The Current Media

The Current is a nonprofit news outlet dedicated to serving Lafayette and southern Louisiana. Established in 2018 by a group of local journalists, The Current delves into the region's politics and culture, highlighting their significance and fostering civic participation. Our news coverage is offered as a public service, free for all readers. This is made possible through the generous support of our audience, along with grants, major donations, and advertising. You can view our list of key supporters. We feature journalism from a diverse range of contributors who represent the varied voices and perspectives within our community. Our commitment is to accuracy, fairness, transparency, and inclusivity in everything we produce. You can read more about our policies here.

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Boulet, sheriff at odds over jail funding

2 weeks ago | thecurrentla.com | Leslie Turk

More than six months after a dispute over jail funding and crowding issues boiled over in an email thread that included dozens of city and parish officials, the administrations of Mayor-President Monique Boulet and Sheriff Mark Garber remain at a standstill. Whether the jail is being adequately funded by Lafayette Consolidated Government is likely to be debated at this summer’s budget hearings.
Immigration under Trump — What is ICE doing in Lafayette?

2 weeks ago | thecurrentla.com | Alena Maschke

Christmas, family barbecues, quinceañeras — Jorge Rojas Perez was there and happy to be. “He’s a great dancer, a really beautiful person,” Graciela Perez says of her brother-in-law. “He’s like a boy, he’s never going to grow up,” says her husband, Pedro Perez, with the loving scorn of an older brother. In his 20s, Jorge followed his older brother from Mexico to Acadiana two decades ago to escape the threat of violence in their hometown.
New SWLAHEC CEO Ashley Orphe wants to close healthcare gaps

3 weeks ago | thecurrentla.com | Lea Urdiales

Ashley Orphe lost her mother to breast cancer at a young age. As the new CEO of SWLAHEC, she wants to bridge gaps in the community’s access to care.
Millie Mattered hosts last opioid overdose awareness march

1 month ago | thecurrentla.com | Alena Maschke

On Sunday, facing the gusts of an especially breezy afternoon, family members and friends of people who lost their lives to overdoses huddled in small clusters on a slope in Girard Park. On banners and T-shirts, they carried with them pictures and names of the Louisiana victims of the nation’s opioid epidemic. Making visible that epidemic’s toll has been among the primary objectives of Millie Mattered, the organization behind Sunday’s gathering.
Northside library design advances after contentious delay

1 month ago | thecurrentla.com | Christiaan Mader

Plans for a new Northside library branch advanced this week after the library board made a long-awaited decision on the facility’s design. Before a packed room of library supporters, and with the mayor-president in attendance, the Library Board of Control voted unanimously to choose the largest of three designs, the option recommended by design consultants.
Illegal or cost-effective? LPSS scrutinized for no-bid contracts

1 month ago | thecurrentla.com | Leslie Turk

Since early 2024, Lafayette Parish School System officials have awarded millions in no-bid work to a metal building company in Scott. Bergeron’s Metal Buildings of Scott won contracts to complete walkway covers and sidewalk canopies, remove portable buildings and replace some of their roofs, and construct a large agricultural building at Carencro High School.
How to fix Acadiana’s health woes? Ochsner, Lourdes seek input

1 month ago | thecurrentla.com | Alena Maschke

On Monday, representatives from Acadiana’s two largest hospital systems, Ochsner Lafayette General and Our Lady of Lourdes, convened a meeting of local leaders in the health and social services sector. The hospital systems announced the results of a mandatory Community Health Needs Assessment and the areas of need they plan to focus on over the next three years.
Meet the Acadiana woman saving birds of prey

1 month ago | thecurrentla.com | Alena Maschke

Walking across Letitia Labbie’s 5-acre property on the outskirts of Youngsville, it’s hard to shake the feeling of being watched. And despite the line of tall trees that hems it, spectators abound. In fact, it’s the perch they watch from. Labbie, who isn’t shy to admit that she prefers the company of animals over people, rescues and rehabilitates injured wild birds, most of them of the prey variety. An owl gets clipped by the side of a truck? Bring it to Labbie.
Lousiana couple launches telehealth menopause clinic

1 month ago | thecurrentla.com | Alena Maschke

When Crystal Burke hit her late 30s, she started noticing strange symptoms. Her psoriasis flared up. She had trouble sleeping. “I went to see my primary care doctor. I went to see several doctors, a dermatologist for skin changes, a sleep doctor for sleep problems,” Burke said. “I had a problem, and I didn’t know what it was, where to go.”While most women don’t hit menopause until their late 40s or early 50s, perimenopausal symptoms can start as early as their mid-30s.
Election set for vacant Lafayette-area legislative seat

1 month ago | thecurrentla.com | Christiaan Mader

A special election to fill the vacant Lafayette-area state House seat is set for May 3. House District 45 is the last link in a chain reaction of special elections set off last fall when Jean-Paul Coussan won a seat on the Louisiana Public Service Commission and vacated his state Senate seat. District 45 Rep. Brach Myers won a bitter inter-party race in February to take the Senate seat and will be sworn into the upper chamber next week.