Daily Archives: February 6, 2021

DELCAMBRE- Both the Ascension Episcopal Blue Gators and the Delcambre Panthers gave it all they had in an important district matchup Friday night.

The Panthers were able to get a road win last time the two teams faced each other, but the Blue Gators were road warriors this time around, defeating the Panthers 59-55 in a seesaw contest throughout the night.

The Blue Gators were able to hang on in the fourth quarter despite a strong surge by the Panthers, thanks to a series of clutch free throws.

Most of our games this year have been like that, Blue Gators coach Eric Mouton said. Weve been in just about every game, especially every district game. There were times that we didnt handle it as good as we should have with the lead. There were times where we made poor decisions because when you have a lead, the other team wants to speed you up, and tonight I felt like we were able to keep our composure and make great decisions as we played fast and handled the pressure with the lead.

Austin Mills step up in the fourth and drain eight free throws in a row for the Blue Gators, finishing with 14 points.

I dont think he (Mills) did (miss a free throw) in that fourth quarter, Mouton said. We lost at Teurlings, and he missed the front end of the one-and-one, and that allowed Teurlings to beat us at the buzzer. When the bus got back to school, I hear the ball bouncing, and thats Austin Mills at the free throw line working on his stroke, working on his touch. Weve struggled from the free throw line a little bit this year, but the last few days weve really concentrated on that, and its paying off. You put in the work, and its going to pay off.

Mills started the game mainly as a facilitator at point guard, but he was able to shoulder the scoring load down the stretch by getting to the line.

It feels good, Mills said. They (Delcambre) beat us a couple weeks ago at our place, and it did not feel good, so we just wanted to come here and leave with a dub. Just to take my time, its free points, take my time and take them (free throws). Im starting to get my groove back on the line. Just havent been shooting well all year, and to do this feels really good. They (Delcambre) were physical. I was trying to draw fouls and get to the line.

Much of the night consisted of a back-and-forth battle between each big man duo, but the Blue Gators senior big man duo of Matt Remondet and Jude Ardoin were up to the task.

We kept our composure, Mouton said. We know where we want to go with the ball. We probably have two of the best inside players in the district (Remondet and Ardoin). Those two guys (Kaleb Comeaux and Thomas Jones) they (Delcambre) have arent bad either, but we felt like if we could get the ball on the block, we could finish down there. They kind of did the same thing, so it was back and forth there, and I think we had a few more shooters than they did.

The Blue Gators have some big district games next week against Franklin and West St. Mary, and the hope is that they can carry over their current momentum.

Weve got a couple of tough games, Mouton said. The two leaders in our district, Franklin and West St. Mary, we have those two coming up, and we actually get both of them at home. I think his win can give us some momentum and a little pep heading into the home stretch. Were fighting for everything. My guys fight. I got to fight with them.

While the Panthers came up a little bit short, they didnt quit fighting and will look for redemption down the stretch and still have their eye on a home playoff game.

It was a very physical game, Panthers coach Benny Dronet said. They (Ascension) probably got away with a little more physical play than we did. We knew they were going to battle, we knew they were competitors. Coach Mouton does an outstanding job, and it was no surprise. Our guys didnt play as well offensively as we did last time, but they battled back. They fell behind, but I was proud of the way they battled back and had a chance. I think we cut it to two right there at the end, and of course they hit their free throws down the stretch, which is how youve got to close out a game."

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Ascension Blue Gators fend off Delcambre to take thrilling district win on the road - The Advocate

This week, Jeff Bezos announced that hell step down as CEO at Amazon and transition to an executive chair role during the third quarter of this year. Amazon Web Services (AWS) CEO Andy Jassy will take his place, heading up a company currently valued at around $1.6 trillion.

Jassy, who joined Amazon in 1997 and has led AWS since its inception in 2003, believes Amazons decision to double down on AI early differentiated it from the competition. In May 2020, Gartner ranked AWS the industry leader in terms of vision and ability to execute on AI developer services. Beyond AWS, product recommendations on Amazon are powered by AI, as well as Alexa, Prime Air, Amazon Go, and the pick paths used in distribution centers to find products and fulfill orders.

So how might Jassys elevation to CEO impact Amazons AI initiatives? Interviews in recent years suggest Jassy is enthusiastic about cloud services tailored to the needs of machine learning practitioners, particularly for large enterprise applications. Controversially, Jassy has also said customers, not Amazon itself, are responsible for curbing their usage of potentially problematic AI technologies like facial recognition.

In a conversation with Silicon Angle in December, Jassy said he expects the majority of applications to be infused with AI in the next five to 10 years. While he endorses the idea of catering to expert machine learning practitioners who know how to train, tune, and deploy AI models, he asserts that AWS, more than rivals like Google Cloud Platform and Microsoft Azure, has aimed to democratize data science by lowering the barriers to entry.

