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Edited by Christiaan Mader and Leslie Turk / 11.20.20
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FRIDAY — Early Voting is back, and it’s never been better. You have through Nov. 28 to cast your early-bird ballots at one of three locations in Lafayette Parish. We updated our Election Guide to get you prepped for the runoff races, including some quick explainers on the tax rededication before city voters as well as the constitutional amendment. We’ve got explainers on the city marshal's race, and I’ll tackle more of the major issues facing the office next week. Be mindful of the dates for absentee ballots if you feel safer voting that way, as a third surge of coronavirus cases is beginning to spike. — Christiaan 

Angry. Bewildered. Healthcare workers are telling us how frustrated they are that many of their neighbors won’t even do simple things to help slow the virus down, like wearing masks. 
 
“If wearing a mask is a form of oppression to you, check your privilege,” a resident physician says. “I am feeling frustrated and offended by local leadership. Wearing a mask is not much to ask.”

Healthcare workers, frontline friends: How are you holding up? What do you want the community to know right now? You can tell us here.

Take a breath and read on for what matters in Lafayette.

Here’s the latest coronavirus data

 
Changes reported since Saturday, the beginning of the CDC week:
  • 207,039 (+12,354) confirmed cases statewide; 5,985 (+100) confirmed deaths  
  • 29,500 (+2,412) confirmed cases in Acadiana (LDH Region 4); 675 (+12) deaths
  • 11,146 (+1,034) cases in Lafayette Parish; 144 (+3) deaths 
  • 130 (+54) hospitalizations in Acadiana 
  • 10.1% (up from 4.7%) positivity in Lafayette Parish reported between Nov. 5 and Nov. 11 — the latest data available 
  • 55 of 64 parishes reported increased positivity
LDH reported a backlog of 2,538 cases today. The bulk of the backdated cases are in the Shreveport (498) and (872) Monroe regions.

Ballot Basics: What are those two Lafayette city sales tax ‘rededications’?

 
The gist: There are two different sales tax propositions on the runoff ballot, but they’re both essentially the same idea. They’re asking voters to allow LCG to have more flexibility in how it spends city sales tax money.

▸ Here are the propositions in plain English: The city of Lafayette collects a 1 cent sales tax. Should it be allowed to spend a larger share of that money (45%) on regular government functions as opposed to projects like roads and bridges? 
 
Again, these are two separate propositions covering two separate 1 cent sales taxes. Right now, LCG can spend up to 35% of what it collects from those two taxes on regular government operations like salaries for police officers and electricity for recreation centers. These proposals would raise that cap to 45%. The rest goes to paying for capital improvements like roads, bridges and drainage projects. 

 Vote Yes: You think it’s smart budgeting to have more spending flexibility on government services.

▸  Vote No: You think that money needs to be used on building new infrastructure as originally intended.

Want more background on this proposition. Here’s a full explainer.

Reader Q: So what does a city marshal do?


Answer: The city marshal’s office executes the mandates of Lafayette City Court. That’s another way of saying it keeps the peace of the City Court and enforces orders from its judges. You can break the deputy marshals’ job responsibilities down into three basic priorities: 
  • Securing Lafayette City Court, including its building and the people inside it  
  • Serving civil orders and writs like eviction notices, judgments and subpoenas 
  • Serving and executing warrants
That’s not to say the office only does those three things. Deputy marshals, like sheriff’s deputies, can make traffic stops, arrests and conduct investigations. But their primary focus is the business of the court. Read more from Christiaan Mader

 In Brief


 Y’all better tighten up. The White House coronavirus task force urged Louisiana to impose more restrictions as coronavirus cases continue to pick up at an alarming clip. Gov. Edwards indicated he’ll hold off from imposing further restrictions, even as he’s pushed the public to stay home, mask up and keep Thanksgiving gatherings small. Louisiana’s second surge happened with the Phase 2 restrictions in place, but Edwards rolled out a mask mandate in the middle of it. He has fewer cards to play this time around.
 
▸ A rosier picture. Things are looking up, if modestly, according to the latest state economic forecast published by UL Economist Gary Wagner. Echoing other projections, the fourth quarter forecast shows metro Lafayette regaining what was lost in the pandemic, but still well short of its historic highs ahead of the 2014 oil bust. One fly in the ointment: Improving unemployment is something of a mirage. Nationally, around 10 million people have dropped out of the labor force altogether. Read the report here.

▸ Use of force. Body cam footage shows a Lafayette police officer twice “hogtied” a woman while she bucked violently in distress, violating LPD’s own prohibitions against the restraining technique. “I know we’re not supposed to do this,” the officer says on tape, recorded in April, after dragging the woman out of his cruiser. The officer was suspended for one day for the incident, which he appealed. The mayor-president fired the officer, but was overruled by the civil service board. The video became public as Guillory sued to terminate the officer. Racial justice advocates are criticizing the disparity in how authorities approached this case, which involved a white woman, pointing out that officers involved in the shooting death of Trayford Pellerin, a Black man, have not been disciplined and the public has yet to see the video.

DATES AND RESOURCES

 

Mostly relevant reads


Hospitals know what’s coming The Atlantic

A tale of two Louisianas Bayou Brief

Fauci: Santa Claus has "innate immunity," won't be spreading COVID-19 this Christmas USA Today
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