Concerns grow over river diversion project in Atchafalaya Basin
'By doing that they're sacrificing the future of south-central Louisiana,' said Dean Wilson, the executive director of the .
The East Grand Lake Project, first proposed by the , was later approved by the . The project's focus is to divert polluted water from the Atchafalaya River and Bayou Sorrel through 12 cuts, and then into nearby swamps.
To oppose this, a coalition of groups, including the Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers back in May of 2024 on issues of how the project will affect those who make a living by fishing in the Atchafalaya Basin.
Wilson argues the project could cause widespread flooding and ecological damage.
'If the levees fall on the west side of the Atchafalaya Basin, that flood could be even larger than the 1927 flood,' said Wilson. 'I think we have less room to spread, because all the levees will probably flood Lafayette.'
Wilson says the Atchafalaya Basin's commercial fishermen, who rely on its water for their livelihoods, will also be affected. He says the proposed river diversion not only threatens their income, but also the cultural heritage tied to generations of fishing in these waters.
'A lot of people make their living there, they pay the bills, buy groceries in commercial fishing, they also depend on waterways, which is lot of fisherman in Louisiana,' said Wilson.
The St. Martin Parish Council recently passed a resolution at a May 7 meeting in opposition of the project. According to Wilson, two other neighboring parishes are also against the river diversion project.
'Iberville, Assumption and St. Martin Parish passed resolutions against the project and also Iberville Parish already filed an amicus brief in support of our lawsuit,' said Wilson.
St. Martin Parish Council chairman Chris Tauzin says members will vote tonight on whether or not they will also support the amicus brief for the lawsuit.
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CNN
3 hours ago
- CNN
US used up about a quarter of its high-end missile interceptors during Israel-Iran war, exposing gap in supplies
The United States blew through about a quarter of its supply of high-end THAAD missile interceptors during Israel's 12-day war with Iran in June, according to two sources familiar with the operation, thwarting attacks at a rate that vastly outpaces production. US forces countered Tehran's barrage of ballistic missiles by firing more than 100 THAADs (short for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) – and possibly as many as 150 – a significant portion of America's stockpile of the advanced air defense system, the sources said. The US has seven THAAD systems, and used two of them in Israel in the conflict. Using so many THAAD interceptors in such a short period exposed a gap in the US missile defense network and depleted a costly asset at a moment when American public support for Israeli defense has reached historic lows. Former US defense officials and missile experts told CNN that the rapid drawdown has also raised concerns about America's global security posture and ability to regenerate supplies at speed. Last year, the US produced only 11 new THAAD interceptors and is expected to receive just 12 more this fiscal year, according to the 2026 budget estimates from the Department of Defense. In response to questions regarding the US's THAAD stockpile and the expenditure of interceptors during the 12-day conflict, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said the US military 'is the strongest it has even been and has everything it needs to conduct any mission anywhere, anytime, all around the world. If you need further proof, look no further than Operation Midnight Hammer and the total obliteration of Iran's nuclear capabilities.' CNN reported that an early intelligence assessment determined the US' strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities last month did not destroy the core components of the country's nuclear program and likely only set it back by months. The US administration dismissed the assessment, and the CIA later said it had evidence Iran's nuclear program was 'severely damaged.' A defense official declined to provide information on the THAAD inventory due to operational security concerns, but said the Defense Department 'remains postured to respond to any threat.' The number of THAADs spent in the 12-day war was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. Despite the heavy use of THAADs during the 12-day war to help fend off Tehran's assault last month, dozens of Iranian missiles still struck Israel. THAAD is a mobile system that can engage and destroy short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles both inside and outside of the Earth's atmosphere during their final phase of flight. Each battery is operated by 95 American soldiers, armed with six launchers, and 48 interceptors. The interceptors are manufactured by Lockheed Martin and cost roughly $12.7 million, according to the 2025 Missile Defense Agency budget. The US plans to acquire 37 THAAD interceptors next year, according to the 2026 Department of defense budget estimates, financed partially by the latest addition to President Donald Trump's so-called 'big, beautiful bill.' A defense official said the 2026 budget 'prioritizes funding in the defense industrial base, a core strategic asset that provides and sustains our military's technology, equipment, and supplies.' 