The joy most of us celebrated Christmas Day turned to sadness for the Fisher family over the loss of Leta Gilmer Fisher, mother to Independent Co-Publisher Cherry Fisher May and mother-in-law to Co-Publisher Steve May and Business Manager Brenda Fisher. Leta died peacefully at Cornerstone Village South Nursing Home in Lafayette after a long, full and happy life. She was 81.
Leta was born April 16, 1930, in Gilmer Hollow, Tenn., and was one of four children raised on a family farm in what she called “God’s Country,” a place she dearly loved. Her talent was music. Blessed with perfect pitch, she played multiple instruments, primarily piano and organ but also accordion, guitar and fiddle. A devout Methodist, she loved to perform in church choirs and played the organ for Lobelville Methodist Church for many years. In the 1960s she toured churches across middle and western Tennessee as part of an all-women’s gospel trio, singing alto. But her favorite trio was the one in which performed with her sisters, who survive her: Jean Greenwood, 85, of Dickson, and Johnnia Clark, 73, of Lobelville.
Leta was married for 59 years to Hugh Edward Fisher, also now a resident of Lafayette. They had four children: Cherry Fisher May and John Hugh Fisher, both of Lafayette; Michelle Fisher Wenger of Southhaven, Miss.; and Shawn Gilmer Fisher of Las Vegas. Leta is also survived by her son-in-law Steve May and two daughters-in-law, Brenda and Julie Fisher, as well as 10 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions in Leta’s name be made to the non-profit Hospice of Acadiana at 2600 Johnston St., Ste. 200, Lafayette, LA, 70503.
Graveside services will be held Friday at Gilmer Cemetery in Lobelville, Tenn. A memorial service and family visitation will be held in Lafayette on Friday, Jan. 13, from 4-6 p.m. at Fountain Memorial Gardens.
MAY 17 Here's a column from James Gill, this time in the Advocate. Gill, who has jumped ship from the Picayune, writes about the absurdity of dueling polls in this post. The numbers are so wildly different, it is obvious that both sides are "cooking the books," he writes. In particular, he looks at Sen. Mary Landrieu, and how her recent actions in DC have been received by those polled. Gill's acerbic, amusing prose is a welcome addition to a paper so conservative as to be occasionally lacking in personality.
MAY 17 Blogger Tom Aswell continues delivering bombshells about the state education department and Gov. Jindal's education "reform" efforts. In this post, he reports that students in the Shreveport area have been signed up for a charter school without their knowledge or consent. Most interesting to Aswell is how this Texas-based charter (with ties to GOP types) got the personal student information it has, if the students didn't give it.
MAY 17 This post by JR Ball in the Baton Rouge Business Report is an interesting tongue-in-cheek look at recent Baton Rouge economic development efforts. Among the items he examines is the idea that gaining a Costco makes BR a "world-class city." (Really? All you need is a different brand of Sam's? MK!) This effort, and other recent ones, are all built on the taxpayer's back, with tax zones, tax incentives and tax rebates, Ball writes.
MAY 17 Blogger CB Forgotston is critical of the legislature's reliance on a revenue-estimating committee's decision to include projected tax amnesty income in this year's forecast. That's a problem, CB posts, because the deadline for these people to pay their taxes is June 30, 2014. So when do you think these people who haven't paid taxes in years are going to pay their taxes? Surely not before June 30, and that means the money won't be there for this year's budget, he argues.
MAY 17 Here's an interesting blog out of California by a Hollywood writer, attorney and academic named Brian Alan Lane. He blogs about higher ed, and was a whistle-blower in a scandal over false credentials. In this post, he takes aim at LSU's new top dog, King Alexander. It's convoluted and a little confusing, but it sure makes Alexander a lot more interesting than he was yesterday.
MAY 17 Blogger Robert Mann writes about the LSU Board's refusal to allow Dr. Fred Cerise to testify before the legislature about Gov. Jindal's plan to close down all the state's charity hospitals and dump the poor on the private system. It's hard to imagine anyone more qualified than Cerise to testify about that, so why would anyone try to prevent him doing so? Mann thinks it is because the powers that be aren't interested in hearing any truth about the plan.
MAY 17 This post on the Louisiana Sinkhole Bugle, a blog that notes developments in the Bayou Corne and Jefferson Island salt domes, talks about a proposed expansion of the salt dome storage under Lake Peigneur in Iberia Parish. Residents are working against it for several reasons, including two biggies: the sinkhole disaster in Bayou Corne and the continuing, unexplained bubbling on the surface of the Lake.
MAY 17 NOLA police arrested more people Thursday accused of either being involved in the Mother's Day shooting or hiding the suspect afterward, this Gambit story reports. The NOLA police chief said he suspects the whole thing was gang-related and throws out a challenge to the gangs: he's got informants now, he says, and he knows a lot more than the gangs want him to know. The people who live in the neighborhoods terrorized by gangs are ready to talk, he says.
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