Deadline approaching: Friday is the last day for Baton Rouge homeowners to apply for private property debris removal related to the August flood. The Associated Press reports the program allows for debris collection to go beyond curbside and into yards, with a signed right of entry agreement from a homeowner. Renters need their landlord to complete the application. The program is only available in the city of Baton Rouge and unincorporated parts of East Baton Rouge Parish. The cities of Baker, Central and Zachary are overseeing their own debris removal efforts. The city-parish government says more than 1,150 homeowners have submitted right of entry agreements for the private property debris removal.
Combating the spread: A bacterial disease that has plagued Florida’s citrus groves has now been found throughout Plaquemines Parish, the heart of Louisiana’s $11.4 million citrus business. As the Associated Press reports, the LSU AgCenter says citrus canker “directly threatens the survival of Louisiana’s citrus nursery stock and fruit industry.” The disease blemishes fruit, making it unmarketable, says Raj Singh, an AgCenter plant scientist. As the disease progresses, fruit falls prematurely, trees lose leaves and severely infected trees stop producing. There is no cure, Singh adds. Parts of Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. Charles and Lafourche parishes, and all of Orleans and St. Bernard parishes were already under quarantine for citrus canker, which also was found for the first time this year in two parts of St. John the Baptist Parish. Louisiana citrus farmers sold $6.4 million worth of fruit and $5 million worth of trees in 2014, the most recent year for which the LSU AgCenter has data. Read the full story. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-bc-la–citrus-canker-20161004-story.html
Going up: Oil rose towards $52 a barrel this morning, its highest level since June. Reuters reports the price increase is supported by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Companies deal to cut oil output and by an American Petroleum Institute report that says U.S. inventories probably dropped 7.6 million barrels. If the drop is confirmed, it would be the fifth straight week that U.S. oil inventories has declined. Another drop in U.S. crude stocks would reinforce the view that the supply glut, which has been weighing on prices since 2014, is easing. The API data, however, does not always tally with U.S. Energy Administration data, which is due today. Analysts expect a rise in crude stocks of 2.6 million barrels. Read the full story.