'The budget includes an additional $1.3 billion for industrial based supply chain improvements, and an additional $2.5 billion for missiles and munitions production expansion,' the official said. 'The Department's role is to ensure that the President is armed with the best possible military options for any scenario – and all options remain on the table.' But experts and former defense officials warn that supplies need to be ramped up significantly to deal with the shortfall. 'It is important to recognize the level of commitment and the level of expenditure here in defense of Israel is significant,' said a missile defense expert who has been tracking the US government's expenditure. 'The reports about THAAD expenditure are concerning. This is not the sort of thing that the US can afford to continue to do on and on,' he added. 'It was a major commitment to our Israeli ally, but missile defense interceptor capacity is definitely a concern, and THAAD is a very scarce resource.' A senior retired US army officer who asked not to be named said around 25% of THAAD's total inventory was used by US forces in Israel participating in the war effort. 'The (Department of Defense) is looking at wartime stockage levels of critical munitions and attempting to significantly increase annual production capacity, an effort that is long overdue,' the source said. US interceptor stockpile concerns preceded the 12-day war, according to four former senior US defense officials who say that the problem is most acute in inventories of high-end interceptors that are a key part of deterrence against China. 'What I can say without giving any numbers is I was surprised at how low some of the levels of readiness were,' said one former defense official who left his post in the last year. 'Stockpiles are dropping. We need more. We need them faster than they are being built,' said the same ex-official. 'This is a concern. It was a concern during the Biden administration. I'm sure it's a concern now during the Trump administration,' one former senior Biden defense official said. 'Air defense is relevant in all of the major theaters right now. And there's not enough systems. There's not enough interceptors. There's not enough production and there are not enough people working on it,' said Mara Karlin, former US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities under Biden. 'You have the challenge of something being both incredibly relevant and also there's a dearth of them,' she added. There are nine active THAAD batteries globally, according to manufacturer Lockheed Martin. The US military has seven of those and plans to have an eighth active by 2025, according to the Congressional Research Service. Data available in 2019 showed that five of the US' THAADs were stationed at bases in Texas, one in Guam and one in South Korea; by last year, the Pentagon had moved two of those batteries to the Middle East to protect Israel. Two others were delivered to the United Arab Emirates and have been used to intercept Houthi militant ballistic missiles. While most of Iran's missiles were downed by Israeli and US air defenses, experts, open-source data and video from the ground reviewed by CNN showed that dozens did manage to get through. Tehran's success rate rose as the war raged on, amounting to some of the worst damage Israel has seen in decades. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Iran fired over 500 long-range ballistic missiles, and it was able to intercept around 86% of those – with 36 Iranian missiles striking built-up areas. Major cities like Tel Aviv suffered extensive damage, whole apartment buildings were destroyed, sensitive military sites targeted, parts of the power grid were taken out and 29 people were killed. Israel's tax authority estimated in late June that the war would cost the country at least $1.8 billion in damage, but with claims still yet to be filed that number was expected to rise. Analysis conducted by DC-based think tank Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) estimated that THAADs – alongside Israel's Arrow-2 and Arrow-3 interceptors – downed 201 of Iran's 574 missiles, with 57 hitting populated areas. The report estimated that the US' THAAD system accounted for almost half of all interceptions, indicating that Israel's Arrow interceptor stockpiles were insufficient. Israel's Iron Dome system was designed to deflect shorter-range rockets than those being fired by Iran. 'After burning through a large portion of their available interceptors, the United States and Israel both face an urgent need to replenish stockpiles and sharply increase production rates,' Ari Cicurel, author of the report, wrote, estimating that it would take three to eight years to replenish at current production rates. According to data compiled by JINSA, interception rates lagged as the war wore on. Only 8% of Iranian missiles penetrated defenses in the first week of the war. That doubled to 16% in the second half of the conflict and eventually culminated at 25% on the final day of the war before the ceasefire. Analysts say there are several possible reasons for the trend, including an Iranian shift of focus from military targets to populated urban areas, where interception is less robust. Iran also fired more sophisticated missiles as the war progressed. '(Iran) increasingly employed more advanced systems,' said Mora Deitch, head of the data analytics center at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). 