Latest news with #Cathey
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Efforts to unplug Louisiana's speed trap cameras create small-town discontent
Getty Images It looked for a moment that automated speed enforcement cameras in Louisiana might go the way of the Oldsmobile. But what was once an all-out ban on the devices now has an exception that threatens to force the proposal down a dead end. For the past two years, state lawmakers have tried to drastically scale back the use of technology that captures lead-footed drivers and red-light runners in the act and sends them tickets in the mail. While their boosters consider traffic enforcement cameras a force multiplier for manpower-strapped police departments, detractors see them as a money grab for local governments. Critics also pan the heavy burden placed on motorists who want to challenge their citations. The companies that provide speeding cameras to local police often handle fine collections and contested tickets, leaving no local avenue for appeals. 'It's taxation by citation,' Rep. Chuck Owen, R-Rosepine, said May 28 during a Louisiana House floor debate over a bill that would do away with speeding cameras everywhere but school zones. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The debate has created bipartisan fractures at the State Capitol. One side believes local jurisdictions should be able to govern themselves – and that includes the use of traffic enforcement cameras as they see fit. The other viewpoint says speeding 'scameras' make it next to impossible for drivers to challenge their tickets. 'I've got preachers' mommas calling me, telling me they're getting tickets. They didn't even know they were speeding,' Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Pineville said last week before the House approved Senate Bill 99, by Sen. Stewart Cathey, R-Monroe. Cathey brought his new proposal after authoring a law last year that established requirements for using speeding enforcement cameras in Louisiana. They include signage to let motorists know they are being monitored. Plus, cities and towns must provide a local administrative process for motorists to appeal their tickets. But because a handful of municipalities still won't follow the rules, Cathey came back this year with what he's called 'a bill with teeth.' If approved, police chiefs and municipal leaders who continue to ignore the requirements can be charged with malfeasance in office. The penalty for that crime can be up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. When Cathey's bill went before the Senate in April, Sen. Alan Seabaugh, R-Shreveport, amended it to ban the use of the cameras everywhere but school zones. Louisiana set to spend at least $7 million to bring Saudi-owned LIV Golf to New Orleans In its current form, the legislation would not apply to red light cameras. But every other speeding enforcement camera in Louisiana would be shut down – with one notable exception. An amendment placed on the bill in the House would exclude the city of Opelousas, where sponsor Rep. Dustin Miller, a Democrat, said speed enforcement cameras allow his hometown police department to commit more officers to combatting violent crime. That exception doesn't sit well with Cathey, who's been highly critical of small-town leaders who he says refuse to follow the existing law. He's declined to name them publicly, but he hasn't held back his opinion on Opelousas' leadership. 'You know, I may just buy a billboard outside of Opelousas to let everybody know that it's the speed trap capital of Louisiana,' Cathey said in an interview Friday. Miller's amendment passed by the slimmest margin in a 47-46 vote, with the updated bill gaining approval in a 72-23 vote. In an interview after the House adjourned, Miller said his city shouldn't be penalized for the wrongful actions of other municipalities. 'They're claiming that there's, like, seven towns that's doing illegal stuff,' he said. 'Well, as far as my knowledge, Opelousas is doing it correctly. So I'm just like, allow them to still do it where they're doing it.' In an interview last week, Cathey said he lacks confidence in Opelousas Police Chief Graig LeBlanc to manage the city's speeding enforcement cameras. The senator noted LeBlanc is currently under criminal indictment for a shooting that allegedly stemmed from a love triangle. The state attorney general is prosecuting the case, in which the chief has been charged with obstruction of justice and malfeasance in office. LeBlanc and his wife, St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Deputy Crystal LeBlanc, were injured in the shooting. Calls to the police chief seeking comment were directed to the department's public information officer, who has not responded to questions about the city's camera program. Opelousas Mayor Julius Alsandor also has not responded to calls and emails. Louisiana senators trim private education vouchers, expand Medicaid budget LeBlanc and other local police leaders have appeared at the Capitol to oppose Cathey's bill, as have small town mayors who argued the legislature should respect their autonomy. Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux also testified against the Cathey bill. Reggie Skains has been the volunteer, unpaid mayor of Downsville for 39 years. The town at the border of Lincoln and Union parishes has a population of less than 150 residents, yet it sees far more traffic because it's at the nexus of two state highways in north Louisiana. In the first six days Downsville deployed speeding enforcement cameras, it issued 419 tickets, the mayor said. 'This is not driving safely,' Skains told a legislative committee, stressing the cameras meet a need in his community. Roosevelt Porter is the police chief of Epps, a village of less than 400 just minutes away from the Poverty Point World Heritage Site. He said although Epps is within Cathey's Senate district, he had not heard from the senator about his bill. Speeding enforcement cameras in his village issued 3,500 tickets in their first month, but the number fell to 1,500 in the second month, Porter said. 'I could care less if this thing makes money,' the police chief told a House committee in April. 'If it slows people down, that is what's important to me.' Porter grew more emotional as he continued his testimony, shouting and coming close to tears at his conclusion. 'My town is at your mercy, but I know how this stuff works,' he said. 