In memoriam: The Louisiana Workforce Commission, in partnership with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, will host a Workers’ Memorial Day Program at 10 a.m. on Friday to honor workers who lost their lives or were injured on the job. The event will take place on the steps of the Louisiana State Capitol, and will follow a proclamation Sen. Regina Barrow is expected to present to the Legislature today recognizing Friday as Workers’ Memorial Day. Mayor Sharon Weston Broome and Gonzales Mayor Barney Arceneaux are expected to issue similar proclamations. Union and nonunion workers as well as those who advocate for workers’ rights are expected to gather for this year’s event. Get complete details.
Unexpected find: BP has discovered 200 million barrels of oil in a hidden cache in the Gulf of Mexico, thanks to a technological breakthrough allowing the company to see beneath geological formations that had befuddled oil exploration for decades. FuelFix.com reports the recoverable oil is potentially worth $2 billion and is in an undrilled section of BP’s Atlantis field in 7,000 feet of water, about 150 miles from New Orleans. Long obscured by a salt dome, which distorts seismic waves that oil companies use to map features below the earth, the oil reserves were revealed by using a supercomputer and mathematical algorithm to interpret the seismic data in a new way. Read more.
Still in: President Donald Trump says he has told the leaders of Mexico and Canada that he will not pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement at this time, but could still withdraw if he concludes a renegotiated pact is not “a fair deal for all.” The Associated Press reports Trump tweeted early this morning that he has agreed to remain a partner in the much-discussed trade agreement in calls he received from Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The White House released a statement late Wednesday saying Trump had assured the two leaders the U.S. would not withdraw from NAFTA at this time. Read more.
