'They really all need to move out': Shreveport mayor says apartments unsafe after disconnection
How is it that an apartment complex owner can't figure out how to pay a water bill? You collect rent, as part of that rent money you are collecting moneys that should go toward the water bill. This issue keeps popping up all over the state. Louisiana passed a law 2 years ago making this a jailable offense for the landlord. I've yet to see anyone doing the perp walk:
Lafayette Parish is growing fast. Now officials are asking how — and where — it should grow
So Lafayette Parish has unincorporated areas, where no development restrictions exist, no minimum lot sizes, no number of homes limits.....................and these areas are largely in the southern portion of the parish, closer to the Gulf of Americo. And those areas are realizing drainage and traffic concerns. And, I bet all those new homes are slab on grade. These are the challenges of unregulated growth in South Louisiana:
Owner of troubled New Orleans property firm arrested, accused of impersonating police officer
Well, I've become a dog with a bone on this story. This guy is becoming the George Santos of the local property industry. I'm going to officially state that we are a few months away from his company declaring bankruptcy:
A company ran New Orleans property sales for years. Now it owes millions and faces FBI scrutiny
“I have not in 20 years dealt with any financial aspect of my business,” Barrios explained. Local governments all over the country are accusing this company of cheating those jurisdictions out of money. Barrios sounds like a goofball crook. It's hard enough getting blighted properties back into commerce. We don't need this geniusness unhelping the process:
Isaias pounds Gulf Coast but spares many cities of catastrophic damage: ‘Sense of relief’
I think all of our storms in the Gulf of America this year came from fragments of fronts that traveled through the U.S. and tailed off into the Gulf, ginning up into cyclones. I wonder when the meteorologists will get up to the point where they recognize the warmer Gulf of Mexico is going to lead to a stronger storm:
The Prettiest Town in Every US State
Really cool piece, my wife and I just came back from visiting Texas' prettiest city, Fredericksburg. We visited it twice, on the way to Big Bend National Park and on the way back. Fredericksburg, with it strong German roots, is celebrating Octoberfest, and we enjoyed the celebration, Texas-style. How many of these beautiful places have you experienced?:
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/the-prettiest-town-in-every-us-state
'Premium' apartments surrounding Ted's Frostop? Robert family revises plan after Uptown outcry
Another example of a developer wanting the world, which involves something the locals detest and reject, then the developer coming back with a Plan 2 that may or may not fit the bill. There aren't many Frostops der' anymore. This Ted's has to be the most famous of the survivors. You'd think that the Roberts Family, owners Robert Fresh Market, would know that:
How a change in fortified roof program could cause homeowners to lose discounts after 15 years
This matter is more complex than this reporter makes it out to be, and I have regularly complained about Sam Karlin for this very matter. He does not dig hard enough into the story. I can see the "Fortified Roof discount" dropping, however, there are a large # of construction features tied to that discount that should be permanently retained under wind mitigation discounts. In fact, there is a good chance that Louisiana moves toward featuring wind mitigation discounts over the Fortified plan. While Karlin does mention wind mitigation in the article, he does not adequately delve into the comparison between the two discounts:
Looping back: Proposal for ‘loop’ regional expressway revived
The last time I read about there being an alt-I49 route through Lafeaette, it was to the east of the city. Apparently this idea has been around for a minute. I wouldn't mind it, as it would allow me to switch to HWY 90 and avoid Baton Rouge when coming home from the west. An ancillary effect would be to avoid disrupting business and community along the Evangeline Throughway. Historically, interstates, when running through a city, have tended to be dropped into minority communities:
https://thecurrentla.com/2026/looping-back-proposal-for-loop-regional-expressway-revived/
Louisiana family torched rental homes for years in $1 million insurance scam, feds say
Wow! What a great read! I can't believe that somebody actually used renters insurance as a front for insurance scamming. These policies generally aren't going generate a very large payout..........................but the damage in the process.....................all those fire-damaged homes.........it's like when you hear about someone ripping the wiring out of a house for the copper, so much repair cost for a relatively small coup:
