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A Lafayette Parish sugar and cattle producer is this year’s Louisiana Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Outstanding Young Farm Woman. 
Vermilion Parish resident Amanda Duhon, 33, received the award at the Louisiana Farm Bureau’s 102nd Annual Convention in New Orleans on June 27, 2024.  Duhon is a first-generation sugarcane farmer and a fourth-generation cattle producer, but she said that wasn’t always the case.  
“I was actually a first-generation cattle farmer until three years ago,” Duhon said. “My grandparents had cattle on both sides going back a few generations, but my parents didn’t have cattle until three years ago whenever they purchased 30 head of for themselves. So, it’s interesting to now be a fourth-generation cattle farmer whenever you’re 33.” 
In addition to managing the day-to-day duties of an 800-acre farming operation alongside her husband, Kelsi, Duhon is also a mom to three little boys, and the author of two children’s books. In 2020, Duhon said she started writing her first book, Case and the Sugar Run, to help educate children about how their food is produced.       
“There was still a disconnect where kids didn’t know where their food was coming from,” Duhon said. “So, I decided to do something about it, and I realized a dog could bridge the gap between everybody. I mean, everybody has a dog, people in apartments, people in the city, people in the country. So, I wrote a book about my dog, Case, and how he goes around and shows you how sugarcane goes from your farm to table.”   
Duhon said that sometimes it can be difficult to be a woman in a man’s world, especially in the agriculture field, but it’s important for women to be involved in the industry.  
“I want women to understand that they do have a role on the farm, Duhon said. “I’m one of those people that think ‘women can do tough things too.’ I love my husband, and I get his help as much as I can, but there’s plenty of times where I’m the one who’s hauling in ten sacks of feed because he can’t be there. I’m the one who’s having to go work the cattle or move them around from pen to pen or even from field to field. We really make it a partnership. And it’s sometimes kind of hard. Sometimes I get frustrated, but then again, you remind yourself women can do hard things too. And we do and we get it done.” 
As the 2024 Outstanding Young Farm Woman Award winner, Duhon received a $2,000 cash award from the Louisiana Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company, a trip to the American Farm Bureau Fusion Conference in Denver, Colorado, a $500 cash award by BASF, and two $250 cash awards courtesy of Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation and Louisiana Farm Bureau Insurance Companies. 

The Abbeville City Council has banned three individuals from entering any of Abbeville’s parks until they go before a judge next month.
The city council voted 4-0 to ban Justin Vincent, Angelique Soelv, and Angelique’s daughter Jalearreia Soelv from Abbeville Parks until the hearing. Councilman Francis Touchet Jr. was absent from the meeting.
Mayor White made the recommendation to not allow them in the parks because they were allegedly involved in an incident at A. A. Comeaux Park on May 22.
During an end-of-the-season QSA baseball game for eight-year-olds, an argument broke out between two adults. It all started when one adult man remarked, “It’s luck, nothing but luck,” after Angelique’s son made a diving catch in the outfield by the foul line.
Angelique responded by saying, “That’s talent,” which sparked the argument.
Angelique called her daughter, Jalearreia Soelv, to come to the baseball field.  Her daughter arrived, got out of her vehicle but never walked into Luquette Field, but remained on the road.
In a TV 10 News interview last month, Jalearreia explained why she went to the field. 
“I simply went there, and I went to address the two,” Jalearreia Soelv said. “I didn’t hop out of anything with no weapon. I didn’t barge into nowhere. I didn’t forcefully go anywhere. I didn’t curse at them when I addressed them. I simply said, I don’t know which one of y’all that disrespected my mom, but after all of this, y’all could come talk to me outside the gate.”
Jalearreia Soelv said the narrative being put out is that “she [her mother] called us to come and shoot up the place or whatever they’re trying to say.”
“Why would we do that when my little brother is on that same field ” she continued.
The mother and daughter were not at the city council meeting on  Tuesday. However, Vincent and his attorney, Glenda Huddleston were there.
Vincent allegedly argued with the Soelvs while holding a bat. He is being charged with disturbing the peace, while the Soelvs have a felony charge against them.
Huddleston told Mayor Roslyn White and the council that several people were at Luquette Field, and her client was mistaken for another person.
Councilwoman Terry Broussard shared her thoughts on adults arguing during a youth baseball game.
“As adults, we should be on our best behavior in public places, especially when representing kids,” said Broussard.  “Right now, the kids are on my mind. My top priority will always be for the kids.”
Mayor White also gave her thoughts on the banning.
“Banning is the right thing to assure that every child and adult who goes to the park does not fall under the same threat that happened at A.A. Comeaux Park on the night of May 22. If any of the three individuals are found not guilty, they will be allowed back in the parks.
“I think we have to have a zero tolerance. This is a relevant penalty,” said the Mayor.

