5-27-19
FIVE OF THE NINE METRO AREAS IN LOUISIANA SAW AN EMPLOYMENT INCREASE IN APRIL, ACCORDING TO THE LOUISIANA WORKFORCE COMMISSION. LAFAYETTE ADDED 14-HUNDRED JOBS, WHICH IS SLIGHTLY LESS THAN A ONE PERCENT INCREASE. THE TOTAL NUMBER OF NON-FARM JOBS IN LAFAYETTE FOR APRIL WAS 204,700. LAKE CHARLES ADDED 800 JOBS IN APRIL COMPARED TO LAST APRIL FOR A TOTAL OF 118,500.
GOVERNOR JOHN BEL EDWARDS HAS REQUESTED FEDERAL ASSISTANCE DUE TO THE ONGOING THREAT OF FLOODING ACROSS LOUISIANA. MEGAN KELLY HAS MORE.
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Louisiana officials say a record number of last year’s public high school graduates enrolled in college immediately following graduation. The education department and Board of Regents announced that 25,083 of those graduates became college students in the fall. That’s an increase of 1,566 over the previous year and 4,626 more than the class of 2012, a nearly 23% increase over six years. Officials say more than half the growth is tied to increases in the number of black students attending college.
A Swiss helicopter company moving its operations to Lafayette will begin hiring people next year and building helicopters in 2021. Kopter Group AG officials said Thursday that it will hire 10 people in 2020 as it transitions to Louisiana. A company spokeswoman says it will then hire 20 people in 2021, 14 in 2022 and 100 in 2025. Kopter Group is moving into the 84,700-square-foot facility that once housed Bell Helicopter.
Louisiana police officers are beefing up their seatbelt enforcement efforts around the Memorial Day weekend. The Louisiana Highway Safety Commission says a “Click It or Ticket” campaign is happening through June 3. Officers will be looking for drivers and passengers who aren’t buckled up, giving them $50 tickets for violating Louisiana’s laws that require everyone in the car to wear a seatbelt.
Lisa Freeman, executive director of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission, said in a statement that a recent survey showed about 87% of people in Louisiana wear their seatbelts in vehicles. She says that’s too low.
THE TWELFTH ANNUAL NATIONAL MARITIME DAY MEMORIAL SERVICE WAS HELD YESTERDAY AT THE LAKE CHARLE CIVIC CENTER SEA WALL. NATIONAL MARITIME DAY FALLS ON MAY 22ND, BUT THE PROPELLER CLUB OF SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA ALWAYS CELEBRATES IT THE SUNDAY BEFORE MEMORIAL DAY EACH YEAR. THE SERVICE HONORS THOSE WHO RISK THEIR LIVES AND WHO LOST THEIR LIVES AT SEA. THE CEREMONY INCLUDED THE LAYING OF A WREATH IN THE WATER.
THE CHURCH POINT MEMORIAL DISPLAY OF CROSSES CAN BE SEEN AT THE TOWN’S DEPOT ON MAIN STREET. EACH OF THE 21 CROSSES REPRESENTS THE MEN FROM CHURCH POINT WHO HAVE DIED IN SERVICE TO THEIR COUNTRY SINCE WORLD WAR TWO. LEE DAIGLE, THE COMMANDER OF V-F-W POST 9903, SAYS THERE IS AN HONOR SENTINEL EVERY HOUR ON THE HOUR SINCE THE DISPLAY WENT UP ON SATURDAY. THE DISPLAY WILL END AT SIX THIS EVENING WHEN A CLOSING CEREMONY IS HELD.
THE ANNUAL AVENUE OF FLAGS FOR MEMORIAL DAY ARE ON DISPLAY AT THE ORANGE GROVE GRACELAND CEMETARY ON BROAD STREET IN LAKE CHARLES. THE MEMORIAL FLAGS ARE ON DISPLAY FROM EIGHT TO FIVE TODAY. THERE WILL ALSO BE A HISTORY CIRCLE SHOWING REPLICAS OF EIGHT PREVIOUS U-S FLAGS. ADMISSION IS FREE.