There just arent that many expert machine learning practitioners. And so it never gets extensive in most enterprises if you dont make it easier for everyday developers and data scientists to use machine learning, Jassy told Silicon Angle. He stressed the importance of top-layer AI services that transcribe audio, translate text, and more via APIs, without requiring customers to develop custom models. But he said the most important thing Amazon has done to make AI more accessible is building fully managed services.

Enterprises have so much data that they want to use predictive algorithms to get value added, Jassy said during a keynote at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco last February.

SageMaker is one example of these fully managed services. Launched in 2016, its designed to let developers build, test, and maintain AI models from a single dashboard. Amazon says SageMaker, which gained nine new capabilities in December following the launch of SageMaker Studio, an integrated development environment for machine learning now has tens of thousands of customers.

Its a safe bet that investments in services akin and complementary to SageMaker will accelerate with Jassy at the helm. So too, most likely, will the buildout of backend tools Amazon uses to solve challenges like call analytics.

As Clay Christensen, author of The Innovators Dilemma, said people hire products and services to do a job. They dont really care what you do under the covers, but theyre hiring a product to do a job, Jassy told Silicon Angle. [Some people] dont actually want to hire machine learning [experts]. They want to have an easier way to get automatic call analytics on all of their calls And what were finding is that increasingly were using machine learning as the source to get those jobs done, but without people necessarily knowing that thats what were doing behind the scenes.

This work might be of a controversial nature. Inan interview at Recodes 2019 Code Conference, Jassy defended the companys facial recognition service, Rekognition, while calling for the federal government to introduce national guidelines. (In September 2019, Recode reported that Amazon was writing its own facial recognition laws to pitch to lawmakers.) Just because tech could be misused doesnt mean we should ban it and condemn it, he said, adding that Amazon would provide its facial recognition tech to governments, excepting those that violate the law or infringe on civil liberties.

Last year, Amazon declared a halt on the sale of facial recognition to police departments for 12 months but did not necessarily extend that restriction to federal law enforcement agencies. Prior to the moratorium, the company reportedly attempted to sell its facial recognition tech to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and police in Orlando, Florida and other cities have trialed it.

A number of academics have called Jassys stance on facial recognition technology, which runs counter to that of many Amazon shareholders, problematic at best. Anima Anandkumar, the principal scientist for artificial intelligence at Amazon, told PBS Frontline that facial recognition isnt battle-tested to work in the types of challenging conditions where law enforcement might use it (e.g., with low-light, grainy, or low-quality images). And dating back to 2018, AI researchers Joy Buolamwini, Timnit Gebru, and Deborah Raji have found that facial recognition software from companies like Amazon work best for white men and worst for women with dark skin. Amazon has publicly dismissed their coauthored work, the Gender Shades project.

Given this history, it seems unlikely that Jassy will extend the moratorium on facial recognition sales when it expires in July. Hes also unlikely to curtail the law enforcement relationships that Ring, Amazons smart home division, has fostered since its acquisition by Amazon in 2018. Ring has reportedly partnered with over 2,000 police and fire departments across the U.S. dating back to 2015, when Ring let the Los Angeles Police Department test how front-door footage might reduce property crimes.

Advocacy groups like Fight for the Future and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have accused Ring of using its cameras and Neighbors app (which delivers safety alerts) to build a private surveillance network via these partnerships. The Electronic Frontier Foundation in particular has singled Ring out for marketing strategies that foster fear and promote a sale-spurring vicious cycle, and for [facilitating] reporting of so-called suspicious behavior that really amounts to racial profiling.

We dont have a large number of police departments that are using our facial recognition technology, and as I said, weve never received any complaints of misuse. Lets see if somehow they abuse the technology they havent done that, Jassy told PBS Frontline in a 2020 interview. And to assume theyre going to do that and therefore you shouldnt allow them to have access to the most sophisticated technology out there doesnt feel like the right balance to me.

For AI coverage, send news tips to Khari Johnson and Kyle Wiggers and be sure to subscribe to the AI Weekly newsletterand bookmarkThe Machine.

Thanks for reading,

Kyle Wiggers

AI Staff Writer

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AI Weekly: What Andy Jassy's ascension to CEO means for Amazon's AI initiatives - VentureBeat

Her self-styled business success also evokes Trump: She had her fathers money, from a construction business. A wealthy Alpharetta businesswoman is considering a run for the 14th Congressional District seat, the Rome News-Tribune reported in late 2019, one week after the districts congressman announced his retirement. Marjorie Taylor Greene did not yet live in the district. She folded up her congressional campaign in the district where did reside, nearer to Atlanta, and officially got into what was seen as the more winnable race for a Christian conservative, as the paper described her. No mention was made of her more extreme politics, the beliefs she apparently adopted in 2017, the earliest days of QAnon.

