<span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: ‘Lucida Sans’;" class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Is it mandatory for a town to be governed by the Lawrason Act, or can a town council change it to a different type of government?</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Since 1898, the Lawrason Act — Louisiana R.S. 33:321-463 — has been the default arrangement for Louisiana municipalities.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">But the state constitution says “any local governmental subdivision may draft, adopt, or amend a home rule charter.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">From “State and Local Government in Louisiana: An Overview,” published by House Legislative Services:</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyInfoBox">Broadly speaking, a home rule charter is prepared by a local charter commission and then submitted to the voters for approval. The constitution authorizes appointment or election of the members of the commission.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyInfoBox">The local governing authority is required to provide for the election of a commission if it is petitioned by 10 percent or 10,000, whichever is fewer, of the electors of the subdivision. …</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyInfoBox">A charter commission consists of not fewer than seven but not more than 11 members. The commission is required to submit a proposed charter to the governing authority within 18 months of taking office.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyInfoBox">Members of the commission serve until the charter is finally adopted or rejected by the voters or until the end of the 18-month period. A home rule charter must include a method for amending the charter, but all amendments are subject to voter approval.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Of the 30 municipalities the guide lists as having home rule charters, six are in Southwest Louisiana: DeQuincy, DeRidder, Jennings, Lake Charles, Leesville and Sulphur.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: bold;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">Online:</span> <span class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">http://house.louisiana.gov/slg.</span>

<span class="R~sep~AHeadBrief">Black Knight tale a collection of stories</span>

<span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: ‘Lucida Sans’;" class="R~sep~ACopyBody">My wife heard from friends of ours there’s a satellite, a black or dark satellite up in space, been there for 1,300 years. Tesla was the one who discovered it, and it’s floating around up in space. They call it an artificial satellite. My wife looked it up on the Internet.</span>

<span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: ‘Lucida Sans’;" class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Supposedly there’s a satellite called the Black Knight. Nobody knows anything about it, as far as who put it up there, but they’re getting radio signals. It’s been up there for more than 50 years,</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: ‘Lucida Sans’;" class="R~sep~ACopyBody">according to this article on the Internet. I told my wife not to believe everything you see on the Internet. My question is, is there any truth to this?</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“The history of the Black Knight is actually a conglomerate of several independent stories, all of which involve an unidentified object in orbit around Earth, but outside of a common moniker, share little else in common,” reads an article posted on Vice’s Motherboard blog.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“No one is quite sure when the myth began or who started it, but its history spans from Tesla’s turn of the century experiments to the launch of the International Space Station, and the evidence in support of the Black Knight’s existence ranges from internet hearsay to photographic ‘proof.’ ”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The “proof,” cited far and wide online, shows an oddly shaped object tumbling in orbit above the planet. The object, photographed in 1998, was a thermal blanket that got away from a space shuttle crew member during a spacewalk. It has long since fallen from orbit.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: bold;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">Online:</span> <span class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">https://motherboard.vice.com.</span>

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<span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">The I</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">nform</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">er answers questions from rea</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">ders each Sunday, Monday a</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">nd Wednesday. It is re</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">searched and written by</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">Andrew Perzo</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">, an</span> <span style="font-style: italic; font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">American Press</span> <span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">staff wri</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">ter. To ask a question, call</span> <span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">494-409</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">8 and leave voice mail, or ema</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">il informer@americanpress.com.</span>