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The Junior Auxiliary of Abbeville held its annual “JA Jewels” prom dress service project at Magdalen Place.
Junior and Senior girls of Vermilion Parish were invited by invitation to shop prom essentials in a boutique atmosphere at no cost to their families.
With a total of 60 invitations distributed, 28 were provided with formals, shoes, jewelry and handbags. Once the recipients chose their dress, they were steamed and alterations were provided onsite as well as dry cleaning if needed.
All of the supplies that were provided were at no cost to the ladies and their families. Attendees are always grateful and in “awe” upon entering the event.
The ladies of Junior Auxiliary are grateful to the Sonnier’s of Magdalen Place for offering their beautiful space for the project and Joyce Armentor who joins the ladies for alterations during the event and after.
Having the opportunity to help these young ladies find the perfect dress, shoes, and accessories with no financial worry is phenomenal. We look forward to the event every year.
Learn more about the Junior Auxiliary of Abbeville and their mission to render charitable services that are beneficial to the children of Vermilion Parish at www.jaofabbeville.org

BATON ROUGE — As many as 31,000 of Louisiana’s food stamp recipients could lose their benefits under a new Trump administration rule starting April 1 that enacts stricter work requirements on childless adults, according to estimates released today by the state social services agency.
The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services will be contacting the affected people who get food aid through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, with information about how they can keep getting assistance.
“We want to help SNAP recipients understand whether this rule applies to them and what they need to do to keep their benefits,” Children and Family Services Secretary Marketa Garner Walters said in a statement. “We also want to help direct them to the many career and educational opportunities that currently exist and are in development.”
Food stamp recipients in 14 parishes — largely in northeast Louisiana — will not be affected by the Trump administration changes: Assumption, Catahoula, Concordia, East Carroll, Franklin, Madison, Morehouse, Richland, St. Landry,
St. Mary, Tensas, Vernon, West Carroll and Winn parishes. Louisiana received a waiver from the federal government for those parishes because they have had unemployment rates significantly higher than the national average.
But nearly 4% of the state’s 810,000 food stamp recipients are estimated to fall under the new restrictions issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which take effect in April and cover people who are ages 18 to 49 and do not have a child living with them.
The new rule will limit those work-eligible adults to three months of SNAP benefits in a three-year period unless they are working, volunteering or participating in a job training program for at least 80 hours a month. Exceptions are allowed for people with dependents, people who have a disability, students, pregnant women and certain other criteria.
The state Department of Children and Family Services said it will mail notices and fact sheets later this month to food stamp recipients who fall under the provisions of the federal work requirements. The information will include details of how people can meet the requirements, who qualifies for an exemption and how to keep receiving food aid.
The food stamp changes are the Trump administration’s latest attempt to scale back social safety net programs. The USDA estimates the new rule will save about $5.5 billion over five years by cutting benefits for hundreds of thousands of people. The rule imposes stricter criteria states must meet in order to issue waivers.
Louisiana’s waiver for the 14 parishes will last one year, through March 31, 2021. The state could seek waivers for additional parishes later if they reach the federal requirement of having an unemployment rate of 6% or higher and meet other high unemployment benchmarks.
Because of the federal changes, Gov. John Bel Edwards is rescinding a 2016 executive order that enacted some job training requirements for non-working, childless adults in Louisiana who receive food stamps. The federal rule is stricter than those requirements.

ERATH — Smoke testing will be conducted this week in the town of Erath.
The testing of the sewer system is schedule to take place March 9-13.
The smoke tests are used to locate breaks and defects in the sewer system. Smoke also reveals sources of where storm water and other surface water may be entering the sewer system.
Non-toxic smoke will be used during the testing. It is a smoke that is manufactured for this purpose. It leaves no residuals or stains and has no effect on plant or animal life. Visibility and odor will last only a few minutes, where there is adequate ventilation.
Plumbing appliances in homes and buildings are connected to the sewer system, so some of this smoke may enter homes and businesses if the:
• Vents connected to the buildings sewer pipes are inadequate, defective or improperly installed.
• Traps under sinks, tubs, basins, showers and other drains are dry, defective, improperly installed or missing.
• Pipes, connections and seals of the wastewater drain system in and under your building are damaged, defective, have plugs or are improperly installed.
All residents are advised that if traces of this smoke or its odor enter your house or building, it is an indication that gases and odors from the sewer may also enter.
Photographs will be taken of the leaks occurring in the system. In order to do so, representatives of the testing may have to enter your yard,depending on where the leaks are located. No one will have to enter a residence.

Northwestern State pole vaulter Annmarie Broussard, who is a sophomore, finished her sophomore indoor track and field season with an impressive second-place finish in the Southland Conference Indoor Meet.
Broussard, an Abbeville High graduate, took home second place with a vault of 13.25 feet high. First place went to Bizzell Kaylee of Stephen F. Austin. Her winning jump was 13-4 or two inches more than Broussard.
After Kaylee cleared 13-4 to take the lead, Broussard wanted to be pushed and skipped on the height of 13-4 and raised the bar to 13-8.
She attempted the height three times but did not clear the height.
The Southland Conference Meet meant the end of the indoor season for Broussard and the rest of the Northwestern State athletes.
Broussard had a successful indoor season her sophomore season.
She won her first collegiate meet by winning the Ted Nelson Invitational Indoor meet with a jump of 13-1.
She also had a personal best vault of 13-9.5 at the Houston G-5 Invitational. That vault was good enough for fourth place. It also tied Northwestern’s school record.
The following weekend in the Tyson Invitational in Arkansas, she vaulted 13-8.5 and finished in sixth place. The winning vault was 14-5 by an Arkansas pole vaulter.
Sixth place was her worst finish in the indoor season; however, it was also her second-best vault of her career with a height of 13-8.
The outdoor season begins in two weeks.