Like Trumps, Greenes conspiratorial worldview was out in the open before she seriously sought elected office. The man whose time in the White House ended without a concession, mired in obsessions about vast voter fraud, started on his path by pushing the lie that Barack Obama was an illegitimate president. On Facebook, meanwhile, Greene went from being a Trump supporter in 2016 to a QAnon follower within a year.

At the time, QAnons audience was still growing, and belonging meant becoming part of a kind of citizen media cargo cult, in which news stories on Breitbart or the Daily Caller were scrutinized for proof of the new pedophile world order. Greene was then a blogger, as Brandy Zadrozny at NBC News reported in June, responsible for posts like MUST READDemocratic Party Involved With Child Sex, Satanism, and The Occult, which rounded up far-right news sites doing their own dubious aggregating, giving Greene the fodder to connect the dots from anti-abortion legislation, the Satanic Temple, D.C. society power couples, John Podesta, Backpage.com, Hillary Clinton, and Jeffrey Epstein. The site where Green blogged, AmericanTruthSeekers.com, may have been a few rungs below those others on which it relied for content. But Greene had become part of the same media circuit, transforming local journalism into truth-shredding right-wing website fodder and again into headlines to drive traffic from Facebook back to those websites. And from there, perhaps to Fox News. (And eventually, from the presidents indiscriminate mouth.)

Like any aspiring influencer, though, Greene was going to have to stake out her own brand. She made her own videos poring over QAnon drops, laundering them from further-flung websites onto social media platforms. In a series of now-deleted tweets supporting QAnon, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported, Greene told her Twitter followers to message her and she would walk you through the whole thing. (Media Matters was tracking such posts all through the 2020 election cycle, in which it counted 97 congressional candidates who had embraced QAnon.) Some of Greenes videos, Politico reported, pushed antisemitic conspiracy theories about constant QAnon target George Soros. She adopted the style of other far-right video demi-celebrities, doing stunts like targeting Muslim members of congress Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, attempting to track them down at the Capitol. She wrapped a fairly standard-fare GOP Islamophobic trope in maternalism: I truly feel like as a woman in America, I really need to go talk to these ladies as an American woman, as a business owner, as a motherI have two daughtersI never want to see Sharia in America.

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The Ascension of Marjorie Taylor Greene - The New Republic

Food distribution date set

The Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank in conjunction with Ascensions Health Unit will hold monthly distribution of commodities in Ascension Parish for the year of 2021.

The next distribution will be held 8 a.m. to noon Tuesday, Feb. 9, at the Frank Sotile Pavilion on 2162 Thibaut Drive in Donaldsonville. Distribution will be held on 8 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Feb. 10, at Lamar-Dixon Expo Center on St. Landry Road in Gonzales.

Please if you have not done so, certify or recertify at Ascension Parish Health Unit, Gonzales or at Ascension Parish Courthouse Donaldsonville. You must be a resident of Ascension Parish to qualify.

The federal commodities program makes donated foods available to emergency feeding organizations that provide food staples to qualified individuals and families to relieve situations of emergency distress.

The monthly USDA Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans Food for Seniors 40-pound box of commodity for Ascension parish will be distributed in Gonzales at St. Theresa of Avila Catholic Church Food Pantry's parking lot, 1022 N. Burnside Ave. on Tuesday, Feb 9 and in Donaldsonville at the Frank Sotile Pavilion, 2162 Thibaut Drive on Wednesday, Feb. 10.

The distribution days have changed. Both of these will be drive-thru distributions and the time is 7 a.m. 10 a.m. at both locations.

Seniors must be or will be at least 60 years old this month and meet federal income guidelines. New participants should bring Louisiana ID, income documentation and arrive no later than 9:30 am. Call toll free at (800) 522-3333 if you need more information or to verify your qualification.

This is the way to Ascension Parish Library to pick up a craft packet at all locations starting on Feb. 8. You will have everything you need to make a paper tube Baby Yoda and Mandalorian. The packet will include instructions and a link to a video if you need further help, while supplies last.

This program is for children in grades K-3. For more information call Gonzales at (225) 647-3955, Donaldsonville at (225) 473-8052, Galvez at (225) 622-3339, or Dutchtown at (225) 673-8699.

Join this virtual visit with one of the authors of the book "William Frantz Public School: A Story of Race, Resistance, Resiliency and Recovery in New Orleans." Why should you care about what happened at William Frantz Public School?