'Let that be your family member that comes through there and gets killed. What are you going to do then?' When Cathey's bill went before a Senate committee, Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, R-Port Allen, said the measure would have prevented the scandal that unfolded within his district last year when a West Baton Rouge Parish constable issued more than 4,000 school zone speeding tickets over a two-week period. The infractions each came with a $150 fine, but Attorney General Liz Murrill determined the constable had no authority to enforce traffic laws and had to refund what was collected. Cathey said last week he was unsure about the outlook for his bill now that an exception has been added to it. He predicted other towns and cities would seek similar exemptions. 'Currently, Opelousas is the speed camera capital of Louisiana,' the senator said. 'And if the people of Opelousas don't like it, they need to reach out to their local legislators and let them know.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Shreveport mayor speaks on La. speed camera bill
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Louisiana Senate Bill 99 was discussed Monday during the transportation committee meeting. It is authored by Senator Stewart Cathey, a Republican from the Monroe area. The bill would restrict the use of automated speed enforcement devices in the state. Cathey calls them 'speed-scam-eras' and says he feels they are unconstitutional. Cathey pointed out that when he posted on social media that he wanted them banned, his post was shared over two thousand times, which he said goes to show how much Louisianians dislike them. Louisiana projects receive Brownfields revitalization funds The bill would allow the devices in school zones only, areas where Shreveport already has them. Mayor Tom Arceneaux addressed the committee, saying, 'This has become a very effective means of changing people's behavior, and we would like the option to proceed and deal with our constituents on a local level.' Shreveport CAO Tom Dark pointed out that the city is short on police officers, and these devices can be an extension of the department's enforcement arm. If the bill passes, the city could not place more cameras outside of school zones. The bill passed out of committee and now heads to the full House for debate. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Boston Globe
09-05-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Two dolls instead of 30? Toys become the latest symbol of Trump's trade war.
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The president's comments also touched a nerve with parents, both ones who took offense at the casual way he hypothesized that perhaps 'two dolls will cost a couple bucks more' and those who acknowledged their own kids have more toys than they need. Advertisement Either way, the U.S. toy industry has a lot riding on a possible deescalation of the tariff standoff between the Trump administration and the government in Beijing. Nearly 80% of the toys sold in the U.S. come from China. The Toy Association, a trade group, has lobbied for an immediate reprieve from the 145% tariff rate the president put on Chinese-made products. Some toy companies warn the likelihood of holiday shortages increases each week the tariff remains in effect. Advertisement Here's a snapshot of the doll debate and how tariffs are impacting toys: How much is the US doll market worth? From Barbie, Bratz and Cabbage Patch Kids to Adora baby dolls, American Girl and Our Generation, dolls are a big business in the U.S. as well as beloved playthings. The doll category, which includes accessories like clothes, generated U.S. sales of $2.7 billion last year compared to $2.9 billion in 2023 and $3.4 billion in 2019, according to market research firm Circana. Consumers splurged on toys during the height of the COVID pandemic to keep children and themselves occupied, but sales flattened as inflation seized the economy. Younger girls becoming more interested in buying makeup and skincare also has cooled the demand for dolls, Marshal Cohen, Circana's chief retail advisor, said. What are toy companies doing to navigate tariffs? The nation's largest toy maker, Mattel, said this week it would have to raise prices for some products sold in the U.S. to offset higher costs related to tariffs. The company, whose brands include Barbie and American Girl, said the increases were necessary even though it's speeding up the expansion of its manufacturing base outside of China. Smaller toy companies are expected to have a harder time than Mattel and Hasbro, which makes the eating, drinking and diaper-wetting Baby Alive. Cathey said he paused The Loyal Subjects' shipments from China in April because he couldn't pay the stratospheric tariff they would have incurred. 'Nobody insulates themselves with that much cash,' he said. With about four months' worth of inventory on hand, Cathey said his ability to secure holiday stock depends on a break in the U.S.-China trade standoff happening in the next two weeks since it would take time for cargo operations to resume. Advertisement Cepia, a Missouri company that was behind the 2009 holiday season hit Zhu Zhu Pets, launched a line of 11-inch fashion dolls called Decora Girlz last year. CEO James Russell Hornsby said he was working to relocate some production but the move won't happen in time to replace the orders he planned to get from China. Hornsby described himself as a Trump supporter and said he understands the administration's desire to reduce trade imbalances. 'Let's just get the deals done and stop all this because (Trump's) disrupting Christmas,' he said. What goes into making a doll? Although American Girl launched in 1986 with a line based on fictional historical characters, the dolls never were domestic products. They were made in Germany before production eventually moved to China. Toy experts say that in addition to lower costs, Chinese factories have developed techniques and expertise that are not easily replicated. 'We don't have any capacity in the U.S. to make rooted doll hair. And then you've got things like the faces. Some of them are hand-painted, others are done with a Tampo (printing) machine,' James Zahn, editor-in-chief of industry publication The Toy Book, said of doll-making. Hornsby said rooting the synthetic hair onto the heads of Decora Girlz dolls is carried out by skilled workers at factories in Guangzhou and Dongguan, China. 