But before you head to get your festival on, here’s a few things you should know about what to pack, where to park and more.
Source: The Advocate
Christiaan Mader
Christiaan Mader founded The Current in 2018, reviving the brand from a short-lived culture magazine he created for Lafayette publisher INDMedia. An award-winning investigative and culture journalist, Christiaan’s work as a writer and reporter has appeared in The New York Times, Vice, Offbeat, Gambit, and The Advocate.
Its sponsor, Rep. Beau Beaullieu, R-New Iberia, brushed off concerns from colleagues who question the Legislature’s ability to proceed with their ongoing lawmaking session and simultaneously handle constitutional revisions.
“I would argue that the timing is perfect and the timing is absolute if we’re going to make bold changes in Louisiana,” Beaullieu told the committee.
Source: LA Illuminator
Most of the pending lawsuits are in state court in the 15th Judicial district. Several challenge land use disagreements over platting and zoning. City-Parish Attorney Pat Ottinger said he does not believe the number is excessive, though he is working to dismiss unnecessary suits filed by LCG.
Source: The Advocate
The change was spearheaded by board member Robert Judge who, at his second meeting in 2021, failed to convince the board to change the mission statement by removing recreation and cultural enrichment. Over three years later, he succeeded in making that change and more.
Source: The Advocate
Proposed legislation would bar the state Department of Children and Family Services from requesting waivers for work requirements attached to federal food aid.
Source: The Lens
The biggest outages in Acadiana are Acadia and St. Landry Parish, according to SLEMCO and Entergy outage maps. Over 57% of St. Landry Parish residents are without power as of noon with the major outages in Opelousas and the city’s surroundings, SLEMCO maps show. That number was nearly 70% earlier in the day.
Source: The Advocate
Rep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro, filed legislation this week to allow lawmakers to withdraw up to $400 million from Louisiana’s Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund before July 1, 2025. Juvenile justice campuses would be prioritized if they tap into the money, said House Speaker Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice, and state Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro.
Source: LA Illuminator
The district will be able to buy property, build facilities, issue revenue bonds, incur debt and levy taxes without a vote of the public, according to the legislation, to develop public improvement projects for the university directly or through private foundations or nonprofit organizations affiliated with the university.
Source: The Advocate
If it passes, the plan calls for 171 delegates, made up of 144 state lawmakers and 27 other people Landry would select, to run the constitution-writing process.
Source: Louisiana Illuminator
The super park idea has been scaled back to include only four tournament-quality baseball and softball fields, new LED lighting, a new concession building, new bleachers, canopies and new batting cages.
Source: The Advocate
Lack of jail space was by far identified as having the biggest influence on crime rates in the last five years, with 98%, 230 of those surveyed, saying it had a large influence and only 11 saying it had moderate to no influence.
Source: The Advocate
Should he keep his job, State Public Defender Rémy Starns suggested he might cut the pay of some of the lawyers who oversee Louisiana’s 37 local public defender districts. Those offices handle cases for approximately 145,000 people, or 88% of all criminal defendants in the state.
Source: Louisiana Illuminator