Category Archives: Ascension

PEOPLE PERSONThe Rev. Tim Delkeskamp has been named senior pastor of Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks. He was installed March 19 at the church on E. Hillcrest Drive. The minister had served as associate pastor at the church since 2003. At left he is shown in September, teaching children about showing gratitude to first responders. Courtesy of Ascension Lutheran Church Newbury Park resident Timm Sinclair sat in a Woodland Hills hospital room with his 78-yearold mother, Diana, as she suffered from pneumonia and complications from Parkinsons disease. During that painful visit, as the woman clung to life, Sinclair was surprised to see a friendly face enter the room: It was Tim Delkeskamp, associate pastor at Ascension Lutheran Church, where Diana faithfully attended services.

The pastor had dropped by on his own to visit and offer the dying woman communion. Before Sinclair and Delkeskamp left the room together, the pastor gave Diana Sinclair some parting words of comfort.

Youre in my thoughts and prayers, he said. I want you to know that you are loved.

Timm Sinclair said hell always be grateful to Delkeskamp for the care he showed to his mother that day.

It was a beautiful moment, said Sinclair, an employee of the Acorn Newspapers. I had no idea that would be the last time I was able to talk with her.

His mother died two days later. In the weeks that followed, the minister met with Sinclair to help him through the grief.

Stories like this are often repeated about Delkeskamp, who is now the new senior pastor at Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks.

The 47-year-old was chosen in February after a nationwide search by the 1,686-member congregation.

The father of three was installed by Bishop Guy Erwin in a March 19 ceremony at the chapel on E. Hillcrest Drive.

One thing drives his ministry, Delkeskamp said.

Its people. I love working with people.

Road to Ascension

When Delkeskamp decided to double major in religion and business at California Lutheran University in 1988, his choice was met with skepticism.

Some people thought I aspired to be a televangelist, he said.

The Brea, Calif., native had completed half of his degree requirements when he became bored with business and came to a realization.

This doesnt give me life, he said.

He started taking more religion classes, which pointed him in the direction of thinking about his own faith.

So after graduation, the 22-year-old took a temporary job at a church to earn money to backpack around the world. As he traveled the Middle East, Europe and Africa, he spent time in daily prayer and contemplation seeking Gods call in his life.

His prayers were answered. When he returned home after one year, he enrolled in Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., where he earned his master of divinity degree.

After a fiveyear stint at a church in Mission Viejo, Delkeskamp took the job as associate pastor at Ascension in 2003.

Well-rounded

Church is a family affair for Delkeskamp. His wife, Chamie, teaches religious curriculum at Ascensions private school, which includes transitional kindergarten through eighth grade.

Husband and wife both work at Ascension, but denominationally, the Delkeskamps are a house divided. While the Rev. Delkeskamp is a dyed-in-the-wool Lutheran, his wife is Methodist.

We have some great theological discussions, the pastor said The more I try to persuade her to be Lutheran, the more Methodist she becomes.

Church secretary Myra Chandler said the vote to confirm Delkeskamp was easy after 13 years of seeing him perform as associate pastor.

The whole congregation is very, very happy hes our senior pastor, she said.

Delkeskamp said he looks for- ward to expanding the churchs outreach locally and globally.

We feel God has put us in this community for a reason, he said. To help us serve our community, to help us introduce Jesus to others and to create opportunities for all people to become devoted followers of Christ.

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New leader takes the helm at Ascension - Simi Valley Acorn

The Ascension Veterans Associations is accepting applications to its third annual scholarship program.

Applications must be postmarked no later than May 15, a news release said.

Scholarships are given in honor of area Americans and troop supporters and focus on exemplary civic service and patriotic ideology, the release said.

The organization will award a minimum of four scholarships of $1,000 each for the 2017-18 academic year. Previous applicants are welcome to apply again.

Eligible applicants include dependent children, grandchildren or spouses of an honorably discharged veteran, current service member or service member killed while serving in the military. This year, the dependent child category also has been opened to those who have an immediate family member who served or is serving honorably discharged veterans, a news release said. Current grandchildren or step-grandchildren of an honorably discharged veteran or current service member are eligible to apply, as well.