KAPLAN - Coeyn Wise has always been interested in politics. At the age of 17, Wise had the opportunity to experience the workings of politics in Louisiana. Wise, who is a senior at Kaplan High School, recently attended Boys State in Natchitoches.
Boys State teaches young men about Louisiana politics. All boys are divided into parishes, and each parish holds an election to select officers.
Wise ran for parish president and lost. However, he didn’t give up and ran for city council, where he won. He was later elected mayor pro tem of the City Council. Later, he decided to run for governor as a member of the Federalist Party, one of two parties at Boys State.
He and four other candidates campaigned and delivered speeches to their party members. After three rounds of elections, Wise was declared the winner of the Federalist Party. Then it was game on, and the politics began.
“That is when it got nasty,” said Wise.  “We were going parish to parish (inside the convention), and I would say my message.”
During the campaign, Wise discovered that his opponent had stolen some of his ideas and used them for his own campaign. “I was conducting an honest campaign,” said Wise. “I was striving to uphold my integrity.”
He would win the governor’s election by gaining more than 60 percent of the votes.
What did he learn about the political experience?
“I learned politics is messy,” he said.  “There were deals being made. I got to see firsthand how politics works.
“I want to be an honest and trustworthy politician,” he said.  “I want to keep my integrity.”
Wise aspires to run for political office in the future, but that ambition will have to wait for at least four years. Wise has enlisted in the Navy and will be leaving in June. “I love my country and want to serve it,” said Wise.
“We are thrilled to see Coeyn Wise achieve such a prestigious honor,” said Shay Herpin, Principal of Kaplan High School. “His dedication to leadership and community service exemplifies the values we strive to instill in all our students.”
Also, Erath High’s Luke Etié won as the Lt. Governor at Boys State.
“I was happy for Luke,” said Wise. “We have two of the highest offices from Vermilion Parish. That says a lot.”

New Orleans—Aaron and Jamie Lee of Vermilion Parish have been named the 2024 Young Farmers and Ranchers Achievement Award Winners, the highest honor given by the Louisiana Farm Bureau to individual farmers each year.
The Lees won the award during the organization’s 102nd Annual Convention here at the Marriott on Canal St. last week during the Organizational Awards. The young couple are sixth-generation sugarcane, livestock, rice, and crawfish farmers who will now go on to compete for the national title in January 2025 at the American Farm Bureau convention in San Antonio, Texas.
Aaron Lee expressed pride in the win but credited his success to his family.
“Over the past several years, I have begun transitioning from my dad’s helper to the one making the management decisions,” Lee said. “I believe I have come a long way and I’m proud of the progress that I’ve made under my father’s guidance. He trusts me to make the decisions, but I still value his opinion and know that I can always go to him for advice.”
Lee said even though he and his wife come from different backgrounds, her support was essential to the Lees’ operation. Jamie is a schoolteacher, while Aaron grew up on the farm. However, Jamie Lee has utilized the Ag in the Classroom program, so the farm is never far from her job.
“I serve as the parish chairperson as well as a member of the state Ag in the Classroom committee,” Jamie Lee said. “My biggest role in advocating for agriculture is that of an Ag Teacher. Being a farm wife and ag teacher allows me to bring a personal message on why production agriculture is so important in today’s world. I’m able to bring stories, and sometimes even soil, from home to help my students gain an understanding of agriculture in their area.”
“I knew from a young age that I was passionate about the farm and wanted to stay and work on the farm that my father and grandfather ran,” Aaron Lee said. “I would wake up every morning and jump in my dad’s truck to go ride in the tractors.
“We both ended up double majoring at LSU,” he added. “Her in Animal Science and Ag Education and I in Animal Science and Ag Business. Our senior year, she was awarded the Outstanding Senior in the College of Agriculture.”
As winners of the 2024 YF&R Achievement Award, the Lees receive a prize package including a $35,000 cash prize credit toward the purchase of a truck, courtesy of the Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Co., a trip to the American Farm Bureau Convention in San Antonio, Texas in Jan. 2025, courtesy of the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation, $250 courtesy of the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation and $250 from the Louisiana Farm.