News

(The Center Square) — Flock, a video surveillance company, is working to build privacy legislation in the United States based on the company’s policies. An emerging license-platereading camera company, Flock has faced intense scrutiny from lawmakers and the public in recent years over its tactics to monitor law enforcement and public safety incidents.

The Jeff Davis Parish School Board has begun discussing how to distribute revenue from the parish’s newly approved half-cent sales tax among school system employees, but board members remain divided over the fairest approach.

(The Center Square) — Louisiana residents recovering fromTropical Storm Arthur have an additional month to apply for federal disaster assistance as one of the state's recovery centers prepares to close.

Jeff Davis Parish officials are weighing how to respond after a local business was found to be out of compliance with Louisiana’s Industrial Tax Exemption Program requirements for multiple years. The issue was brought before the Jeff Davis Parish School Board, with representatives from the police jury and sheriff’s office, as a discussion item.

The Jeff Davis Parish School Board closed out the 2025-26 fiscal year on a positive financial note and approved its 2026-27 operating budget this week. Finance Director Christin LeGros told board members the district’s general fund finished the 2025-26 fiscal year with an anticipated surplus of approximately $1 million.

LAKE ARTHUR — While reviewing year-end finances during its August meeting, Lake Arthur officials reported the town remains within state budget requirements as Mayor Sampson “Poncho” LeJeune offered residents a behind-the-scenes look into the challenges of building a municipal budget.

With preparations underway for a new landfill operations contract next year, the Jeff Davis Parish Sanitary Landfill Commission turned its attention to several operational and financial issues that could influence both the current transition process and the parish’s long-term management of one of its most valuable public assets. Among the topics discussed were excavation activities on the landfill expansion property, maintenance of the oxidation pond, progress on smoothing and repairing expansion acreage, ongoing contract negotiations with Republic Services and continued review of operational expenditures.

— More than 100,000 Louisiana residents who may qualify for the state’s Women, Infants and Children program are not enrolled, a gap state health officials are now trying to close through expanded outreach and easier access to benefits.