WEDNESDAY — It’s not even the end of 2020 and things are shaking up. Early signs of a new spike in coronavirus cases locally is giving health officials the jitters. Yes, we’ve still got time to panic, but recent experience shows the curve can sneak up on us. The cloudy future has Festival International considering its options for 2021, and that could take it out of Downtown, or out of city limits altogether.
Do you know what a city marshal does? So far only about half of our readers do. Take our poll and let us know. We want to help you get ready to vote in the marshal’s runoff on Dec. 5. — Christiaan
Take a breath and read on for what matters in Lafayette.
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Here’s the latest coronavirus data
Changes reported since Saturday, the beginning of the CDC week:
- 189,682 (+2,987) cases statewide; 5,829 (+42) deaths
- 26,248 (+428) cases in Acadiana (LDH Region 4); 662 (+5) deaths
- 9,808 (+137) cases in Lafayette Parish; 141 (+1) deaths
- 86 (+24) hospitalizations in Acadiana
- 4.2% (up from 3.8%) positivity in Lafayette Parish reported between Oct. 22 and Oct. 28 — the latest data available*
*All data (except for hospitalizations) reported from Tuesday. LDH paused updates to observe Veterans Day and will resume Thursday.
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FIL exploring change of venue for 2021
▸ The gist: Costs and the coronavirus may spell a move for Festival International. Since going virtual this year, Festival staff members have workshopped what to do next year, opening the playbook to moving FIL out of Downtown.
▸ 400,000 people. $40 million. That’s the estimated annual impact (when there isn’t a plague around). FIL has called Downtown home since 1987. Now organizers are exploring a range of options including moving outside the district, or even outside city limits.
“One end is Festival in all its glory. The other end is no Festival, with virtual Festival in between. We’ve been doing our due diligence. In that spectrum, we’ve looked at outside of Downtown. One of the potential venues is Youngsville, among others,” Festival Director Scott Feehan says.
▸ Downtown is fighting to keep it. Feehan met with Downtown’s nonprofit board and has committed to gaming out ways to include Downtown in FIL’s 2021 footprint. DDA CEO Anita Begnaud says she’s “bullish” about finding a solution. Read more from Christiaan Mader
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Covid concerns rising (again)
▸ The gist: Covid is again raging in other parts of the country but not yet in Louisiana. Locally, a worrisome uptick is not yet out of control.
▸ 86 people are hospitalized with Covid in the region. That’s still a marked decline from the summer’s peak of 304 recorded in July. New cases outpaced test volume over the last seven days.
▸ A stern warning. Dr. Tina Stefanski, the region’s top public health official, urged Lafayette and Acadiana to “take this seriously” in remarks at an LCG-hosted press conference Tuesday.
▸ What’s driving the spike? Stefanski said locals had begun to let their guard down. Pictures of people packed into venues for live music have circulated, underscoring confusion and absent enforcement of Phase 3 orders that are still in effect.
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In Brief
▸ Bunker down. Bunker Labs, a Chicago-based nonprofit, is launching a Lafayette chapter to help veterans in the area get a leg up in starting new businesses. Andrew Ward, founder of Acadiana Veterans Alliance, partnered with LEDA and Opportunity Machine to create the local chapter. The program features online classes, a CEO Circle and a six-month incubator for veteran entrepreneurs. 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 Happy Veteran’s Day!
▸ Are we on lockdown? Yes. At least we’re supposed to be. But we should have answers to any outstanding questions about Gov. Edwards’ authority after a Thursday hearing in a suit brought by him challenging the constitutionality of a petition signed by Republican legislators to suspend the declared public health emergency for seven days. (That was more than seven days ago.) The petition’s effect has been paused while the legal action proceeds. Thursday’s hearing will be a big turning point.
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▸ Obamacare might make it after all. The healthcare law faced an existential challenge in a Supreme Court case brought by several Republican attorneys general, including Louisiana’s AG, Jeff Landry. In oral arguments Tuesday, conservative justices thought likely to strike the law telegraphed a nuanced decision to come that preserves Obamacare while nixing the individual mandate. That could mean federal funding for Louisiana’s Medicaid expansion is likely to survive. During the pandemic, Medicaid has reimbursed thousands of telehealth claims with many getting help over the phone.
▸ ‘A modern day lynching.’ The family of Quawan “Bobby” Charles, a Black teen found dead near Loreauville, is blasting local law enforcement for “a collective indifference” in its handling of their child’s case. They say officials in Baldwin “refuse” to share the results of an autopsy. Activists with the Village 337 in Lafayette launched a GoFundMe page to pay for an independent autopsy. The page features a grisly image of Charles paired with striking resemblance to the infamous photo of Emmett Till, a teen who was lynched in Mississippi for allegedly flirting with a white woman in 1955. Charles’ family has retained the same legal team representing the family of Trayford Pellerin, who was shot and killed by Lafayette police officers in August.
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ATTENTION: RUNOFF ELECTION DATES
- Nov. 20 — Early Voting Begins
- Nov. 28 — Early Voting Ends
- Dec. 1 — Deadline to request a mail-in ballot
- Dec. 4 — Deadline to return a mail-in ballot
- Dec. 5 — Election Day
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Mostly relevant reads
Most states aren’t ready to distribute the leading COVID-19 vaccine ProPublica
Normalize being Black Lafayette Mom
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