Applicants must be residents of Ascension Parish. Those who attend school outside the parish, who have graduated from a public or private Ascension school and current Ascension seniors, public or private, are eligible to apply. Applicants must have or have had at least a 2.5 GPA on a 4.0 scale.

Current Ascension high school seniors can pick up packets from their high school counselor. Other interested applicants can email Scholarship Chairwoman Tanya Whitney at msgwhitney@gmail.com or call (225) 612-0805 or (256) 656-2124.

Scholarship recipients will be honored at the Ascension Veterans Associations annual Musical Tribute for Our Troops on June 16.

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Ascension Veterans Association accepting scholarship applications - The Advocate

The Ascension Parish School Board is looking down the road at two property taxes set to expire in a few years, and it will put proposals to extend them on the ballot, possibly in 2019.

The millages, one set to expire in three years and the other in five years, pose "one of the biggest challenges we face over the next five years," Chad Lynch, director of planning and construction for the school district, said at a recent meeting of the board's Strategic Planning Committee.

A 7.4-mill property tax set to expire Dec. 31, 2020,generates approximately $8.14 million annually for the general operations of the school district, Diane Allison, the district's director of business services, said this week.

Allison said the millage has been levied since 1982. Periodically approved by voters, it's been at the rate of 7.4 mills since 1996.

Another property tax, 2.5 mills for the maintenance of school buildings, is set to expire Dec. 31, 2022. That millage, levied in 1994, generates approximately $2.75 million in revenue, Allison said.

Strategic Planning Committee members agreed March 21 that it would be best to put both property tax extensions on the same ballot, possibly some time in 2019, after the School Board elections in November 2018.

Committee members also briefly discussed turning to voters again in the future for the extension of a longtime 15.08-mill property tax for construction projects, for the school district's next big undertaking: a new high school in Prairieville.

The 15.08 mills generate about $16.6 million in revenue annually.

"One of the biggest questions I get is when is that new high school coming," Lynch said.

The new high school would ease overcrowding at the three east bank high schools.

In April 2016, voters approved the extension of the 15.08-mill tax for 14 projects that include the construction of three primary schools, one middle school and the site planning for the proposed high school.

Architects have been selected for the projects, which will be spread out over three to four years.

Follow Ellyn Couvillion on Twitter, @EllynCouvillion.

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Ascension School Board looks ahead to going to voters on tax renewals in coming years - The Advocate

Hawks 99 (39-36), Sixers 92 (28-47)

After losing seven straight, Atlanta has temporarily stopped its free-fall in the standings with wins against the Suns and 76ers.

Dwight Howard feasted in the paint, dropping a throwback line of 22 points and 20 boards. Tim Hardaway Jr and Kent Bazemore each had 19 points.

Even with the consecutive Ws, ATL is still dead last in offense over the past two weeks.

Thunder 114 (43-31), Magic 106 (27-48) (OT)

OKC fell down by 21 points in the third quarter, but then Russell Westbrook took over the game.

Russ scored 19 points in the fourth quarter, including a clutch three-pointer to force overtime.

He then outscored Orlando as a team during the extra period to seal the win and clinch a playoff birth for the Thunder.

Russ finished the game with 57 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists, setting the mark for most points scored in a triple-double. Its time to seriously reconsider giving Russ the MVP.

Bucks 103 (39-36), Celtics 100 (48-27)

Milwaukee is looking like a really solid 5-seed with their strong play of late. With a win in Boston on Wednesday and a 13-3 record in their last 16 games, the Bucks could be a tough first-round opponent.

Malcolm Brogdon had six key points in the final 2:46 to help Milwaukee fend off a late Boston charge. The Prez finished with 16 points, 9 assists, 0 TOs and this dagger deuce right in Avery Bradleys dome.

Hornets 110 (34-41), Raptors 106 (45-30)

Theres not much you can do to stop a team when theyre as hot as Charlotte was. The Hornets made 8 treys in the fourth quarter and 44 points in the final frame.

Kemba Walker hit two big threes in the final 2 minutes, including one that gave the Hornets a 104-101 lead with 37.5 seconds left.

