Thursday, July 31, 2008

Sugarcane research station works toward relocation

Wow, we were the lead story of the Houma Courier today with the header, "Sugar cane research station works slowly toward relocation." Our new facility seems to be an elusive dream, but the announcement of $3.2 million in federal money last week by U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., being secured during the Senate Appropriations Committee markup of the Agriculture Appropriations Bill, is good news. The Bill is expected to head to a Senate vote later this year. I recommend that anyone interested in the future of sugarcane as both a sugar and energy crop read the entire article AND the related links.

Another compelling story in the Houma Courier had to do with an 11-year old boy who survived a vicious alligator attack on the North Shore in the Slidell area. It's well worth the read (along with the related link), just for the human interest side of this story, but more because it highlights how dangerous alligators can be in this area, especially when we start taking them for granted. The commonly used term, North Shore (which means something entirely different to surfers from Hawaii), refers to the north side of Lake Pontchartrain.

1 comment:

Lori said...

Wow, that's crazy about the boy who was attacked by an alligator! I would definitely be steering clear of those types of places. Your own alligator encounter is scary enough!