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Lafayette

Published:
Link to theadvocate.com Lafayette bars can re-open after two weeks of low positivity

For two straight weeks, fewer than 5% of coronavirus tests performed in Lafayette Parish have come back positive, meeting the threshold to opt back in to limited indoor service for the first time since November. On Wednesday, Mayor-President Josh Guillory did just that, notifying the governor that he will allow Lafayette bars to re-open at 25% occupancy. Permitting loopholes and lax enforcement have kept much of Lafayette’s night life humming throughout the pandemic, with crowds piling up Downtown on weekends. But some big clubs will remain closed because of the low cap on occupancy.

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Link to theadvocate.com Protect the City Committee appointments finalized

All seven seats are now filled on a committee to study what city residents get out of Lafayette’s peculiar form of consolidated government. Five members were appointed for each district, directly by the relevant council member. And two more were appointed at-large by vote Tuesday night.

Here is the full list:

  • District 1 — Joseph Catalon, landman
  • District 2 — Mark Pope, former LCG environmental services manager
  • District 3 — Roddy Bergeron, IT executive
  • District 4 — Jan Swift, attorney and former director of Upper Lafayette Economic Development Foundation
  • District 5 — Tina Shelvin Bingham, executive director of McComb Veazey Neighborhood
  • At large — Stuart Breaux, former assistant city-parish attorney
  • At large — Bill Leyendecker, retired LCG parks and recreation manager
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Link to theadvocate.com Library board will support tax renewal

The library system’s board of control, stocked now with ideological conservatives appointed in the wake of a string of controversies, will support an upcoming renewal. Just three years ago, the Lafayette Parish Library system was flush, sitting on $26 million in reserves and working with three property taxes. That hefty balance became a target for conservative activists, and a political campaign to defeat one tax renewal succeeded. Now, the system is operating at a deficit and with a much smaller reserve.

Via The Advocate
Local Voices
Library building with flag in front
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LETTER: Lafayette Parish library and economics

A strong library system is essential to the growth of Lafayette. So rather than shrink library services, the city-parish government and the library board need to sit down with industry, education, tourism, the arts, and law enforcement, and explain what the library does for each of them.

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Link to theadvertiser.com Gov. Edwards: Lafayette’s failed mask mandate a ‘failure of leadership’

Sounding off to The Washington Post, Gov. John Bel Edwards bemoaned Lafayette’s second failed attempt a local mask mandate a “failure of leadership.” Edwards called the decision “regrettable” and emphasized that the statewide mandate is in effect, despite an apparent lack of enforcement both by the state fire marshal and the open defiance of Mayor-President Josh Guillory.

“It’s unfortunate, because that region of our state, at numerous times throughout the pandemic, has actually had some of the highest positivity rates and case growth and hospitalizations,” Edwards said.

Via the Daily Advertiser

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Link to theadvocate.com Louisiana expanding vaccine eligibility to K-12 teachers, people with health conditions

Beginning Monday, K-12 teachers and school staff and people aged 55-64 with certain health conditions will be eligible to receive Covid vaccines, Gov. Edwards announced Thursday, reported here by The Advocate. The massive ongoing winter event has disrupted already delayed vaccine logistics. Closed roads and offices forced delays in vaccine shipments and providers have had to reschedule both first- and second-dose appointments. LDH officials say that a few days delay on second doses shouldn’t be a problem. Just over a quarter-million people have been fully vaccinated in Louisiana. Hospitalizations have plummeted, however. As of Thursday, the Acadiana region posted fewer than 60 Covid in-patients for the first time since Nov. 2.

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