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Republican Blake Miguez is weighing what district to run in after state redrew map following supreme court decisionA congressional candidate from Louisiana who was the subject of a police report accusing him of rape – which he denies – says he is hoping to again “earn” Donald Trump’s endorsement as he considers precisely where to run amid redistricting.The candidate, Blake Miguez, is weighing running in one of two districts, neither of which he lives in but which he is allowed to run. He has been mulling that choice after the supreme court’s landmark decision in Callais v Louisiana prompted the state to swiftly redraw its US House districts – and after he had secured the president’s backing under the previous congressional map. Continue reading...

Forecasters warn of US coastal flooding, heavy rain and dangerous surf as the storm tracks westTropical Storm Bertha made landfall in Louisiana on Wednesday afternoon, and is moving westward toward the Texas coast, where it is expected to reach later on Thursday, bringing rainfall, winds and rising water levels.In a Thursday morning update, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said that Bertha was moving west and that the center of the tropical storm was expected to move near or along the Louisiana and upper Texas coasts over the next several hours before moving inland over Texas on Thursday evening. Continue reading...

In Kentucky and West Virginia, rescuers freed trapped residents as states face catastrophic floods and damageTropical storm Bertha made ‌landfall in ‌St Bernard parish, on the Gulf coast south-east of New Orleans, Louisiana, on Wednesday afternoon, the ⁠US national ⁠hurricane ⁠center said.The Miami-based forecaster ‌added that maximum ​sustained winds were estimated ⁠to be ​45mph (75km/h) ‌with higher ​gusts. Continue reading...

Lawmakers weakened community air monitoring as industry pushed back against greater scrutinyKimbrelle Kyereh lives just a few hundred feet from the massive chemical storage tanks in St Rose, in south-eastern Louisiana. Oily fumes sometimes drift into her home, bringing headaches, nausea and insomnia. On one such night, she grabbed her son at 3am and fled to an all-night Ihop.In 2023, after years of coping with the noxious odors, Kyereh began collecting air samples in her yard for a local environmental justice group. But soon after, Louisiana passed an industry-backed law that sharply restricted how that kind of data could be used.Ten of Louisiana’s heaviest air-polluting facilities, based on self-reported data shared with the EPA, operate without a single public air monitor within five miles.This list includes Dow Chemical’s plastics factory in Plaquemine, which is about eight miles from the nearest air monitoring station. The station measures only ozone even though the plant releases an array of toxic pollutants including ethylene oxide, a known carcinogen.No public monitors measure ammonia – despite the fact that CF Industries’ Donaldsonville plant emits more than 7m lbs of the hazardous chemical each year, according to EPA data.The three chemicals that researchers have concluded “together account for the large majority of total cancer risk” in the area – ethylene oxide, chloroprene and formaldehyde – aren’t monitored by the state at all. Continue reading...

Clarence Frazier Jr charged with murder over killing of Drew Hanson and could face death penalty if convictedA federal agent was fatally shot while trying to help authorities capture a man who failed to show up to his sexual battery trial in Louisiana, according to the US justice department.Clarence Frazier Jr, 48, was charged with murder in the killing of deputy US marshal Drew Hanson, authorities said. Frazier could face life imprisonment or the death penalty if he is eventually convicted of murdering Hanson. Continue reading...

• Meta has announced plans to build the Hyperion data center supercluster in Richland Parish, Louisiana, with a projected investment exceeding $50 billion. • The facility is designed as a 5GW supercluster, representing a massive scale-up in infrastructure to support the company's growing artificial intelligence capabilities. • This investment underscores the critical need for immense computing power and energy to train and deploy next-generation AI models.

• Meta is expanding the compute capacity of its Hyperion data center in Richland Parish, Louisiana, to 5 GW, pushing the total project investment beyond $50 billion. • Since construction commenced in December 2024, local businesses have already secured more than $1.6 billion in contracts related to the facility. • The company will invest an additional $1 billion into regional infrastructure, specifically targeting upgrades for roads, water systems, and wastewater facilities.

Former transport secretary said she was one of several victims of ‘sexist and unpleasant’ press briefsLouise Haigh has accused Keir Starmer’s allies of briefing “consistently and viciously” against her after she resigned as transport secretary as she spoke openly about her departure from the cabinet in 2024 and her reasons for backing Andy Burnham.Talking to the BBC’s Nick Robinson, she said she had been a victim of a “cabal of men mistreating women”, who also targeted her cabinet colleagues Lisa Nandy, Bridget Phillipson and Angela Rayner, as well as Starmer’s former chief of staff Sue Gray. Continue reading...