Beaucoup News - June 12, 2024 (2024)

I am the senior writer for Louisiana Illuminator, but this is a personal project and not connected to my work.

Today, I’m doing a “double edition” because Beaucoup News did not come out yesterday. So you’ll get stories from Monday and Tuesday below.

Feel free to spread the word and forward Beaucoup News to people who you think might be interested in signing up.

By David Mitchell, The Advocate

State regulatory papers show the operation has been a focus for years of dust complaints for nearby residents and an area of scrutiny by regulators. Read more.

By David Mitchell, The Advocate

A chemical known to increase the risk of cancer is far more prevalent in the air along the Mississippi River corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans than previously thought, a new study has found.

By Elyse Carmosino, The Advocate

Louisiana is one of the worst states for child well-being, ranking 48th in the country behind only Mississippi and New Mexico, according to a new report. Read more.

By Julie O’Donoghue, Louisiana Illuminator

Child abuse survivors may have more time as adults to file lawsuits against their perpetrators under a new law. It’s a measure meant to strengthen efforts to hold organizations such as the Catholic Church accountable for decades of mistreatment.Read more.

By Ben Myers, The Times-Picayune

The first 10 floors of the derelict Plaza Tower will be wrapped with welcome signs. A giant mural will cover a portion of the city-owned parking garage across the street from City Hall, along with smaller ones on buildings scattered throughout downtown. Water line replacement and other utility work around the Hard Rock hotel collapse is now getting underway. Read more.

By Andrew Capps, The Lafayette Current

State Rep. John Carlson and other members of Lafayette’s City and Parish councils previously pushed to make The Acadiana Advocate Lafayette’s official journal, citing its more comprehensive coverage of state and local issues. But state law required papers to be registered with the U.S. Postal Service in a specific parish for five years before they could qualify to be that parish’s official journal, which repeatedly prevented the Advocate from unseating the Advertiser and winning Lafayette Consolidated Government’s $100,000 annual public notice contract.Read more.

By Meghan Friedmann, The Advocate

With Louisiana on track to welcome the burgeoning carbon capture and sequestration industry, lawmakers just passed a package of legislationtoregulate the controversial technology.

By Greg Hilburn, USA Today Network

Crime continues to be Louisiana residents' top concern after Shreveport, Baton Rouge and New Orleans were listed among America's most dangerous cities last year, according to an LSU survey, which is why new Republican Gov. Jeff Landry made the issue a tenet of his campaign and first six months in office. Read more.

By David Mitchell, The Advocate

A release of dangerous hydrofluoric acid seriously injured a worker at Honeywell International on Friday and has prompted the opening of the second investigationin two months by a federal industry watchdog looking at accidental releases of the chemical at the Ascension Parish plant. Read more.

By Patrick Wall, The Times-Picayune

Some Louisiana high schoolers will be able to skip the ACT after Gov. Jeff Landry signed a bill into law Tuesday over the objections of the state board of education, which said the change could prevent some students from attending college. Read more.

By Emily Woodruff, The Times-Picayune

A bill legalizing the sale of raw milk in Louisiana is set to become law, despite warnings from state and federal agencies that consuming it is risky amid an outbreak of H5N1, or bird flu, in cattle. Read more.

By Wesley Muller, Louisiana Illuminator

Gov. Jeff Landry signed a bill into law Tuesday that restructures the Louisiana Economic Development (LED) agency, eliminates labor union representation from its board, and exempts the agency from certain state purchasing laws that have caused bureaucratic delays.Read more.

By Terry Jones, Floodlight

This country’s heaviest polluters also rely on a workforce that disproportionately fails to fill good-paying jobs with people of color who are more likely to be affected by their emissions, according to a new study.

By Patrick Wall, The Times-Picayune

Louisiana’s top education policymakers endorsed a sweeping plan Tuesday to overhaul how schools are rated, a bid to raise expectations that district leaders warned will lead to lower school grades and an over-emphasis on test scores. Read more.

By Adam Duvernay, The Shreveport-Bossier Advocate

State Sen. Alan Seabaugh's bill to ban speeding cameras in Louisiana did not get out of committee during this summer's legislative session, meaning the devices ticketing school zone speeders in Shreveport and the ones the parish wants to use during a pilot program first approved last year are still legal. Read more.

By Johnette Magner, KTBS-TV

According to the daily inmate census published Tuesday, there are 1,535 inmates in CCC, which is a record number and 35 inmates above the maxim number reportedly allowed by the state fire marshal. Read more.

By Ashley White, The Advocate

Gov. Jeff Landry appointed an attorney known for defending petrochemical companies to oversee Louisiana's community college system, the governor's office announced Monday. Read more.

By Jordan Arceneaux, Greater Baton Rouge Business Report

Louisiana Economic Development is planning to move its headquarters to a building on North River Road near Lafayette Street, according to Downtown Development District Executive Director Whitney Hoffman Sayal. Read more.

By Donna Keeya, KSLA-TV

Real estate broker, Beth King, confirmed to KSLA Tuesday, June 11 the sale of two buildings in downtown Shreveport to Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. She says the rapper has purchased 218 and 205 Texas St. Read more.