An EF3 tornado left an 8-mile path of destruction, claiming one life and damaging 25 homes in the village of Palmetto in St. Landry parish Brooke Thorington has more.
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President Biden’s over two trillion dollar American Jobs Plan proposal could see Louisiana receive a massive windfall in federal infrastructure aid. Matt Doyle has the story.
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Residents in the St. Landry Parish village of Palmetto are rummaging through the damage from an EF3 tornado that ravaged at least 25 homes early Saturday morning and claimed one life. Parish President Jesse Bellard (Bell-ard) says the tornado touched down on Bolden Road just off Highway 359.
The National Weather Service says debris could be seen 15-thousand feet in the air. Seven people were transported to the hospital where two remain, one with back and neck injuries, the other with a collapsed lung.
Bellard is encouraging those who received damage to report it to Damage.LA.Gov so the state can assess the damage and possibly receive funding.
Bellard says he’s encouraged by the outpouring of support from residents of nearby towns assisting with clean-up and providing food for victims. As for tornado damage, he says this is the worst he’s ever seen.
The St. Landry Foundation is also collecting funds to assist with transporting the body of the one fatality from the storm back to his home in Mexico so he can be buried.
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A 26-year-old woman who fell off her jet ski and was not found until the next day is listed in critical condition at a hospital in Covington. Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries spokesperson Adam Einck says the search began Friday night in the Tchefuncte River…
Einck says the search resumed Saturday morning. He says at around 10:30 in the morning the woman’s jet ski was located and St. Tammany Parish deputies found her about a half-hour later…
Einck says once the woman was discovered her, deputies quickly got her to a nearby boat launch…
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Louisiana could be in line for billions of dollars in federal “infrastructure” aid under President Biden’s over two trillion dollar American Jobs Plan.
Biden says Louisiana is in particular need, giving the state a D+ grade on the Infrastructure Report Card. State Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson doesn’t dispute that appraisal.
It’s currently unclear exactly how much of the two trillion dollar bill would be headed to Louisiana.
The single biggest item in the proposal is 600 billion dollars for transportation infrastructure, 115 billion of that going to repairing roads and bridges.
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Also included is 50 billion for infrastructure environmental resiliency, 111 billion for clean water infrastructure, 300 billion for manufacturing, 100 billion for broadband, and 85 billion for public transportation.
The AJP is marketed as an infrastructure bill but it contains hundreds of billions in funding for expanded childcare, elderly caregiving, and housing. Wilson says those investments are needed to power a modern economy.
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Over 900 bills and resolutions have been filed for the legislative session that began today and there are several measures dealing with the legalization of sports betting. Metairie Senator Cameron Henry says a big question is whether lawmakers will agree to allow residents in approved parishes to place bets on their phone
Voters in 55 of 64 parishes said yes to legal sports betting in their parish last November. Henry says he’s heard the governor is not completely comfortable with mobile sports betting, where bets can be placed anywhere in an approved parish. He says as the legislation moves forward they’ll work with the governor’s office …
Henry says lawmakers will also have to decide on how the activity will be taxed and where the revenue will go…