LUS bets big on natural gas with new power plant in Lafayette
LUS is making a $400 million bet on a new natural gas plant in Lafayette, following a national trend that is cutting reliance on coal.
Where mid-sized cities meet big ideas
April 23-24 at the Acadiana Center for the Arts
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
Doulas make birth better — Louisiana is expanding access to them
Studies have shown that doulas — non-medical professionals who support women during pregnancy —improve maternal health outcomes, but so far, they have been out of reach for many. Now, that’s changing.
Lafayette’s new STR rules are coming online. What are they?
Operators will need to apply for permits by April 1. A ban in single family neighborhoods takes effect in October.
Lafayette’s deal for a new jail is dead, but its needs are still growing
A long-shot bid to use private funds for a new jail is effectively dead, as a new M-P finds fault with her predecessor’s plan to pay for the deal.
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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
The university and [Lafayette Parish School System] are partnering in a “first-of-its kind” initiative that would allow UL students to receive a $1,000 monthly stipend while completing their 10-month residency program, UL announced Monday. The program starts at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year.
Source: The Advocate
The bill would replace the private school vouchers that Louisiana offers low-income families with “education scholarship accounts,” or ESAs, available to all parents regardless of financial need.
Source: The Advocate
The precipitous loss of residents that Louisiana has seen over the last three years has been spread across nearly every parish, with urban and rural areas alike seeing large decreases.
Source: The Advocate
Column: Lafayette’s population donut is growing. Let’s savor the opportunity.
Lafayette Parish is growing faster than the national average, becoming more diverse and producing more jobs. We should tap into that strength, whatever its sources.
Aurora’s Wake: On Dege Legg’s death and final act
It’s nearly impossible to hear Brother Dege’s final record, Aurora, as anything but a farewell and benediction.
Council Preview: New councils to weigh spoil banks lawsuits
Lafayette’s City and Parish councils have three executive sessions planned for Tuesday to discuss a trio of lawsuits related to LCG’s controversial 2022 removal of spoil banks in St. Martin Parish.
Lafayette’s Celtic Bayou Festival pipes in the wider Celtic world
Since 2016, the annual Irish gathering has grown to import the rest of the Celtic Diaspora: Bretons, Scots, Welsh and more.
The board voted 5 to 4 to move the gifted program from Paul Breaux at 1400 S. Orange St. to Edgar Martin Middle School at 410 Broadmoor Blvd. and 5 to 4 to move the French and Spanish immersion programs to Scott Middle School at 116 Marie St. in Scott.
Source: The Advocate
Legg, 56, reportedly died Friday. He has been described as a Southern-swamp-psych-rock musician turned neo-blues man. He caught the break of a lifetime in 2011 when Quentin Tarantino heard his song, “Too Old to Die Young,” and used it on the soundtrack of his film “Django Unchained.”
Source: The Advocate
The governor wants to pare down the state’s foundational governing document, which was adopted through a public vote in 1974 but has been amended more than 200 times in the past 50 years.
Source: LA Illuminator
A pair of bills filed for the Legislature’s regular session would apply the state’s obscenity laws to public libraries, which are currently exempt. Rep. Josh Carlson, a freshman representative from Lafayette, is carrying the legislation in the house. Carlson, a former Lafayette Parish councilman, has also filed a bill removing the requirement that library directors carry a master of library science.
Source: The Advocate
How AcA teaches the nation’s teaching artists
Acadiana Center for the Arts staff traveled to Washington, D.C. to present a workshop on how AcA trains teaching artists.
Want to improve Louisianan’s health? Raise the minimum wage, group argues
Louisiana’s perennially poor health rankings can be blamed on poverty, childhood trauma and a lack of investment in women’s health, according to a report for the LA40by30 initiative.
Closing Paul Breaux is off the agenda, but not off the table
Wednesday’s school board meeting won’t include plans to close Paul Breaux Middle, but the school’s defenders say it could be the first step toward shutting it down.
Sold as major savings, LCG retirement swap may be a disaster
A shift in retirement plans, billed as a way to save millions on personnel costs, has ensnared LCG in a lawsuit that may instead cost it tens of millions.
The drought in 2023 was one of the most severe droughts in the history of Louisiana and caused significant damage to the sustainability of the crawfish industry. Lack of water and, in some cases, saltwater intrusion decimated the seed stock and has limited the ability to catch crawfish.
Source: The Advertiser
Plans will be presented to demolish, remove and replace the Louis “Doc” Bonin Generating Station with a more modern, energy-efficient plant and operations center.
Source: KATC
Source: Festival International
Firefighters entered the NICU and discovered the smoke coming from the ceiling space. It was quickly determined a small section on the roof was burning. Emergency crews extinguished the fire within minutes. First responders set up ventilation fans to exhaust the light smoke and smell.
Source: The Advertiser