Hotel rooms arranged by local housing advocates kept hundreds of people warm during last week’s crushing freeze. Donations poured in across the Acadiana region. But the makeup of people in need underscores rising housing insecurity in the area.
The gist: Personal protective equipment manufacturing is coming to Broussard, a project one economic development professional says may be “bigger than Amazon,” a reference to the fulfillment center the mega e-commerce retailer has under construction in Carencro.
Overwhelmingly, respondents said recent press accurately reflected Lafayette and that our community is getting worse.
Descended from pioneers in education, Morrison credits her success to the community she saw her family nurture.
Every aspect of life in America is much better because of the talents, the work, the creativity and the culture of Black people.
For two straight weeks, fewer than 5% of coronavirus tests performed in Lafayette Parish have come back positive, meeting the threshold to opt back in to limited indoor service for the first time since November. On Wednesday, Mayor-President Josh Guillory did just that, notifying the governor that he will allow Lafayette bars to re-open at 25% occupancy. Permitting loopholes and lax enforcement have kept much of Lafayette’s night life humming throughout the pandemic, with crowds piling up Downtown on weekends. But some big clubs will remain closed because of the low cap on occupancy.
December’s coronavirus stimulus included $1 billion for schools in Louisiana. Districts across the state are working the windfall into their plans, with most using the money to address learning loss. Lafayette Parish schools will use its $37 million allocation for ” academic recovery, student services and personal protective equipment,” according to The Advocate.
All seven seats are now filled on a committee to study what city residents get out of Lafayette’s peculiar form of consolidated government. Five members were appointed for each district, directly by the relevant council member. And two more were appointed at-large by vote Tuesday night.
Here is the full list:
The library system’s board of control, stocked now with ideological conservatives appointed in the wake of a string of controversies, will support an upcoming renewal. Just three years ago, the Lafayette Parish Library system was flush, sitting on $26 million in reserves and working with three property taxes. That hefty balance became a target for conservative activists, and a political campaign to defeat one tax renewal succeeded. Now, the system is operating at a deficit and with a much smaller reserve.
Via The Advocate
A strong library system is essential to the growth of Lafayette. So rather than shrink library services, the city-parish government and the library board need to sit down with industry, education, tourism, the arts, and law enforcement, and explain what the library does for each of them.
National headlines have been, let’s say, unflattering. This is not Lafayette, some say. Well is it? Join the conversation here.
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