Home Care In Lake Providence, LA

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.

The Louisiana Board of Commerce and Industry is poised to cancel some economic incentives this week for an $80 million bioenergy plant in Lake Providence which was idled in 2016, only a few years after opening its doors.

Community organization Delta Interfaith which is supported by Together Louisiana, an advocacy group which has been pushing back against incentives for industrial projects across the state, called for state leaders to reconsider the bioenergy company's incentive package since the tax abatement contracts were not cancelled after the plant closed.

Myriant Technologies LLC, based in Quincy, Massachusetts and founded in 2009 as BioEnergy International, built a bio-based succinic acid plant at the Port of Lake Providence which opened in 2013.

The Louisiana plant on a 55-acre site was subsidized by a $50 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and another $10 million from the Lake Providence Port Commission and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. There was also a $25 million bank loan backed by the USDA, which was repaid in 2018, according to the agency.

Myriant Technologies signed a 40-year lease with the Port of Lake Providence and had multi-year customer contracts at the time. It began operations about a year before the price of oil plummeted in 2014 and the hydraulic fracturing technology became widespread.

"The price of oil was below their cost of production (for the petroleum alternative)," said Wyly Gilfoil, executive director of the Port of Lake Providence about the market when Myriant opened its doors. "It was competing with oil-based (compounds) and when the price of oil dropped below a certain point it made them uncompetitive. The plant is still there, it's really sad to see it idle."

The facility sought to focus on using sorghum and carbon dioxide to produce up to 30 million pounds per year or 14,000 tons of succinic acid - which is typically produced from petroleum and can be used in polymers, fibers, detergents and flavors.

The company has been keeping up the maintenance at the site, considering white-label production for other businesses and even selling the plant, the port director said.

"It was an unforeseen circumstance, everybody was talking about peak oil (in the late 2000s) but now we're exporting natural gas. Things can change fairly rapidly," Gilfoil said.

Myriant, which is largely defunct, could not be reached for comment.

In 2018, Myriant was still the third largest taxpayer in East Carroll Parish with more than $2 million of assessed value in the parish behind two gas companies.

That same year, Myriant was acquired by Global Chemical Innovation America, a subsidiary of PTT Global Chemicals in North America as a venture capital group and research and development arm. PPT Global Chemicals, a major petrochemical business in Thailand with annual sales of more than $15 billion, was a major investor in Myriant and had chipped in $60 million in 2011 for the venture.

The Louisiana Board of Commerce and Industry is expected to vote in favor of cancelling more than a dozen Industrial Tax Exemption Program contracts with Myriant since it has not received proof of that the company has paid all its taxes at the plant since December 2017, only some of them. Myriant has 24 different ITEP contracts with LED. The company's incentives were continued after the plant closed in 2016 after receiving letters of local support from the parish.

The value of those contracts was not disclosed. LED has refused to provide further information, such as the agenda meeting packets where board members would see more details about the proposal.

A deal was struck during the administration of former Gov. Bobby Jindal for the 392,000-square-foot plant which was slated to create 49 full-time jobs in exchange for state economic incentives as well. But the workers hired at the site have since been laid off.

Myriant was eligible for workforce training in addition to a 6% tax rebate on payroll through the quality jobs program and up to 100% property tax abatement for 10 years through the Industrial Tax Exemption Program. Through the quality jobs program the company completed its contract for $15.9 million in payroll for 250 jobs, about 200 of which were construction supported.

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 The 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.

Delta Interfaith members Percy Threats and Sister Bernadette Barrett said the recognition by LED that the company was unresponsive and had stopped operations and therefore should no longer be eligible for economic incentives was meaningful.

"It's a big achievement for us, we put together a lot of meetings and pushed for it," Threats said. "We got blessed."

Even if the board does not approve the cancellation, Threats said the organization will continue trying to push for it.

"We won't give up, we're in it for the long haul," he said.

Barrett said she's met with the company and was told it was running out of cash.

"I think (the company) was sincere about it and made an effort," she said.

But that she was disappointed that it look community organizers to speak up for the state to withdraw incentives.

"Somebody needs to hold them accountable, (the back taxes) is certainly going to help our community," she said. "We've been called all kinds of names in our community that we did this."

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

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Poverty-stricken Lake Providence, once dubbed by Time Magazine as the poorest place in America, got some rare good economic news Thursday when Gov. John Bel Edwards announced a project that will create 50 jobs.

Epic Piping, which is headquartered in Baton Rouge, will invest $2 million to build a 40,000-square-foot facility at the Lake Providence Port that the company said will serve its global customer base.

"I believe this will bear fruit for Lake Providence for a long time," said Edwards, who as joined by Epic's CEO Remi Bonnecaze.

Good economic news has been hard to come by for decades in the northeastern Louisiana town near the Arkansas line in the heart of the Delta.

Time dubbed Lake Providence the poorest place in America in 1994 and little has changed.

The poverty rate there exceeds 50%.

More news:Industry lobby lines up against Gov. Edwards; endorses Abraham, Rispone

In 2013, CNN published a story calling Lake Providence the "Most Unequal Place in America" because of the large gap in its wealthy agricultural class and the rest of what's left of the population, which has dipped below 4,000.

Epic's new jobs will average $43,000 per year plus benefits, almost three times the average household income there.

"Our expectation is that (Epic's) success here will cause the companies they serve to locate here, bringing more opportunity and prosperity here," Edwards said.

Bonnecaze said his company is keenly aware of Lake Providence's need for jobs.

