Late into the September 24 Plaquemines Parish Council meeting, an ordinance to change the start time from 5 p.m. to 3 p.m. passed unanimously. Starting October 8, the Plaquemines Port Harbor & Terminal District Meeting will begin at 3 p.m.—which, according to district 7 council member Carlton LaFrance, typically lasts anywhere from “half an hour to 2 hours.” The regular Plaquemines Parish Government Council meeting will immediately follow the PPHTD.

Plaquemines Parish is about to undergo a multi-million dollar coastal restoration projection sometime “early next year,” according to a press release sent out by the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) on Tuesday, September 29. This project will be funded by the Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group (LA TIG), a “joint effort of the State of Louisiana and federal trustees” attempting to “heal Louisiana from the injuries caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.”

Tuesday, October 6, is National Night Out Against Crime. With health concerns due to COVID-19, Sheriff Gerald A. Turlich, Jr. and PPSO have decided to conduct a virtual Night Out Against Crime campaign. In order to maintain a healthy and safe environment for our residents as well as our employees, PPSO will drive through participating neighborhoods in a show of unity in partnership with our community against crime... from a distance. If your neighborhood is interested in participating or you would like additional information about this event, please contact Lt. Cody Portie at 504.234.6958 or at cportie@ppso.net.

Plaquemines’ last hope to kill tolls on the future Belle Chasse Bridge came to an end before it even got a chance to begin at the September 24 Plaquemines Port Harbor & Terminal District (PPHTD) meeting. At the last port meeting on September 10, District 5 Port Commissioner Benny Rousselle announced that they would not file the lawsuit so they could engage “certain individuals (involved with the bridge project)” in negotiations.

A press release sent out by Louisiana Senator John Kennedy on Monday, September 21 announced that the New Orleans & Gulf Coast Railway Company (NOGC) will be receiving a federal grant of approximately $8.3 million from the Department of Transportation. This federal grant money is set to be used as funding for “safety improvements” to company railways. Specifically, 24 miles of rail in Belle Chasse and 8 miles of rail in Westwego along the Mississippi River are planned to receive these improvements.