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Over the last two years, around 10 North Vermilion Patriots have signed to play baseball at the next level.
On Monday, two more inked on the dotted line to play at the next level
Allen Johnson and Cole Veronie, two right-handed pitchers, signed to play baseball for Baton Rouge Community College, a junior college program.
BRCC already has two NV players on the roster.
Already on the BRCC team are former NV players John Touchet and Lane Patin. The two were on hand for Monday morning’s signing.
Considering what he has been through this season, Johnson is happy to pitch at the next level. In the preseason, he partially tore his UCL and did not pitch. However, he had surgery during the year and will be ready to pitch in Baton Rouge.
The year before, he was North Vermilion’s No. 2 pitcher.
“When I visited Baton Rouge, they made me feel at home,” said Johnson. “The coaches were all nice. I had a few other offers, but once BRCC reached out, that is where I wanted to go.”
Johnson said Baton Rouge is close to home, allowing his parents to drive to see him play baseball.
Veronie pitched 50 innings and posted a 6-2 record this year. He struck out 52 and finished with a 2.24 earned run average.
He also likes that the community college is close to home.
“I had teammates who went there last year, and when I visited, the coaches made me feel at home. They were nice to me,” said the 6-foot-3 Veronie.
Johnson also said the baseball facility is excellent and near the LSU Campus.

October 5, 1962 ~ May 9, 2023

ABBEVILLE — Alyssa Jane Carroll Boudreaux passed away on Tuesday, May 9, 2023 at her residence in Youngsville at the age of 60. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 12, 2023 at Vincent Funeral Home of Abbeville, Rev. Lance Otwell, Caney Lake Baptist Church will officiate. She will be laid to rest at Woodlawn Cemetery.
Alyssa was a kind, gentle person. She had a remarkable memory, especially for birthdates and anniversaries. Alyssa enjoyed camping, eating out, large family gatherings, and spending time with her nieces and nephews. She was employed by the State of Louisiana for 25 years as a bridge tender.
She is survived by her husband, John Lindsey Boudreaux; parents, Audrey and Johnny Carroll; sister, Jacquelyn LeBlanc and her husband, Shelby; mother-in-law, Genell Melancon West; father-in-law, Harold J. “Dago” Boudreaux; godchild, James LeBlanc; nieces, Shelli White and her husband, Garrett, and Brye Ann Romero and her husband, Jason; great nieces, Annie LeBlanc and Preslee Romero; great nephews, Weston White and Radley White; and numerous sisters and brothers-in-laws, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
She was preceded in death by her grandparents; mother-in-law, Marilyn Boudreaux; and father-in-law, Dr. Donald West.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville, 209 S. St. Charles St., on Thursday, May 11, 2023 from 4 p.m. until 9 p.m.; Friday, May 12, 2023 from 8 a.m. until time of services.
Special thanks to Dr. Steven Saccaro, Dr. Perri Prellop, and the staff of Ochsner Cancer Center of Acadiana.
Condolences may be sent to the family at www.vincentfuneralhome.net.
All funeral arrangements are being conducted by Vincent Funeral Home of Abbeville, (337) 893-4661.

