Author
Gov. John Bel Edwards ‘considering’ mask mandate as Louisiana hospitals fill with COVID-19 patients
Louisiana has more people entering hospitals with COVID-19 symptoms than ever before, the most single-day deaths since March 10 and the highest number of new cases per capita in the nation as of Friday. Despite the grim numbers, Gov. John Bel Edwards has still not reinstated mitigation measures such as a face mask mandate and […]
Louisiana economy struggles with reliance on oil and tourism, analysis shows
Despite historic declines at the beginning of 2020 as the novel coronavirus spread and slowed the economy, tax revenues for most states rebounded by the end of the year to near pre-pandemic levels — but not for Louisiana. An analysis released Monday by Pew researchers sheds light on how Louisiana’s reliance on oil and tourism […]
Low bidder selected for new 4-lane highway in St. Tammany Parish
The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development announced Monday the apparent low bidder for the construction of the first segment of a new four-lane highway in St. Tammany Parish. The bids were “let” or opened on July 21. Brown Industrial Construction LLC presented the apparent low bid of just under $46 million for the first […]
Construction begins on West Shore Lake Pontchartrain hurricane protection
State and federal officials joined with the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority to break ground on construction of the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain project, which is designed to provide 100-year hurricane and storm surge protection to 60,000 residents in St. Charles, St. James, and St. John the Baptist parishes. The $760 million project will include […]
Senate fails to override veto of bill allowing concealed guns without permit
In an unprecedented veto-override session Tuesday, the Louisiana Senate failed to override the governor’s veto of a bill that allows residents to carry concealed guns without any permits or training — a policy referred to as “constitutional carry.” Senate Bill 118, sponsored by Sen. Jay Morris (R-West Monroe), received overwhelming support in the Senate with […]
House petition case: Gov. asks court to stop GOP opponents from interfering with orders
Gov. John Bel Edwards scored an early victory last week in the second round of the Edwards v. House petition case in which his Republican opponents tried to employ a never-before-used statute to temporarily suspend the state’s COVID-19 restrictions last year. At the July 12 hearing, Judge William Morvant in the 19th Judicial District Court […]
Louisiana’s Election Integrity Commission folds after two meetings
After holding just two organizational meetings since it was founded this year in response to baseless allegations of voter fraud, the Louisiana Commission on Election Integrity and Voting was suspended on Thursday. Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin made the announcement in a news release, thanking the members for their service and saying he needs to […]
EPA should force Louisiana to curb air pollution, environmentalists say
Environmental groups are calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to reject Louisiana’s draft proposal to meet federally-mandated pollution reductions and instead enforce its own federal plan in place of the state’s, which they say ignores key sources of pollution that burden national parks and majority-Black communities. In a Wednesday news release, the Sierra Club and […]
FedLoan will cancel Education Dept. contract, affecting 8.5M student loan borrowers
FedLoan Servicing, which manages the U.S. Department of Education’s student loan repayment programs, announced Thursday it will not renew its contract set to expire on Dec. 14. Also known by its official corporate name, Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA), the company manages loan repayments for roughly 8.5 million or 20% of all federal student […]
Police coalition urges Louisiana lawmakers to accept veto of concealed gun bill
A coalition of law enforcement officers from across Louisiana, including parish sheriffs and chiefs of police, gathered for a news conference Thursday in Baton Rouge where they urged state legislators to accept Gov. John Bel Edwards’ veto of a bill that would allow people to carry a concealed gun without a permit or training. The […]
New police reforms coming to Louisiana
Law enforcement agencies in Louisiana will soon implement several police reforms Gov. John Bel Edwards signed into law after the 2021 regular session. However, during that same session, the Louisiana Legislature killed the most significant piece of legislation proposed by the Legislature’s police reform task force: a bill that would have limited qualified immunity. That […]
Black Caucus asks feds to launch full-scale investigation of Louisiana State Police
Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus leaders announced Tuesday that they will be sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice to request a “top-to-bottom” investigation of Louisiana State Police following a series of high-profile beatings of Black motorists and alleged coverups within the state’s top law enforcement agency, Rep. Ted James, the Baton Rouge Democrat […]