Why is the Ascension Parish Council forcing small businesses to pay taxes but not Fortune 500 companies? Corporations are coming in and poising our communities and local and state governments are making us pay for it. Hyundai will receive more than $1 billion in local property and state sales tax breaks over the next three decades, making this one of the largest incentive packages for a single project in Louisiana history. (fb)

Twila Collins, an Ascension Parish resident whose family has been in the areas since the 1800s, sat down to talk to us in the creation of our newest report: Ascension Parish: Prosperity or Pollution? “I would like to talk about my community — how proud I am. Our ancestors have paved the way for us. They worked hard so they could leave it to us. I was born and raised here. I still reside here because the people in this community – we love one another. When our community is hurt or in need, we are there to help. When one is hurt, we all hurt. If one is in need, we’re all in need. Our community is right across the levee from industry and we’re getting polluted on a daily basis, and there’s so many health effects. My mother had cancer — she had breast cancer. I had colon cancer. My mom had bronchitis. My son died of an asthma attack at nine years old. That was 22 years ago. He was born with asthma. He couldn’t live his life as a child because he was always sick. We know these problems can come from the air we breathe. There are so many people that I’ve known that have died from cancer. Why should we have more pollution brought to our community?” https://labucketbrigade.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/LBB_AscensionReport_R5.pdf (fb)