"We're excited about helping the region's economy evolve," he said. "We're investing in a way that will make a lasting positive impact."

More news:Is La. 'mecca' of college baseball? Gov. Edwards courts hall of fame

Bonnecaze said the company declined any cash incentives but will access the state's Fast Start workforce training program.

"We firmly believe this is the start of new era of growth and prosperity for Lake Providence and we're honored to play a part," he said.

Port director Wyly Gilfoil said he could barely contain his excitement.

"I can't tell you how excited I am; the top of my head is about to blow off," he said. "It's a great day."

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1

The first split gets all the attention, but the second and third splits of the dove season are when the fireworks really fly.

Lake Providence, an old Mississippi River oxbow lake in extreme northeastern Louisiana, has plenty of good bass in it. In October, the shad really become active, and start moving up on the banks. The bass will chase and eat shad to fatten-up for winter.

The day dawns

First thing in the morning, I’ll fish the really flat banks because normally, at this time of year, the shad will be running those flat banks. To catch these bass, I’ll fish a Strike King 3/8- or 1/2-ounce white buzz bait with either white or silver blades, depending on the amount of cloud cover. I won’t really be swimming this buzz bait around any type of cover, but will be casting it up on those flats.

At this time of year, the lake should have low water levels. Most of the cover the bass are accustomed to holding on will be on the bank. So the bass will be roaming those flats, looking for shad to eat.

You may find an isolated cypress tree or boat dock on these flats. But I’m not betting on any type of cover to help me find bass. I’ll mostly will be concentrating on locating baitfish, where bass will concentrate.

Early in the morning, you can see shad flipping on the surface in about 1 to 3 feet of water. You may spot bass busting those schools of shad. However, when lakes are low, the bass won’t be breaking the surface. You’ll be blind-casting to open water with this technique.

I’ll be fishing 20-pound-test Gamma fluorocarbon line tied to my buzz bait with a 7-foot, medium-heavy action Quantum Tour Edition PT rod and a Quantum Tour Edition PT Burner 7.0:1 baitcasting reel. I like a 7.0:1 reel because I don’t have to reel as fast to take up line and move the bait. I can engage the reel as soon as the buzz bait hits the water, and that bait will start coming back to me on top of the water.

I’ll fish this way until 7 or 8 a.m., depending on the weather. If the weather’s cooler than normal, I may fish the buzz bait until 10 a.m.

Morning bite ends

If the lake has some stain in it and a little wind, I’ll fish a Strike King Premier Elite spinnerbait. I’ll have a 4- and 4 1/2-inch willowleaf blade on my spinnerbait in a shad pattern — either green shad, white or white/chartreuse. I’ll leave the flats and target the structure and cover I believe the bass will move to after they stop feeding on the flats. I’ll slow-roll the spinnerbait around isolated cypress trees, lay-down logs and boat docks. This lake has many boat docks, and bass will suspend under them.

Afternoon

Later in the day, the bass will move back toward the flats to feed again on the shad. I prefer to fish lipless crankbaits like the Strike King Red Eye Shad or the Diamond Shad because they look and swim like shad. So I’ll hold my boat in 6 or 7 feet of water, and cast right to the bank.

If the fish are deep, and I don’t have wind to cast into, I’ll probably fish the Diamond Shad because it has a tighter wiggle than the Red Eye Shad does. The Red Eye Shad really works for me in more-shallow water than the Diamond Shad does because I can keep the Red Eye Shad swimming much more shallow and easier than I can the Diamond Shad. The bait pulls hard; therefore, it stays closer to the surface easier than the Diamond Shad does.

The colors I like will be chrome/blue, chrome/black and on a cloudy day, gold/black.

I’ll be fishing these lipless crankbaits on 20-pound-test fluorocarbon line. Many anglers use fluorocarbon because it’s invisible underwater. But I’ve also found that fluorocarbon line is better when you’re making long casts with a lipless crankbait because it has less stretch than monofilament line does, and it seems stronger.

Most people use monofilament line when they’re fishing lipless crankbaits because the stretch in the line allows the bass to get the lures deeper in their mouths than if they’re using braided line with no stretch.

However, I prefer to use a softer, more-forgiving rod, and use fluorocarbon line, which stretches less than monofilament. Then if the bass takes that lipless crankbait out at the very end of my cast, I have a greater chance to hook the fish with the fluorocarbon line, even with less stretch, and get the bass to come into the boat without jumping.

Late afternoon

In the late afternoon, I like to fish crankbaits — either a Strike King Series 4 or a Series 1 in green/chartreuse, blue/chartreuse or Tennessee shad.

To fish crankbaits successfully at this time of year, notice the size of the shad the bass are eating. If the shad are small, then I’ll fish a Series 1 crankbait. If the shad are bigger, then I fish a lure like the Series 4 crankbait. Oftentimes, the shad may be a little bigger than you expect, and you may need that bigger crankbait to more-closely resemble the size of baitfish the bass are eating.

This lake is really fertile, so the shad will generally have a green tint to them.

At Lake Providence at this time of year, you’ll generally catch numbers of 2- to 4-pound bass, and occasionally a bigger fish. However, from February to April, you have a really good chance of catching a bass 8 pounds or more in this lake.

One of the reasons I picked Lake Providence this month is because the water temperature here is cooler than it is in other oxbow lakes. If we have cool weather in October, you may want to consider fishing Lake Concordia or Lake Bruin near Tallulah.