RSS Feed

Hundreds of students in Vermilion Parish are set to graduate high school in the coming days.
Thanks to the Kiwanis Club of Abbeville, a couple of those students will not have to spend as much money as they continue their education. On Tuesday, the club awarded Erath High School’s Everett Etie with the Lloyd Doré Scholarship and North Vermilion High School’s Abbie Bourque with the new South Louisiana Community College scholarship.
“This is a scholarship that we have awarded for nearly 50 years,” said Kiwanian Ross Comeaux, who serves as the scholarship chair, said of the Llyod Dore Scholarship. “We increased the total, so it’s now $8,000 for four years. This the first year offering the SLCC scholarship that’s going to total $2,000 for the two years.
“These are two deserving winners.”
Bourque said she plans to pursue a focus on business and marketing. She said this next step to SLCC is a one of perseverance.
“My journey hasn’t always been perfect, but it has taught me the value of hard work,” Bourque said, “and not giving up, even when things get tough. Over the years, I’ve learned that success isn’t about being the best at everything—it’s about showing up, trying my best, and continuing to move forward.
“I’m proud of how far I’ve come and excited for what’s ahead.”
Etie can look back on a particular point his is life that served as a catalyst. Years ago, Everette Etie stood in line with his family at Disney World, and what he saw fascinated him.
However, it wasn’t the theme park’s sights, sounds or iconic characters that caused the wheels in the young Etie’s head to turn.
“While most kids at Disney World were running to the next ride,” said Etie, a soon-to-be Erath High graduate, “ I was watching the smallest details. I noticed how lines moved, how people reacted to design, and how the entire organization made thousands of people feel like everything was effortless.
“I did not have the words then, but I was watching a system built on movement, behavior and strategy.”
Etie will have an opportunity to further build on that sense that he developed as a youngster when he officially enrolls in the prestigious Canfield Business Program at the University of Texas in Austin. Etie is the first person from Louisiana in the past 20 years to be admitted into this program, something he said he doesn’t take lightly.
“The University of Texas alone only accepts 5% out of state,” Etie said, “and the program is even less. When I saw the acceptance, I was happy, but I was worried, too. How could I afford the out-of-state tuition at one of the most expensive universities in the south.”
Etie’s résumé in school, including a 34 on his ACT, are evidence. Outside of the classroom, Etie is a member of numerous clubs and organizations. He has served as the National Beta Secretary, representing more than 500,000 members across that nation. Etie is also the communications officer for the Louisiana Legislative Youth Advisory Council.
“In that group,” Etie said, “I work alongside future lawyers, doctors, engineers, educators, and in my case, a future businessman. My role has been to help connect those different perspectives and bring what I call a ‘business of people’ approach to legislative work.”
Etie has focused on that “business of people:” approach for many years. At 13, he said he studied companies, market behavior and branding decisions with the same energy his friends brought to video games. He invested in the stock market, and convinced his dad to open a Roth IRA.
“I got the keys to the investment world before I event had the keys to the car,” Etie said.
However, Etie didn’t use that knowledge to drive his own personal gain. At 15, he founded The KIDesign Nonprofit, an organization that allows young artists, ages five and up, a platform to showcase and sell their art. Etie has worked with the Vermilion Arts Council, an organization for which received election as the youngest board member, on the project. Since is inception nearly two years ago, KiDesigns has become a federally recognized nonprofit, and has spread across Louisiana. It has raised more than $7,000, giving more than $5,000 back to the young artists, as well as awarding a pair of $1,000 scholarships.
“All of these experiences have given me purpose,” Etie said. “They have also shown me how much more there is to learn. I have built platforms, led students, connected communities and served my home, but I do not want my impact to stop where I am comfortable.
“I want to grow into the kind of leader who can build not just programs, but systems that reach people on a larger scale.”
Tuesday’s award helps him along that journey, one that began many years ago.
“The support of the Kwianis Club means so much,” Etie said. “This scholarship gives me the opportunity to enter this next chapter with more freedom to learn, lead and make the most of the doors that have opened. I get to take curiosity that started in a Disney World line, the leadership I have built thorough KiDesign, Beta and LYAC, and the dream of becoming a businessman who builds something meaningful, and carry all of that with the me to the University of Texas.
“I promise, I will not waste it.”
Bourque offered a similar message to the Kiwanis Club.
“I hope to learn, grow and build a successful future for myself,” Bourque said of her future at SLCC. “Thank you Abbeville Kiwians Club for selecting me for this scholarship and thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way, I wouldn’t be here without you.”

