Salt water inching up the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico is progressing more slowly than projected, authorities said Thursday, meaning water systems in the greater New Orleans area that draw drinking water from the river have additional weeks to prepare.
For some small systems downriver, the projected arrival of salt water was pushed back to later this month. For New Orleans and neighboring Jefferson Parish the threat to water system intakes was pushed back from late October to late November. And intakes for large portions of the city and Jefferson Parish now are not expected to see salinity above 250 parts per million, a level that triggers health warnings.
Unexpected October or November rains could further delay and diminish the threat, said Col. Cullen Jones, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ New Orleans District.
The United Auto Workers union expanded strikes against Detroit automakers Friday, ordering 7,000 more workers to walk off the job in Illinois and Michigan to put more pressure on the companies to improve their offers.
It was the third time the union has widened the walkouts, which started over two weeks ago at three assembly plants. The strike expanded to locations in 20 states before the most recent addition of a Ford plant in Chicago and a General Motors factory near Lansing.
Jeep and Ram owner Stellantis was spared from the latest round of strikes because of progress in bargaining.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy was voted out of the job Tuesday in an extraordinary showdown, a first in U.S. history that was forced by a contingent of hard-right conservatives and threw the House and its Republican leadership into chaos.
McCarthy’s chief rival, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, forced the vote on the “motion to vacate,” drawing together more than a handful of conservative Republican critics of the speaker and many Democrats who say he is unworthy of leadership.
Former President Trump endorsed GOP Rep. Jim Jordan for Speaker yesterday on Truth Social. Both Rep. Jim Jordan and Rep. Steve Scalise are vying for the position.
Errol Mickelson can be reached at mick9345@stthomas.edu.