News
LDEQ draft permit rattles neighbors of hazardous waste disposal site
COLFAX – Sliska Larry read the proposed operating permit for the expanded Clean Harbors hazardous waste disposal site, less than 2 miles from her home, with her 9-year-old grandson at her side. She instinctively pulled him closer, as if to shield him, as she absorbed its details. “It’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Larry said. […]
Plans still shaky for BR-NOLA passenger rail
The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development has about two weeks left to draft its initial plans for a proposed passenger rail line between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Act 764, which lawmakers passed last year, calls for DOTD to prepare the scope, schedule and budget to secure all necessary approvals and permits to begin […]
Opinions vary on departing DEQ Secretary Chuck Carr Brown; data is definitive
It’s not unusual that a state agency leader leaves during the last year of a governor’s term, so the exit of Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Chuck Carr Brown doesn’t jump out as out of the ordinary. Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson resigned to enter the governor’s race, but there’s no indication Brown has any […]
Trump’s possible arrest by Manhattan DA blasted by U.S. House GOP leaders
Former President Donald Trump’s claim that he would be arrested Tuesday had not materialized by early evening on the East Coast, but U.S. House Republicans harshly criticized any such move as an abuse of prosecutorial authority. In an all-caps post to his social media site, Truth Social, on Saturday, Trump predicted that he would be […]
Proposal would give Louisiana lawmakers their first pay raise in four decades
A bill the Louisiana Legislature will consider would give state lawmakers their first raise in over 40 years. House Bill 149, filed by Rep. Joe Marino, I-Gretna, would increase legislators’ salaries from $16,800 to $60,000. The amounts do not include per diem pay that each lawmaker is paid for each day they work. Those payments […]
Louisiana Republicans rally for Trump on Capitol steps amid arrest rumors
A small group of Louisiana Republicans rallied Tuesday outside the State Capitol in support of former President Donald Trump amid rumors that he will be arrested in New York City. The rally, one of several held across the country, was spurred by a social media post in which Trump claimed that he would be indicted. […]
Louisiana spent $7.7 million on death penalty defense. It hasn’t executed anyone in 13 years.
Louisiana spent $7.7 million providing legal defense to people facing the death penalty in 2022, according to the Louisiana Public Defender’s Office, even though the state hasn’t executed anyone in 13 years. The most recently Louisiana has put someone to death was Gerald Bordelon in January 2010, after he waived his right to legal appeals […]
Solar microgrids planned for Shreveport neighborhoods
Community leaders in Caddo Parish are proposing solar microgrids for neighborhoods around Shreveport to give residents places to shelter during disasters. North Louisiana Interfaith, a coalition of congregations and community groups in the northern part of the state, joined with local and state officials Monday to announce plans for four Community Lighthouses in the Shreveport […]
Ending a pregnancy in 14 states leaves few options. Some are looking to Europe and India for help.
The pills came in a dark salmon-colored envelope sealed with a plastic covering that traveled more than 7,000 miles, over a dozen time zones from Nagpur, India, in almost exactly one week. They were placed partially under the doormat of a home in a state with one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the […]
Biden administration details potential cuts in education, food aid and more under GOP plan
WASHINGTON — Federal departments and agencies say U.S. House Republicans’ plans to cut federal spending would result in reductions to key programs like food aid, education assistance and wildfire management. The series of letters from across the federal government released Monday detail exactly how plans to cut at least $130 billion in domestic spending during […]
‘Sacrifice zone’: Gulf Coast helps meet global natural gas needs, but at what cost?
About 30 miles south of New Orleans, a construction site visible from space is rising. Sandwiched between the Mississippi River and disappearing wetlands, the 632-acre site is visited by a stream of tipper trucks and concrete mixers that stir up dust on Louisiana 23, the state highway that goes down to Venice, the last spot […]
Limits on foreign ownership of U.S. farmland gain support in Congress, despite skepticism
WASHINGTON — Bipartisan momentum is building in Congress to restrict China and other foreign adversaries from purchasing U.S. farmland, a reflection of a similar push by some states as well as apprehension over Chinese spy balloons, rising land prices and growing international competition. “Foreign ownership of agricultural land threatens small family farms and the overall […]