Business + Labor
Benefit card skimmers found at multiple stores in Louisiana, DCFS warns
State officials are urging all electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cardholders to immediately change their personal identification numbers after authorities found skimmers at multiple retail locations throughout Louisiana. Skimmers are used to steal personal information and funds from EBT accounts, although the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) said there are no reports yet […]
Jefferson officials to vote on tax break for company that crawfished on 100 jobs
The Jefferson Parish Council and its school board will both consider a multi-million dollar tax break next week for a Texas fertilizer company that reneged on its promise to bring more than 100 six-figure-salaried jobs to the parish. Both are scheduled to meet Dec. 6 and will likely call for a vote on a $3.6 […]
Congressman Graves wants federal funding to stem tide of imported seafood
U.S. Rep. Garret Graves and Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser are calling for more federal funding to test imported seafood and tighter regulations to slow the influx of foreign catch onto Louisiana’s seafood market. Both Graves and Nungesser shared separate though somewhat similar proposals Monday with the Louisiana Seafood Safety Task Force, which is working to […]
Retailers pare back their seasonal hiring to prepare for ho-hum holidays
Black Friday shoppers may have noticed longer lines and fewer retail associates in some of their favorite stores than in past holiday seasons as retailers have scaled back seasonal hiring over concerns about consumer spending. JCPenney is hiring 12,000 fewer workers than last year. Macy’s 3,000 fewer. Meanwhile a Walmart executive said the retail giant […]
Evolving overdose crisis shakes previously effective treatments
BURLINGTON, Vermont — “You can’t inject a horse tranquilizer and think nothing bad is gonna happen” to you, said Ty Sears, 33, a longtime drug user now in recovery. Sears was referring to xylazine, a sedative used for animal surgeries that has infiltrated the illicit drug supply across the country, contributing to a steady climb […]
New life for old coal: Minelands and power plants are hot renewable development spots
PETERSBURG, Indiana — AES Indiana’s Petersburg Generating Station, which towers over the White River here in southwest Indiana, has been burning coal to generate electricity since the late 1960s. That era, though, will come to an end soon. Two of the power plant’s four coal-burning units have already retired and the last is planning to […]
Landry sends mixed messages with ‘carbon neutral’ comments, trial lawyer ties
Gov.-elect Jeff Landry’s pick for Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality secretary last week was something of a head-scratcher. It’s not so surprising he picked a former Trump administration employee for the job, but Aurelia Skipwith Giacometto’s background as leader of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has many questioning why she would be considered a […]
Despite setbacks, states are still counting on offshore wind
In recent months, East Coast states’ plans to install massive new offshore wind farms have been battered by bad economic news, canceled contracts and newfound uncertainty about the projects officials are counting on to reach their clean energy goals. Despite the setbacks, state leaders say they don’t intend to dial back their offshore wind ambitions. […]
States grapple with racist language in real estate deeds
Lisa Boccetti is horrified by the restrictive covenant that is in the deed to her 1950s ranch house in Raleigh, North Carolina: It states that the land cannot be sold or occupied by Black people. The property “shall not be sold to negroes or to any person or persons of negro blood, and said premises shall […]
Incoming Louisiana legislative leaders undecided on paid parental leave for state workers
Incoming leaders of the Louisiana Legislature aren’t sure yet whether they will get behind a paid parental leave policy for state workers Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards is putting in place during his final days in office. “I haven’t talked to enough [Senate] members to know if there is any opposition,” said Sen. Cameron Henry, […]
Louisiana chemical plant will convert to EV battery manufacturing
ST. GABRIEL — A chemical plant in Louisiana that faced possible downsizing or even closure is now expanding to become America’s first domestic manufacturer of critical lithium battery materials thanks to new federal infrastructure investments. Koura Global, which has a plant that makes fluorine refrigerants at its facility just south of Baton Rouge, will retrofit […]
New Orleans ends Lucky Dogs’ monopoly on French Quarter food pushcarts: report
The New Orleans City Council took action Thursday to end one company’s near-exclusive deal to sell food from pushcarts in the French Quarter, following a series of WVUE-TV Fox 8 investigations. The council voted unanimously to change an ordinance that’s been in place since 1972. That ordinance says the only way to obtain a permit […]