Technical difficulties: The state Office of Motor Vehicles experienced a system outage Monday morning, stopping processing for driver’s licenses, vehicle registration and reinstatement transactions. Systems went back online shortly after noon, and officials are urging residents to visit expresslane.org to reschedule appointments.
On the ballot: Residents in parts of East Baton Rouge and Lafayette parishes have a special election to mark on their calendars early in the new year. An election is being called on Feb. 15 as a result of Sen. Cleo Fields leaving the Legislature and being elected to Congress as the representative for the 6th Congressional District and state Sen. Jean-Paul Coussan being elected to the Public Service Commission. Read more from WVLA-TV.
Positive outlook: U.S. manufacturers are optimistic that the sector will emerge from a prolonged recession next year, though capital expenditure growth is likely to fall short of 2024’s pace. The Institute for Supply Management survey published on Monday also shows that purchasing and supply executives at factories are predicting higher employment levels in 2025. Read more from Reuters.
