Louisiana
Central Louisiana residents delight in a rare snow day Tuesday
Snow is not something that you see very often in Central Louisiana.
Central Louisiana woke up to a blanket of snow, and several Pineville residents were out Tuesday morning enjoying it while it lasted.
“We love it,” said Nikita Rackley, who was outside on Myrtle Street with Jayden Deslatte, 10, and his uncle Wesley Deslatte enjoying the rare snowfall.
Chris Jasper, 20, and Corneilous Hughes, 12, donned a pair of Louisiana mittens (socks) on their hands as they pelted each other with snowballs on Barrett Street. Jasper said the socks did help keep their hands warm a little bit.
“I hadn’t seen snow in years,” Jasper said.
It was the first time Hughes has seen snow in Louisiana but has seen it in Houston. He expected it to snow here on Christmas.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said Jaden Wells, a Louisiana Christian University freshman psychology major from Mandeville.
The campus was closed Tuesday due to the weather, but Wells and Noah Nava, a junior education major from Newton, Texas, were outside throwing snowballs at each other and attempting to build a snowman.
The snow was not sticky enough for the snowman, so they ended up with a small mound.
“It’s perfect for snowballs though,” said Nava, showing one he just made.
“We don’t get this a lot so you’ve got to get outside and enjoy it as much as you can,” said Wells.
The National Weather Service in Lake Charles issued a Winter Storm Warning from midnight Tuesday until midnight Wednesday. A low of 14 degrees is expected for Tuesday night. Wednesday’s high is expected to be 30, with a low of 19.
A state lawmaker whose district includes Iberville and nine other parishes will lead the way on the drawing of a new congressional map when the committee convenes Friday.
Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, R-Port Allen, will chair the hearings to draw a new congressional district map. He currently serves as chairman of the U.S. Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee.
On Wednesday, Kleinpeter said he has not worked on any maps. He is letting the committee members and the members of the Senate work on this with staff.
The move will come nine days after the U.S. Supreme Court on a 6-3 vote ruled one of Louisiana’s two majority-Black U.S. House districts unconstitutional.
“We can’t base it on race anymore, so the minority party is the Democrats,” he said. “The Democrats have migrated away from the New Orléans area, so we’re looking at Democrats versus Republicans, so the minority party — the Democrats — which means it’s more favored toward Baton Rouge.”
The move would work in favor of incumbent 6th District Congressman Cleo Fields, who was a candidate for the race which Gov. Jeff Lndry suspended in the wake of the Supreme Court decision.
The ruling stemmed from Louisiana vs. Callais – a consolidation of Robinson vs. Callais – that centered on racial gerrymandering and redistricting in the state of Louisiana following the 2020 United States census. The lead plaintiff, Phillip “Bert” Callais, is a resident of Brusly.
The Supreme Court vote came despite the African American population comprising nearly one-third of the state’s population.
According to the 2020 Census, the Black or African American population in Louisiana was approximately 1,464,023,representing 31.4%of the state’s total population. Louisiana has one of the highest percentages of Black residents in the United States, ranking second behind Mississippi.
The Baton Rouge district would likely be the area to undergo the remap, he said.
It amounts to an intricate balancing act.
“What far-right Republicans don’t understand is that with Congress maps, you have to be within 776, 280 votes – within 50 votes of the other districts,” Kleinpeter said. “It’s not like our legislative maps where you can be off by thousands … when you start changing a precinct, it can run down a rabbit hole chasing this precinct over here and over there.
“We can easily draw a really strong nine Republican and one strong Democrat, so if you start watering districts down you could wind up with a 4-2 map.”
Republicans currently have a two-vote super majority vote.
“But some Republican districts are strong and others are weak,” Kleinpeter said. “If you take 58 percent Democrats and put them in Republican districts, you could end up losing Republicans.
“Drawing congress maps is very difficult – you have the leader of the party, and you have the Speaker of the House you have to protect,” he said. “You don’t want to jeopardize their maps at hole.”
One other issue is looming for the state, Kleinpeter said.
“What people don’t understand is that we will have to do this all over again in five years, after the next census comes out,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll people by that time.”
The 2030 Census will play a key role in the process, but it still requires participation.
“I had plenty of next-door neighbors who didn’t want to fill out their census” he said. “I’m going to push to fill out their census. We miss out on federal money and potentially risk losing a seat. “
Neuty, the iconic Bucktown nutria visits the state capitol, with Myra Lacoste, Denny Lacoste, Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, Dennis Lacoste Sr., and Louisiana state Senator J. Cameron Henry Jr. Neuty was an orphan, rescued by the Lacostes. In March 2023, LDWF agents attempted to confiscate the illegal pet.
VIDALIA, La. — Louisiana State Police arrested 18-year-old Gregory Steele early Sunday morning on two counts of vehicular homicide, one count of underage operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, one count vehicular negligent injuring and one count careless operation, according to Concordia Parish Jail records.
Steele, 18, a white male, was arrested in connection with an accident that occurred at approximately 1:54 a.m. on Sunday morning on Minorca Road in Vidalia. Two passengers in the vehicle were killed. Steele and another passenger were able to escape the vehicle.
-
Minneapolis, MN4 minutes agoMinneapolis grocery store owner charged in $1 million food assistance fraud
-
Indianapolis, IN10 minutes agoThese vacant school district properties will become affordable housing
-
Pittsburg, PA16 minutes agoMan shot and killed in East Hills
-
Augusta, GA22 minutes agoAugusta factory to produce key component for drugs to fight malaria
-
Washington, D.C28 minutes agoDC weather: Sunny, mild Tuesday; showers return Wednesday
-
Cleveland, OH34 minutes agoGuardians Set Off Alarm Bells for Kwan Yesterday
-
Austin, TX40 minutes agoCancer case highlights gaps in Texas protections for women firefighters
-
Alabama46 minutes agoAlabama House race in Jacksonville area draws a crowded field