Louisiana U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy released a statement after awarding more than $52 million in grants from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to municipalities and gas utility districts during an event May 17 in Donaldsonville.

“This money will decrease the risk of explosion and decrease the amount of wasted methane which people are paying for, thus saving folks money,” Cassidy said in the announcement. “It also cleans up our environment. It’s a good investment of taxpayer dollars for the benefit of folks in Louisiana.”

In an effort to safeguard natural gas pipelines, nearly $1 billion will be awarded over a five-year span throughout the country with $392 million being awarded this year, the senator added.

As previously reported, the cities of Donaldsonville, Port Allen and Walker, the town of Berwick, and gas utility districts in East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana and West Feliciana parishes were grant recipients.

Similar funding was awarded last April with more than $27 million going to municipalities in south and central Louisiana.

Per Cassidy, the IIJA has awarded more than $9.1 billion to Louisiana since the president signed it into law in late 2021.

The funding has gone toward repairing bridges, building flood protection systems and extending broadband in rural areas.

Cassidy noted Donaldsonville Mayor Leroy Sullivan’s city received the largest grant, which was $20 million to replace 27.3 miles of natural gas infrastructure.

Sullivan said the gas line improvement grant from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration “is a pivotal moment for the City of Donaldsonville.”

“Sen. Cassidy was instrumental in helping us secure this funding and we are deeply grateful for his unwavering support.,” the mayor said in the announcement. “This project is an investment in the future of our city and positions our community for continued growth.”

Gonzales Weekly Citizen and Donaldsonville Chief, part of the USA Today Network of Louisiana, cover Ascension Parish and the greater Baton Rouge area. Follow at facebook.com/WeeklyCitizen and facebook.com/DonaldsonvilleChief.

Three St. Tammany library board members removed after a years-long fight over book content are suing the parish council and one of its district representatives in an attempt to block their removal. 

Their federal lawsuit comes after the parish council voted earlier this month to replace five of the six members of the St. Tammany Library Board of Control, a volunteer body that oversees the parish library system. Their removal culminated months of contentious fights. 

Conservative activists in the parish, led by the far-right St. Tammany Library Accountability Project, attempted to ban more than 150 books it deemed sexually explicit. Most of the titles challenged have LGBTQ+ themes. The library board repeatedly refused to limit access to the books, rejecting arguments that the books were sexually explicit. Their refusal put them crosswise with the new, more conservative parish council that took office earlier this year. 

The three board members — Bill McHugh, Anthony Parr and Rebecca Taylor — are suing the St. Tammany Parish Council and Councilman David Cougle, a founder and attorney for the Accountability Project who led the charge to remove the members. The plaintiffs have asked the court for a temporary restraining order on their removal, which would allow them to stay in their positions while the lawsuit plays out. 

In a statement, the plaintiffs emphasized the lawsuit was undertaken by them as individuals, not as an official action by the library board. They also noted Kelly LaRocca, the parish’s library director, is not involved in the suit. 

Cougle has not yet responded to a request for comment for this report. 

On May 4, the parish council voted to replace five board members, ostensibly because the council had discovered the board was not serving in staggered terms, as required by state law. But rather than staggering the current board members, the council used the opportunity to remove board members that resisted book restrictions. 

That violated the First Amendment rights of the ousted board members, the plaintiffs charge. 

“Plaintiffs were engaged in constitutionally protected activity when they spoke and acted at Library Bord [sic] meetings, as well as when they spoke out on matters of public concern such as the controversy over books with LGBTQ themes and characters, the presence or absence of sexually explicit material in libraries, whether or not certain materials available in libraries is ‘pornography’ or constitutes ‘obscenity,’ and whether and how minors have access to such materials,” the lawsuit reads. 

The lawsuit alleges the concern over staggered terms was an “obvious ploy” used to retaliate against their protected speech and their refusal to restrict access to books.

“Supreme Court precedent has focused “not only on the role of the First Amendment in fostering individual self-expression but also on its role in affording the public access to discussion, debate, and the dissemination of information and ideas,” the lawsuit says. “And it has recognized that ‘the State may not, consistently with the spirit of the First Amendment, contract the spectrum of available knowledge.’”

The suit has been filed in federal court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. If the court opts to grant a temporary restraining order, the existing library board would be allowed to continue serving pending the outcome of the lawsuit, which seeks to permanently block the council’s resolution to remove members. 

“Preventing the Parish Council from engaging in unlawful patronage dismissal will preserve the integrity and independence of the Library Board, rather than leaving it subject to the political whims of the Parish Council,” the lawsuit says. 

The lawsuit also says allowing the members to continue serving would continue to protect the public’s constitutional rights to receive information by maintaining their access to library books. 

Sponsored by Keep Louisiana Beautiful

In just one year, over 450 businesses and 36 chambers of commerce have joined Keep Louisiana Beautiful’s (KLB) Clean Biz Partnership, committing to serve their communities as environmental stewards and promoting a culture of cleanliness amongst their employees. Not only are these partners already implementing best practices for litter prevention and waste reduction, but they are eager to continue their sustainability journey.

“A clean Louisiana is vital for business and future economic development,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. “People don’t want to visit or do business in communities that are littered. We must take pride in where we live and keep Louisiana clean and beautiful.”

“In 2023, KLB’s litter study found that 92% of Louisianans believe litter is a problem, and it costs taxpayers $91.4 million each year,” said Susan Russell, KLB Executive Director. “Litter hurts real estate values, harms wildlife, and it pollutes our environment. If we all do our part, businesses included, we can stop litter from happening in the first place.”

To help prevent litter, Clean Biz Partners commit to:

• Picking up litter from their parking bays and/or around their business daily.
• Placing trash receptacles at their business storefront or at transition points.
• Maintaining a clean dumpster by keeping the lid closed and the area around the dumpster free of litter and debris.
• Maintaining their business lawn and landscaping.
• Participating in community improvement activities.
• Creating a culture of cleanliness for their employees and customers.

Ann Trappey, interim President and CEO of BRAC, stated, “Forty-eight businesses in Baton Rouge have joined the Clean Biz Partnership, with more joining each month. BRAC is proud to collaborate with Keep Louisiana Beautiful to clean up our community and empower business owners and their employees to implement simple measures to prevent litter. I encourage all businesses to join this free and valuable program.”

Sign up to be a Clean Biz Partner for free at keeplouisianabeautiful.org/cleanbiz. Upon joining the partnership, you will receive a window cling, a social media kit, and other marketing assets. Questions about the program can be directed jchappuis@keeplouisianabeautiful.org.