Let’s cool off during what has been a record-breaking summer by recalling the city’s — and what many call the world’s — first commercial ice production facility.
The Louisiana Ice Works opened on Tchoupitoulas Street in 1868. At the time, the only ice in the city was imported from the northeast, and during a sweltering summer, not much of the frozen product made its way to New Orleans customers.
According to reports in The Daily Picayune, the Louisiana Ice Works plant drew water from the Mississippi River, filtered and purified it using salt, ammonia and heat. The three-hour process produced some 600 pounds of ice in a single batch.
Advertisement
The ice was sold for less than two cents a pound, ending the city’s dependence on natural ice shipped primarily from the northeast. Local demand soared along with the company’s national reputation.
Its success prompted imitators as ice became more available. The company also invited investors, or franchisees, to open their own ice plants in other parts of the state.
SHREVEPORT, LAFAYETTE, MONROE, ALEXANDRIA, LAKE CHARLES La. (KALB) – On January 8, the U.S. Attorney’s office announced that Brandon Brown would resign as as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana.
As U.S. Attorney for the Western District of La., Brown acted as the chief law enforcement officer for 42 of 64 parishes in the state, overseeing every federal civil and criminal case in the district.
Brown’s last day in office is set for January 20.
Brown was nominated to the position on November 15, 2021 by President Joe Biden, was confirmed by the Senate on December 7 and sworn in on December 10.
Advertisement
U.S. Attorney Brown released the following statement about his tenure:
During his tenure, Brown became the U.S. Fifth Circuit’s representative on Attorney General Merrick Garland’s Attorney General Advisory Committee (AGAC), which assists the AG in creating policy for each of the 94 districts.
According to the release, U.S. Attorney Brown prosecuted hundreds of firearms cases and set a high priority on those related to drugs, public corruption, child pornography, and human trafficking.
They said due to these efforts, both Monroe and Shreveport saw significant decline in violent crime rates.
Alexander Van Hook will reportedly assume the role of U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana until a successor can be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
Advertisement
Click here to report a typo. Please provide the title of the article in your email.
Two more candidates qualified on Wednesday to run for open seats in the Louisiana Senate.
One of the vacancies is to represent District 14 in Baton Rouge and the other is to represent District 23 in Lafayette.
Carolyn Hill signed up to run in Baton Rouge on the second of the three-day qualifying period, which closes Thursday afternoon. She is running as a Democrat.
Hill, 42, has a career in policy social work and currently works for East Baton Rouge Parish Schools. She also founded and owns Hill and Hills Associates, a political consulting firm that supports candidates running for office.
Advertisement
In 2011, she won a race to represent District 8 on the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. She lost a 2015 bid for reelection to BESE.
In Lafayette, Republican Jesse Regan formally qualified to run for state Senate.
Regan was elected to represent District 3 on the Broussard City Council in 2019. He won reelection in 2022.
Regan is a mortgage lender at Preferred Lending Solutions. He also co-founded DJD Development Group and co-owns Madison Banquet & Reception Centre in Broussard, according to an online biography.
The candidates who signed up Wednesday join four others who qualified Tuesday.
Advertisement
Democrats Quentin Anthony Anderson and state Rep. Larry Selders qualified in Baton Rouge, and Republican state Rep. Brach Myers and Kristopher Harrison, who is running unaffiliated, qualified in Lafayette.
Marvin Gene Mearns, of Mandeville, a longtime editor of The Baton Rouge Advocate, New Orleans Times-Picayune and Houma Daily Courier, died Dec. 21, 2024.
He was 86.
Beloved for his steady and gentle mentorship of generations of Louisiana journalists, Mearns began his 50-year career in journalism covering the state Capitol for United Press International following his graduation from LSU.
After he was drafted and served in the U.S. Army, Mearns returned to Louisiana newspapers. He worked during different points in his career as the St. Bernard/Plaquemines bureau chief for The Times Picayune/The States-Item, as the executive editor of the Daily Courier and as an editor of suburban and metro news for The Advocate.
Advertisement
Born Feb. 21, 1938, in Lake Charles, Mearns lived for many years in Houma and New Orleans and later Baton Rouge. Wherever he was, he remained a fixture in the newsroom, his family said, even after Hurricane Katrina displaced him in 2005.
Mearns, who went by his middle name “Gene,” was an exacting wordsmith with rare editing skills. He could refine reporters’ copy with strong, precise verbs and concise phrases but keep his own fingerprints hidden, retaining the style of the writer.
A calming voice for reporters facing imminent nighttime deadlines, Mearns also exceled at seeing the long view, often giving journalists nudges to dig beneath the daily story.
“Gene had a good nose for stories and a wonderful rapport with his reporters,” said Fred Kalmbach, managing editor for The Advocate. “He also was a great writing coach, with a penchant for sniffing out and eliminating cliches.”
Dr. Micah Hatchett, Mearns’ stepdaughter, said he was a wonderful father and grandfather who gave her the same training in writing that he had given so many young journalists.
Advertisement
Hatchett said journalism and writing were among the “biggest loves” of his life.
“He read the paper every day until the day he died, so that’s the kind of man he was,” she said.
Mearns is survived by his wife, Bridgid Hirt Mearns; Hatchett and her husband, Jesse; and grandchildren, Brice Hatchett, and Luke Hatchett. He is also survived by his siblings and many extended family members and friends.
