Clearing the air: Mayor Kip Holden and doctors from five local hospitals will be joined by the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living at a press conference Tuesday morning to launch a new “Breathe Free” public awareness campaign targeting all forms of tobacco use. The press conference will be at 10:30 a.m. at North Boulevard Town Square in downtown. An estimated 17% of adults in East Baton Rouge Parish smoke, the mayor’s office says. Participating hospitals are Woman’s, Our Lady of the Lake, Baton Rouge General, Ochsner, and the Mary Bird Perkins-OLOL Cancer Center.
Detour ahead: The outside eastbound lane of Government Street will be closed for about one to two hours under the Interstate 110 overpass beginning at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Mayor Kip Holden’s office announced today. The road is being closed so state Department of Transportation and Development workers can take soil samples beneath the busy street’s pavement. Suggested alternate routes are North Boulevard and Florida Street.
The bottom line: The state of Louisiana refinanced more than $649 million in Gasoline and Fuels Tax Bonds on Thursday, which Treasurer John Kennedy says will generate more than $109 million in debt service savings for taxpayers. “Just like homeowners refinance their mortgages to achieve savings, we refinanced these bonds to capture lower interest rates,” Kennedy says in a news release issued today. “The state will pay less in debt service, resulting in significant savings.” The interest savings can only be used for highway projects in the TIMED program. State law prohibits using the money for other state needs. The new interest rate on the bonds is 3.669%, down from 4.72%.