KAPLAN — Kaplan High School is now looking to fill the head football coaching position after filling it less than a year ago.
Going into his second football season, John Thompson resigned from his teaching and coaching positions on Tuesday.
The school district did not give a reason for his resignation.
The teaching/head-coaching job opened today and remain open for another 7 days. A new head coach is expected to be named by the end of May.
The 2027 Kaplan senior football class will now be coached by their fourth head coach in four years.
Thompson was hired as the head coach on Aug. 20, 2025, days before his 44th birthday.
Before arriving at Kaplan, his first head coaching job, he was the strength and conditioning coach and defensive line coach at Vermilion Catholic for eight years.
In his first year at Kaplan, he guided the Pirates to the second round of the Division III Non-Select playoffs. The Pirates, the No. 20th seed, upset the No. 13 seed Pine in the first round of the playoffs.
Thompson was hired one week after the head coach, Stephen “Tank” Lotief, was relieved of his coaching duties on July 31, 2025, 20 minutes after completing a morning practice.
During his two stints spanning 12 years at Kaplan, Lotief was highly successful, posting a 100-42 record, including an 8-3 record with a second-round playoff appearance in the 2024-2025 season.
Prior to the second hiring of Lotief, Cory Brodie was the Kaplan head football coach.
So, from 2021 to 2026, Kaplan High has now had three different head coaches: Cory Brodie (2021-2023), Lotief (2024) and Thompson (2025).

Vermilion Parish may soon receive its most significant news since offshore oil drilling began in 1947.
In recent weeks, reports have circulated online that a space exploration company is considering purchasing 136,000 acres south of La. 14 in Vermilion Parish. The land is owned by Exxon-Mobil, with surface rights managed by Vermilion Corporation.
The 136,000 acres include land west of Intracoastal City, as well as areas north and south of Pecan Island, extending to the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in Cameron Parish.
State Senator Bob Hensgens, who is from Gueydan, confirmed that discussions are underway between a space exploration company and Exxon-Mobil regarding the potential purchase of 136,000 acres in Vermilion Parish.
However, Sen. Hensgens could not confirm which company is involved. Possibilities include SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, or Blue Origin, owned by Amazon’s Jim Bezos.
“There is talk about buying Vermilion Corporation,” said Sen. Hensgens. “I have not determined which space exploration company is negotiating with them. I am not privileged to that information.”

Sen. Hensgens was asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement to prevent public disclosure of information about a space exploration company locating in Vermilion Parish. He declined to sign.
“I cannot do that to the people who elected me,” said the Senator.
Unoffically, the aerospace company is interested in a site west of Freshwater City, or southeast of Pecan Island. There is also discussion of constructing a protective levee along the coastline where the facility would be located.
Senator Hensgens expressed enthusiasm about the possibility of SpaceX locating near Pecan Island, noting it would benefit both the eroding marsh and residents of Vermilion Parish and Acadiana.
“This could bring billions to Vermilion Parish, including nearly $100 million for coastal protection,” Sen. Hensgens said.
Sen. Hensgens noted that Brownsville, Texas, has thrived in recent years since SpaceX established a launch site there.
According to a December 2025 press release from Brownsville, SpaceX’s presence has had a positive impact on the city.
“Each launch draws thousands of spectators — an estimated 20,000 per event — who come to witness history in the making. But beyond the spectacle, SpaceX’s presence is fueling serious momentum in jobs, education, tourism, and local spending.
“According to the report, SpaceX contributed more than $13 billion to the regional economy over the past two years. That includes everything from workforce salaries and infrastructure spending to hotel stays and restaurant visits.

“The job creation alone is reaching stratospheric levels. SpaceX currently employs 4,300 people, with projections estimating that number could grow to 8,000 by next year as launch activity continues to ramp up.
“Region-wide, SpaceX operations supported more than 24,000 direct and indirect jobs in 2023 and 2024 combined.”

