Standing together: A coalition of environmental groups will hold a press conference from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. today to address the Phillips 66 pipeline explosion that occurred on Thursday in Paradis. The press conference will take place at the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, 602 N. 5th St. Representatives of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, the GreenARMY, Bold Louisiana and 350 Louisiana will be present. The explosion injured two workers and forced 60 residents to evacuate homes in Paradis. A third contract worker missing since the explosion is presumed to be dead, officials said on Saturday. The explosion occurred against the backdrop of some Louisiana residents raising concerns about the construction of the the Bayou Bridget Pipeline, which would cut across 11 parishes from Lake Charles to St. James.
On the road: The number of unfixed, recalled vehicles still in use on U.S. roads has soared 34% since 2016, vehicle history website Carfax.com says. The company says more than 63 million unfixed, recalled vehicles are still in use across the country, and many of them are being driven in Gulf Coast states such as Louisiana—which is ranked among five states for having the highest rate of unfixed recalls on the roads. Texas is ranked No. 1, as nearly one in three recalled vehicles are still in use, and Hawaii, Mississippi and Alabama rounded out the top five. Carfax says data suggests that family life may be a factor for some vehicle owners not knowing about a recall or getting their recalled fixed. Minivans and SUVs are most likely to have unfixed recalls. Read the full release.
No limit: Verizon is launching an unlimited LTE data plan, titled Verizon Unlimited, today. Business Insider reports the move marks the first time in more than five years that Verizon, the nation’s largest carrier in terms of total subscribers, will have an unlimited data offering. The new plan comes on the heels of other renewed and aggressive pushes into unlimited data from rival carriers, most notably T-Mobile, which in August replaced all of its existing mobile plans in favor of one unlimited offering, titled T-Mobile One. The plan will start at $80 per month for an individual line, or $45 per line for a group of four on smartphones or tablets. Both new and existing subscribers will be able to sign up. Read the full story.