Well, the name of the school may not be familiar, but you are likely to recognize photographs of the building that were taken in 1960. Those pictures show a 6-year-old Black girl and four federal marshals walking into this school. The first grade student entering the iconic doors of William Frantz Public School in 1960 was Ruby Bridges.

At 6 p.m. Feb. 9, Martha Graham Viator will give a virtual talk on this new publication that highlights stories of school desegregation in New Orleans and the impact of Hurricane Katrina on public education.

To register for this virtual event, call (225) 647-3955.

Join the Ascension Parish Library at 3 p.m. Feb. 11 virtually on Zoom for a presentation on the rich history of the River Road African American Museum and its future vision. A virtual tour with highlights from the museum will be presented. To register for the virtual program, call the library in Donaldsonville at (225) 473-8052. After you register, you will receive an email link to join the live session.

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Around Ascension for Feb. 3, 2020 | Ascension | theadvocate.com - The Advocate

M. J. Mert Smiley took his third consecutive oath as Ascension Parish assessor Jan. 19 before a small gathering, including his deputies and local officials.

The ceremony, scaled down because of coronavirus restrictions, was held at the assessors new main office in Gonzales. The Gonzales office, at 815 E. Worthey St., is the latest expansion under Smileys leadership. The Assessors Office has acquired two new locations to accommodate the influx of parish growth.

The ceremony began with the pledge led by Vietnam Purple Heart recipient and radio personality Roland Doucet. Residing over the inaugural tradition for Smiley was Roy Quezaire, former state representative and deputy director of the Port of South Louisiana.

Smileys wife, Ina, presented the ceremonial Bible and stood with him as he took his oath. Smiley was sworn in by longtime friend and retired Judge Marilyn Lambert, who has served as his officiant throughout his tenure as assessor.

Smiley expressed gratitude to his staff for its service and dedication and to the residents of Ascension Parish for entrusting him with the duties of assessor for four more years.

The assessor ran unopposed for this term.

Not being able to open the doors for a public celebration to show my gratitude is bittersweet, said Smiley, adding I have always considered serving the citizens of Ascension an honor and a privilege that I will always cherish.

Excerpt from:

Ascension assessor Mert Smiley takes oath of office for third term - The Advocate

You might not see it in Amazon.com Inc.s stock price today, down 2%, but the surprise appointment of Andy Jassy to replace founder Jeff Bezos as the tech giants new chief executive is getting positive reviews among investors and analysts across the globe.

Jassy, currently CEO of Amazon Web Services Inc., the companys now massive cloud computing unit, will start his new job this summer as Bezos becomes whats likely to be a very active executive chairman focused on special projects. Although fewer people know Jassy well, he commands respect from those who do as well as those who just know that he has built a $50 billion cloud giant in just 15 years.

Heres what analysts are expecting to see from Amazon, Bezos and Jassy going forward:

The timing of the transition is particularly curious in the middle of a pandemic, said Forrester Research Inc. Vice President andPrincipal Analyst James McQuivey.

Perhaps he had this transition planned earlier and delayed it due to the pandemic or perhaps he realizes that whoever leads the company past the pandemic will rightfully be seen as the leader for Amazons next phase, he said. Either way, the goal is to avoid a handoff like when Bill Gates chose Steve Ballmer, who did not successfully transition Microsoft into a new era.

McQuivey noted as well that it doesnt appear Bezos had in mind Apple Inc.s Tim Cook, widely seen as someone who has kept Apple maintaining its production lead if not founder Steve Jobs disruptive innovation. Bychoosing Andy Jassy, Bezos is potentially skipping the Ballmer transition phase and moving right into a Satya Nadella mode, turning to an expert in running a cloud business, someone who understands the long-term role that infrastructure and business services will play for Amazon, even as it tries to maintain its role as a consumer innovator, he said.

Jassys appointment to the top job also suggests Amazons cloud technology will drive an even larger digital platform opportunity at Amazon, said Forrester Vice PresidentAllen Bonde. While consumer e-commerce is a big market, business-to-business is an even bigger prize, he said. Picking a leader who is driving their main enterprise offering may indicate the future of Amazon is in fact selling more to businesses than consumers.

But why would Bezos step back now? Forrester Vice Presidentand Principal Analyst Sucharita Kodali wonders if the pressure of the government investigations, which a PR team cannot change, played a role in this decision at this time. She also wonders whether the move means full steam ahead for cloud and advertising, while retail is more of a maintenance, not a growth business? It could actually be really good news for retail but we wont know the answer to that for months, if not years.

More broadly, added Forresters Lauren Nelson, Jassy will face a challenge coming out of the pandemic. Amazon gained significant revenue amid the pandemic both for its e-commerce site and in cloud platform revenue, she said. But this new era of prosperity may be short-lived as the company may face significant new regulation and organization upheaval.

