Are they still selling bricks for Veterans Memorial Park? My husband is a Vietnam veteran, and I would like to know about it.

Applications for bricks — $50 each, $100 in the commercial section — are available online and at the Civic Center.

“Allow 4-8 weeks for processing of application and an additional 6-8 weeks for the engraving of the brick,” reads the sign-up form. “Certificate of Ownership will be mailed after brick has been placed in park.”

City spokesman Scott Raymond said the park contains 5,442 engraved bricks.

For more information, call the city at 491-1200.

Online: www.cityoflakecharles.com.

Food stamps good only to buy food

What can people buy with Louisiana Purchase food stamp cards?

Federal regulations say benefit recipients can use the cards to buy food products, including cereal; seafood, meat and poultry; dairy products; produce; baked goods; soda; candy; and “seeds and plants to grow foods for … personal consumption.”

The cards can’t be used to buy alcohol or tobacco products; nonfood items; pet food; or hot foods.

Online: www.dss.louisiana.gov; www.fns.usda.gov/snap.

Bus driver tenure unaffected by bill

Will the teacher tenure bill affect tenure for school bus drivers?

No.

The tenure reform measure makes no mention of bus drivers, who receive tenure after three years of employment.

Under R.S. 17:493, tenured drivers can only be fired — after a hearing — for “willful neglect of duty, or incompetence, or immorality, or drunkenness while on duty,” along with several other failings.

Among them:

Failing to report their arrest on drug or DWI charges.

Failing to keep equipment “in a safe, comfortable, and practical operating condition.”

“Being a member of or contributing to any group, organization, movement, or corporation that is prohibited by law or injunction from operating in the state.”

Online: http://legis.la.gov.

Several horses played Secretariat

Was the horse that played Big Red in the movie “Secretariat” a descendant of Secretariat?

Several horses were used as stand-ins for Secretariat, aka Big Red, including 7-year-old Longshot Max and Trolley Boy, a 6-year-old former racehorse from Kentucky and reportedly a descendant of Secretariat.

“The Secretariat Foundation had a long-standing look-alike contest every year at their county fair. The producers had asked me to include the foundation and put out a casting call,” horse wrangler Rusty Hendrickson told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2010.

“Trolley Boy was the winner the previous year, and we got in touch with his owners for the filming of ‘Secretariat.’ Longshot Max’s owners submitted a photo and (he) was chosen.”

Online: www.secretariat.com.

The Informer answers questions from readers each Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It is researched and written by Andrew Perzo, an American Press staff writer. To ask a question, call 494-4098, press 5 and leave voice mail, or email informer@americanpress.com

(Wikimedia Commons)