The Chalmette High School Prostart students won first place in the student division of Cook off for the Coast. This event helps to raise money for the Chadeleur Sound Living Shoreline coastal restoration project. Congratulations to Elena Hodges and her Cook-off Team.

Americans have every reason to be thankful. In comparison to the rest of the world, we live a life of ease. Even those who experience what we consider poverty have no idea what real poverty is throughout the world. None scrounge landfills for food. Many make a choice to live on the streets. This is not to say there are none suffering, because there are… too many. But nothing like in many nations. When we look about us, the blessings we enjoy are not global. We are so fortunate, But this can suddenly change.

Dear Mr. Karlin: Thank you for writing an insightful depiction of the state of Louisiana's Port Authority System.

Do we as a community have a choice for our future? The answer is clearly yes because we live in a democracy not an imperial state. As citizens, we can force our elected officials to do what is corrective to past errors, financially beneficial, environmentally safe, and lifestyle enhancing for our community. We do have a choice with our individual vote and together can determine our destiny. It is critical to question candidates for public office on their stands relative to the community’s future. Platforms and visions of the community’s future must be clear and solid, not doublespeak. A candidate who is elected must be held to their promises made during their campaigns. It is counterproductive to have “jellyfish” as leaders. Positions in the future need careful follow-through and attention so as to maintain what is best for the community. This kind of progress enriches the lifestyle of the residents. Remember, you can support a candidate with your vote as a reward, and it should be a pact for the future performance of the candidate.

Bailout for Big Banks! Well, here we go again. Big banks are “high-fiving” each other after they won big in Washington last week.

Louisiana Super Plants Announced Each year, horticulture specialists from the LSU AgCenter evaluate a few hundred newly developed and heirloom plant cultivars for suitability in gardens across the state of Louisiana. These plants can be trees, shrubs, edible landscape plants, flowers, and ornamentals.

St. Bernard Parish Filed As a service to its readers, The St.

25 YEARS AGO • Happy wedding anniversary to Joanne and Fred Zimmerle. • Father Philip G.

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The Kiwanis Club of St. Bernard supports literacy in St. Bernard Parish Elementary Schools with a $200 check to help kids with the purchase of their books during the Lacoste School Book Fair. Pictured, from left: Lacoste Principal Heather Morel, Kiwanian Michael B. Chutz, Lacoste Librarian Maria Dassau and Lacoste Vice Principal Erin St.