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A FEDERAL JUDGE HAS APPROVED A PLAN TO SHIFT SCHOOL ATTENDANCE ZONES IN ST. MARTIN PARISH TO HELP RESOLVE A DECADES OLD DESEGREGATION CASE. JULIE DARCE HAS MORE.
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A CAR WAS HIT BY A TRAIN LAST NIGHT AT THE RAILROAD CROSSING LOCATED AT RYAN STREET AND RAILROAD AVENUE IN LAKE CHARLES. LAKE CHARLES DEPUTY CHIEF MARK KRAUS SAYS INVESTIGATORS BELIEVE THE DRIVER OF THE VEHICLE DROVE AROUND THE CROSSING ARMS AND COLLIDED WITH THE TRAIN. THE DRIVER, WHO’S NAME HAS NOT YET BEEN RELEASED, WAS TAKEN TO A HOSPITAL FOR TREATMENT OF HIS INJURIES. THE ACCIDENT REMAINS UNDER INVESTIGATION.
THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND DEVELOPMENT EXPECTS WORK TO WIDEN I-TEN FROM I-49 TO THE BASIN BRIDGE WILL BEGIN TOWARDS THE END OF THIS YEAR. THE DEPARTMENT CHIEF FOR DISTRICT THREE IN LAFAYETTE, BILL OLIVER, SAYS THE FIRST PHASE IS WIDENING THE INTERSTATE FROM I-49 TO THE BREAUX BRIDGE EXIT, AND THEY’LL BEGIN ACCEPTING BIDS FOR THAT IN JULY. HE SAYS THEY’LL BEGIN ACCEPTING BIDS FOR THE 2-POINT-7 MILE STRETCH FROM L-A 347 TO THE BASIN BRIDGE IN SEPTEMBER. HE SAYS BIDS ON THE MIDDLE SECTION WON’T BE ACCEPTED UNTIL 2018 OR 2019.
Before anyone can get insurance coverage through Louisiana’s planned Medicaid expansion, the state needs to hire the workers who will sign patients up for that coverage. Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration is working to have health care providers pick up that short-term $2.8 million cost for salaries, training and equipment — rather than the cash-strapped state health department. As he announced his Medicaid expansion roll-out, Edwards praised health secretary Rebekah Gee, saying she had secured pledges from providers to cover that cost for the current budget year. The unusual staffing proposal first requires federal approval before any of the estimated 248 workers needed to staff the Medicaid expansion work can be hired.
Safety experts say a railroad crossing where five people were killed is dangerously near a highway intersection, leading to traffic backups that can trap vehicles in a train’s path. But state transportation officials say it’s not scheduled for improvements such as a traffic signal guided by sensors for approaching trains.
The Advocate reports that since 2012, at least one train a year has hit a vehicle stopped at that crossing. Phyllis Leblanc, her husband, twin 12-year-old grandsons, and two of the boys’ friends were in a car hit by a passenger train there on Dec. 22.
CUSTOMERS OF THE WEST ALLEN PARISH WATER DISTRICT ARE UNDER A BOIL ADVISORY. THAT’S BECAUSE A VALVE IS BEING REPLACED AT A CRITICAL POINT IN THE SUPPLY LINE IN REEVES. ONCE THE VALVE IS REPLACED, THE BOIL ADVISORY WILL REMAIN IN PLACE UNTIL WATER SAMPLES CAN BE COLLECTED AND CLEARED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HOSPITALS. CUSTOMERS ARE ADVISED TO BOIL WATER UNTIL THEY RECEIVE NOTICE FROM THE WEST ALLEN WATER DISTRICT.
A club that runs an annual Mardi Gras parade in St. Martinville says in a federal lawsuit that its rights are being violated after the city required it to have more security and barricades to make the parade safer. The Newcomers Club filed a lawsuit Friday in federal court in Lafayette against the City of St. Martinville, the City Council, the mayor and the St. Martin Parish sheriff, according to KATC-TV.
The suit contends its Mardi Gras parade is a 54-year-old tradition and the club has a right to assemble and celebrate its heritage. The city told the club to hire additional security and purchase barricades to make the event safer or they would not be allowed to parade.
The state Department of Transportation and Development is extending the timeline for input on the proposed Interstate 49 Connector through Lafayette. The extension allows the state to consider changes in the community in the years since plans for the road were last subject to public scrutiny. The DOTD in September launched an 18-month public outreach effort focused on such issues as the location of parks underneath the interstate, landscaping, pedestrian and bike paths, lighting and aesthetic design themes for the road. The Advocate reports officials will add five months to the public outreach work to explore concerns that might not have played a part in earlier design work.
