Louisiana
Louisiana police have July 4 flashing light show for impaired drivers
The following has been provided by the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission:
Fireworks shows are a hallmark of Independence Day. But flashing police lights are the only show for impaired drivers as the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission begins its statewide Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign.
According to AAA, a record 60.6 million people will travel by car this 4th of July. Law enforcement officers across Louisiana will be looking specifically for impaired drivers this holiday weekend, and those who fail a sobriety test will be arrested, LHSC Executive Director Lisa Freeman said.
“This is a Louisiana campaign to keep Louisiana citizens safe from the scourge of impaired driving,” Freeman said. “People should be able to celebrate without worrying about getting hit by a drunk driver.”
LHSC has made funds available to Louisiana law enforcement agencies to schedule extra troopers, officers, and deputies to patrol the roads and interstates through Sunday, July 7. These law enforcement officers have been trained to spot behaviors that indicate a driver is impaired.
“If a driver has a blood-alcohol concentration of .08 or higher, that driver is legally impaired and subject to arrest,” Freeman said. “Actual impairment can begin with just one alcoholic beverage. Bottom line: If you’re drinking, you shouldn’t be driving.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, just a small amount of alcohol can cause a decline in visual functions, an inability to perform two simultaneous tasks, reduced coordination, an inability to steer, and a reduced response to emergency driving situations.
Motor vehicle crashes involving drivers who have been drinking kill and injure hundreds of people every year in Louisiana. The statistics are generally worse during holiday periods. From 2018-2022, 12 people were killed and 254 people were injured in alcohol-related crashes during the Independence Day holiday period, according to the Center for Analytics and Research in Transportation Safety at LSU.
“We’ve made so much progress in making roads safer and making vehicles safer, but we continue to see these tragedies,” Freeman said. “Unfortunately, you can never make a road or a car safe enough for an impaired driver. Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over is an important tool for us to protect all road users.”
Besides refusing to drive impaired, avoiding distractions behind the wheel such as a cell phone, driving the speed limit, and wearing a seatbelt greatly reduce the risk of being injured or killed in a motor vehicle crash.
Copyright 2024 Louisiana Highway Safety Commission. All rights reserved.
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.
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