Time to choose: Whether you just can’t wait to vote for your favorite candidates or you simply want to avoid lines at the polls on Saturday, Oct. 22, you can take advantage of an early voting period beginning Saturday and running through Saturday, Oct. 15. The East Baton Rouge Parish Office Registrar of Voters has four offices that will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily during the early voting period, except for Sundays, when the offices are closed. The offices in Baton Rouge are at 222 St. Louis St., room 201 of the Governmental Building; 3851 Essen Lane, inside the State Archives Building; and 10500 Coursey Blvd., room 203. The Baker office is inside the Motor Vehicle Building at 2250 Main St. All registered voters can cast an early vote, provided they bring with them a driver’s license, a Louisiana Special Identification card or “some other generally recognized picture ID that has your name and signature,” according to the secretary of state’s office. You can see a sample ballot here.
Drilling report: The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. climbed by 22 this week to 2,012. Houston-based drilling product provider Baker Hughes today reports 1,070 rigs are exploring for oil and 935 for natural gas. Seven were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago this week the rig count stood at 1,671. Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas gained eight rigs, Oklahoma was up six and Louisiana added four. Alaska, Arkansas and Wyoming each increased by two, while North Dakota, Pennsylvania and West Virginia were up one apiece. California declined by three, Colorado by two and New Mexico by one. The rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. A low of 488 was recorded in 1999.
Tiger rock: Better Than Ezra is going back to its roots with the forthcoming release of Death Valley EP on Tuesday, Oct. 18, featuring a modern pop twist on traditional tailgating songs popularized by the LSU Band. “LSU football has been a part of our DNA since our first practice just off campus in 1988, and we always talked about recording our favorite game-day tracks BTE style,” says Tom Drummond, bass player of Better Than Ezra. “The songs on this EP are iconic to not only LSU’s Tiger Band but were originally pop songs from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’80s. For us to be able to come back to LSU and record the songs is a dream come true.” Check out the band’s website here for a track listing and a full list of stores where the EP will be available.
