Capital City News

By Woody Jenkins, Editor, St. George Leader – Baton Rouge In April, Louisiana’s new State Treasurer, John Fleming, M.D., was working in his office in the northwest corner of the State Capitol in Baton Rouge.  Looking west, he could see the Mighty Mississippi River rolling down to the Gulf of Mexico.  Looking north was the massive […]

 Melanie Hyatt started her sourdough cottage bakery in early February 2022, offering a few farmhouse loaves via Facebook posts directed to friends!   The response was encouraging and exciting.    Melanie works full time from home as a hospice triage RN and would love to eventually hang up her nursing license and be a full-time […]

Former Rep. Woody Jenkins served in the Louisiana Legislature for 28 years, representing Baton Rouge longer than anyone in history. He graduated from Istrouma High, the LSU School of Journalism, and the LSU Law School.  As a delegate to the Louisiana Constitutional Convention of 1973, Jenkins succeeded in amending the Constitution to allow the incorporation […]

The Great Flood of August 2016 swept into North Baton Rouge with a vengeance, flooding areas that had never flooded and areas that everyone agreed would never flood. One of those areas was Winbourne at Airline.  Hi Nabor Supermarket got three to four feet of water, which devastated the store. Without flood insurance, the Crifasi […]

Sam Crifasi’s father Dominic immigrated to America from Italy and started a fruit stand to provide for his wife, five boys, and three girls. Sam worked in the family businesses. A practicing Catholic, Sam fell in love with a Southern girl named Mary Lou Jacocks, who was Protestant. She converted, they married and started having […]

The greatest generation still lives! Here in Baton Rouge, that generation is epitomized by the Crifasi family. Their mother and father immigrated from Italy in the early 1900’s. Of the five boys and three girls, six are still alive, including five who reside in the Baton Rouge. They range in age from 83 to 100. […]

DEMCO CEO and General Manager John Vranic has been named Cooperative Leader of the Year for 2016 by the Louisiana Council of Farmer Cooperatives (LCFC). LCFC President Billy Gibson said Vranic received the honor primarily in recognition of his exemplary response to the Baton Rouge area flood of August 2016. The flood not only caused […]

Dr. Josh Parker of Parker Orthodontics was born and raised in Baton Rouge. He graduated from Central Private High School and received his undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences from LSU. He earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the LSU School of Dentistry. While in school, Dr. Parker was a member of several honor […]

Dr. Daniellé White has joined the staff at Crossroads Animal Hospital, led by Dr. Tony LoBue, local veterinarian and former Central City Councilman. Dr. White graduated from Biloxi High School in Biloxi, MS, in 2003. She attended Mississippi State University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology in 2008. After completing her undergraduate […]

In 2009, Central High School grad Galen Iverstine earned his degree in political science from LSU and considered three options — military service, law school, or graduate school.  During a school project, he became aware of the environmental, social, and economic impact of today’s industrialized food system and how it has marginalized family farms over […]