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Louisiana small businesses that have been hammered by the coronavirus outbreak and haven’t received federal aid can start applying this week for grants up to $15,000 to cover pandemic-related expenses, under a program created by state lawmakers.
Grants in the $275 million, federally financed Main Street Recovery Program are expected to run out quickly. More than 450,000 businesses are estimated to be eligible, but fewer than 20,000 would be able to collect payments if they each receive the maximum grant.
Treasurer John Schroder, who was tasked by lawmakers to oversee the program, is encouraging businesses to file their paperwork in the opening days.
“We expect this money to go fast so you need to be ready to apply,” Schroder said in a statement.
The treasurer’s office set up a website at www.louisianamainstreet.com to take applications and answer eligibility questions.
Grants for the first 21 days will only be available to businesses that didn’t receive other federal aid via the Paycheck Protection Program or a U.S. Small Business Administration disaster loan — and that didn’t receive insurance for interruptions to their business.
Businesses can receive dollars for interruption costs, employee payroll, supplies, rent, protective gear, cleaning equipment and other items tied to the virus outbreak. They can get money to cover renovations or temporary structures used to promote social distancing.
To be eligible, businesses have to be located in Louisiana. They can’t have had more than 50 full-time workers as of March 1, before Louisiana saw its first confirmed case of the new coronavirus. And they can’t be a subsidiary of or owned by a larger company with more than 50 full-time employees.
Lawmakers set aside $275 million for the small business grant program from $1.8 billion Louisiana received in direct congressional aid to respond to the COVID-19 disease caused by the coronavirus.
Of the money allocated to the grant program, $40 million must be spent on grants to assist minority-owned, women-owned and veteran-owned businesses. Up to $15 million of the money can be used for administrative costs, but the treasurer’s office said the costs of contractors hired to manage and market the program won’t exceed $7.2 million.
The opening of the business grant aid comes as coronavirus cases continue to soar in Louisiana, with another 2,300 infections confirmed by the state health department Monday. Nearly 3,700 Louisiana residents have died from COVID-19, and 1,600 patients with the disease are hospitalized. The state, which once appeared to successfully reduce the virus’ spread, has returned to one of the nation’s highest per capita infection rates.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms. For some, especially older adults and those with existing health problems, it can cause more severe or fatal illness.

Vermilion Parish’s next superintendent will have already worked in the Vermilion Parish school system. That is a guarantee.
This past Tuesday was the final day that the applications for the superintendent position in Vermilion Parish were received.
As early as this week the school board could interview the applicants and approve the hiring of one that same night.
When the mailbox was opened, there were only three applications inside, and all three had Vermilion Parish ties.
The applicants are Brad Prudhomme, Tommy Byler and Paul Hebert.
Prudhomme is the interim superintendent today for the parish and has been working in the parish school system for 37 years.
He has taught at Erath Middle, J.H. Williams Middle School and Henry High.
In 2004, he was the assistant principal at J.H. Williams Middle School.
From 2007 to 2020, he was the supervisor of Child Welfare and Attendance for the school district.
This past January, he was named as the interim superintendent.
Byler is the principal at North Vermilion High School where he has been since 2015.
In 2018, he was named the Louisiana High School Principal of the Year.
Prior to 2015, he was the assistant principal at NVHS for a year. He has 28 years in education, 22 of that as a teacher. He spent 16 of those 22 years at Erath High School.
Hebert is the assistant superintendent in the parish. He has held that position since 2013.
He has 18 years in administration and 10 years as a teacher.
He was the principal at Kaplan Elementary and Eaton Park Elementary before being named as the assistant superintendent under former superintendent Jerome Puyau.

As of Monday, July 27, 2020 there are 39 confirmed cases of COVID-19 inside the Vermilion Parish Jail.

According to Chief Deputy and Warden Colonel Kirk J. Frith with the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office, the parish jail has undergone many changes since March of this year with stringent protocols designed to minimize the chance of the virus making entry into the parish jail. A few of a long list of precautions taken include no public access to the jail along with new inmate intake procedures that include in-depth questionnaires, temperature screenings and health appraisals on all new inmates as soon as they reach the sally port intake area and a 14 day quarantine of all new inmates before being housed in general population areas.

Other precautions within the jail include issuing masks to inmates upon intake along with minimal and limited movement within the jail, which include no inmate visitation, the restriction of inmate movement within housing units and even feeding in the housing units rather than the dining room. However, the ability to social distance in a jail environment is impossible due to the nature of the jail facility where inmates are housed in pairs and/or in groups in dormitory settings.

Additional precautions for jail staff that began in March include all of the standard procedures like the wearing of mask, daily temperature screenings before entry to the jail to work, daily sanitation of work areas along with mandatory symptom reporting that would result in testing with a quarantine away from work for any jail staff suspected and/or testing positive for the virus. Additionally, we have been utilizing technology to facilitate court proceedings remotely in an effort to eliminate or at least minimize moving offenders to and from the jail.

