Hospitals in the Acadiana region caught a much-needed breath, with Covid patient loads easing ahead of Hurricane Ida, freeing up capacity to take in patients from elsewhere in the state.
Coordination and public resources have fueled a scaled-up approach in Colorado Springs, a city on the radar of those working on the issue Lafayette.
The roles have reversed from the 2020 budget cycle, and now the City Council ought to play budget hawk.
Much of the spending in Guillory’s plan was of questionable eligibility, and the administration struggled to make the case for moving ahead now with so much uncertainty.
Too many of the proposed projects deliver questionable returns, create unfunded maintenance liabilities, and inexplicably use parish dollars to pay for city responsibilities.
Here’s a selection of items on the agendas for this week’s meetings of the City and Parish councils.
Catholic Charities has joined six other local housing organizations in asking Lafayette Consolidated Government for a more permanent solution to homelessness — $6.5 million to purchase an out-of-use hotel that would be retrofitted into a permanent, low-barrier, non-congregate shelter.
Just over a mile northwest of the Cajundome is a 5-acre plot of land flanked by neighborhoods of single-family homes and a commercial area to the north — not the type of zone one would normally expect to see a power plant — yet there one is, silently generating enough electricity to run 250 homes without a hint of pollution, waste or human traffic. It is UL Lafayette’s solar farm.
Due to invasive and stigmatizing policy hurdles already codified in LHSAA’s handbook, virtually nothing has changed for transgender students, despite the Legislature’s failure to override the governor’s veto of a bill discriminating against them.
As homelessness rises, panhandlers have been caught up in a months-long police dragnet that critics say is ineffective and inhumane. Soon, the Louisiana Supreme Court will weigh whether it’s constitutional.
Some controversial items are up for consideration this week, like declaring a new Willow Street jail a public necessity and calling a charter commission to examine further changes to Lafayette’s home rule charter.
Readers want to see ARPA funds go toward keeping the city afloat (literally) and its residents housed.
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