84-year-old Arcadia Mayor Eugene Smith passed away yesterday from complications related to a lung illness. Smith sheparded the north Louisiana town for 16 years. Homer Representative Pat Jefferson, who was hired by Smith as the city’s first black attorney.
Jefferson says Smith “mastered Baton Rouge”, and worked the rooms in the capital to get the best deal for his constituents and the surrounding areas.
The House-approved Max Gruver Act is sailing it’s way through the legislative process, passing out of a Senate Judiciary Committee without objection this morning. It calls for tougher penalties for those convicted of hazing. Police say Gruver died after an alcohol induced hazing incident last September at LSU. Lafayette Representative Nancy Landry authors the bill.
=========================———————————-
A proposal to increase fees for hunting and fishing licenses failed to get the necessary 70 votes to pass the House. The legislation would raise an additional six-point-eight million dollars a year for Wildlife and Fisheries, who says the increase is necessary to help sustain the department for years to come. But Erath Representative Blake Miguez says if L-D-W-F needs more money, they can get it from the Conservation fund
Governor John Bel Edwards and Formosa Petrochemical Corporation announced an agreement to build a 9.4 billion dollar facility in St. James Parish. Once the ten year project is completed, officials say it will generate 1,200 full time jobs with an average pay of 84,500 dollars a year. St. James Parish President Timothy Roussell