Access denied: The city-parish is expanding the closed off area around the River Center Branch Library construction site downtown so heavy equipment can be used for remedial work on the building. The closure area will now include North Boulevard Town Square and Galvez Plaza Stage. St. Louis Street at the intersection of North Boulevard will also be closed beginning Wednesday. St. Louis Street, between Government Street and City Hall, will temporarily become a two-way street to accommodate traffic. Contractors halted work on the library last Wednesday due to structural concerns, shutting off access to a portion of North Boulevard.
Sold!: The Louisiana Mineral and Energy Board collected $229,550 from its monthly lease sale held on April 11 in Baton Rouge. This month’s sale included five leases covering 2,091 acres. The leases are located in Bossier, Caddo, Lafourche, Plaquemines and St. Mary parishes. The board has collected $3.3 million from monthly lease sales since the start of the fiscal year on July 1. The board called $1.9 million in revenue for fiscal year 2016-2017.
Cooling off: Yeti is fighting back at claims that it has severed ties with the NRA in the wake of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting. The Washington Post reports the NRA Institute for Legislative Action sent letters to members, notifying them that Yeti had cut ties with the NRA Foundation and would no longer offer discounts on its coolers to NRA members. But on Monday, Yeti disputed the claims as NRA members took to social media to blow up their Yeti coolers in protest. Yeti says it notified various organizations, including the NRA Foundation, that it was eliminating a “group of outdated discounting programs” from which the organizations benefited and wasn’t specifically targeting the NRA. Read more.