Heat 105 (37-38), Knicks 88 (28-47)

The New York Knicks are officially eliminated from playoff contention!

New York shot only 37.1 percent from the field and just 5-25 from three. Not a good recipe for winning games.

Goran Dragic led the way once again for Miami, finishing with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 9 dimes. And James Johnson (18 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists) is still catching insane bodies.

Pacers 97 (37-38), Grizzlies 110 (41-34)

Even without Marc Gasol, Memphis dominated this one from the very beginning. The Grizz opened up a 20-point lead in the first quarter and a 25-point lead by the third.

Mike Conley was incredible with 36 points, 6 assists and 4 steals. Vince Carter (21 points, 4 treys) also passed Ray Allen for 22nd on the all-time scoring list.

Mavs 118 (31-43), Pelicans 121 (32-43)

How about this for a breath of fresh air. Two teams all but eliminated from playoff contention went hard through all four quarters.

Granted, the Mavs always go hard and the Pels want to create the illusion of fighting for a playoff birth, but for whatever the reason, this game was competitive til the end.

Boogie Cousins led the way with one of his Kings-esque lines: 29 points, 16 boards, 6 dimes.

Warriors 110 (61-14), Spurs 98 (57-17)

There mustve been something magical about that Klay Thompson toaster right? Since Klay famously signed a toaster with his likeness, the Warriors have gone on a nine-game win streak.

During that span, Golden State has owned the No. 1 offense and defense in the L, with a massive net rating of 18.6 points per 100 possessions.

The Spurs jumped out to a 22-point lead, only to see it completely erased by 3:29 in the second quarter.

David West was crucial in the turn-around, finishing the game with 15 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and a +23 plus/minus.

Wizards 124 (46-29), Clippers 133 (45-31)

The Clippers are the owners of the Leagues second-best offense over the past two weeks, and it was on full display on Wednesday.

L.A. shot 56.6 percent for the game and dropped 133 points for the second time in five games.

It certainly helped that they were playing against the Wizards porous defense.

Blake Griffin nearly triple-doubled with 26 points, 10 boards and 9 assists.

John Wall put up 41 points in the losing effort.

Jazz 112 (46-29), Kings 82 (29-46)

While the Kings never led in this game, it was a a two-point game toward the end of the third quarter.

Utah then outscored Sacramento by 19 in the forth, and the inevitable happened.

Rudy Gobert had 16 points and 15 boards in the win.

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Post Up: Ascension - SLAM Online (blog)

In his superb account of the final, violent throes of World War I, military historian Gene Fax tells of an American lieutenant who watched as ambulances pulled to the side of the road to let the artillery, which had priority, pass.

From time to time, the lieutenant wrote, our men would glance curiously into the ambulances, at the shattered and bleeding forms, many of them blackened, disfigured, and torn beyond recognition, as if trying to decide what they themselves would look like shortly.

Next year will mark the centennial of the armistice that ended what was initially called the Great War in which industrial-strength weaponry machine guns, poison gas, flamethrowers, long-range artillery and early model tanks, plus aerial bombing and target spotting killed millions. America ventured into the slaughterhouse of Europes Western Front reluctantly, even grudgingly, in the fourth year of war.

Fax, a member of the Society for Military History, has written a compelling account of the hastily assembled, lightly trained American Expeditionary Forces: With Their Bare Hands: General Pershing, the 79th Division, and the Battle for Montfaucon.

Fax does not focus on how the war began. That subject area has been largely worked over: the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian archduke in June 1914, the interlocking alliances and hatreds of the European powers, the horrors of trench warfare.

For years, President Wilson was stubbornly determined that America would remain neutral. Only when German submarines began sinking U.S. ships did he relent. The United States declared war on Germany in spring 1917.

Cmdr. Gen. John Pershing announced that his troops, the American Expeditionary Forces, would fight as an American army and not as replacements for the depleted French and British forces. To the dismay of the Allies, he insisted that his troops needed more training. Not until the late summer of 1918 did the Americans join the battlefield en masse. The Germans were close to Paris and the French were near panic.

