On Thursday, Oct. 7, Liz Heirtzler and the Zachary Rotary Club welcomed Dawn Sterns, executive director, Capital Region Legislative Delegation, and State Representative Steve Carter of Dist. 68, CRLD chairman. The delegation was formed to serve as a central voice of constituents who live, work and play in the Capital Region. According to CRLD's website: “The ultimate goal of the Delegation is two- fold: Identify and advance initiatives that will improve the quality of life for constituents in the short term, while at the same time identifying a long term strategy to prioritize and advance issues that will improve the quality of life for not only our grandchildren’s children, but for all Louisianans.” To learn more, visit www.house.louisiana.gov/crld. From left: Liz Heirtzler, Steve Carter and Dawn Sterns.

Williamson Eye Center employees, at 5233 Main Street, received quite a shock Tuesday after a small truck crashed into their building during the Oct. 12 early afternoon work hours. The accident occurred after the driver's gas pedal became stuck, causing the tires to lock in place and propel him forward into the side of the stucco portion of the building, just feet away from a glass wall. Employees said a wall-facing desk and countertop was pushed back several feet, some cabinets became dislodged from the wall, and contents both in and on a desk were thrown across the room. "Luckily, nobody was sitting at the desk," said one Willliamson employee. "They very easily could have been and usually are!" Fortunately, the driver of the vehicle, an 80-year-old man from Zachary, wasn't injured nor were employees of Williamson. Although they did say there were shaken up quite a bit. Williamson remained open and it's business as usual for customers of the Williamson Best Vision Eye Center. (PHOTO/Stacy Gill)

The monthly District 1 community meeting, hosted by Councilman Trae Welch, was held Tuesday, Oct. 5, at the Zachary Library. Although Welch was unable to attend, his assistant Lisa Rioux and a small group of community members welcomed guest speaker Margaret Reams, Ph. D., an associate professor and graduate advisor for LSU's Department of Environmental Sciences. Reams, above, passed out an anonymous, four page survey to all in attendance, asking participants to identify environmental issues facing their community. Reams is a community outreach leader for the LSU Superfund Research Center. Over the next few months Reams will have other community groups fill out the same survey. Her objective is to discover what environmental topics people in and around the Baton Rouge area are most concerned about. Based on these survey answers, a website will be put together detailing different environmental issues. The next District 1 community meeting will be held at the Baker Civic Center Tuesday, Nov. 2, at 6:30 p.m.