Indeed, agreed Nicholas McQuire, senior vice president of enterprise research at CCS Insight, the key question will be how Jassy manages some of the inevitable bumps in the road Amazon will face with issues like antitrust, workers rights and employee activism on this rise.He has proven to be very outspoken on broader political issues in the past and he will face an increasingly scrutinous media as the firm continues on its trajectory. Jassy will need to maintain trust in the Amazon brand in light of these issues.

But he thinks Jassy is up to the job. Bezos created the blueprint for internet businesses: rapid innovation, huge scale and relentless focus on the customer and few people on the planet have the DNA of managing high-growth/high-innovation businesses at scale than Andy Jassy, he said.

Financial analysts, while surprised as well, cheered the move as well. As Michael Levine of Pivotal Research Group put it, Although not as familiar a face to the general public as Bezos, Jassy is exceptionally well-regarded by the investment community.

Or as Trip Chowdhry of Global Equities Research put it more pointedly, Andy changed the narrative from Nobody Gets Fired For Buying IBM to Nobody Gets Fired For Swiping Credit Card For AWS.'

Chowdhry went even further, saying hes more impressed by Jassy than Bezos. Andy Jassy is an exponential thinker, of same caliber as Elon Musk, he wrote in a note to clients. Andy Jassy will be a phenomenal CEO of Amazon.

Likewise, John Blackledge of Cowen & Co. said we are encouraged by the choice and believe Jassy, a highly respected Amazon vet since 97, will be an effective leader in the top role.

Still, most dont see fundamental changes coming in core management philosophy and practice.

Mr. Bezos will still play a key role in Amazons strategy going forward but focus on his other interests such as Blue Origin and Washington Post, James Lee, managing director of Mizuho Securities USA LLC, told clients. That said, we believe that Amazons leadership will remain strong with a potential emphasis towards the cloud business.

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Analysts vote thumbs up on Andy Jassy's ascension to Amazon CEO - SiliconANGLE News

BOYS BASKETBALL

St. Thomas More 66, Westgate 61

Sacred Heart-VP 64, Westminster 49

Ascension Episcopal 59, Delcambre 55

Comeaux 55, Sulphur 33

Southside 78, Lafayette High 68

Northwest 61, Church Point 37

LaGrange 58, North Vermilion 47

Iota 45, Church Point 35

Crowley 50, David Thibodaux 39

Erath 75, Kaplan 58

Ascension Episcopal 59, Delcambre 55

Lafayette Christian 60, Lake Arthur 31

Welsh 84, Port Barre 41

St. Edmund 72, Catholic-PC 39

North Central 83, Sacred Heart-VP 51

Opelousas Catholic 98, Westminster 47

Central Catholic 67, Centerville 63

Highland Baptist 58, Covenant Christian 16

Vermilion Cathoilc 69, Hanson 33

Episcopal Acadiana 43, Bell City 37

JS Clark 66, Bell City 52

ST. THOMAS MORE (66) Christian Landry 17, Jaden Shelvin 13, Carter Domingue 20, Noah Hebert 5, Dominick Jenkins 2, Tobin Thevenot 5, Jaxon Moncla 4. Totals: 13 (8) 16-20.

WESTGATE (61) D. Williams 6, D. Latulas 4, K. Dugas 6, J. Allen 11, D. Lewis 19, K. Joseph 9, J. Jacob 6. Totals: 20 (6) 3-6.

St. Thomas More 23 9 12 21 - 66

Westgate 17 17 15 12 - 61

3-pointers - STM: Landry 5, Shelvin 1, Hebert 1, Thevenot 1; WGATE: Dugas 1, Allen 1, Lewis 1, Joseph 3. Total Fouls: STM 13, WGATE 17.

WESTMINSTER (49) B. Redding 2, X. Redding 10, C. Reisman 5, H. Ray 4, S. Sparm 7, B. Schwartz 21, Totals: 15 (1) 16-24.

SACRED HEART-VP (64) Ethan Karonika 9, Sam Fontenot 12, Austin Darbonne 17, Tanner Bergeron 3, Bryce Deville 10, Chase Tate 11, Breck Beaver 2. Totals: 15 (9) 7-13.

Westminster 15 10 9 15 - 49

Sacred Heart-VP 14 14 15 21 - 64

3-pointers - WCA: Schwartz 1; SH: Karonika 1, Fontenot 4, Deville 2, Tate 2. Total Fouls: WCA 15, SH 16.

ASCENSION EPISCOPAL (59) Austin Mills 12, Jude Ardoin 10, Nelson Elmore 13, Cade Dardar 10, Matt Remondet 14. Totals: 15 (5) 14-18.

