Shifting foundations: Lafayette home sales tumbled 22% in July, compared to the same month last year, victim to what Realtors say is the still struggling oil market, The Advertiser reports. The Realtor Association of Acadiana’s Multiple Listing Service says home sales in the parish fell from 368 in July 2015 to 287 last month. For the year, home sales in Acadiana have dropped almost 10%, from 1,986 in January-July 2015 to 1,797 during the same period in 2016. Bill Bacque, president of Van Eaton & Romero, says sales of newly constructed homes in Lafayette have fallen by 20.2%, while existing home sales have dropped 4.1%. The Advertiser has the full story.
Fit to print: A once-popular outdoor magazine for Louisiana wildlife and fisheries enthusiasts is returning to print this fall, The Associated Press reports. For decades since its start in 1917, the Louisiana Conservationist was mailed to the home of hunting and fishing license holders across the state. But publication ceased five years ago under then-Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration. The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries announced Thursday it is resuming publication of the magazine. Gov. John Bel Edwards says in a statement the Louisiana Conservationist is “an educational asset” and “treasured portrayal of Louisiana’s wondrous outdoors.” When it resumes, the return to print will be on a smaller scale. It will be produced by existing Wildlife and Fisheries staff, printed quarterly and available for free at the department’s field offices around the state, rather than mailed to homes.
On file: Texas and a dozen other states, including Louisiana, plan to ask a U.S. judge in Fort Worth today to halt Obama administration recommendations regarding bathroom access for transgender students, arguing they are unlawful “radical changes” being foisted on the nation. In legal filings, the U.S. Justice Department says the policies are recommendations that do not have the force of law, and the plaintiffs, including 13 states led by Texas, have no standing to request an injunction to suspend them. The U.S. government’s directive, issued in May, says public schools must allow transgender students to use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity, as opposed to their birth gender, or face federal funding loss. The other states joining Texas and Louisiana are Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona, Maine, Oklahoma, Utah, Georgia, Mississippi and Kentucky. Reuters has the full story.
