Final pass: Debris removal operations related to the August flood will end on Tuesday, Feb. 7, the city-parish has announced. Crews are currently working to complete their final collection pass, which began on Nov. 7. The end of collections early next month corresponds with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s deadline for federal reimbursement eligibility for debris removal. The city-parish is asking Baton Rouge residents to move their debris to curbsides by Monday. Residents also are being asked to immediately report the location of their debris by going online or by calling the EBR debris removal hotline at 1-888-721-4372. Construction and reconstruction waste is not being collected.
Questionable circumstances: Baker Hughes, the world’s third-largest oil and gas service company, appears to have closed its Cement and Pumping Division facility in Crowley on Thursday. Laurie Suire, president and CEO of One Acadia, tells The Advertiser about 35 employees had remained at the plant, which at one time had employed more than 100 and perhaps as many as 200. Though a Baker Hughes spokeswoman in Houston said she was not aware of the Crowley facility closing, Suire says some employees had been offered transfers to a Baker Hughes facility in Texas. A Louisiana Workforce Commission spokesman says he had not been notified of a layoff. Read the full story.
Moving forward: U.S. House Republicans are moving ahead today with legislation aimed at dismantling the Affordable Care Act, despite concerns about not having a replacement for the health care program and the potential financial costs in repealing the law. Reuters reports the House has set a vote on the measure for this afternoon with Democrats expected to oppose it. The Republican-led Congress, under pressure from President-elect Donald Trump to act quickly, made the first move toward scrapping the law on Thursday when the Senate voted to instruct key committees to draft legislation by Jan. 27 to repeal it. The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has said repealing President Barack Obama’s signature health insurance law entirely would cost roughly $350 billion over 10 years. Read the full story.
