Wesley Muller (Louisiana Illuminator)

In a process that will impact almost every election in Louisiana for the next decade, the state legislature will hold the first of nine regional public forums on Oct. 20 beginning in Monroe regarding how lawmakers will draw the state’s new political maps and choose which voters to include in which districts.

A new river crossing to alleviate traffic in Baton Rouge area has long been a wish of Baton Rouge politicians and residents alike. The most recently built bridge, which connects La. Highway 1 to La. Highway 30, carries more than 100,000 vehicles every day, many of which become snarled in congestion from West Baton Rouge Parish to the I-10/I-12 split.