Roundup: Sandbag locations / Home construction / Student debt

Flood prep: With the potential of heavy rainfall due to the disturbed weather in the southern Gulf of Mexico that could move toward the Louisiana coast, East Baton Rouge Parish has sand and sandbags available for those worried about flooding, WAFB-TV reports. Parish leaders have also said public works crews have stepped up efforts to dig out and clear ditches and drains. See the list of sandbag pick up locations.  

Increase in May: U.S. home construction rose 3.6% in May as builders battled a surge in lumber prices that have made homes more expensive. The May increase left construction at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.57 million units, the Commerce Department reported this morning. Applications for building permits, looked to for indications of activity ahead, fell 3% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.68 million units. Read the full story. 

ITT Tech: The U.S. Education Department said this morning it’s erasing student debt for thousands of borrowers who attended a for-profit college chain that made exaggerated claims about its graduates’ success in finding jobs, WBRZ-TV reports. The Biden administration says it’s approving 18,000 loan forgiveness claims from former students of ITT Technical Institute, a chain that closed in 2016 after being dealt a series of sanctions by the Obama administration. The new loan discharges will clear more than $500 million in debt. Read the full story.