Fax closely examines the role of the AEF in the final 47-day battle in the Argonne Forest that preceded the Nov. 11 armistice. He makes copious yet judicious use of letters home by frontline soldiers, official after-action reports, studies by historians and the published memoirs of high-ranking officers on both sides.

At close to 500 pages, With Their Bare Hands is not a swift read. There are a lot of names, unit numbers and moving parts. Yet the effort is more than rewarded for anyone interested in how the United States, fitfully and on its own terms, was forced to assert itself as a world power.

Fax points out the American armys many battlefield shortcomings: communication snafus, inability to get food and water to the troops, lack of coordination between infantry and artillery and transportation gridlock.

With Their Bare Hands supports a military truism that going into battle without allies can be difficult, but going into battle with allies can be even more difficult.

Gen. Black Jack Pershing thought the British and French particularly the French had lost the will to fight and settled into a rank stalemate. For their part, British and French commanders thought the American soldiers were too undisciplined and soft.

Both sides were wrong, Fax writes. The Americans were green but gutsy. The allies, bloodied at the Somme and Verdun, hated trench warfare and desperately tried for a breakthrough.

Fax quotes historian Michael Howard that armies often find themselves with poor strategies not necessarily through the stupidity of their leaders but because all other options seem to be foreclosed or appear demonstrably worse.

The centerpiece of With Their Bare Hands is the struggle for Montfaucon in northeastern France, a ridge that gave the Germans an unobstructed view of the battlefield. The Americans failure to take it as quickly as planned has been widely criticized, particularly by the French.

(Two fine books in the last year have dealt with the same battle: William Walkers Betrayal at Little Gibraltar and Mitchell Yockelsons Forty-Seven Days.)

Fax does not support Pershings triumphalism that the AEF won the war. On the other hand, he says that by forcing the Germans to call for reinforcements, the Americans took pressure off the British and French in their section of the front.

Yet the Americans made a tactical error in maintaining a rigid sense of turf. Each unit had its own territory and was not to cross over into anothers sector even if the troops in the latter were pleading for help.

One U.S. artillery captain said to hell with the rules and ordered a strike into an off-limits zone, destroying several enemy artillery batteries. For his defiance, he was threatened with court martial, although the threat was never carried out.

Three decades later the upstart captain one Harry Truman was a candidate for president against long odds. Veterans of the division he had rescued remembered the favor and came to his aid.

Fax admires Pershings tenacity. Still, he criticizes Black Jack for refusing to grasp the need to coordinate artillery and infantry and to accept that the ultimate weapon of war was no longer the hard-charging infantry soldier with a rifle and bayonet.

The U.S. military learned to fight by fighting. Of 2 million Americans who went to France, 205,000 returned having been wounded; almost 72,000 (killed by combat or illness) returned not at all.

The American public had learned a lesson that it still finds hard to accept: The cost of being a world power is high.

The chief American contribution to victory was not its battlefield performance although that was far from negligible, Fax concludes. It was to make clear to the exhausted Germans that they could no longer hope to win a war of attrition.

No matter how many Americans became casualties, there would always be millions more.

Tony Perry covered the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. After leaving The Times in 2015, he is writing a book about the Marines in World War I.

With Their Bare Hands: General Pershing, the 79th Division, and the Battle for Montfaucon

By Gene Fax

Osprey Publishing: 496 pp., $30

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'With Their Bare Hands' tracks America's ascension to military power during WWI - Los Angeles Times

ASCENSION The tax assessor is going door-to-door in Ascension Parish, surveying residents' property that were impacted by the August flood.

Justin Champlin, the chief deputy tax assessor says they plan on going to more than 6,000 flood-damaged properties in the parish.

"All houses are different, so each house you have to knock on each door," Champlin said.

The chief assessor made a stop to the home of Robert Boudreaux, who is remodeling after his home that was hit by 16 inches of water.

"We're probably 60-70 percent done re-building. We're waiting on some cabinets and some flooring," Boudreaux said.

Champlin said the damaged properties will be taxed on the portion of repairs that have been completed.

"We want to know where they're at. What the status is and how much work have they done at this point," Champlin said.

Homeowners who are not able to move back in may not have to pay any property taxes for the year.

The tax assessor plans to wrap up the surveys by mid-June.