'These included newer missiles with multiple warheads or decoys, which may individually cause less damage but can overwhelm and saturate air defense systems.' Deitch also suggests that Israel may have deliberately relaxed its interception rate. 'Israel's air defense policy may have evolved over time to accommodate a protracted engagement with Iran,' said Deitch. 'What appears as a decline in interception effectiveness might instead reflect a deliberate shift in strategy rather than a technological shortfall.' Still missile defense analysts say they saw clear signs of air defense depletion. 'The presence of the THAAD battery in the first place suggests that the Israelis don't have a super deep interceptor magazine,' said Sam Lair, research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS). Lair published analysis of interceptors seen in a series of social media video taken by a Jordanian photographer, Zaid Abbadi, from his rooftop in an Amman suburb as the missiles flew overhead. Lair counted 39 THAAD among 82 advanced interceptors in the sample, which consisted of sporadically recorded night-time recording. CNN was able to verify the THAAD tally from the videos. Over half a dozen experts say the number represents a very conservative baseline. Drawing on calculations about publicly available data on batteries, interceptor reloads, and the number of Iranian ballistic missiles fired, experts believe that the US military fired at least 80 THAAD interceptors. 'The 12-day war in June of this year essentially saw the first significant expenditure of THAAD interceptors,' said Timur Kadyshev, a senior researcher at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg. 'Israel was relatively successful in defending (with the US assistance) against unsophisticated Iranian missiles – at the cost of depleting available arsenals of interceptors.' The problem for the US is especially acute in the Indo-Pacific where China has tried to keep the US navy at arm's length, experts say. 'From a narrowly military standpoint, the Chinese are absolutely the winners in that these last almost two years in the Middle East have seen the US expend pretty substantial amounts of capabilities that the American defense industrial base will find pretty hard to replace,' said Sidharth Kaushal, senior research fellow at Royal United Services Institute. Ex-defense officials said dwindling defensive capabilities in the Indo-Pacific was a growing concern for the former administration of President Joe Biden as they used the US stockpile to battle Yemen's Houthi rebels. 'God forbid there should be a conflict in the Pacific, for example, then it really will put a huge strain our missile capacity and the ability for our military to have the munitions necessary to keep up,' said one former senior Biden administration defense official with direct knowledge of the US campaign against the Houthis. 'You have to make choices,' said Jennifer Kavanagh, senior fellow and director of military analysis at Defense Priorities. 'The Biden administration also should have thought about these trade-offs, but they were able to shrug them off because it was early in these wars… stockpiles were still deep enough that they could turn a blind eye to it.' 'But the Trump administration now is getting to a point where they're not going to be able to ignore the trade-offs.' CNN's Haley Britzky contributed to this report.
Axios
2 days ago
- Axios
Progressive upstarts shake up 2025 mayoral races
Left-wing challengers to sitting Democratic mayors are shaking up at least four major races this year, tapping into exploding anger at the party's establishment leaders. Why it matters: The races will offer early clues into the mood of progressive voters and the direction of the Democratic Party ahead of the midterms and the 2028 election. The big picture: Zohran Mamdani's victory in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary sparked a political earthquake after the 33-year-old democratic socialist ran a grassroots campaign focused on affordability in America's largest city. His win garnered national coverage and highlighted the divisions within the Democratic Party over its direction on the war in Gaza, anti-poverty programs and public spending. He's one of many left-wing candidates from diverse ethnic backgrounds jolting Democratic cities. In Minneapolis, state Sen. Omar Fateh, another young democratic socialist, claimed the local Democratic Party's endorsement this month for mayor over two-term sitting Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey Fateh's endorsement came at a convention of party insiders, not a citywide primary that might have been more favorable to Frey, whom critics see as too cozy with police and big business. Still, the endorsement was a significant coup for left-wing activists. It was the first rebuke of a sitting mayor by party members in more than 80 years. Fateh, the son of Somali immigrants, has supported rent control since before "freeze