Guillory’s hole grows deeper with fallout over Hurricane Laura shelters
Many read it as a callous denial of help for those most in need, reinforcing a growing view that the mayor-president is heartless.
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Month: August 2020
Council Preview 9/1: Higher taxes, fighting for city autonomy, millions in new spending, new restrictions on citizens
The gist: Tax increases, budget battles, new restrictions on citizens, short-term rentals, millions of dollars being spent on parish parks and the Buchanan garage are just some of what the councils will work through at tomorrow night’s meetings. All of this is set against a backdrop of rapidly deteriorating race relations and an increasingly embattled […]
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A bruised Lafayette well-positioned to help its western neighbors
The gist: While Louisiana was spared some of the worst-case flooding that models had predicted, parts of Calcasieu and Cameron parishes are reeling from the impact of Hurricane Laura. Acadiana, while bruised in some areas, is for the most part positioned to help its western neighbors get back on their feet.
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First the pandemic, then protests and now Laura
The gist: An impending Gulf storm reminiscent of Hurricane Rita in 2005 and scattered demonstrations are splitting public attention since Lafayette police killed a 31-year-old Black man last week. Protestors are working to keep attention on their outrage, while residents reeling from the pandemic and fatigued by years of flooding turn to face another storm.
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LETTER: Standing up to Lafayette’s quiet racism
I have not attributed these statements to the people who made them, and there is one example that I cannot even include; it’s so unbelievable. If you recognize your own words here, I only regret that I did not act then and call you out.
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Marco and Laura won’t deter Lafayette protestors
The gist: Activists with the local NAACP staged a sit-in at City hall Monday, two days ahead of Tropical Storm Laura’s expected landfall as a hurricane. Jamal Taylor, 33, one of the NAACP organizers, has promised more action in days to come both on the ground and over Zoom, as part of an ongoing effort […]
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COLUMN: Lafayette’s top 10 unresolved budget issues
LCG’s budgetmaking process can be complicated in a normal year, and this is far from a normal year. Newly split councils, a mayor-president deadset on slashing budgets, and an uncertain economy has created a perfect storm for a tense budgetmaking process. As the councils round the corner on amending this budget, these are some of the top issues still to be resolved.
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LETTER: A lazy, unimaginative, stingy and unrealistic ‘plan’
LPSS’s reopening assumes, as usual, that overworked, underpaid, underappreciated, and disrespected teachers — many of whom are at high risk for COVID-19 themselves — will pick up all the slack.
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Judge temporarily blocks suspension of Lafayette police officer
A district court judge today issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Lafayette Police Department’s effort to discipline a veteran K-9 officer for social media activity the officer claims was done in his capacity as president of the local police union.
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Next stop for LUS/Fiber debacle: D.A. Stutes, Public Service Commission
The gist: Late last night, City Council members questioned a representative of Metairie-based CPA firm Carr, Riggs & Ingram about his forensic analysis of transactions between LUS and LUS Fiber, pressing him on the decision to forgo an interview with the man the firm’s report repeatedly accuses of illegal conduct. The council also decided to […]
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COLUMN: Cutting quality of life services will backfire, hurting Lafayette’s economy for years to come
In order to be economically competitive as a city, Lafayette needs to offer quality of life amenities. In the rush to cut budgets, Mayor-President Guillory is putting the city’s quality of life at risk, reducing its ability to retain and attract people, especially young families.
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One creative solution for Lafayette’s pandemic school year: learning pods with art teachers
Even with the school year pushing the start date back to Sept. 8, parents are backed into a difficult corner: Send your child back to school and risk getting sick or keep them at home for online learning and face an entirely different host of challenges. Local performing arts organization Wonderland Performing Arts has developed a potential solution: learning pods.
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