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September 11, 1923 ~ September 8, 2017

ABBEVILLE — Funeral services were held on Monday, September 11, 2017 at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville honoring the life of Clenis Joseph Gallet, 93, who died Friday, September 8, 2017 at Maison du Monde Living Center.
He was laid to rest at St. Paul Cemetery with Fr. Michael Richard officiating the services.
He is survived by his wife, Hazel Luquette Gallet of Abbeville; three sons, Donald Lee Gallet and his wife Betty of Port Arthur, TX, Randal James Gallet of Nederland, TX and Roger Dale Gallet of Beaumont, TX; three step children, Gene Dale Choate of Abbeville, David Joel Choate of Milton and Annette C. Hebert of Abbeville; four grandchildren; ten step grandchildren; six great grandchildren; and fifteen step great grandchildren.

Kaplan Police Chief Boyd Adams turned himself in Monday morning to the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office after a warrant was issued for his arrest by the Louisiana State Police.
Adams was charged with malfeasance in office and felony theft.
These charges stem from a state audit which questioned whether Kaplan Police Chief Boyd Adams used nearly $7,650 in public funds to pay personal expenses, drawing some of that money from two police department bank accounts city officials say they did not know existed.
The Legislative Auditor’s investigation found 149 transactions which equaled to $17,140 in a Kaplan Police Recreation Account.
Out of the $17,140 in transactions, a total of 59 transactions worth $7,650 have no documentation explaining the reason for the cash deposits.
Adams has denied wrongdoing, writing in a response to auditors that his accounting might need some work but he never misused the public’s money.
Adams has been the police chief of Kaplan since 2010 and is currently seeking a third term.
The audit cites several instances of sloppy accounting and of possible improper use of public funds.
Among them include - The chief cashed checks for $200 and $500, drawn on police department accounts and wrote a $280 check from a police department account to repay an officer who covered the chief’s personal phone bill.
Auditors noted that 38 minutes after Adams cashed the $500 check in 2014 he made a $500 deposit into his personal bank account.
Adams told auditors the cash from the $200 check was deposited in his department’s “cash bag” and was for an undisclosed undercover operation.
Auditors said Adams had no documentation for the purpose of cashing the $500 check, but the chief said it was not connected to the $500 deposit he made to his personal account on the same day.
Adams told the auditors the deposit was from the repayment of a $500 loan he made to a mother to buy school supplies and clothes for her children.
The chief also told auditors he put $280 into the police department’s cash bag to cover the $280 check he wrote the officer who paid his phone bill.
According to the audit, a log for withdrawals and deposits into the cash bag showed a $280 deposit from the chief, but auditors questioned the accuracy of many of the transactions recorded in that log and could find no other records to confirm repayment.
Much of the questionable spending was made using two bank accounts that other city officials said they did not know about until last year.
Adams said both accounts were set up years ago by his predecessors, a statement auditors confirmed.
The accounts have since been closed, and all police department funds are held in authorized city accounts.
Upon hearing of the charges, Kaplan Mayor Kirk Champagne said, “I really don’t know what to say. I know the state auditors found abnormalities in his accounting practices and the Louisiana State Police investigated.
“Apparently they found enough evidence to bring charges, because a warrant was issued for his arrest.”

OPELOUSAS - Vermilion Catholic’s Friday started out with solid news: Senior quarterback JT Lege is not out for the season after all.
“It’s been a roller coaster of a week, that’s for sure,” VC head coach Brady Thomas said. “I’m happy that he got that good news today.
“It is going to depend on therapy and how well he responds to that,” he added.
However, a tough Friday night for the Vermilion Catholic Screamin’ Eagles ended with a 22-6 loss to the Opelousas Catholic Vikings.
Thomas, who is 1-1 at the beginning of his coaching career, admitted that a less-than-stellar week of practice for offense translated to a sluggish Friday night performance.
However, he did praise the Eagles’ defense for playing a good game against a bigger Viking offensive line and backfield. “You guys gave us a chance,” he told the team after the game.
The opening drive for the Eagles ended prematurely on a fumble, and that seemed to have set the stage for the first half. Both teams turned the ball over multiple times, and neither seemed to get much momentum on offense.
VC’s fumble didn’t turn into anything for the Vikings, who ended their drive with a turnover on downs. The back and forth kept going through the first quarter, which saw two VC interceptions and several OC fumbles, prevented either team from scoring until the second quarter.
VC sophomore quarterback Andrew Marceaux was finally able to connect with Kris Constantine with a 30-yard touchdown pass that gave Vermilion Catholic the early lead, 6-0.
Four minutes later, Viking running back Ryan Lewis drove the ball in, and a point-after kick put his squad up over the Eagles, 7-6.
The Vikings would score three more times that night with two more touchdowns and a 3-point kick.
The biggest struggle of the night for the Eagles was on offense. Marceaux struggled with frequent Viking raids in the backfield and getting the ball to his skill players. Freshman Drew Lege, younger brother of the injured senior quarterback, JT Lege, came in during the fourth quarter, but faced similar struggles.
Thomas, however, took the blame on himself. “We were a little inconsistent at the quarterback position, which is my responsibility,” he said. “That’s what we’re going to have to work on starting tomorrow.”
Thomas, a former quarterback himself, notes the struggle of being a younger quarterback having to play without much experience. “For down the line, there’s no better way to develop than being in the line of fire,” he explained. “It’s one thing [for Marceaux] to get thrown into the game and go in there like he did last week and win a game for us, and it’s another to go the whole week training as the starter.”
The Eagles picked up 80 total yards in 41 plays. Passing-wise, Marceaux and Lege went a combined 7-20 for 81 yards and one touchdown.
The Eagles play at home for the first time this coming Friday in a heated parish rivalry. The Erath Bobcats will visit the Eagles fresh off their own loss to E.D. White last week.

FRANKLIN - The North Vermilion Patriots are off to a 2-0 start in 2017.
The Patriots crushed the Franklin Hornets, 49-20, on Friday night.
Two games into the season, North Vermilion has already equaled the amount of wins it won all of last year.
One has to go back to 2009 to find the last time the Patriots began the year 2-0. It was under former head coach Stephen Lotief. His team went 3-0 in 2009.
Since 2004, North Vermilion has began the year 2-0 only four times.
The Patriots, on Friday, put the game out of reach in the first period after scoring 22 points.
By halftime, NV led 35-6.
The Patriots jumped out to a 29-0 lead in the second period.
The Patriots did not take too long to score in the first period. Two minutes into the game, quarterback Garrett Becker had a one-yard dive into the end zone for a 7-0 lead.
Kendrick Baudoin broke a 42-yard TD run and kicker Hunter Hulin nailed his second extra point that put NV up 14-0.
Malik Criner broke the game open for NV with a 42-yard punt return for a touchdown. Kade Hebert scored the two-point conversion and the blow out with underway.
Criner had another great night rushing the football. For the second game in a row, he ran for 144 yards. In two games, he has rushed for 293 yards.
NV quarterback Garrett Becker had a big night. He completed a 26 yard touchdown pass to Darius Davis with 5:40 left in the second quarter.
In the opening minutes of the second half, Becker had a 51 yard TD run and Ben Bares nailed the extra point for a 45-12 lead.
Baudoin completed the game with nine carries for 73 yards and he scored twice.
Becker ran for 52 yards and he was 5-for-5 passing for 56 yards and a touchdown.
Darius Davis had six catches for 61 yards. He averaged 10 yards a reception.
The win sets up a big matchup next week with 2-0 Ascension Episcopal.