DELCAMBRE (55) Cooper Broussard 5, Jaxon Wiggins 8, Thomas Jones 17, Kaleb Comeaux 15, Caylond Torres 6, Cheyenne Randle 4. Totals: 19 (4) 5-10.

Ascension Episcopal 5 16 16 22 - 59

Delcambre 12 6 16 21 - 55

3-pointers - AES: Elmore 3, Dardar 2; DEL: Wiggins 2, Broussard 1, Torres 1. Total Fouls: AES 13, DEL 17.

NORTH VERMILION (49) R. Tardiff 3, I. Tardiff 7, C. Stelly 10, Z. Leblanc 4, D. Mouton 4, R. Broussard 16, M. Matthews 1, R. Rudd 4. Totals: 15 (2) 13-24.

RAYNE (64) Rico Price 8, Dashaunte Cormier 14, Tayshaun Colamb 9, Mark Senegal 2, Jyrius Cole 16, Paul Guillory 6, Desmond Mouton 5, Roderick Freeman 3. Totals: 15 (9) 7-9.

North Vermilion 19 9 9 12 - 49

Rayne 13 15 17 19 - 64

3-pointers - VC: Tardiff 1, Tardif 1; RAY: Cormier 2, Colamb 2, Cole 3, Guillory 2. Total Fouls: VC 13, RAY 19.

Mondays Games

Church Point at Northwest, Ville Platte at Iota, Pine Prairie at Mamou, West St. Mary at Catholic-NI, Delcambre at Loreauville, Northside Christian at St. Edmund.

Tuesdays Games

3-5A - Southside at Acadiana, Lafayette High at Comeaux, Barbe at Sulphur, Sam Houston at New Iberia.

4-4A - Washington-Marion at Eunice, LaGrange at Breaux Bridge, Rayne at North Vermilion.

5-4A - Northside at Carencro, Teurlings at St. Thomas More, Franklin at Westgate.

6-4A - Cecilia at Beau Chene, LaGrange at Breaux Bridge, Livonia at Opelousas.

6-3A - Crowley at Abbeville, David Thibodaux at Erath, St. Martinville at Kaplan.

6-2A - Port Barre at Lafayette Christian, Notre Dame at Lake Arthur.

7-2A - Ascension Episcopal at Houma Christian, Franklin at Westgate.

5-1A - St. Edmund at Opelousas Catholic, School for Deaf at Westminster.

8-1A - Centerville at Covenant Christian, Highland Baptist at Vermilion Catholic.

7-B - JS Clark at Bell City, Episcopal of Acadiana at Hathaway, Lacassine at Midland.

6-C - Starks at Hackberry, Northside Christian at South Cameron.

Wednesdays Games

Breaux Bridge at Northwest.

St. Thomas More 63, Westgate 36

Acadiana 41, Sam Houston 27

Barbe 53, New Iberia 46

Lafayette High 55, Southside 32

Carencro 45, Northside 42

Lafayette Christian 62, Lake Arthur 57

Ascension Episcopal 38, Delcambre 27

Beau Chene 49, Livonia 21

OIota 44, Church Point 24

Plainview 61, Welsh 50

Catholic-NI 40, Jeanerette 16

Highland Baptist 65, Covenant Christian 26

Hanson 51, Vermilion Catholic 29

St. Edmund 53, Catholic-PC 42

Opelousas Catholic 38, Westminster 15

ST. THOMAS MORE (63) Angelle Doucet 12, Claire Hader 12, Sophie Perkins 5, Madison Prejean 8, Olivia Guidry 8, Emily Leblanc 5, AC Froelich 14, Annelise Davis 2. Totals: 17 (10) 2-3.

WESTGATE (36) Keyonna Armelin 22, Tavianne Alexander 7, Tanija Daye 2, Jazlyn Jenkins 3, Kelian Batiste 2. Totals: 11 (3) 5-14.

ST. Thomas More 15 14 22 12 - 63

Westgate 7 8 10 11 - 36

3-pointers - STM: Doucet 2, Hader 4, Perkins 1, Prejean 2, Leblanc 1; WGATE: Armelin 2, Jenkins 1. Total Fouls: STM 12, WGATE 7.

ASCENSION EPISCOPAL (38) AK Charbonnet 10, Annie Mouton 4, Camille Blanchard 6, Payton Musso 9, Megean Huff 2, Linden Musso 7. Totals: 15 (1) 5-8.

DELCAMBRE (27) T. Harris 5, R. Broussard 7, A. Decuire 8, M. Carter 7. Totals: 9 (1) 6-10.

Ascension Episcopal 7 16 9 6 - 38

Decambre 4 10 3 10 - 27

3-pointers - AES: Charbonnet 1; DEL: Broussard 1. Total Fouls: AES 14, DEL 10.

