. The group primarily pays utility bills and rent for low-income residents in emergency situations, said Sister Bernadette Barrett, who works with the group locally.

Donations can be made online through the Catholic Charities office in Shreveport, Louisiana. Note you want your money to be used in Lake Providence.

Contacting Delores Gilmore

Many of the messages I received were from people who were touched by the story of Gilmore, an overnight prison guard in Lake Providence who raised several children and hasn’t always had enough money to buy underwear and cleaning supplies.

For those wanting to contact Gilmore directly, it’s best to go through CNN’s viewer communications department. Its number is 404-827-1500. E-mail: [email protected]. Thank you for the outpouring of interest and concern.

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of John D. Sutter.