“You just can’t. No one’s ever tied them together before.”
That was President Joe Biden on MSNBC on May 6, claiming that Congress has never increased the debt ceiling in exchange for budget, spending and regulatory changes.
There’s only one problem. It’s completely false.
Just in recent history, both the Budget Control Act of 2011 and the Contract With America Advancement Act of 1996 resolved disagreements between Congress and the president over raising the national debt ceiling. Both bills made changes to law to restrain the growth of spending or to pass other regulatory reforms.
Particularly, the Budget Control Act of 2011, or S.365 — the result of a compromise between then-House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and President Barack Obama — set discretionary budget limits into law, increased the debt limit and even provided for the consideration of a balanced budget amendment.
Title I was the “Ten-Year Discretionary Caps With Sequester.” Title II was the “Vote On The Balanced Budget Amendment.” Title III was the “Debt Ceiling Disapproval Process.” Title IV was the establishment of the “Joint Select Committee On Deficit Reduction.” And Title V was the “Pell Grant And Student Loan Program Changes.”
The legislation at the time was projected by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to reduce the deficit by $917 billion from 2012-2022: $741 billion from the discretionary spending caps or sequestration, $20 billion from reductions to mandatory spending and $156 billion as a result of less interest payments owed thanks to cutting spending.
In describing the bill which he signed, which increased the debt ceiling, then-President Obama stated in Jan. 2012, “we have to renew our economic strength here at home, which is the foundation of our strength around the world. And that includes putting our fiscal house in order. To that end, the Budget Control Act passed by Congress last year — with the support of Republicans and Democrats alike — mandates reductions in federal spending…”
Biden should know. He was the White House’s lead negotiator on the Budget Control Act of 2011. Politico’s Glenn Thrush, Manu Raju, John Bresnahan and Carrie Budoff Brown even wrote a glowing piece about it in Aug. 2011, “Biden, McConnell and the making of a deal,” which described Biden’s role: “[The] account of the final days of high-stakes negotiations is based on interviews with lawmakers, congressional staff, administration aides and Democratic officials familiar with the talks. They described an agreement sealed by Obama and Boehner but said it was Biden’s close working relationship with McConnell that broke the months-long logjam.”
As for the 1996 Contract With America Advancement Act, that also increased the debt ceiling and included the Congressional Review Act, the Line Item Veto Act, the Senior Citizens’ Right to Work Act and the Small Business Growth and Fairness Act of 1996.
Both times, these situations arose from a Republican takeover of the House and/or Senate following a Democratic president’s first Congressional midterm election.
So, just in recent memory, this is not the first time nor the second time, but the third time this process has come up with Congress sitting down negotiate with the White House on the terms and conditions for increasing the national debt ceiling, currently at $31.4 trillion.
In both cases, the appearance of fiscal discipline helped out both former President Bill Clinton and former President Barack Obama, who both went on to get reelected in 1996 and 2012, relatively easily.
H.R. 2811, the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 — which has already passed the House — would increase the national debt ceiling and cut $4.8 trillion in deficits through 2033: $3.2 trillion from the discretionary spending caps, $460 billion from ending President Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, $569.5 billion from repealing the green energy subsidies from the Inflation Reduction Act and other legislation, $120.1 billion from implementing work requirements for food stamps and other welfare programs, $29.5 billion from budget rescissions from Covid and other spending, $3.4 billion from energy leasing and permitting provisions and $547 billion as a result of less interest payments owed thanks to cutting spending.
Now, Biden might prefer that these items be dealt with separately under regular order of the budget process, but that is not the hand he is being dealt. The House has already passed H.R. 2811 and 43 Senate Republicans have vowed to oppose increasing the debt ceiling without spending cuts.
Meaning, Biden doesn’t have the votes in the Senate to overcome a filibuster in order to increase the debt ceiling. Even if he could, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has stated on April 26 then the legislation would go to a conference committee, as provided under House and Senate rules, in order to reconcile differences.
Either way, the Limit, Save, Grow Act is the only game in town, that is, besides other unconstitutional suggestions like President Biden somehow increasing the debt ceiling under the 14th Amendment’s “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law… shall not be questioned.”
For Biden’s part, he stated “I’ve not gotten there yet…” in the MSNBC interview.
This was followed up by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on ABC’s This Week on May 7 stating, “We should not get to the point where we need to consider whether the president can go on issuing debt. This would be a constitutional crisis.”
Yellen is right. It would be a constitutional crisis, because it’s unconstitutional. The only public debt “authorized by law” is that presently subjected to the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling under current law. But if Biden is feeling lucky, perhaps he could try this newly minted theory of constitutional law out on the 6 to 3 Republican-appointed majority on the Supreme Court, all the while bearing the consequences economically for refusing to negotiate with Congress when that is the situation with ever piece of legislation that comes up.
Biden again might prefer an alternative to this process but so far he hasn’t really articulated one. Either way, this is the process that has been used historically in cases of mixed government, where neither party completely controls the House, Senate and White House, including 2011 and 1996, and has in fact resulted in bipartisan compromises that both increase the debt ceiling, reduce deficits and make other changes to law.
They’ve always been “tied together,” Mr. President.

Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.

BATON ROUGE – Avery Hebert, of Erath, is among the Tiger Twelve Senior Recognition Class of 2023.
Class members were recognized at a ceremony on Saturday, April 29 held in the Capstone Gallery at Patrick F. Taylor Hall on the LSU campus.
Hebert is an agribusiness major with a minor in political science. During her four years at LSU, Hebert was involved in numerous extracurricular activities on campus, including serving as an LSU Student Government executive staff member and College of Agriculture Les Voyager.
The recognition in LSU Tiger Twelve has been an aspiration for Hebert since her first year at LSU and has fueled her drive to become deeply involved on campus and in the community.
“It’s hard to put into words what receiving this recognition means to me. I have aspired to be in Tiger Twelve since I was a freshman. It is such an incredible feeling to be affirmed in this manner for my accomplishments, dedication and service to LSU and the surrounding community, my community back home and the entire state of Louisiana,” Hebert said.
In addition to her involvement on campus, Hebert served as the 2021 Louisiana Farm Bureau Queen and Louisiana Queen Sugar LXXIX. She also worked as a student worker for the LSU AgCenter Office of Development LSU, College of Agriculture and LSU Vet School.
There have been many influences for Hebert who have helped pave her way to success. She credits her faculty members, student organization advisors, the Dean and his staff and her employers for providing her with advice, guidance and skills that have positioned her for success as she prepares to graduate from LSU.
“I have created personal relationships with these individuals who push me to continue to strive for greatness from the top administrators down to support staff,” she said.
After graduation, Hebert plans to attend law school to become an agricultural attorney specializing in labor law.
“I aspire to one day open my own firm, establish a name for myself, continue to be an advocate for our farmers, ranchers, and their families, and build a lasting legacy,” she said.
Since 2003, LSU has presented the Tiger Twelve honor to 12 students graduating each calendar year. Students selected as members of the Tiger Twelve are undergraduate seniors who contribute positively to the life of the campus, surrounding community, and society and who demonstrate commitment to intellectual achievement, inclusive excellence, leadership in campus life, and service. All must carry at least a 2.5 cumulative grade-point average. This year’s class GPA average is 3.97.