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Early voting for Dec. 5 runoff down 86% from Nov. 3 election
On the first day of early voting for the Nov. 3 presidential election, 175,000 Louisianians ballots. During the 10 days of early voting for the Dec. 5 runoff, 137,515 Louisianians did, suggesting that Louisianians are far less interested in the races that remain on the ballot and less likely to turn out Saturday. All told, […]
Do you care if you spread COVID-19 to people you don’t know?
It’s hard to hold people accountable when they can’t be confronted with the consequences of the harm they cause. That’s one of the most frustrating aspects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Behavior that puts other people at risk and rhetoric that encourages that behavior can’t necessarily be linked to specific cases, hospitalizations and deaths. So […]
More COVID-19 cases, more restrictions for Louisiana
More than two months after Louisiana’s relatively low COVID-19 numbers gave Gov. John Bel Edwards a reason to move to Phase 3 of the state’s reopening plan, the governor announced Tuesday that he is returning the state to a “revised Phase Two.” That means lower capacities in restaurants, gyms and “nonessential” retail establishments and sports […]
Ruling for Gov. Edwards is as much a loss for Jeff Landry as it is for House Republicans
In an attempt to be cute, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry tweeted Monday that the statute Republicans in the Louisiana House used to order a halt to the governor’s public health emergency order is so simple that even a Bama fan can understand it. Landry’s tweet — meant as an insult to Gov. John Bel […]
Arsonist’s absurd argument that he picked churches made up of wood, not churches made up of Black people
If a person were to incinerate three Louisiana synagogues, three Louisiana mosques or three Louisiana Kingdom Halls, it would be a safe assumption that the arsonist was deliberately attacking Jews, Muslims or Jehovah’s Witnesses. There are not many synagogues, mosques and Kingdom Halls around — at least not compared to the number of churches. Thus, […]
Bill Cassidy wins re-election to the U.S. Senate
U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Baton Rouge, won his first-ever bid for re-election Tuesday night, winning more than 50 percent of the vote in a primary election in which he was challenged by 14 other candidates including five Democrats and another Republican. During a victory speech in Baton Rouge, Cassidy told his supporters, […]
Louisiana voters head to the polls today during an unprecedented hurricane season and a pandemic
Nearly eight months into a pandemic that has killed 5,720 Louisianians and six days after the seventh named storm of the 2020 season hit the state, a million or more Louisiana voters are expected to visit their polling places today to cast their votes for president, U.S. senator and U.S. representatives. All the state’s voters […]
Is House Republicans’ petition to end public health order more reckless or feckless?
After spending months arguing that Gov. John Bel Edwards unlawfully enacted COVID-19 restrictions and describing themselves as the guardians of freedom, Louisiana’s Republican House members were the epitome of conviction and resistance last week when they produced a sternly worded petition that puts the governor in time out. If it ever goes into effect (or […]
During 10 days of early voting, a third of Louisiana’s voters cast ballots
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story included incorrect deadlines for requesting and returning absentee ballots. About a third of Louisiana’s registered voters cast ballots during the 10 days of early voting for this year’s presidential election, according to statistics provided by the Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin’s office. Ardoin said the 964,181 votes […]
Nov. 27 deadline to apply for Hurricane Laura FEMA assistance
People who suffered damage from Hurricane Laura now have until Nov. 27 to register for federal assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the agency has announced. Federal assistance includes help for temporary housing, rental assistance and repair or replacement of damaged property. FEMA can also provide grants to cover costs of medical and dental […]
The ongoing pandemic requires a strong government response, not platitudes about personal freedoms
Wednesday evening, during a meeting of one of the three state Senate judiciary committees, Rep. Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice, made remarks that demonstrated once again that even now — as almost 5,600 people in Louisiana are known to have succumbed to COVID-19 — not enough members of his party are taking the pandemic seriously. DeVillier was […]
Bill that would have protected defiant Louisiana pastor dies in committee
A bill meant to defend a Louisiana pastor who defiantly flouted the state’s COVID-19 restrictions on crowd size died in a Louisiana Senate committee Wednesday evening. Tony Spell, a Pentecostal pastor in Central, was given summonses after deliberately holding church services with more worshipers than the state’s pandemic emergency regulations allowed. He was eventually booked […]