The Latest

September 30

kpel965.com Lafayette Councils Set Joint Meeting To Override Guillory’s Veto

Previously, the councils had both passed an amended budget that did not include nearly a quarter of a million dollars in raises for top officials working for Lafayette Consolidated Government.

However, Guillory restored the raises to the budget using line-item veto powers. The City and Parish Councils have since come back and decided they would challenge that veto, holding a joint meeting to override that as the battle between Lafayette’s legislative and executive branches rages on.

Source: KPEL

September 30

theadvocate.com ‘When I’m chief’: Two of the finalists for Lafayette police chief share their visions at forum

Former Louisiana State Police trooper Brian Ardoin and Lafayette police Sgt. Dorian Brabham took the stage for two hours before about three dozen Lafayette residents at a forum co-chaired by the Lafayette NAACP and League of Women Voters-Lafayette.

Source: The Advocate

Solution Hub

September 28

Despite supply chain hurdles, Narcan distribution is saving lives in Lafayette

Greater access to naloxone appears to be having an impact. At the current rate, the number of overdose deaths projected for this year would decline 30%. Hurdles remain in the supply chain. Those fighting the opioid crisis hope to overcome them.

Arts + Culture

September 26

Life, death and jazz funerals: Jason Berry’s ‘City of a Million Dreams’

Twenty-five years in the making, Berry’s new documentary is a historical portrait of New Orleans and its enduring Jazz Funeral tradition.

September 26

theadvertiser.com Lafayette can’t spend $13.5M federal funds on major drainage projects

But the two most expensive parts of that project — major detention ponds near Homewood Drive and off Duhon Road expected to total more than $50 million — can’t be paid for with federal funds because LCG’s process for hiring a contractor to build them was not competitive enough to comply with federal law.

Source: The Advertiser

Currency

September 21

COLUMN: Guillory is leading LUS Fiber on a path to insolvency

LUS Fiber is budgeted to spend millions on expansions and make a discretionary payment into the city general fund for the first time ever. Fiber can’t afford to do that.

News + Notes

September 19

The Current and The Acadiana Advocate sue to block LCG digital records fees

The suit alleges “egregious and intentional” abuse of the state’s Public Records Law and seeks to hold Guillory personally liable for attorneys’ fees, costs and damages.

News + Notes

September 19

Council Preview: Library voting rights grant; $118 million in bonds

Here is a selection of items on the agendas for this week’s meetings of the City and Parish councils.

News + Notes

September 14

Paywalled: Records requests cost hundreds each under new LCG policy

The Current was billed more than $900 for a pair of requests filed last month. According to LCG’s new policy, not yet published, the invoice must be paid before digital copies of the documents are turned over.

News + Notes

Denise Konow, Christy Couvillier, Casey Leleux

September 14

After fentanyl killed their children, these mothers took action

As opioid and fentanyl-related deaths rise in Acadiana, these mothers are reframing their children’s deaths to bring awareness, promote safety and seek justice for those affected by substance abuse.

September 13

theadvocate.com Trump, Scott Angelle rolled back blowout preventer rules in 2019. Biden wants to revive them.

The set of standards — best known as the “well control rule” — was implemented by the Obama administration in 2016 in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, which killed 11 people and released more than 3 million barrels of crude oil.

Source: The Advocate

September 13

theadvertiser.com Citizens Insurance poised to hike costs dramatically in Louisiana

Homeowners protected by Louisiana’s safety-net insurance company could face a 63% cost increase in 2023, escalating the state’s growing property insurance crisis.

Source: The Advertiser