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Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries enforcement agents cited two men for alleged hunting violation on March 4 in LaSalle Parish.
Agents cited Bradley M. Eubanks, 27, of Jena for hunting turkey during a closed season and Michael L. Eubanks, 51, of Jena, for criminal conspiracy.
Agents were on patrol on the morning of March 4 near Jean in LaSalle Parish when they observed Bradley Eubanks hunting. Agents then heard a single gunshot coming from the subject’s area.
Agents then made contact with Michael Eubanks who was in a truck on his way to pick up Bradley Eubanks. Agents contacted Bradley Eubanks by phone and he admitted to harvesting a turkey. Michael Eubanks admitted to dropping Bradley Eubanks off earlier in the morning and he was returning to pick him up.
Turkey season for 2023 opens on April 1 for this area. Agents seized the turkey and donated it to a local charity.
Hunting turkey during a closed season and criminal conspiracy brings a $900 to $950 fine and up to 120 days in jail for each offense.
Bradley Eubanks may also face civil restitution totaling $1,539 for the replacement value of the illegally taken turkey.
Agents involved on the case are Sgt. Richard Heinold and Sgt. Jesse Davis.

December 31, 1955 ~ March 5, 2023

KAPLAN — Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, March 8, 2023 at Faith Christian Church honoring the life of Marion Catherine Bourque Miller, 67, who died Saturday, March 4, 2023 at Calcutta House. She will be laid to rest at Harrington Cemetery with Reverend Farley Painter officiating the services.
She is survived by her husband of 45 years, Ricky John Miller of Forked Island; one son, Joshua Miller and his wife, Shawn of Forked Island; two daughters, Cassie M. Demette and her husband, Christopher, Sr. of Forked Island and Joeanna “Annie” M. Hargrave and her husband, Eric of Indian Bayou; five sisters, Helen B. Stanisky of Montgomery, TX, Judy B. Shipperbottom of Hamilton Ontario, Canada, Veronica B. Touchet of Forked Island, Patricia “Trish” B. Harrington of McHenry, IL, and Ruby “Teedie” B. Broussard of Port Allen; two brothers, Gordon Bourque of Pecan Island and Jesse “Hoss” W. Bourque, Sr. of Rhode Island; and nine grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by one granddaughter, Christy Lynn Demette; parents, Murphy Joseph Bourque and the former Electa Sturlese; and four brothers, Eugene, Norman, James and Wayne Bourque.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Kaplan, 300 N. Eleazar Ave., on Wednesday, March 8, 2023 from 8 a.m. until the services at 1 p.m.
All funeral arrangements are being conducted by Vincent Funeral Home of Kaplan, (337) 643-7276. Condolences may be sent to the Miller family at www.vincentfuneralhome.net.

Should anyone believe the Biden administration’s ridiculous story about the mysterious balloons that gripped the nation several weeks ago? According to the administration, a massive Chinese spy balloon was allowed to travel from China across the Pacific Ocean into Alaska through Canada and back into the United States. At that point, the balloon traversed over the interior of the country before being shot down off the coast of South Carolina.
The Biden administration claimed that the delayed action allowed intelligence to be gathered on the balloon and to protect Americans who might have been harmed if there was a shoot down over a populated area. Of course, the balloon could have been easily shot down while it was travelling over unpopulated areas in Alaska or Montana for example.
While claiming that the administration waited to protect against civilian casualties and property damage, President Joe Biden also stated that the incursion was “not a major breach.” Really, what about those antennas that were attached to the balloon to gather intelligence?
Not coincidentally, the balloon travelled “over or near four military sites in Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska and Missouri.” Yet, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin assured Americans that “we were buttoned down and movement was limited, and communications were limited so that we didn't expose any capability unnecessarily.”
Despite such guarantees, it is unlikely that the Chinese did not score a massive intelligence bonanza from a balloon that travelled across the United States and Canada for one week.
After this humiliating episode, Secretary of State Tony Blinken cancelled his meeting with his Chinese counterpart, but the administration was clear to emphasize that there would be no change in our relationship with China. When asked whether the balloon incursion would weaken our relationship with China, Biden firmly answered “no.”
Thus, the Chinese gather huge amounts of vital intelligence from our country and fly a humongous balloon over sensitive military installations, and the Biden administration can only muster minor criticism and one meeting cancellation. It was a shameful response to say the least and may indicate President Biden is extremely compromised regarding China.
Supposedly, after our radars were “recalibrated,” three other balloons were shot out of the sky in Alaska, Canada and Michigan. None of these other balloons were retrieved because they were probably too small to locate. These balloons were either conducting weather research or were launched from a hobbyist group such as the Northern Illinois Balloon Brigade.
The balloon hypersensitivity resulted in the Biden administration using expensive military aircraft with costly missiles worth approximately $439,000 each to shoot down balloons worth as little as $12. None of this leads to any confidence in this President or his administration.
What really happened? The balloon hysteria may have been created to distract American attention from the release of the bombshell investigation by journalist Seymour Hersh. The report uncovers that in June of last year, “Navy divers…planted the remotely triggered explosives that, three months later, destroyed three of the four Nord Stream pipelines.”
When the pipelines were destroyed, the left-wing media and the Biden administration quickly blamed their favorite nemesis, the Russians. Yet, it never made any sense that the Russians would destroy their own pipeline which gave them both tremendous financial benefits and leverage over Europe by controlling a portion of their energy supply.
This theory made sense to exiled NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden who tweeted that the balloon hysteria was “engineered panic.” He called it a “nuisance” that would preoccupy reporters assigned to cover balloons “rather than budgets or bombings.”
Snowden’s reference to “budgets” may refer to the Defense Department. Whenever there is a national security threat to our country, Americans become fearful about the safety of our country. What happens when Americans become scared? Sadly, some politicians use it as an excuse to create more government bureaucracy and spend more taxpayer money.
For example, after the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush supported the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security. It was quickly approved by Congress and a new government behemoth was created. Today, this department oversees border security, and all Americans can judge how that is progressing.
After the balloon hysteria, both Democrats and Republicans in Congress started demanding no cuts for the Department of Defense. In the current fiscal year, the Department of Defense has been allocated an extraordinary amount, $816.7 billion. Undoubtedly, there are areas in the budget that can be cut while still providing for the national security needs of the American people.
Nonetheless, last year, Congress authorized an additional $45 billion to what Biden had recommended. Now, after balloon mania, U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) said it would be “exceedingly unwise” to make any defense cuts.
As noted by U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), “every emergency is an excuse for more money.” He is strongly advocating that Republicans “give up the sacred cow” of never cutting defense spending. This is especially true when the country is teetering on economic collapse and our federal debt is $31.6 trillion!
Another interesting coincidence is that the Chinese spy balloon was shot down one day after the horrific train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. When focusing on balloons, the Biden administration paid almost no attention to the victims in this red state. It took weeks before the Biden administration sent resources and assistance to these suffering victims. In fact, President Donald Trump arrived in the region before the Secretary of Transportation even bothered to visit the disaster site.
The balloon caper also distracted the country from the additional funds being sent to Ukraine. Already, the Biden administration has provided almost $200 billion in assistance and the flow of funds seems to be never ending. On Friday, another Ukrainian aid package worth $400 million was announced.
Often real stories are missed by the American people, because of the distraction created by the media and our political leadership. This is clearly the case in all the balloon baloney, another reason Americans cannot trust our media or politicians like Joe Biden.

Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian. He is a political columnist, the author of America's Last Chance and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and on Crouere.net. For more information, email him at jcrouere@gmail.com

NEW IBERIA — The Gueydan High Bears split two games with Westgate on Saturday, beating the Tigers 21-8 in the second game after losing the first, 5-4.
Brennan Trahan, Micah Marceaux, Nik Lepretre, Ethan LaPointe, Zach LaSalle and Jase LaBauve all drove in runs in an eight-run second inning, with Marceaux driving in two runs on a double and LaPointe driving in two on a single. LaSalle’s RBI came on a triple to center field.
The Bears added five runs in the top of the third inning to push their lead to 16-4 with Marceaux doubling to drive in a run, Cohen Guidry singling in a run and LaBauve doubling in another run in the inning.
Gueydan led 3-0 after the first inning, 11-4 after the second, 16-7 after the third, then added a run in the fourth and four in the fifth. Cohen Guidry’s single to center brought in two runs in the fifth inning.
The Bears pounded out 15 hits in the win and drew 10 walks.
Micah Marceaux went 2-for-3 with two doubles, four RBIs and two walks for Gueydan. Cohen Guidry was 2-for-4 with a walk, four RBIs and a run. LaBauve went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run. LaSalle went 1-for-3 with a walk, a triple, an RBI and three runs. Blake Marceaux went 2-for-4 with three walks, an RBI and four runs. LaPointe went 1-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs. Zach Guidry was 1-for-2 with three walks and four runs. Lepretre went 2-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs. Trahan had a hit with an RBI and two runs. Ricky Montes scored twice for the Bears.
Micah Marceaux also pitched 2 1/3 innings for the win, alloying seven runs, six of them unearned, on three hits with three walks. Cohen Guidry allowed one run in 2 2/3 innings, striking out five and walking one.
Noah Jenkins took the loss, allowing 16 runs on 14 hits with four strikeouts and two walks in 2 2/3 innings. Twelve of the runs he allowed were earned. Nigel Vital allowed five runs, one earned, on eight walks with one strikeout in 1 2/3 innings and Kyler Zenon gave up one hit in two-thirds of an inning.
Landon Walden had a double and three RBIs for WHS.

Westgate 5
Gueydan 4
In the first game, Westgate jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, only two see the Bears tie the score with three runs in the fourth.
Westgate went up 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth, but Gueydan tied it up in the top of the seventh, only to see the Tigers win on a one-out RBI single by Daylan Doucet in the bottom of the seventh, bringing home Walden from third base.
Zach Guidry tripled twice in four at-bats for the Bears, driving in two runs and scoring twice. Blake Marceaux went 2-for-4 with a double, Micah Marceaux had an RBI, LaPointe had a hit and a run and LaBauve also scored a run.
Zach Guidry took the loss despite striking out 16 batters in six innings. Guidry allowed five runs, only two of them earned, on five hits with two walks. Cohen Guidry allowed one hit and struck out one in a third of an inning.