JEANERETTE (16) K. Landry 2, D. Walter 11, D. McCreary 1, E. Lewis 2. Totals: 3 (3) 1-4.

CATHOLIC-NI (40) Khameron Grayson 13, ZyRien Green 14, Regan Hamilton 2, Trinity Olivier 2, Alyssa Evans 3, McKenzie Narcisse 4, Rylee Borel 2. Totals: 16 (1) 5-13.

Jeanerette 4 8 3 1 - 16

Catholic-NI 13 6 10 11 - 40

3-pointer - JEAN: Walters 3; CATH: Grayson 1. Total Fouls: JEAN 16, CATH 10.

Mondays Games

Church Point at Northwest, Ville Platte at Iota, Pine Prairie at Mamou, Dunham at Ascension Episcopal, West St. Mary at Catholic-NI, Delcambre at Loreauville, Franklin at Jeanerette.

Tuesdays Games

3-5A - Southside at Acadiana, Barbe at Sulphur, Lafayette High at Comeaux, Sam Houston at New Iberia.

4-4A - Washington-Marion at Eunice, Rayne at North Vermilion.

5-4A - Northside at Carencro, Teurlings at St. Thomas More.

6-4A - Cecilia at Beau Chene, Breaux Bridge at Welsh, Livonia at Opelousas.

6-3A - Crowley at Abbeville, David Thibodaux at Erath, St. Martinville at Kaplan.

6-2A - Port Barre at Lafayette Christian, Notre Dame at Lake Arthur, Breaux Bridge at Welsh.

5-1A - St. Edmund at Opelousas Catholic.

8-1A - Centerville at Covenant Christian, Hanson at Central Catholic, Highland Baptist at Vermilion Catholic.

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Area boys, girls basketball scores, reported boxscores and schedules - The Advocate

A certificate of achievement in financial reporting has been awarded to the Ascension Parish Assessors Office by the Government Finance Officers of the United States and Canada for its comprehensive annual financial report, according to a news release.

It was the seventh certificate received by the Assessor's Office.

The Certificate of Achievement in Financial Reporting is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management, the release said.

I think transparency and trust are vital to a successful government office," Assessor M.J. "Mert" Smiley said. "As a public official, my office will always have an open-door policy and be forthcoming with information about this office.

Smiley has submitted a comprehensive financial report to the GOFA throughout his tenure as assessor, exemplifying stewardship and transparency, the release said.

The CAFR is judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the program which include demonstrating a spirit of full disclosure and accountability.

The GOFA is a nonprofit professional association serving approximately 17,450 government finance professions with offices in Chicago and Washington, D.C.

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Assessor 'Mert' Smiley receives 7th Certificate of Achievement in Financial Reporting - The Advocate

Former WWENXTTag Team Champion Big Kon (fka Konnor of The Ascension) returned to The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast ahead of his Atomic Revolutionary Wrestling tag team title match against The Headbangers on February 19th. Big Kon noted to Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman his own personal history with The Headbangers as well as his idea at one point to form a faction with them.

Its really cool too because Ive known Chaz (Mosh) since 2003, Big Kon said. So we have some history, and of course, back in 2017 they came in. We actually tried to pitch a faction with them because we were unsure if they were going to be with us at time or not. I love both of those guys. Theyre really tight with my family.

For me, it was a no-brainer, and so I was kind of like, Man, we should try to talk to the writers and pitch angle where it could be some mosh pit or something like that. Sometimes if it makes sense, it just doesnt make sense to them. So its going to be exciting. When I heard that this match at ARW was going to happen, I was stoked man. I was like, This is going to be awesome.'

The Headbangers made their WWE return in 2016 making a few sporadic appearances. Big Kon recalled coming up with the idea for The Ascension and The Headbangers faction.

I started back in 2000. So for me, I was a sponge around him, and I would try to learn as much as I could, Big Kon recalled. And we were on shows regularly down in south Florida. You just build an organic relationship. So eventually what ended up happening, of course, I got hired in 2005, and I hadnt seen him since.

And then all of a sudden in 2017, he comes rolling in with with Glen (Thrasher), and Im like, Oh my God, it writes itself. Its so good. How could you not want to do something with this? So we had pitched an idea to where we built a faction with them, and I told them that later on, of course, at ARW actually.

I just thought it writes itself. Its cool, and like I said earlier, Im tight with them. And I love those two. So for me, it was like why wouldnt I want to work with them? But nothing came of it and its kind of one of those things where if it makes sense, maybe its just doesnt make sense.

Hausman asked Big Kon what the reaction backstage was. He said that no one knew about it as he recalled that was the time when The Spirit Squad returned to WWE as well.