Louisiana is capturing carbon emissions with Exxon's help -- but shipping them to other states
The resistance to carbon storage in Louisiana's underground is stirring companies to look to other areas for the relief
Hurwitz Mintz set to close after 102 years
We shopped at their French Quarter store, my wife advising me Hurwitz Mintz was the only furniture store we'd ever use. We shopped at their Airline Drive store, getting the big, L-shaped leather sofa we have enjoyed for years for our new home. Now, soon, it will not be der' no more. I have no idea where we will go:
What may happen if SpaceX invades Pecan Island
This short observation of the plusses and minuses of SpaceX coming to Louisiana's southwest coastline covers all the bases of aspirations and concerns I might have for the community. I am really having a time wrapping my brain around the concerns I would have about an industry shooting big rocket ships out of delicate marsh lands. Wouldn't the relatively loose foundation be a concern for the stability of the foundation of the launch pads?:
https://thecurrentla.com/2026/column-what-may-happen-if-spacex-invades-pecan-island/
Lafayette’s fight on blight is restarting — with new rules
The lefts and the rights of dealing with blight, especially urban blight I find to often be frustrating. You want to have messy properties fixed up as fast as possible. You want the process to be fair and efficient. You don't want someone to lose their property when they should not have. So often I see properties that seem to be ripe for improvement and habitation. Hopefully, this plan will expedite Lafayette's challenges with broken properties:
https://thecurrentla.com/2026/lafayettes-fight-on-blight-is-restarting-with-new-rules/
Takeaways from the AP’s analysis on the fundamental flaws in the national flood insurance program
It's not just us, it's not just us, it's not just us. Read this article about Kentucky and flood insurance:
Louisiana regulators slow to address air pollution violations in state's southwest, report says
Concerning air quality and the petrochemical industry, where do you draw the line of jobs versus lack of quality control? We gain many jobs and people are able to purchase many homes as a result of this economic force. Do we lose jobs and potential residents because we don't regulate the chemical releases well enough?:
There is a second article on this subject, here:
Louisianans found paradise in this Gulf Coast neighborhood. Will flooding force them to sell?
Why does it seem that paradise often comes fraught with the scary? It's like those movies where everything is idyllic and the family or friends are playing in the yard or pouring drinks or sitting around a campfire. But every once in a while you hear that creepy music, and you know. Next thing all heck breaks out. If I had 100 lives I might find myself in one of them on the Jourdan River. Everyone once in a while, dat' water sure does git' high:
Near the Mississippi’s mouth, scientists are trying to predict the future. ‘A massive effort’
Back in the day in New Orleans there was a word that, other than yellow fever or certain other diseases, would shake locals to the core, crevasse, a break in the Mississippi River levee system. It happened regularly on the West Bank, as the centrifugal force of the river aimed at that side, hence the term, "Crescent City." The Mississippi almost rerouted during the construction of the Harvey Canal. Much of the Warehouse District was created when the river went through Gretna and Algiers levees and shifted more toward the "Wank. New Orleans did experience crevasse flooding when the levees failed on the East Bank, north of the city. Notice the old houses, Uptown, by the levees, built off the ground...................Consider building your new home..............................off the ground:
DOGE Broke America’s Weather Machine. Now Fishermen, Insurers And Farmers Are Paying For It
"Perhaps no other federal entity facilitates greater economic and commercial activity than NOAA and its data sources," Frank Nutter, former president of the Reinsurance Association of America (RAA), the financial industry that backstops insurance companies, told Congress in 2025 when lobbying to restore funding for NOAA that DOGE sought to cut. Brilliant, folks, without reinsurance South Louisiana has no property insurance. And when insurance companies cannot reliably predict potential losses, they will drastically raise prices or just not offer insurance in particular areas:
https://app.theadvocate.com/article/scientists-modeling-mississippi-rivers-future/content.html
The Picayune has been giving a lotta attention to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, especially in the property arena. I really like to post my happy stories on the weekends. Few things are more attractive to me than pretty houses, and what can be prettier than a Dolly Parton-themed cottage. By the way, "cottage," that word automatically mean, pretty, right?: