The St. Landry Parish Council is exploring the possibility of making parish-wide absentee voting more frequent and convenient, especially for those living in rural areas.
Council members who attended a special Monday night meeting to discuss parish-wide polling places and precincts were in agreement that offering an increased number of absentee voting days and locations would reduce the need to travel long distances in order to cast ballots at the courthouse in Opelousas.
Council Chairman Dexter Brown also introduced an ordinance Monday that would split several potentially large precincts at polling places in order to reduce any possible delays on election days.
‘Don’t hate; just keep your head held high’
Antoinette Chaffers’ Pete, 65, grew up in west Crowley and attended a small, all-Black Catholic school connected to her church and run by the Sisters of the Holy Ghost from San Antonio. St. Theresa Catholic Church still stands on West Third Street, but the school has long been shuttered and the sisters returned to Texas.
The youngest of eight, Pete jokes that the sisters gave her mother, a devout Catholic, a discount on tuition at the school that went up to eighth grade. Her siblings continued into Ross High School, the school afforded to Black students in Crowley during segregation.
The District has already spent $7.3 million of the emergency money for student virtual learning connectivity and is attempting to meet a May 5 deadline on notifying the Louisiana Department of Education on how school officials intend to spend another $27 million of the package.
Possible election dates for bonding the tax money are Nov. 13 and March 26, according to the propositions prepared for the St. Landry Parish School Board by bonding attorneys Eric Lafleur and John Mayeux.
Voters can choose to separately support or reject two of the propositions.
A third bond issue combines the funding included in propositions one and two into a single proposition.
The Opelousas Board of Aldermen last week approved and delayed six requests for amending citywide zoning ordinances to allow proposed property development.
Code Enforcement Director Margaret Doucet told the board that each of the zoning amendments had been discussed and approved by members of an appointed city Planning Commission.
Retail office space on Wallior Street
The board delayed action on the request by Fakouri Enterprises for office space on property located on Wallior between East Grolee and the railroad tracks that travel east and west across the street.
Doucet did not elaborate on what type of business is being planned by Fakouri Enterprises.
Some question if proposed renovations to Opelousas stadium are worth the price tag katc.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from katc.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.