Author

Julie O'Donoghue

Julie O'Donoghue

Julie O’Donoghue is a senior reporter for the Louisiana Illuminator. She’s received awards from the Virginia Press Association and Louisiana-Mississippi Associated Press.

The Louisiana Republican Party is debating whether to recommend the elimination of no-fault divorce in Louisiana.

Large donor to Louisiana Republican Party caught up in Supreme Court controversy

By: - September 14, 2023

A significant donor to the Republican Party of Louisiana and Republican Attorney General candidate Elizabeth Murrill also played a pivotal role in the U.S. Supreme Court transparency scandal that broke earlier this year. Mortgage company owner Robin Arkley has donated $100,000 to the state GOP over the past year. Arkley and his wife Cherie have […]

Attorney General Jeff Landry speaks to reporters before qualifying Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, for the governor’s race Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, at the Louisiana State Archives building in Baton Rouge.

Large donors to Landry paid millions to settle allegations of public health care overcharges

By: - September 12, 2023

When Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry first took office in 2016, he emphasized his role in combating fraud in Medicaid, the government-backed health insurance program for people who are poor, pregnant or living with a disability. Landry, now the Republican frontrunner in the governor’s race, highlighted the work of the state’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. […]

A view from below of thick mesh fencing and barbed wire

Louisiana prisons need better oversight of sentencing changes, auditor says

By: - September 11, 2023

Louisiana’s prison system needs to be more meticulous when it makes changes to sentences for good behavior and other credits, according to a new report the state legislative auditor released Monday. Some people can earn earlier release based on their accomplishments — such as taking educational classes and complying with prison rules — while behind […]

Å Medical Form document with stethoscope and ink pen placed atop it

Tangipahoa Parish emergency department named after governor’s mother

By: - September 8, 2023

The emergency department at Lallie Kemp Medical Center in Independence will be renamed after Gov. John Bel Edwards’ mother, Dora Jean Edwards. The LSU Board of Supervisors approved the designation at the public charity hospital Friday, the governor’s office  said. Dora Jean Edwards, who died earlier this year, spent the majority of her career working […]

Jeff Landry standing at podium speaking to reporters

Louisiana ethics board charges Jeff Landry with failure to report Hawaii trip on donor’s plane

By: - September 7, 2023

The Louisiana Board of Ethics wants Attorney General Jeff Landry to pay a penalty for failing to disclose flights he took to and from Hawaii on a political donor’s private plane in 2021. Documents released this week show the board voted in August to charge Landry and one of the donor’s companies for violating the […]

A sign reading "Vote Here" is taped up on the glass door at the entrance of a voting precinct

Louisiana residents have until Sept. 23 to register to vote in gubernatorial primary

By: - September 6, 2023

Louisiana residents have until Sept. 23 at the latest to register to vote to participate in the upcoming primary election that features open races for governor, attorney general, state treasurer and secretary of state.  If you do not have a Louisiana driver’s license or special identification card, you must register to vote by an earlier […]

Jeff Landry & Liz Murrill

Jeff Landry and Liz Murrill have been a team for years. Will that continue?

By: - September 5, 2023

Louisiana Republican megadonor Lane Grigsby has been an enthusiastic supporter of Attorney General Jeff Landry’s campaign for governor over the past year. But Grigsby said Landry also asked him personally to back another candidate on the fall ballot — Liz Murrill, a Republican who’s running to replace Landry as attorney general.  Landry told Grigsby it […]

Donald Trump Jr. speaks during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.

Donald Trump Jr. will host a campaign rally and concert for Jeff Landry in Bossier City

By: - September 5, 2023

Donald Trump Jr. will appear at a rally and concert for Attorney General Jeff Landry’s gubernatorial campaign in Bossier City on the night of Sept. 13, the campaign confirmed Monday. Country music performers Gary Levox and Tracy Lawrence will perform at the event. It’s scheduled to take place at The Stage at Silver Star concert […]

Richard Nelson

Legal cannabis? Film tax credits? Louisiana governor candidates pitch how to boost tourism

By: - September 1, 2023

Reducing crime, retaining tax credits for film productions and legalizing marijuana are ways Louisiana’s governor candidates said the state could boost its tourism industry. Six of the seven major gubernatorial candidates spoke Thursday to the Louisiana Travel Association at the group’s conference in Baton Rouge. Attorney General Jeff Landry, the presumed frontrunner in the governor’s […]

Jeff Landry standing at podium speaking to reporters

Jeff Landry refuses to participate in first debate of the Louisiana governor’s race

By: - August 31, 2023

Attorney General Jeff Landry, who has refused to attend several election events with other candidates this summer, formally announced Thursday he won’t participate in the first debate of the governor’s 2023 campaign next week. Landry, the presumptive frontrunner for Louisiana’s top office, said he is concerned that one of the sponsors of the debate won’t […]

An outdoor thermometer registers a temperature of 100 degrees

Louisiana online data portal tracks heat-related illnesses, deaths

By: - August 28, 2023

The Louisiana Department of Health launched a new online data portal providing information on heat-related illnesses and deaths, as the state finds itself in one of its hottest summers in decades.  The dashboard includes information on heat-related deaths categorized by region of the state as well as race, gender and ethnicity of the victims. There […]

A female doctor holds a stethoscope to the back of a young boy inside a medical examination room

Children account for one-third of Louisiana’s Medicaid roll removals

By: - August 16, 2023

Approximately 35% of the 50,600 people removed from Louisiana’s Medicaid health insurance coverage in July were children, according to information the state Department of Health provided this week.  Another 44% were low-income adults who were originally enrolled through Medicaid expansion, 4% were people who entered Medicaid for a pregnancy, and 2% were people in long-term […]