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Governor wins first round in dispute with bar owners, but fight not over
Two federal judges in Louisiana denied motions Friday from a group of bar owners who sought to immediately reopen their establishments against Gov. John Bel Edwards’ coronavirus order that has closed bars limiting them to takeout service. The cases, however, are still pending and set for hearings. The bar owners, represented by attorney Jim Faircloth, […]
Bar owners file federal lawsuit challenging Gov. John Bel Edwards’ order shutting bars down
An attorney who served as executive counsel in former Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of eleven bar owners who claim that Gov. John Bel Edwards’ July 11 emergency order limiting bars to takeout and delivery service is unlawful and overly harsh. The lawsuit names Edwards and Fire Marshal Butch […]
Louisiana lags behind in Census response
Only about 57 percent of Louisiana residents have responded to the 2020 Census, which means the state has one of the lowest response rates in the country. As of Wednesday, Louisiana ranked 45th in the nation for the Census Bureau’s self-response ratings. The census, which occurs every 10 years, was written into the U.S. Constitution […]
How many burial sites are on the land where Formosa Plastics plans to build?
Rise St. James and Formosa Plastics don’t agree about what’s going to happen in the future. The environmental justice group says air, water and soil quality are already awful in St. James Parish, and, if Formosa Plastics is allowed to build a $9.4B manufacturing complex on the west bank, the environment will become even more […]
Child advocates warned of a surge in abuse cases, but there’s no evidence that’s happened
The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) has seen a nearly 50 percent decline in the number of hotline reports of suspected child abuse and neglect since March. While some have warned that school closures related to the novel coronavirus would cause a spike in the number of children being abused, experts say […]
White House leans on Louisiana to reopen schools
BATON ROUGE — Vice President Mike Pence visited the Louisiana State University campus Tuesday to meet with the state’s top leaders to discuss reopening schools next month. Pence’s message was clear: the White House wants Louisiana to fully open all its schools despite the state’s high rate of COVID-19 cases. Pence arrived on Air Force […]
LaSalle Parish boasts of Louisiana’s lowest unemployment rate
With many residents out of work due to the coronavirus epidemic, LaSalle Parish, in rural Central Louisiana, recorded the state’s lowest unemployment rate, 6.6 percent, for the month of May, according to the figures released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics. While LaSalle Parish appears better off than the rest of the state, […]
Gov. John Bel Edwards: Louisiana Bars must close and face masks must be worn
Baton Rouge — On one of the worst days in Louisiana’s fight with the coronavirus, Gov. John Bel Edwards held a press conference Saturday to announce an order shutting down all bars and mandating citizens to wear face coverings. The new restrictions will take effect at 12:01 Monday morning. Edwards, a Democrat, had previously declined to […]
NOPD not a few bad apples but a ‘bad orchard,’ community group says
NEW ORLEANS — Leaders from the Community United for Change called on U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan on Wednesday to keep the New Orleans Police Department bound to a federal consent decree and not give into the city’s pleas to end it now. The Police Department has been subject to the mandates in the consent […]
Shreveport City Councilman flips positions on smoking ban
After the Shreveport City Council passed a comprehensive smoking ban scheduled to take effect in August, a councilman who previously supported the law now wants to exempt casinos for a year. A health advocate called his reversal a “slap in the face” to casino workers. The City Council first proposed a smoking ban around Memorial […]
Will Louisiana require you to wear a face mask?
Following a steady rise in coronavirus cases, a new mandate requiring residents to wear face masks in public takes effect Wednesday in Jefferson Parish. Although positive tests for COVID-19 have been found in all 64 parishes, a statewide face mask mandate does not appear to be immediately forthcoming. Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng issued […]
Louisiana Bucket Brigade leaders say their arrests for terrorism is payback
Two women from the Louisiana Bucket Brigade were arrested on charges related to terrorism Thursday, six months after they left a box of plastic on the front porch of a lobbyist for the petrochemical industry as a form of protest. Their arrests come one week after they won a civil dispute against Formosa Plastics. Anne […]