So nobody knew. If you recall, The Spirit Squad was there too, and so no one knew what was going on, but it was refreshing, Big Kon noted. The audience liked it. The fans of the older generation liked it. I loved it because I have a history with all those guys. So for me, it was great to have them in the locker room period.

The upcoming match between The Awakening (fka The Ascension) and The Headbangers, Hausman noted, is a generational battle of sorts. Big Kon discussed learning from The Headbangers whenever he can.

I think it was just territories back in their time, and so anytime you can get knowledge and people that have done some pretty cool things and been around some pretty big names, youre kind of an idiot if you dont absorb anything off of that, Big Kon pointed out. You should always be a sponge around guys like that. So for me, I was ecstatic just to have them around for my own personal selfish reasons,

Big Kon also discussed the future for The Awakening. He noted that the pandemic makes things difficult, and he also stated his commitments to not only with the wrestling school hes working with but also his family.

Weve been in contact with a couple of companies, Big Kon stated. Obviously, with the whole COVID thing, everythings real iffy right now just because of the testing and things like that and you want to make sure that when you bring talent in they dont know us personally.

So its like, We want to bring them in but things are kind of weird right now. So were just going to wait till things slow down a little bit, but there are two specific companies, and Vik and I have also talked about heading out to Japan as well.

Wed love to get out there, but right now, for me, its just been about the wrestling school that me, and Jay Lethal and David Mercury are doing. Weve got over 40 plus students that are just hungry. Theyre ready to learn. So thats just been my big thing right now is the school and my family. Its Tampa Bay Pro Wrestling. All we ask is bring in a good attitude and a want to learn.

The Awakening (fka The Ascension) battle The Headbangers for their Atomic Revolutionary Wrestling Tag Team Championships on Friday February 19th. You can find more info by following ARW on Twitter @WrestlingAtomic.

Konnors full interview aired as part of a recent episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as its released Monday Friday afternoon by clicking here.

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Konnor Reveals Legendary Tag Team He Wanted The Ascension To Form A WWE Stable With - Wrestling Inc.

Special to the Star| The Star

Ascension Sacred Heart Gulf is now utilizing a new outpatient treatment for COVID-19 using a monoclonal antibody called Bamlanivimab, or Bam.

Bamlanivimab is an investigational medicine used to treat non-hospitalized adults and adolescents with mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19, and who are at high risk for developing severe symptoms.

The neutralizing antibody has to be given by intravenous infusion one time into patients in a narrow window of time -- within 10 days of when they start showing symptoms, but before theyre sick enough to be hospitalized. In addition, the drug should be given within three days of a positive test for COVID-19.

The Ascension Sacred Heart hospital in Port St. Joe has provided the treatment to about 30 patients. The infusion process takes about two hours.

"We have been prescribing Bam therapy for high-risk COVID positive patients for several weeks," said Dr. Rachel Bixler, a family medicine physician in Port St. Joe. "There are many active studies to see just how effective it is, but we feel very blessed to be able to offer it to our community.

The window of opportunity to use this treatment is very small. We have to be able to test the high-risk patient, determine their need for the treatment and administer the therapy before the window has closed, she said. This requires quick and efficient communication from all our team members both in the clinic and hospital.

The antibody treatment manufactured by Eli Lilly and Company has been approved for emergency use. So far, the research shows that for certain people, a monoclonal antibody may help limit the amount of virus in people with COVID-19 if they take the drug before they become seriously ill. This may help their symptoms improve sooner and they may be less likely to need to go to the hospital.

According to Dr. Peter Jennings, chief medical officer at Ascension Sacred Heart, antibody therapy also is being used at Ascension Sacred Heart's hospitals in Pensacola and Panama City, and soon at the system's hospital in Miramar Beach.

"Timing is really important for this therapy," said Jennings. "It is not approved for use in patients who are already so sick they need hospital care. Rather, this is a treatment option for some high-risk patients that may keep them out of the hospital.

To qualify for the monoclonal antibody, a patient must have mild to moderate symptoms and have at least one of the following risk factors:

In a Jan. 26 announcement, Eli Lilly said that a two-drug antibody cocktail that included Bam has been shown to reduce hospitalizations and deaths for high-risk patients with COVID-19, by as much as 70 percent. The finding was based on a new study of a combination of Bam and etesevimab.

These data further support our belief that bamlanivimab and etesevimab together have the potential to be an important treatment that significantly reduces hospitalizations and death in high-risk COVID-19 patients. Eli Lilly said in a statement.

For more information about Bam antibody therapy, contact your healthcare provider.

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Sacred Heart offers new COVID-19 therapy - Port St. Joe Star