Detour ahead: Essen Lane will be closed at the railroad crossing from 9 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m. Monday to allow crews from the Kansas City Southern Railway to reconstruct the crossing. DOTD advises I-10 traffic to take the following detours: motorists trying to reach I-10 from south of the closure are advised to take Perkins Road to Bluebonnet Boulevard around the closure. I-10 eastbound drivers are advised to take Acadian Thruway to Perkins Road around the closure. I-10 westbound drivers should exit at Bluebonnet, travel south to Perkins and then west to Essen Lane.
Listen up: The Better Business Bureau says it has received more than 30 calls since Monday from people in the Baton Rouge area who say they’ve been contacted by phone scammers posing as the Internal Revenue Service. In the calls, the scammers claim the people owe the IRS money and demand they pay immediately or face serious consequences such as jail time or a lawsuit. The BBB says the IRS always initiates contact about due payments via mail and never asks for debit or credit card information over the phone. The BBB says anyone who believes they’ve been a target of scammers should alert local law enforcement and then report it to BBB.
From the ground up: Although sign-up is still months away, agricultural landowners and producers need to begin planning for decisions they will have to make because of the new farm bill, according to LSU AgCenter economist Mike Salassi. The Agricultural Act of 2014, which was signed into law in February, authorizes U.S. nutrition and agriculture programs through 2018 and updates how support payments are calculated. A change in the new law will end direct payment subsidies, which farmers formerly received regardless of yield, price or acreage. Under the new law, farmers will have to choose between the agriculture risk coverage and price loss coverage income support programs. The LSU AgCenter has the full story.
