Acadiana is seeing roughly 300 new cases each day over the past two weeks. The highly contagious BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants are driving the uptick.
It’s a far cry from January, when about 1,500 new cases were reported per day at the peak of the omicron surge. It’s also not as high as the delta surge last September, when about 440 cases per day were reported.
Source: The Advocate
Nineteenth Judicial District Judge Don Johnson ruled Thursday in favor of abortion providers who sued the state, arguing the state’s laws banning abortions at all points in pregnancy are too vague.
He granted a preliminary injunction blocking the ban. The decision marks a win for abortion rights advocates, who have fought to keep abortion clinics open through the legal challenge.
Source: The Advocate
Public comment on Lafayette’s bike plan was extended to Aug. 1. Submit a comment here.
Mayor-President Josh Guillory is planning $211,000 in raises for his department directors in next year’s Lafayette Consolidated Government budget after 2% raises were approved in June.
Annual raises ranging from $5,000 to $38,000 were included for 11 department directors in Guillory’s proposed 2023 budget, which was revealed Tuesday.
Source: The Advertiser
The Parish Council voted 4-1 on a resolution giving the first-term mayor-president authority to develop partnerships for up to 40 years at $10.5 million per year, provided the council has final authority to spend any money.
AB Rubin, the lone Democrat, voted against.Guillory announced plans to seek a public-private deal to build a new jail in a short video released Monday night.
Source: The Advertiser
LCG’s last two budget cycles were mirror images. M-P Josh Guillory’s first budget was notable for its cuts, his second for its spending. And this one? Maybe a reckoning of the two.
Engaging in this budget-making process can be daunting. It doesn’t have to be.
His first album, out later this month, caps a whirlwind year launching the former ad-man’s career in comedy. He kicked off his rapid rise with a decision to kick drugs and alcohol.
A delegation to the festival was set to include legislators, the lieutenant governor and reps from Lafayette Consolidated Government, CODOFIL and the Office of Culture, Recreation and Tourism.
A state district judge in Baton Rouge will keep a temporary restraining order in effect while the court considers whether Louisiana’s abortion ban is legal.
Judge Donald Johnson issued his ruling Tuesday that prevents Attorney General Jeff Landry and the state health department from enforcing the state’s abortion prohibition.
Source: Louisiana Illuminator
The resolution authorizing the mayor-president to seek a deal with a private financier is before the Parish Council Tuesday night. M-P Josh Guillory said the approach could pay for a new jail without new taxes.
Guillory said he is asking the Parish Council to approve a resolution supporting a plan to replace the aging Lafayette Parish Correctional Center without raising taxes.
He is proposing a “public-private partnership model” which “does not call for the privatization of the jail. This will not be a private prison.”
Source: The Advertiser
Holden Hoggatt, a Lafayette attorney, will challenge Rep. Clay Higgins this fall. The challenger appears poised to make Higgins’ erratic behavior a campaign issue, while measuring up his own credentials as a staunch conservative. Higgins’ last Republican challenger was Josh Guillory, whose failed 2018 run nonetheless built a platform for his successful campaign for mayor-president.
“I am running for Congress because we need a leader in Washington D.C. that we can actually be proud of,” Hoggatt said in a statement. “Leaders in our communities encouraged me to run because they agree with that.
Source: The Advertiser
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