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I-TEN WILL BE GETTING A THIRD LANE BETWEEN LAFAYETTE AND THE ATCHAFALAYA BASIN. GOVERNOR JOHN BEL EDWARDS YESTERDAY ANNOUNCED THAT THE U-S DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AWARDED A 60 MILLION DOLLAR FASTLANE GRANT FOR THE PROJECT, WHICH IS EXPECTED TO COST AROUND THREE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS TOTAL. THE EXTRA LANES WILL BE PUT IN ON I-TEN STARTING AT THE I-49 EXIT. REPRESENTATIVE MIKE HUVAL SAYS THAT STRETCH OF HIGHWAY WAS INITIALLY BUILT TO HANDLE 16 THOUSAND CARS DAILY, BUT NOW IT’S AROUND 60 THOUSAND.
A GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY WAS HELD FOR A NEW HOTEL WHICH WILL BE BUILT ON MAIN STREET IN HACKBERRY. KEVIN ASHY, ONE OF THE OWNERS OF THE MAINSTAY SUITES HACKBERRY SPORTSMEN LODGE, SAYS THEY DECIDED TO BUILD THE HOTEL AFTER DOING MARKET RESEARCH. HE SAYS CURRENTLY OUTDOORSMEN WHO COME TO THE PARISH HAVE NOWHERE TO STAY. HE SAYS THEY ARE WAITING FOR THE GO AHEAD FROM THE PARISH TO BEGIN CONSTRUCTION AND SHOULD BE UP AND RUNNING BY FEBRUARY, WEATHER PERMITTING.
A sheriff says a civilian helicopter has crashed in southern Louisiana and authorities are searching for at least one person in the water. Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal tells TV station KATC the crash happened Wednesday in the Atchafalaya Basin. He says deputies, state Wildlife and Fisheries agents, and Coast Guard officials are working on a recovery. U.S. Air Force public affairs specialist Mary McHale tells The Advocate a commercial helicopter doing a pipeline survey was reported missing late Wednesday afternoon.
Republican contenders for Louisiana’s U.S. Senate seat pushed repeal of the federal health overhaul, while their Democratic opponents said they want tweaks instead.
But they were short on specifics Wednesday in a candidate health care forum.
Among Republicans, U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany said people need a wider array of insurance choices and more focus on the “doctor-patient relationship.” U.S. Rep. John Fleming talked of needing a “market-based approach” to replace the law. Treasurer John Kennedy said the country needs more choice, more competition, more price transparency and less fraud. Among Democratic candidates, Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell and lawyer Caroline Fayard said they wanted fixes, not repeal. Campbell said he’d seek improvements for small business regulations, and Fayard said the insurance mandate and open enrollment standards need to be changed. Eight of the 24 candidates for the Senate were on hand for the forum, sponsored by the Louisiana Association of Health Plans.
THOUSANDS OF LAFAYETTE STUDENTS COULD BE SHIFTED TO NEW ATTENDANCE ZONES BEGINNING IN THE FALL OF 2017. DEMOGRAPHER MIKE HEFNER PRESENTED A PROPOSED NEW ATTENDANCE ZONE MAP AT A SCHOOL BOARD WORKSHOP YESTERDAY, WHICH HE SAYS SIMPLIFIES THE SCHOOL ZONE BOUNDARIES AND MOVES STUDENTS CLOSER TO THEIR SCHOOLS. HE SAYS IT WOULD REDUCE TRANSPORTATION TIMES FOR STUDENTS AND BETTER USE EXISTING CLASSROOM SPACE. HIGH SCHOOLS IN LAFAYETTE PARISH HAVE NOT BEEN REZONED SINCE THE EARLY 1980’S WHILE ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOLS WERE LAST REZONED IN THE LATE 1990’S.
THE LAKE CHARLES CITY COUNCIL LAST NIGHT APPROVED AN EMERGENCY MEASURE TO REPLACE TWO SEWER FORCE MAINS, THAT TRANSPORT RAW SEWAGE ACROSS THE CONTRABAND BAYOU TO PLANT B. ONE OF THE TWO MAINS FAILED A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO AND HAD TO BE SHUT DOWN, ACCORDING TO CITY ATTORNEY BILLY LOFTIN, MEANING THE REMAINING MAIN HAD TO BEAR THE EXTRA LOAD, AND IT WAS BUILT IN THE 1970’S. LOFTIN SAYS THEY INITIATED EMERGENCY PROCEDURES TO START THE EMERGENCY BID PROCESS, IN WHICH MANCHAC CONSULTING OF BATON ROUGE SUBMITTED A LOW BID OF 986 THOUSAND DOLLARS. LOFTIN SAYS IT’S A 90 DAY CONTRACT AND THEY SHOULD RECEIVE NOTICE TO BEGIN AROUND AUGUST 15TH.
Authorities say a small plane crashed into the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida Panhandle coast, killing a Crowley man. The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office says on social media that 63-year old Al Habetz’s twin engine eight-seat Cessna went down Tuesday night near Destin. Officials began to search the water shortly after receiving reports about the crash. The sheriff’s office says the U.S. Coast Guard recovered Habetz’s body.
