Farewell: William ‘Buckskin Bill” Black is being remembered today as a beloved local figure who worked in the interest of the wellbeing of children and for helping to bring a zoo to Baton Rouge. Black died Wednesday at the age of 88, WAFB-TV reports. “As I have gone out into the community and spoken to clubs and organizations, it has been rare to not have someone approach me and tell me about their fond memories and experience with the Penny March and Buckskin Bill,” says Zoo Director Phil Frost in a statement.
Up in the air: A total of 775,408 passengers traveled through the Baton Rouge Metro Airport in 2017 and enplanements were up 4% for the year, according to latest data from BTR. The passenger count has been up for 14 of the past 15 months, dating back to September 2016. The airport attributes the increase to airlines using larger regional jets with first class and charter seating options. Seating capacity at BTR was up over 6% in 2017 and is expected to rise another 6% in 2018. The airport needs to maintain load factors in the 80% range to show airlines that increased capacity for BTR is justified, interim airport director Ralph Hennessy says.
Weighing her options: A Louisiana teacher ejected from a school board meeting and roughly handcuffed in a video-recorded arrest after she questioned her superintendent’s pay raise says she thinks a lawsuit is likely. At first, Deyshia Hargrave declined to say with certainty whether she would file a lawsuit in the matter. “We’ll see how it goes,” she said when asked again. “But I clearly feel my First Amendment rights were violated, and I feel like, yeah, there will be a lawsuit filed for that.” Read more.
