Moving out: More families moved out of Louisiana in 2015 than moved into the Sportsman’s Paradise, according to an annual report by Allied Van Lines. In the 48th annual Magnet Report, named for the states that attract the most new residents, Louisiana lost 745 families, while gaining only 632 families. That puts Louisiana 35th in the country—states that pulled in more families than they lost were ranked at the top—behind neighbors Texas, Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi. The report is compiled using internal data from Allied Van Lines, one of the world’s largest moving companies.
Nearing the end: Louisiana’s 2015 Tax Amnesty program concludes at 11:59 p.m. Thursday, and there will be no more tax amnesty programs offered by the state Department of Revenue until at least 2025. The program, created by the Louisiana Tax Delinquency Amnesty Act of 2013, allows those who owe back taxes, fees and penalties an opportunity to settle those debts with the state with some of the interest and penalties waived if they are approved for the program. The program kicked off Dec. 1. “With only a few days remaining to take advantage of tax amnesty, we are encouraging anyone who has fallen behind on their taxes to apply for the amnesty program before it’s too late,” Secretary of Revenue Tim Barfield says.
Plan of action: The company responsible for a decade-old oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico will hold a public meeting next month to disclose details of its efforts to stop chronic slicks from forming off Louisiana’s coast. The Associated Press reports the Jan. 20 forum in Baton Rouge was a requirement of Taylor Energy Co.’s court settlement in September with environmental groups, which accused the company of withholding information about the leak and its efforts to end it. In 2004, waves whipped up by Hurricane Ivan triggered an underwater mudslide that toppled a Taylor Energy-owned platform and buried a cluster of its oil wells under mounds of sediment. Oil is still leaking at the site more than 11 years later, with slicks often stretching for miles. Read the full story.