'It's not just sticking into a machine and it automatically does it,' he said. 'You have to know what you're doing in order to make that doll look like it's got a full set of hair when literally maybe only 60% of the head is filled with hair." Are toys from China safe? White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said last week that he assumes consumers would prefer to pay more for American-made products. Dolls made in China might have lead paint in them, he said. Advertisement Teresa Murray, consumer watchdog director at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, said the picture is more complicated. Products for children ages 12 and under require third-party testing and certification from labs approved by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the agency tasked with enforcing lead levels in toys, Murray said. The rules apply to all products sold in the U.S. Toys by major brands such as Fisher-Price, Mattel, Hasbro and Lego, which have long outsourced manufacturing to China, are usually in compliance, she said. But the rise of online shopping, including e-commerce platforms that ship directly to U.S. consumers from overseas, has posed a challenge, according to Murray. When valued at less than $800, such parcels entered the U.S. duty-free and were not subject to the same scrutiny as bulk imports, she said. The White House eliminated the customs exemption starting May 2 for low-value parcels that originated in mainland China and Hong Kong. U.S Customs and Border Protection expects additional oversight will make it easier to flag problems. Toy companies and industry experts argue the high tariffs on Chinese imports will tempt price-sensitive shoppers to search for cheap counterfeit toys that carry higher safety risks. Can children have too many dolls? Plenty of people agree American consumer culture has gotten out of hand, in large part due to prices kept low through the labor of foreign factory workers who earn much less than they would in the U.S. Katie Walley-Wiegert, 38, a senior marketer in Richmond, Virginia, and the parent of a 2-year-old son, agrees there's too much materialism but thinks parents should have choices when deciding what is best for their children. She found the wealthy Trump's comments off-putting. Advertisement 'I think it is a small view of what purchase habits and realities are for people who buy toys for kids,' Walley-Wiegert said. San Francisco resident Elenor Mak, who founded the Jilly Bing doll company after she couldn't find an Asian American doll for her daughter, Jillian, now 5, said the president's remarks upset her because some families struggle to buy even one doll. The trade war with China 'just makes it even more impossible for those families,' Mak said.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Southern Miss chef wins competition, earns spot at national event
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WHLT) – Southern Miss Eagle Dining's Chef Joshua Cathey was the first-place winner at the 2025 Aramark Culinary Excellence competition (ACE) at Auburn University. Cathey will advance to represent Aramark Collegiate Hospitality at the National ACE competition this summer. The winning dish consisted of pan-seared chicken breast, accompanied by a bed of toasted parmesan and rosemary orzo, topped with wilted spinach. The dish was finished with a rich honey Dijon pan sauce and tangy pickled radish, garnished with a crispy smoked paprika twill. Tortoise displaced by Tylertown tornado reunited with family A 2012 Southern Miss graduate with a bachelor's degree in tourism management, Cathey began his professional career in catering at Hattiesburg's Lake Terrace Convention Center in 2010. He joined Aramark Collegiate Hospitality in 2016 as a catering chef with Eagle Dining at Southern Miss. In 2021, he was promoted to executive chef at Southern Miss. 'I love bringing new flavors to our students, and ACE allows us to put our creativity to the test and get inspired by fellow Aramark Collegiate Hospitality chefs from across the country,' Cathey said. Cathey is a two-time South region champion of the ACE competition. He also won the South region in 2023 for his dish, blackened jerk fish atop coconut rice with citrus slaw and lime crema. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Yahoo
NC sheriff warns parents about danger of teens playing ‘assassins' squirt gun game
Amid a rash of incidents in his county, a North Carolina sheriff is warning parents about the danger of teens playing a late-night squirt gun game called 'Senior Assassins.' Teens wear dark clothes and masks to 'ambush' an unsuspecting classmate, Union County Sheriff Eddie Cathey said on social media Thursday. The water guns look real, he said. Deputies responded to multiple calls recently about students dressed in black and 'acting suspiciously' around homes and businesses in the Weddington, Waxhaw and Wesley Chapel areas, he said. The game is a national trend. In the most alarming incident, deputies were called to a home on Crane Road near Waxhaw on Wednesday night, Cathey said. Officers found two high school students in all-black hiding outside the home, he said. The teens were set to 'ambush' and spray water on a classmate when she returned home and left her car, the sheriff said. 'Thankfully, deputies arrived first and were able to intervene before the situation escalated,' Cathey said. Cathey urged parents to stress with their teens 'the serious risks of this game.' Carrying water guns that look like real guns 'can lead to confusion, fear and dangerous situations,' Cathey said. Sneaking around homes at night can get someone shot — for real, he said. That's especially true 'where many homeowners take their security very seriously and are often armed with real weapons,' Cathey said. The game has caused injuries and even a death in other states. On Feb. 12, an off-duty Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent shot a teen in his neighborhood who was playing the game in Yulee, about 25 miles north of Jacksonville, McClatchy News reported. The teen was treated for non-life threatening injuries. In May 2024, the family of a 16-year-old in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, said their son died when he was startled by others aiming guns at him during the game, triggering a heart condition, Penn Live reported.
