METAIRIE, La. (WVUE) – Louisiana insurance officials will hold a press conference Wednesday to acknowledge the retirement of bonds issued after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple and Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation leadership will provide an update on the state-backed insurer as hurricane season begins.

The press conference is scheduled for 1 p.m.

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CALVIN, La. (WVUE) – A small community in north-central Louisiana is working to preserve an important piece of its history.

During the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps put young men to work replanting by hand the state’s only national forest.

The tiny community of Calvin, tucked away in the resulting pine forest, holds only a few other remaining crumbling clues of that work, as Dave McNamara finds in the Heart of Louisiana.

For more, visit the Heart of Louisiana archive here.

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BATON ROUGE, La. (Gray Louisiana) – Louisiana drivers will soon no longer need annual vehicle safety inspection stickers for most personal vehicles.

Gov. Jeff Landry signed House Bill 1085 into law Tuesday morning, ending the state’s mandatory vehicle safety inspection sticker program for most personal vehicles. The bill was authored by Rep. Larry Bagley, R-Stonewall, who has worked for years to pass the change.

The law replaces the current inspection sticker, often called a brake tag, with a $6 QR code sticker tied to the vehicle’s registration.

Fifty-nine of Louisiana’s 64 parishes will abolish the inspection stickers and use QR codes instead. Drivers in East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Livingston, Iberville, and Ascension parishes would still need emissions testing under federal law.

The changes are set to take effect Jan. 1, 2027.

There will be a grace period from June 30 until Jan. 1, 2027. During that time, law enforcement will not issue citations for failing to display an inspection sticker.

Supporters of the bill have argued the inspection process is outdated and inconvenient for drivers. Bagley previously said the QR code would include limited vehicle information, such as the VIN, and would be available to law enforcement through special equipment.

The change will not apply to every vehicle. Some commercial vehicles, school buses and certain farm vehicles would still be subject to safety inspections. Some local governments would also still be able to require local inspections.

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