10-16-15
ECONOMIST LOREN SCOTT IS PREDICTING 26-HUNDRED MORE JOB LOSSES IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY FOR LAFAYETTE IN 2016, BUT A BOUNCE BACK OF TWO THOUSAND JOBS THE NEXT YEAR. SCOTT, SPEAKING AT A SPECIAL BUSINESS BREAKFAST MEETING IN LAFAYETTE YESTERDAY, SAYS THE ECONOMY OF LAFAYETTE IS MORE DIVERSIFIED WHICH WILL HELP IT WEATHER THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY STRUGGLES. HE PREDICTS LOUISIANA WILL HAVE AN OVERALL GAIN OF 15,400 JOBS NEXT YEAR, AND 19,600 MORE JOBS IN 2017. MOST OF THE GROWTH IS EXPECTED TO COME FROM THE LAKE CHARLES AREA, WITH AN ANTICIPATED GROWTH IN OF 74-HUNDRED JOBS IN 2016, OR A 7-POINT-1 PERCENT INCREASE.
A GROUP, OPPOSED TO A PROPOSED WORKER CAMP THAT WOULD BE LOCATED IN THE 32-HUNDRED BLOCK OF OPELOUSAS STREET IN NORTH LAKE CHARLES, MET LAST NIGHT AT OAK PARK MIDDLE SCHOOL. CHARLOTTE WAYMIRE, WHO IS PART OF THE COMMITTEE IN OPPOSITION TO THE WORKER VILLAGE, SAYS THEY’VE BEEN LIED TO A NUMBER OF TIMES ABOUT THE CAMP. SHE SAYS THEY WERE ORIGINALLY TOLD IT WOULD BE A 500 BED FACILITY FOR FEMALE WORKERS, BUT INSTEAD IT WILL BE A 28-HUNDRED BED MAN CAMP. THE GROUP PLANS ON BRINGING A PETITION IN OPPOSITION TO THE CAMP, AS WELL AS SOLUTIONS, TO THE NEXT CALCASIEU PARISH PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION MEETING TUESDAY EVENING.
THE COAST GUARD SAID LATE LAST NIGHT THAT IT HAD SUSPENDED A SEARCH FOR TWO MEN INVOLVED IN A BOAT EXPLOSION IN THE WHITE LAKE AREA. THE COAST GUARD RECEIVED WORD AT 12-40 YESTERDAY AFTERNOON OF AN EXPLOSION OF A THIRTY FOOT DECK BOAT, WHICH WAS NEAR A RIG IN WHITE LAKE OWNED BY TEXAS PETROLEUM. THE VERMILLION PARISH SHERIFF’S WATER PATROL AND THE COAST GUARD WERE SEARCHING FOR TWO CREW MEMBERS WHO WERE ABOARD THE BOAT. SHERIFF MIKE COUVILLON SAYS THE RIG DID NOT CATCH ON FIRE.
Due to the extremely dry conditions in the state, State Fire Marshal H. Butch Browning and Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain have issued a burn ban for all of Louisiana. The vast majority of the state is in extreme drought. In a news release Thursday, Browning and Strain said a cease and desist order is in effect for all private burning. They said private burning shall only be allowed by permission of the local fire department or government.
A SECTION OF KALISTE SALOOM ROAD IN LAFAYETTE WILL BE CLOSED AND REMAIN CLOSED FOR AN ENTIRE MONTH. JULIE DARCE HAS MORE.
VOICER I :20
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the Cameron Prairie National Wildlife Refuge’s office and visitor center is cutting back its hours because of staff cuts and other recent changes. A news release says all outdoor recreation areas remain open from sunrise to sunset year-round. But the office and visitor center in Bell City will be open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, and closed on weekends and federal holidays. Previously, the visitor center was open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and opened at 7:30 a.m. on weekdays, closing at 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and at 3 p.m. on Friday.
A NATIVE OF BAYOU CHICOT IN EVANGELINE PARISH HAS ADVANCED IN THE SINGING COMPETITION SHOW, THE VOICE. THIRTY-YEAR-OLD JAMES DUPRE WAS SELECTED AS THE WINNER IN A BATTTLE ROUND DUO. THAT MEANS DUPRE, A FORMER MEDIC WITH ACADIAN AMBULANCE, WILL NEXT COMPETE IN THE KNOCKOUT ROUNDS. THOSE WILL AIR ON NBC ON OCTOBER 26TH AND 27TH AND ON NOVEMBER 2ND.
Republican U.S. Sen. David Vitter blamed the state’s financial problems on a “broken and dysfunctional” Baton Rouge, as he sought to distance himself from his three rivals in the governor’s race in the latest TV debate. Vitter’s two GOP competitors, Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle and Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, replied that the senator has helped to worsen the national debt and couldn’t be trusted to fix Louisiana’s problems. Thursday’s event at Louisiana Tech University — which was closed to the media and the public — was only Vitter’s second appearance in five televised debates ahead of the Oct. 24 election. Vitter, Angelle, Dardenne and Democratic state Rep. John Bel Edwards each talked of his plan to hold one or more special legislative sessions to address the state’s budget woes.
