When will work on the Interstate 10 bridge be done?

The project should be done by June, said Steve Jiles, state Department of Transportation and Development regional administrator.

Workers’ removal of concrete barriers last week “marked the end of the 24-hour lane closures,” and officials have rescinded the truck prohibition, he said.

Until the work is done, Jiles said, no lane closures will be allowed 5-9 a.m. or 3-9 p.m.

Two laws regulate height of vehicles

Is there a law on how high you can raise a vehicle?

State police Sgt. James Anderson said two statutes — R.S. 32:303 and R.S. 32:381 — regulate vehicle height.

The first says headlights must be between 2 and 4.5 feet above the road. The second says a vehicle’s height — including that of its load — can’t exceed 13.5 feet, unless it operates only on interstate highways, in which case 14 feet is the limit.

“Any damage to a bridge, underpass, or similar structure caused by the height of a vehicle shall be the responsibility of the owner of the vehicle. …,” reads the second statute.

“Nothing in this Section shall be interpreted to require the state or any subdivision thereof or any person, firm, or corporation in this state to raise, alter, construct, or reconstruct any overpass, wire, pole, trestle, or other structure to provide such clearance.”

Online: www.legis.state.la.us.

Bunnies, Easter met in Germany

How did the rabbit happen to become the symbol for Easter?

Easter, and other Catholic feast days, has long been intertwined with ancient pagan practices — in this case, spring fertility rites, for which the bunny, famed for its fecundity, is a perfect example.

“In Teutonic mythology there is a story that seems to account for the Easter bunny, the Easter egg, and the coloring of Easter eggs,” Greg Tobin writes in “Holy Holidays!: The Catholic Origins of Celebration,” published in 2011.

“A little girl found a dying bird and prayed to the goddess Eostra. Eostra appeared on a rainbow bridge and, in an apparent attempt to save the badly wounded bird, turned it into a hare. The goddess then told the little girl the hare would return each year, bringing rainbow-colored eggs.”

He continues:

“It is in Germany, in 1680, that the first written story about a bunny hiding eggs in a garden appears. When Germans settled in Pennsylvania and became known as the Pennsylvania Dutch, they continued to expand upon the traditions. The bunny became known as Oschter Haws in the 1680s, and children in Germantown began building nests for the bunnies in hats and bonnets, which eventually evolved into baskets.”

The Informer answers questions from readers each Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It is researched and written by Andrew Perzo, an American Press staff writer. To ask a question, call 494-4098, press 5 and leave voice mail, or email informer@americanpress.com

(American Press Archives)

Brad Puckett