Barataria News

As the year 2009 comes to a close, the murder toll, according to an Express tally, stands at 501.

This aerial over New Orleans and Lafitte shows the loss of wetlands in the area.

A common sentiment this time of the year: All I want is more . . . ducks, fish and days afield.

Volunteers will help restore, protect and preserve 1 of the state's only forested ridge restoration project this weekend.

An expert panel tasked with reviewing a levee that would protect communities between Bayou Lafourche and the Mississippi River from hurricane flooding held its first meeting Wednesday in Thibodaux.

The Rev. Joe Recasner's memory of his childhood in the Lower 9th Ward is a bit fuzzy -- he has a hard time remembering exactly when his family moved to the area or how long it was before a wall separating his neighborhood from the adjacent Bayou Bienvenue was built.

Fishermen, scientists and public officials on Monday urged the Obama administration to deal with south Louisiana's dire problems before the region is lost to the Gulf of Mexico.

MARRERO - Zipping in an airboat over a thick mat of water hyacinths floating in an old oil and natural gas service canal in the Barataria Preserve, David Muth pointed to wispy trees lining the banks and raised his voice to be heard above the roaring motor.

Aerial spraying is planned Friday night to combat mosquitoes in Kenner and the Lafitte area, Jefferson Parish officials said.

The communities of Jean Lafitte and Crown Point in west Jefferson Parish have grown more vulnerable to surge flooding in recent decades as human activity and coastal erosion depleted surrounding marshes.

"These are 90 percent Chinese tallow trees -- a very aggressive and invasive exotic species," said Muth, a National Park Service administrator.

The National Park Service is making a proposal to reclaim more than 20 miles of abandoned oil and gas canals inside Jean Lafitte National Historic Park and Preserve-Barataria Unit to restore marshland, reduce saltwater intrusion and reverse land loss.

A crowd of state and local officials lined up Tuesday to demand that the Davis Pond Diversion structure in Luling be opened wide to pump more fresh water into the Barataria Basin.

A pulbic hearing on whether to alter the flow of Mississippi River water through the Davis Pond Diversion will be held tonight at Cytec's Tom Call Pavilion on 10800 River Road in Waggaman.

The Jefferson Parish Coroner's Office has released the identity of a boater found dead in the Barataria Waterway near Lafitte this morning Elphage Boudoin, 55, of Franklinton, La, was found shortly after 6:30 a.m.after being reported missing Sunday evening.

The body of a man who had been missing since he went to bring gasoline to another family member in a boat was found early Monday by Wildlife and Fisheries crews.

Could Louisiana's swamp rat lose its reputation as a pest to make a furry fashion statement? Cree McCree, a New Orleans writer and artist, hopes that by showcasing nutria fur in fashion - the reason the critters were brought to Louisiana in the first place - she can create a new market for the invasive water rats that are overpopulating, and eating ...

The Jean Lafitte Seafood Festival is this weekend. It starts at six o' clock tonight and runs through Sunday.

THIBODAUX - A South American moth that eats prickly pear cactus has moved into Louisiana, and federal biologists say it must be stopped before it reaches Texas.

A few increases that voters OK'd enacted Thursday, September 03, 2009 West Bank bureau The Jefferson Parish Council on Wednesday approved 2009 property tax rates that are the same as last year except for a few voter-approved increases for public transportation and a fire district in lower Jefferson.