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September 15, 1949 ~ January 17, 2018

ABBEVILLE — A memorial service will be held at 5:00 PM on Monday, February 26, 2018 at Vincent Funeral Home – Abbeville honoring the life of Charles Larry Guidry, 68, who died Wednesday, January 17, 2018 in Katy, TX. Deacon Francis Cao will officiate the service.
Charles was a loving father, husband, grandfather and friend to all. He will be remembered as a happy-go-lucky guy. He was employed as a mud engineer with Baroid/Halliburton Energy Services for over 30 years before retirement.
He is survived by his wife, Hashmeen Guidry; two sons, Charlie Guidry and Gail Broussard of Maurice, and Todd Guidry and his wife Courtney of Maurice; step-son, Riad KoonKoon of Trinidad; step-daughter, Sherry Boodoo of Trinidad; brother, David Guidry and his wife Renella of Meaux; sister, Peggy Hardy and her husband Leo of Maurice; grandchildren, Nicole Guidry, Chase Guidry, Carly Guidry and Caiden Guidry; and Bryce Meaux and Keira Meaux whom he considered his grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Revis and Ozite Guidry; sons, Corey and Chad Guidry; and nephew, Ryan Hardy.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville, 209 S. St. Charles St., on Monday, February 26, 2018 from 2:30 PM until time of service.
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.

July 15, 1928 - February 19, 2018

ABBEVILLE — A Home-going Celebration will be held for Mrs. Ada L. Bessard, 89 the former Ada Levine at 1:00 P.M. Saturday, February 24, 2018 at Mount Triumph Baptist Church with Bishop Raymond Captville, officiating.
She will await the resurrection in Saint Paul Cemetery in Abbeville, LA.
A gathering of family and friends will begin at 4:00-9:00 P.M. Friday, February 23, 2018 at Greater Rose Hill Baptist Church in Abbeville, LA.
Visitation will resume on Saturday at Mount Triumph Baptist Church 8:00 A.M until time of funeral service.
A native and resident of Abbeville, LA, she passed at 7:52 A.M. Monday, February 19, 2018 surrounded by her family.
She was a faithful member of Greater Rose Hill Baptist Church where she served as President of the Mission Department, Deaconess and Mother of the Church.
She leaves to cherish her memory, a loving daughter, Willia Dean Bessard of Abbeville, LA; two grandchildren, Anthony Reco Bessard and Jerome Blair Bessard both of Abbeville, LA; five great-grandchildren, Adriana Bessard, A’Layiah Bessard, A’myri Bessard, Janya Bessard and Jada Bessard; one sister, Lucille, L. Williams (Norman, Sr.); daughter-in-law, Ruth Ann L. Bessard of Abbeville, LA; a niece she loved like a daughter, Viola Sonnier of Abbeville, LA and a host of other nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.
She is preceded in death by her husband, Alpha Bessard; parents, Howard Levine, Sr. and Rozena Plowden Levine; one son, Wilton Bessard; five sisters, Neda L. Brailey, Stella L. Collins, Lizzie L. Levy, Lilly L. Sonnier and Alice L. Captville; eight brothers, Howard, Levine, Jr., Hebert Levine, Sr., George Levine, Sr., Eddie Levine, Jimmy Levine, Roy Levine, James Levine and William Levine.
Active pallbearers are Anthony R. Bessard, Brent Bessard, Jay Captville, Charles Dozier, Carl LeDoux and Enrick Maze.
Honorary pallbearers are Jerome Bessard, Marion Bessard, Alex Brailey, Sr., Lenwood Collins, Sterling Johnson, Norman Williams, Sr., Norman Williams, Jr., Alton Levine, Sr., Dallas Levine, Dalton Levine, Sr., Lennis Levine, Louis Levine, Sr. and Walter Levine, Sr.
Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Fletcher Funeral Home 1116 Greene Street Abbeville, LA 70510.
Condolences may be expressed at www.fletcherfuneralhomes.org.

By Devon Sanders, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE — The House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday approved creating a new website to make state spending more transparent despite concerns by the Edwards administration over the more than $700,000 cost.
The new website, called the Louisiana Checkbook, would be modeled on Ohio’s top-rated site, ohiocheckbook.com, and designed by OpenGov, a California-based company that created the Ohio site.
House Speaker Taylor Barras, R-New Iberia, had proposed the website in recent talks with Gov. John Bel
Edwards over closing a projected $1 billion gap, and Republican lawmakers have gotten behind the idea in hopes that greater transparency would help the state save money over time.
Jay Dardenne, the governor’s commissioner of administration, said he was “100 percent committed to transparency.” But he questioned why the state could not just improve its current spending website, LaTrac, and if a third-party vendor was necessary.
Dardenne also defended LaTrac, saying that the website had “already gotten the attaboy” and was nationally admired.
A non-profit group, United States Public Interest Group, ranked ohiocheckbook.com as the best state transparency in 2016 and LaTrac as the seventh best.
Barras also commended LaTrac at the committee meeting on Tuesday but said a new site could meet today’s technology standards. “I give kudos to the effort on LaTrac,” Barras said. “But with advanced technology, we are able to do more.”
Barras also said that with the new website, spending data would be more searchable, visually appealing and interactive and would incorporate more information than LaTrac.
Barras even pulled up the Ohio website to show committee members, exclaiming “truly incredible” as he scrolled through it.
Barras also spoke about the importance of using outside experts to create the site.
Rep. Blake Miguez, R-Erath, asked about including local spending data on the new website, and Barras said he could see it becoming a reality in the future.
Dardenne, who is in charge of running LaTrac and would have the responsibility of maintaining the Louisiana Checkbook, questioned if a third-party vendor was worth the cost. One state analysis estimated that the new website could cost the state technology office from $716,000 to $785,000 over three years and that other agencies would face their own costs to link to it.
He also argued that the main problem with Louisiana’s transparency was not with LaTrac, but with LaGov, the current computer operating system that if used correctly would allow every department to give accurate information on spending.
Although the Louisiana Legislature had allocated $90 million under the Jindal administration to create LaTrac and get all departments on LaGov, only six of the 26 departments use the operating system.
“If every department was under LaGov,“ Dardenne said, “we would have the information we are all looking for.”
Dardenne blamed the Jindal administration for failing to make it a priority to get the other agencies on LaGov.
Dardenne acknowledged that LaTrac’s usability could be improved, but he did not feel that a whole new website was the best solution. “LaTrac needs a facelift,” He said. “The question is: Should we stick to what we have or create a whole new website?”