“The many precautions we implemented in March of this year coupled with many new procedures added along the way when new information became available, has been enormous in our efforts to minimize the chance of virus entry into the parish jail and just when you think maybe you have created a fortress against the virus’ ability to enter, you discover that the virus has made its way in. I suspect it got in by an asymptomatic infection, where there were no signs or symptoms to be displayed or discovered,” said Colonel Frith.

 According to Frith, almost every positive case discovered was in a dormitory housing unit, suggesting that area may be where the virus made entry and began to infect others. The entire dormitory unit has been quarantined and most of the inmates testing positive seem to be either asymptomatic and/or displaying minor or no symptoms. As of today, the jail doctor has seen the inmates who have tested positive.

Frith says that each inmate is being monitored closely for symptom development and if any of the current positive cases begin to present symptoms considered to be moderate or severe, they would be transferred to a state or medical facility for treatment and care.

“I have had conversations with our public health professionals, the most recent being yesterday and again today, and at this point there is nothing else we can do to prevent virus entry because it is here. We will continue our daily health assessments on inmates with positive COVID tests and provide medical care for them coupled with maintaining close monitoring of the inmate population for symptoms with additional testing, quarantining and treatment as the response.

Frith said that the precautions they have taken since March have created hardships for inmates and their families, especially when they cannot visit. In an effort to maintain some level of family ties, inmates are allowed a limited number of free phone calls per week and unlimited mail correspondence to family members. Frith also said that he has already begun procuring technology, equipment and software to allow families to visit with inmates remotely and send emails to them without entering the jail, a large project with a timeline goal to be online by mid-September.

Lastly, Frith said “I think it is important to remind everyone that the surrounding communities in and around Vermilion, including some neighboring parishes are experiencing a significant increase in COVID transmissions, which factor directly into the virus having a magnified and increased chance of entering jail facilities.”

Sheriff Mike Couvillon said: “My deputies in every division of your Sheriff’s office continue to show up for work each day since March, facing adversity, concern and anxiety as it relates to possible exposures. It is just another example of the brave men and women who sign up to serve this parish. I also want to extend my thanks and appreciation to all of our first responders and essential workers for their unwavering commitment to public safety. As we work together through these difficult and unprecedented times, we will prevail.”

October 24, 1935 ~ July 25, 2020

KAPLAN — A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 1:00 PM on Wednesday, July 29, 2020 at Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church honoring the life of Mary Vincent Breaux, 84, who died peacefully to join her husband, Randall, Saturday, July 25, 2020 at Acadia General Hospital. She will be laid to rest at Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Cemetery with Reverend Mark Miley officiating the services. Serving as pallbearers will be Hank Menard, Matthew Simon, Brandon Benoit, Kevin Choate, Romin Bradley, and Cory Foreman. Honorary pallbearers will be Sumner Harrington, Parker Hebert, Tyler Benoit, Ian Benoit, Draper Hebert and Kelly Bradley. Lectors will be Jacinta Vincent Dyck and Ashley Broussard Choate with interrupter, Lynette Bourque Simon.
She is survived by her children, David Simon (Lynette), Vicki Simon Foreman (Charles), Nedia Simon (Michael), Monica Simon Camel (Etienne), and Mary Ann Broussard (Wayne); her grandchildren, Renee Simon Hebert (Draper), Monique Noelle Simon, Matthew Simon (Monique), Cory Foreman (Katie), Heather Menard Bradley (Kelly), Hank Menard (Ashley), Brandon Benoit, Nancy Simon, Christy Gaspard, Isabelle Camel, Ashley Broussard Choate (Kevin), Lance Vidrine (Jennifer), Paige Vidrine; her great grandchildren, Parker, Lainie, Layla and Riley Hebert, Joe, Jack, and Jude Aucoin, Emma and Gretta Jens, Ellie Simon, Lani Darby, Sumner Harrington, Romin and Libbie Bradley, Kennedy and Dylan Menard, Paige, Kinzy, and Bryce Foreman, Jenna Foreman, Tyler and Ian Benoit, Charolette and Samuel Choate, Kenlee and Lincoln Vidrine; her great-great grandchild, Vivian Grace Benoit; her stepchildren, Mary Ann Breaux McDonald (Bubba), Ricky Breaux (Maylinda), Randy Breaux (Kim), David Breaux (Angela), Cindy Breaux Mustin, Alex Breaux (Michelle), Pat Menard Rousell, and Susan Menard Leblanc; and her brothers, Jerry Paul Vincent of Kaplan and Donald Vincent (Melinda) of South Carolina.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Lanese and Cecile Vincent; her daughter, Nancy Ann Simon; her granddaughter, Erin Monique Simon; her great grandson, Hayden Mouledous; her sister-in-law, Mildred Simon Vincent; and her husbands, Randall Breaux, AP (Ace) Menard, and Doris Lee Simon.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Kaplan, 300 N. Eleazar Ave., on Wednesday, July 29, 2020 from 8:00 AM until the procession departs for the church at 12:45 PM with a rosary being prayed at 10:00 AM.
All funeral arrangements are being conducted by Vincent Funeral Home of Kaplan, (337) 643-7276 [Service Information 225-5276]. Condolences may be sent to the Breaux family at www.vincentfuneralhome.net.