Hitting Cuba today: Hurricane Rafael is forecasted to strengthen into a major hurricane before making landfall in western Cuba later today. As the National Hurricane Center writes in its latest advisory, some weakening is expected when the storm crosses Cuba, but Rafael is expected to remain a hurricane as it travels through the Gulf of Mexico. While previous forecasts showed the storm moving northwards towards Louisiana, forecasts currently show the storm moving more westward towards the Texas Gulf Coast. See more from the National Hurricane Center.
Flipped blue: Sen. Cleo Fields has secured Louisiana’s 6th Congressional district seat with 51% of the vote, a flip of the seat to Democrats. Fields finished with 150,311 votes according to preliminary results from the Louisiana secretary of state’s office. Republican Elbert Guillory finished second with 111,731, or 38% of the total. The victory comes after the Legislature passed a court-ordered congressional map this year that included a second black Majority district. Read more from The Center Square.
Greenlit: BREC’s tax renewals were approved by local voters on Tuesday. Some 61% of voters approved the 10-year renewal of 6.2 mills intended to fund general operations and improve buildings and properties, while 53% of voters approved the 20-year extension of 3.253 mills, financing the organization’s strategic plan.
