News

Nearly 5,000 votes had been cast in St. Landry Parish in Tuesday’s election as of Wednesday, according to the secretary of state’s website.
Cheryl Milburn, St. Landry Parish registrar of voters, said 4,076 voters were cast in person in early voting that ended Tuesday. Of those early votes, 563 were cast at an early voting poll at the Eunice Municipal Complex.
Milburn had projected a turnout of up to 60 percent for Tuesday’s election, but throttled that number back to 40 percent after early voting.

The Tri-Parish workforce in September declined by 2 percent — 1,287 people — from a year ago, according to Bureau of Labor and Statistics data released by the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
The workforce includes those people employed and looking for jobs.
In September, the workforce in St. Landry, Acadia and Evangeline parishes totaled 63,408, down from 64,695 in September 2017.
St. Landry Parish’s workforce dropped by 262 people from a year ago. In September, the workforce numbered 31,785 people compared to 32,047 in September 2017.

People in south Louisiana don’t often pay attention to news from a relatively obscure research facility in Maryland, but the announcement that the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center is winding down its whooping crane breeding program has a special connection to us.