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Breaking the cycle: Pilot program aims to keep rural Acadiana residents out of prison
When John Nugent got out of prison in the summer of 2017, he was determined to turn his life around. No more briefcases filled with drugs and counterfeit bills driven, without a license, in a car without plates. He was going straight. And that meant days working at the tire scrap yard and nights spent in a sober living home.
Boulet releases budget message. Read it here.
This week, Mayor-President Monique Boulet will release the first budget proposal of her administration. In a message released Tuesday, ahead of a special joint council meeting introducing the budget, she outlined her priorities and goals. Read her budget message below:. We are focusing on improving deficiencies in basic government services...
Minimum wage increase in the works for LCG employees
The Boulet administration’s first budget proposes significant pay increases for low-wage staff across departments. The pay plan targets severe worker shortages at Lafayette Consolidated Government. Some departments have vacancy rates of 25% or more. The plan would raise LCG’s minimum wage for civil service employees to $12/hour and increase...
Lafayette posts strong sales tax receipts in May
Lafayette – 0.6%. Sales tax revenue projections influence the budgeting outlook for Lafayette Consolidated Government. Price inflation has pushed collections high, a boon for local governments on the revenue side. On the flip side, government costs have gone up. LCG’s annual budget process kicks off this week with a...
Council Preview: Proposed budget, emergency prep, gas station veto
Here is a selection of items on the agendas for the July 16 meetings of the City and Parish councils. To see the full agendas, check out the links below:. LCG’s annual budget process starts each July with a proposal from the Mayor-President. Both councils then read through the entire budget and make amendments at public meetings throughout the summer before passing a final budget in early fall ahead of the start of LCG’s fiscal year on Nov. 1.
Louisiana residents can now carry a concealed weapon without a permit
In Louisiana, you can now carry a gun concealed without a permit, but the controversial new law isn’t a catch all. Elliot covers community affairs for the Current through building relationships directly with community leaders and Hub Citizens alike. A Cecilia, Louisiana native, he graduated from University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he worked as a columnist and news writer for The Vermillion.
Plan for Heymann Center replacement hits reset
Officials are going back to the drawing board on the push to replace the Heymann Performing Arts Center. After the matter appeared all but settled in favor of a facility on UL Lafayette’s campus, a new study marks a reset. A new study contracted by the Heymann Commission will...
Column: Lafayette’s golden age of food variety
It may be a tough time to run a restaurant in Lafayette — with high food costs, staffing shortages, and seemingly endless new competition. But it’s a great time to eat out. Especially if you’re like me and enjoy a variety of different foods. Lafayette is now awash...
Catholic Charities scrambles to fund homeless shelter after Landry cut funding
Catholic Charities of Acadiana on Tuesday sent out an email asking for donations to supplement funding for its emergency shelter after a recent decision by Gov. Jeff Landry to cut $1M in state funds that had been allocated to operate the shelter. In an urgent request to the public, Catholic...
It’s Monday night: Where y’all eating?
A lot of restaurants shut down on Monday nights in Lafayette, but appetites don’t. When you’re hungry for something someone else cooked on a Monday evening, what’s your go to restaurant?. Elliot covers community affairs for the Current through building relationships directly with community leaders and Hub...
Understanding Louisiana’s “No Pay, No Play” Law
Louisiana drivers, take note: “No Pay, No Play” is not just a catchy slogan; it is a state law with real impact on your road to recovery post-accident. Embodied in LA R.S. 32:866, this legislation has significant implications for drivers without compulsory auto liability insurance, even if they are not at fault in a collision.
‘A servant at heart’: Family, community remembers health advocate Jeannette Alcon
Hamburger steak and Atomic Q’s, plus an ice water and a coffee, no sugar. That was Jeanette Alcon’s order at the family’s go-to spot, Hub City Diner, where her two children, Jonny and Rachel Campos sat Wednesday to remember their mother, days after she died at Hospice of Acadiana, close to the home where she raised her children after the family moved to Lafayette from Baton Rouge in 1988.
Spot dredging to begin on Bayou Vermilion
Crews will begin digging out shallow sections of the Bayou Vermilion on July 8, the Boulet administration announced Wednesday. Residents along the river have long called for spot dredging as a flood reduction measure. “This community has long awaited the start of this project,” Mayor-President Monique Boulet said in a...
Lafayette has a housing problem. What should its housing authority do about it?
At any given time, hundreds of Lafayette area families are waiting for help finding or paying for a place to stay. The demand for affordable housing in Lafayette has overwhelmed the local housing authority, the agency charged with administering federal housing funds. Now, local leaders and housing advocates are pushing to revitalize the agency with a change of leadership.
‘We haven’t been tested,’ — Boulet proposes new emergency prep office
The Lafayette Parish Council at its meeting Tuesday night is scheduled to vote on the creation of two new positions that would coordinate the parish’s response to an emergency situation, such as hurricanes, extreme heat, or terrorist threats. The director of emergency management, with the support of an emergency...
Council Preview: Emergency prep, GUMBO grant power and flood protection
Here is a selection of items on the agendas for this week’s meetings of the City and Parish councils. To see the full agendas, check out the links below:. Parish Agenda (Public Comment Time!) Lafayette 101. Special and emergency meetings. On top of the two meetings held each month,...
Heat advisories continue for Lafayette
Heat indices will top out at 113 degrees around Lafayette Parish this week, according to the National Weather Service. NWS issued a heat advisory for the area. Catholic Charities of Acadiana is running a cooling center out of St. Joseph Diner, extending hours of operation into the early evening when temperatures drop.
Boulet blocks gas station near Four Corners
Issuing her first veto, Mayor-President Monique Boulet blocked a permit authorizing the construction of a new convenience store and gas station on University Avenue near Four Corners. In a 3-2 vote in June, the Lafayette City Council approved a conditional use permit for the development. sited in the location of...
What now after Landry cut Lafayette shelter funds?
Social service groups are working to avoid a “catastrophic” loss of shelter after Gov. Jeff Landry vetoed $1 million in funding allocated to Catholic Charities of Acadiana earlier this week. Gov. Jeff Landry’s veto of funds for Catholic Charities of Acadiana put into sharp focus the lack of...
It’s all about the joy for 2024 Lafayette Pride Grand Marshal
Centering joy and uplifting people are paramount for Peyton Rose Michelle, especially in the wake of a legislative session that has negatively impacted the LGBTQ+ community. Michelle, the first openly transgender person in Louisiana to be elected to a state political party and executive director of Louisiana Trans Advocates, is the Grand Marshal of this year’s 4th annual Pride Acadiana festival Saturday in Downtown Lafayette.
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