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Tax assessor begins surveys of flood-damaged property in Ascension - WBRZ

ASCENSION PARISH GOVERNMENTAL COMPLEX 615 E. Worthey Road, Gonzales

Photography by Tim Mueller

Owner: Ascension Parish Architect: Mougeot Architecture Contractor: SBS Construction Cost: $6.5 million Completed: November 2015 Use: Ascension Parish now has one of the newest, sleekest government office complexes in the Capital Region. Opened in November 2015 on the site of a former parish hospital, theAscension Parish Government Complex consolidates multiple parish departments into one building measuring 33,500 square feet.Glass throughout the complex allows for plenty of natural light, which creates an inviting and modern feel.A large-scale parish map on one of the lobbys walls highlights important landmarks in Ascension. The Parish President Conference Room includes an exterior deck with views of a cypress-lined pond, which East Ascension High School seniors jump into every spring as part of a school tradition.

FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION:When we started the project with the parish government, one thing that they told us was that our parish is growing aggressively, and we want to give that sort of connection to our parish buildings, just to have a progressive, updated look, whereas all their current buildings are old, 70s, 80s, 90s buildings. We wanted it to have an inviting feel to it to where it draws people in, and we have two clerestories on it that pop up and give natural light.

David M.Mougeot, president and principal partner, Mougeot Architecture

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Ascension's Government Complex gives a modern look for a growing parish - Greater Baton Rouge Business Report

Editors note: This story has been corrected since its original publication. An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Heberts Specialty Meats Ascension Parish location is 24,000 square feet. The building is 2,400. Daily Report regrets this error.

An Acadiana specialty meat market is expanding into the Baton Rouge market, with plans to open its first location this summer at 13375 La. 73 in Geismars Dutchtown Crossing Shopping Center.

Franchisees Jesse Benedetto and Michael Stone are bringing Maurice-based Heberts Specialty Meatshome of the deboned stuffed poultryto the Baton Rouge metro area. They also own the rights to open franchises in Baton Rouge and Livingston Parish.

Benedetto says he and Stone, his father-in-law, have plans to open several more locations in Baton Rouge over the next two years, though sites have yet to be selected.

They do get a lot of business from our area already, Benedetto says. People will go to Lafayette and stock up coolers and make a trip. They know there is definitely a market here.

Heberts specializes in the Cajun food market, selling fully prepared, seasoned meats that customers can take home and put directly into the oven or on the stove top. Benedetto says the Ascension location also will sell daily plate lunches, boudin, stuffed chickens, gumbo, crawfish etouffee, steaks and other products.

They do just have meat thats not seasoned, but really more of the concept is for everything to be ready to take home, he says.

Benedetto says he was introduced to Heberts specialty meats by Stone, who was living in Lafayette and raved about the products. Plans to open Heberts Specialty Meats in the Baton Rouge area began last year, but they were stalled by the August flood.

The goal, Benedetto says, is to open the 2,400-square-foot location in Ascension Parish as early as June and no later than July.

The company has other locations in Broussard and Lake Charles and several franchises in Texas.

Alexandria Burris

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Specialty meat market opening new location in Ascension Parish - Greater Baton Rouge Business Report

It took my breath away a little bit. The rumble down the tarmac. The fearless roar of the engine. The quiet enormity of the of the moment. I didn't expect it... It took my breath away. It was my first flight in five years. It was the first flight since we had heard that unspeakable word, Cancer. It was the first flight since that moment the world exploded beneath us. I felt the plane move forward. I felt my heart beat faster and faster. I felt the engine's force. I felt tears rushing down my face. I couldn't stop them. It was the quiet enormity of the moment. And then all of a sudden, we ascended. We ascended, weightless into the air. We ascended like birds to the open sky above. My heart beat even faster. It felt like freedom. I felt like magic. It felt like a miracle. My son turned to me. Our eyes met, smiles beaming across our face. And then, laughter! The kind that comes from your soul and makes your belly ache. Freedom at last! So many things about this journey led us to darkness. So many things about this journey brought us to our knees. But, now, in this one moment, soaring above on the sky, there was only joy. It feels like magic. It feels like a miracle. Step by step, we move forward. Step by step, we turn the page. We chase our endless summer. We let the magic flow in. And then we simply close our eyes... and take flight. To, my love, Matthew, who gives me wings.

