Crawfish fans might want to start a savings account and prep for a much smaller platter this year. Brooke Thorington explains.
Cut 1 (29) “…I’m Brooke Thorington.”
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Amazon announces plans to build a distribution facility in Monroe. Teiko Foxx has more…
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LSU Ag Center Crawfish Specialist Mark Shirley warns crawfish connoisseurs that 2024 will be one of the worst mudbug seasons on record as far as prices and supply are concerned. He says it’s so dire farmers are averaging one to two mudbugs a trap.
Cut 3 (13) “…(x2) just not there.”
And he worries the freeze forecasted next week will only make things worse.
Shirley says Louisiana should have 361,000 acres of crawfish production, that’s what farmers probably would have flooded up back in the fall, but the drought hampered things severely.
And the Super Bowl of Crawfish, Easter is March 31st.
The other unknown Shirley says is wild crawfish in the Atchafalaya Basin. Right now, he says the water levels are only two to three feet which is very low, and unless we get a lot of rain in the Mississippi watershed…
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Republican U-S Senator Bill Cassidy is not a fan of Governor Jeff Landry’s proposal to move Louisiana from an open primary election system to closed party primaries. A Louisiana pollster says such a dramatic change to how elections are held will cost the state an additional 90-million dollars a year. Cassidy says the state has bigger priorities to fund…
Cut 6 (11) “…coastal restoration.”
In next week’s redistricting special session, legislators will have the opportunity to debate a move to closed party primaries. Louisiana Republican Party Chair Louis Gurvich told the Advocate newspaper the party has been arguing for it for decades.
Louisiana’s open primary system has been around since the 1970s. In 2008 and 2010 Louisiana party-run primaries for just federal races, but Cassidy says it caused confusion and independent voters were upset they could not vote in a closed primary…
Landry has yet to provide any additional comments on why supports closed party primaries. Supporters say it leads to better candidates in the general election and it would end the December run-off that occurs for Congressional races. But Cassidy says how Louisiana elects its officials is not broken, so why fix it
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Amazon, the leading global online retailer, is opening a 56 thousand square foot distribution facility in Monroe. Mayor Friday Ellis says the facility will provide 200 jobs between 17 to 28 dollars per hour.
Ellis says Amazon’s announcement will hopefully result in more economic development for the region.
Cut 10 (08) “…northeast Louisiana.”
The distribution plant will be located at the intersection of Luffey Drive and I-20 North Frontage Road and construction is expected to begin in the coming weeks. Ellis says this will also be a win for local small businesses.
Career opportunities and job hiring will be offered closer to the facility’s launch date.
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A new poll finds the cost of insurance is the biggest issue facing Louisiana residents. There was talk of a special session on insurance reform before the regular session starts in March, but Senate President Cameron Henry says because of the complexity of insurance laws, it would be better to wait until the regular session..
The regular session begins March 11th and it will continue until June 3rd. Henry says new Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple has a lot of ideas on how to improve the insurance market in Louisiana and it would be better to discuss those ideas during a three month long session