Custom build outs for visionary concepts like Grocery Tavern & Delicatessen, Tchoup’s MidCity Smokehouse and Vestal take time. In a pandemic, they take even longer.
Still failing to see enforcement of the governor’s mask mandate, City Council members are taking a second shot at passing a local one in an emergency meeting. The same council members previously backed off an effort to push forward on an emergency mask ordinance in July after Mayor-President Josh Guillory assured them the state order would be sufficiently enforced.
This is problematic for two reasons. One, it suggests that people in our community really are having trouble making ends meet. Two, it harms our economic competitiveness as it relates to being able to retain our best and brightest.
The pandemic surfaced deep disparities in access to healthcare, with early data showing a disproportionate impact on the Black community. So far, Louisiana isn’t collecting sufficient data to know whether those disparities are playing out in who gets vaccinated. It’s not just about the logistics of where doses go, either. Health officials speculate that generational distrust of government health programs among Black Americans, seeded by medical experiments conducted by public health agencies, may ward them away. Health equity has become a point of emphasis in public policy — both Louisiana and Lafayette Consolidated Government, for instance, created health equity task forces.
But right now, we don’t have a clear picture of the issue with respect to the vaccine program.
Acadiana’s French immersion students are about to make a new animated friend. But he’s an old pal for many of their parents.
There’s a Cold War between the mayor-president and the City Council that could flare up at any time. The city faces a slew of controversial issues, while the parish’s finances continue to teeter on the brink of collapse, and consolidation is put on trial. These are the major stories I’ll be tracking at LCG this year.
With virtually no discussion, Lafayette’s City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to create a committee to review what city taxpayers get out consolidated government. The resolution creates a seven-member group called the “Protect the City Committee,” which will convene for six months and report its findings.
This could be a first step toward putting measure to break up combined form of government before voters.
City voters can apply to join the committee by sending a resume to [email protected]
We’re living through historic upheaval. And it’s a lot to process. How do you feel about it?
The gist: The push toward deconsolidation may take a big step forward as the City Council considers establishing a committee to assess how consolidation is working. Meanwhile, the city’s police may breathe easier, millions more arrive from the federal government, and the parish government continues to not have enough money to pay for its needs.
Lafayette’s celebration remained steadfast when area MLK events dwindled, and even faded away. This year offers an opportunity to reflect on what the slain civil rights leader’s legacy means in wake of the recent insurrection at the Capitol.
After a historically chaotic year, two trailblazing women are stepping in to help make headway with Vermilionville and its parent organization, Bayou Vermilion District.
The mayor-president is in quarantine after a direct exposure to KLFY anchor Dalfred Jones, who tested positive for the coronavirus Friday, the day he emceed the swearing in of Lafayette City Marshal Reggie Thomas at the Heymann Center.
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