the rent" became a Mamdani campaign slogan. In Seattle, Katie Wilson, the co-founder and general secretary of a transit advocacy group, is seeking to unseat Mayor Bruce Harrell in a nonpartisan race. Wilson says Harrell — a lawyer who previously served three terms on the city council — has been too focused on removing homeless encampments around the city while failing to provide adequate services and shelter beds. Records show Wilson has been outpacing other challengers in fundraising. In Albuquerque, N.M., Alex Uballez, a former U.S. attorney under President Biden, is challenging fellow Democratic Mayor Tim Keller, who has faced criticism over crime, development mishaps and the police chief's behavior. Uballez, the son of a Chinese immigrant mother and an L.A. Chicano musician, is running on a progressive platform that prioritizes protecting immigrants and combating income inequality. What they're saying: "People don't feel their needs represented and they want leaders who will work as hard as they do to make things better," Uballez said in a statement to Axios. Uballez said the status quo isn't working and voters are ready for a change in Albuquerque. "Locally, career politicians backed by corporate interests have presided for years over skyrocketing costs of living and out-of-control homelessness," Wilson's campaign said in a statement. Reality check: Democratic incumbents aren't going down without a fight. They are organizing other elected Democrats to help take on the progressive upstarts while dismissing the processes that fostered the progressive mavericks' rise. For example: "This election should be decided by the entire city rather than the small group of people who became delegates," Frey campaign manager Sam Schulenberg said in a statement about the Minneapolis race. Between the lines: The races show that progressive voters are fired up and looking for candidates that reflect their values, Alexis Anderson-Reed, president of the progressive civic engagement network State Voices, tells Axios. "I'm seeing our base expanding even more, and it's becoming more multi-generational, multi-racial," Anderson-Reed said. What we're watching: The reaction by the Democratic Party to the progressive upstarts could dampen or galvanize left-leaning voters ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Fox News
3 days ago
- Fox News
Columbia University janitors settle case after being held hostage by anti-Israel rioters on campus
Two Columbia University maintenance staff workers who alleged they were held hostage by anti-Israel protesters during a riot last year and were forced to scrub swastikas have settled a complaint with the Ivy League school. Lester Wilson and Mario Torres settled with the university for an undisclosed sum, days after Columbia announced a $220 million settlement with the Trump administration for civil rights violations and racially discriminatory practices in an effort to restore federal funding, the New York Post reported. The settlement included $200 million over discrimination claims and another $20 million to employees who alleged they were victims of civil rights violations. Wilson and Torres filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which sparked a civil rights probe into the school. The two men are still moving ahead with a lawsuit against 40 protesters they allege held them hostage inside the school's Hamilton Hall building. The pair, who have reportedly worked at the university for five years, claim they were assaulted as protesters stormed the campus building April 29, 2024. The protesters allegedly "terrorized the two men into the early morning of April 30th, assaulted and battered them, held them against their will," the lawsuit states. When the janitors attempted to "defend" Hamilton Hall from the individuals, they were called "Jew-lovers," "Jew-worker" and "Zionist." At the time, the protesters renamed the building "Hinds Hall." Prior to taking over Hamilton Hall, the protesters allegedly agreed they would "intimidate, harass, bribe, threaten, and/or assault and batter such employees" who posed a threat to their plan, the lawsuit said. At one point, Torres reportedly used a fire extinguisher to defend himself and was hit on the back by protesters while Wilson was shoved and had furniture pushed into him. "'I'm going to get twenty guys up here to f--- you up'," one masked rioter who shoved Torres threatened, according to the complaint. Both custodians claimed they had sustained physical injuries and PTSD as a result of the Hamilton Hall takeover. They have returned to work since, a source told the Post. Officers with the New York Police Department eventually cleared the building and made more than 100 arrests. Before the riot at Hamilton Hall, Torres was required to scrub swastikas and became upset over the feeling that Columbia failed to take aggressive action against the vandals. "They were so offensive, and Columbia's inaction was so frustrating, that he eventually began throwing away chalk that had been left in the classrooms so vandals would not have anything to write with," Torres' complaint alleged. Fox News Digital has reached out to Columbia and Torridon Law, the firm founded by former Attorney General William Barr, which represented the two men in their complaint against the school.
