By Drew Broach | Deputy metro editor
'SHAMELESS ABUSE': Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and oilfield executive Shane Guidry are tight. Guidry, who is independently wealthy, has been a big donor Landry's political campaign and been paid $12,000 annually to be a “special agent/investigator” for Landry. The AG, meanwhile, is paid $50,000 to $100,000 a year as a board member of Guidry's company. So when Guidry's daughter was contacted by her biological mother and told she was adopted - followed by a text to the mother saying, “this is shane, if you contact [her[ again, we will have you arrested. are we clear” - Landry's agents sprang into action. Three of them spent three days looking for the mother, first in Louisiana and then in Mississippi - even hunting down her brother - although there was no indication a crime had been committed.
COVID CLOSURES: Two Roman Catholic outposts in southeast Louisiana fell victim to COVID-19 this week. The Manresa House of Retreats at Convent temporarily shut its doors after officials learned that recent visitors had tested positive for the disease, and about 200 girls spending the week at Camp Abbey in Covington were sent home early after a rampant stomach virus and at least two cases of COVID spread through the sleepaway camp. North Louisiana, meanwhile, has been identified as one of the most vulnerable areas in the U.S. to a coronavirus outbreak and an area that is highly susceptible to producing variants.
BEAM HER UP: In the afterglow of winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee, Harvey's own Zaila Avant-garde, 14, said she knew she might make history as the first African American to claim the honor. But she never let the moment become too big for her, and when she heard what turned out to be her winning word - "Murraya," a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian trees - she beamed with confidence.
All this and much more are in today’s Front Page and on NOLA.com. Welcome to the weekend. D.B. |