Nothing wrong with a little heartbeat fade...

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Ascension - Huffington Post

A decade ago, The Times urged the Senate to confirm John Roberts to the U.S. Supreme Court even though he was a conservative judge nominated by a conservative president and was likely to pull the court to the right for decades to come. We backed him, despite our disagreements with his judicial philosophy, because we believe that presidents Democrats and Republicans alike are entitled to significant deference when they nominate justices to the high court, so long as the nominees are well qualified and scandal-free, respect precedent and fall within the broad mainstream of judicial thinking.

Under normal circumstances, that same reasoning would lead us to support the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch. Like Roberts, he is conservative but competent, with more than a decade of experience on the appellate bench and a well qualified rating from the American Bar Assn.

But these are not normal times.

Not after the outrageous obstruction of Judge Merrick Garlands nomination for 10 full months by Senate Republicans. That debacle began in March 2016, when President Obama nominated Garland, a moderate and well-respected appeals court judge, to fill the seat on the court that had become vacant with the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Instead of doing what the Constitution requires and offering their advice and, if merited, their consent, Senate Republicans refused even to engage in the process. They denied Garland a confirmation hearing and in many cases wouldnt even meet with him on the hastily fabricated pretext that a president in his final year of office shouldnt be allowed to name a new justice because well, it was never really clear what the supposed principle was behind this self-serving position.

They stonewalled the nomination until Obama was safely out of office and a Republican had won the election. And now, with Gorsuch subbed in for Garland, their cynical and dishonorable strategy is about to deliver its rewards.

Some people think its hyperbolic to suggest that the seat was stolen. But how else to describe it? Republicans took the opportunity to fill the vacancy away from Barack Obama without justification and delivered it up instead to Donald Trump. Gorsuch could now tilt the balance on the increasingly polarized Supreme Court for the next 30 or more years, influencing rulings on free speech, gay and transgender rights, campaign finance, abortion and gun laws, among other subjects. He may not be outside the mainstream of judicial thinking, but he is a textualist, an originalist and a likely ally of the courts conservative justices.

The Republicans underhanded ploy to subvert the Garland nomination has put the Democrats in an untenable position. They can now do what would ordinarily be the right thing to do by going high after the Republicans went low. They could grumble a little bit but then decline to filibuster, or they could even vote in favor of Gorsuch effectively capitulating in the quixotic hope that an act of good faith would encourage the Republicans to behave more honorably in the future.

Alternately, they can go down kicking and screaming. We say go down because no matter how hard they kick or how loud they scream, they seem unlikely to win this battle. The reality is that without filibustering, they dont have the votes to defeat Gorsuch. And if they do mount a filibuster, Senate Republicans can vote to do away with the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees entirely. Under either scenario, Gorsuch gets his job.

To be clear, Democrats and Republicans share the blame for the long roll down the slippery slope of polarization and dysfunction in the judicial selection process. (Some Democrats have even suggested in the past that presidents shouldnt fill Supreme Court seats in election years.) And as that selection process has become increasingly politicized, the court itself has become more ideologically riven as well. Although there are differences between Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, for example, on some important 1st Amendment issues, its also true that in recent years, justices appointed by Democratic presidents have tended to vote for liberal outcomes and justices appointed by Republicans for conservative outcomes. That polarization is a bad trend.

The judicial system works best when justices are neither rigidly ideological nor biased along partisan lines. To get there, we need a less highly politicized selection process, along with a measure of cooperation, compromise and civility in Congress.

For the moment, though, it is imperative to remind the world of what the GOP did. By all means, lets hear a cri de coeur from the Democrats, even if it is in vain. The Republican misuse of power took partisan obstructionism to an extraordinary new level and must not be ignored now as if it never happened. President Obamas nominee was robbed of his right to a hearing, and the Senate Democrats have no obligation to be complicit in the theft.

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It's not Neil Gorsuch's fault, but we can't support his ascension to a stolen Supreme Court seat - Los Angeles Times