Four hotels valued at $50 million are under construction in Brownsville over the next two years, driven by growth and increased tourism.
Jim Keaty, owner of Keaty Real Estate in Lafayette, contacted sources to determine if SpaceX or Blue Origin is purchasing Vermilion Corporation. He was unable to confirm the rumor until Sen. Hensgens commented this week.
Keaty shared his perspective in his personal blog on why a space exploration company might choose to locate south of Abbeville.
“If you’re wondering why SpaceX would care about a quiet stretch of Louisiana marsh, the answer is logistics. Pecan Island and Freshwater City are located on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW), a protected inland shipping canal that runs from Brownsville, Texas, to Florida. SpaceX’s Starship rockets are 30 feet wide and over 160 feet tall, making them too large for road or rail transport. They must be moved by barge.
Freshwater City is located approximately halfway between SpaceX’s Boca Chica manufacturing hub, 450 miles west, and Cape Canaveral, 850 miles east, both connected by the protected Gulf Intracoastal Waterway,” Keaty wrote.
“Freshwater City is nearly equidistant from Boca Chica and Cape Canaveral. The Freshwater Bayou Lock offers direct, deep-water access to the Gulf of Mexico for SpaceX’s autonomous drone-ship recovery vessels. The Port of Iberia, an hour east, has over 100 marine fabrication yards equipped to build launch mounts, modify barges, and supply offshore-grade steel.”
While it is confirmed that a space exploration company is interested in locating in the parish, it remains unclear how the land will be used. Neither Sen. Hensgens nor Keaty could provide a definitive answer.
Keaty speculated that Vermilion Parish would be an ideal location to build and test rockets, which could then be shipped by barge through the Intracoastal Canal to Texas or Florida.
Keaty predicted that the Pecan Island area could become the next Michoud Assembly Facility, a site in New Orleans that builds NASA’s large-scale space structures, serving as a heavy-industrial aerospace factory in the marsh.
Keaty wrote: “I love Acadiana’s economy and I want to see it grow. I also love the Sportsman’s Paradise we grew up in. Those two things are about to be in real tension. If SpaceX comes, the prosperity will be enormous — generational wealth for landowners, thousands of new jobs, restaurants and businesses opening across Vermilion and Lafayette parishes. But the cost will be real too — a piece of the marsh, a piece of the quiet, a piece of the way things have always been. I don’t know yet how I’ll feel when I’m watching a Starship roll past my own camp on a barge.”

BATON ROUGE – The House voted 87-9 to allocate $64 million from excess collections by the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation to expand a program that offers $10,000 grants to homeowners who install fortified roofs.
House Bill 1187 by Rep. Paul Sawyer, R-Baton Rouge, would reallocate surplus funds from Citizens’ emergency assessment to spur the installation of more fortified roofs, which Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple said eventually would lower insurance premiums for property owners statewide.
Temple, who worked closely with Sawyer on the bill, explained at a recent hearing why the fortified-roof program is popular and how every dollar allocated from Citizens would go toward reducing premiums statewide.
“They have determined that they will have some surplus money, and we all agreed that the fortified-roof program is the quickest, most assured way to bring premium relief to citizens on their homeowners’ insurance,” Temple said.
Louisiana homeowners apply for the $10,000 grants through a lottery system, and demand for the grants has always exceeded the supply since the program started in 2023.
Temple said in the last three years, 4,656 fortified roof grants have been awarded, with 4,600 of those grants being used to fortify existing roofs. In addition, approximately 6,900 fortified roofs have been installed without any state grants, bringing the total to 11,500 fortified roofs.
Currently, the program receives $30 million annually. Temple said from the $64 million in new money, $13 million must be held in a legal reserve.
The bill now goes to the Senate. Temple said if it is signed into law, funds could be dispersed in September or October.
Citizens is a nonprofit that provides insurance for people who cannot obtain private coverage. It charges higher premiums those of private insurers.
Temple said that after Katrina in 2005, Citizens had to do an emergency assessment of $978.2 million to pay claims from the hurricane. That was bonded out over a 20-year period, and by April 2025, it was determined that the extra assessments were no longer needed.
But it took some insurance companies months to stop the assessments, and that’s how the $64 million surplus came about.
In an earlier interview with the LSU Manship School News Service, Temple explained how an increase in the number of fortified in Louisiana would lower the state’s insurance risk factor. He said lower risk and additional competition among insurers should mean reduced prices.
Temple said the results can already be seen in Alabama, where insurance premiums for everyone across the state dropped once 20% to 25% of homes were fortified.