News
White House imposes travel restrictions for Africa amid new COVID-19 variant
WASHINGTON — The White House is set to announce travel restrictions to eight countries in Southern Africa on Monday due to the discovery of a new coronavirus variant, according to senior administration officials. The World Health Organization classified the COVID-19 variant as a “variant of concern” due to its high mutation and transmission rate, and […]
Immigration protections in Biden’s social policy bill face a new test in the Senate
WASHINGTON — Nearly 100 House Democrats are pushing the Senate to expand immigration protections in President Joe Biden’s massive social spending and climate bill, and advocates say that it may be a last opportunity for years to advance any reform. The letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and the chairman of […]
Lawsuit settlement breaks down between unvaccinated students and Louisiana medical school
Settlement negotiations appear to have broken down for three medical students who are suing a north Louisiana medical school over its COVID-19 vaccination requirement. The students asked a federal court in Monroe Tuesday to amend their complaint, lodging new allegations that the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) implemented new discriminatory policies that require […]
Jury finds McMichaels, Bryan guilty of Ahmaud Arbery’s murder
A nearly all-white jury in a Glynn County courtroom Wednesday afternoon convicted three white men of murder in the death of Ahmaud Arbery as the 25-year-old Black jogger ran through their neighborhood in February 2020. Travis McMichael, seen all over the world in a viral video that shows him firing a shotgun into Arbery at […]
Legislative audit finds students at Northwest mistakenly overcharged for tuition
Hundreds of students at Northwest Louisiana Technical Community College were overcharged by more than $23,000 for tuition, according to a Louisiana legislative audit released Monday. The audit found that 188 students were undercharged by $3,760 for tuition and student fees, while 754 students were overcharged by $23,525 over the fall, spring and summer semesters in […]
Biden opens oil reserve to relieve high gas prices—but it won’t be immediate
As gasoline prices spiral ahead of the big holiday travel season, President Joe Biden authorized the release of a record 50 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Tuesday—complicating his administration’s goal to transition to cleaner energy sources. In prepared remarks, Biden said he coordinated the release from the reserve, a complex of […]
Your Thanksgiving plans will determine if coronavirus surges again
Louisiana is going into the Thanksgiving holiday with some of the lowest COVID-19 hospitalization and death rates since the pandemic began, but state officials warn that individual and family behavior over the next few days will determine whether that downward trend continues or reverses into a fifth surge. “We’re thankfully very much out of the […]
Demand for funding to fix decrepit Louisiana water systems exceeds available cash
With more than 500 applications submitted by Louisiana communities hoping to upgrade their failing water and sewer systems, lawmakers say there’s not enough money in the water sector program budget to fix everything. The program was created by the Louisiana Legislature earlier this year to allocate $300 million in federal pandemic aid. Under the guidelines, […]
Prosecutor says Arbery targeted for being ‘Black man running down the street’
The lead prosecutor in Monday’s closing arguments accused the three white defendants of chasing Ahmaud Arbery because he was Black, a decision that led to his shooting death on a Brunswick-area street Sunday afternoon in 2020. The Glynn County murder trial is set to resume Tuesday with the state’s prosecutors expected to present a two-hour […]
Audit finds State Fire Marshal employee and brother bilked Louisiana for nearly $400,000
The Louisiana Legislative Auditor has released a report detailing the findings of a money laundering and racketeering investigation that led to indictments this summer of a State Fire Marshal’s Office employee, his brother and several others accused of defrauding the state of nearly $400,000. At the center of the scheme, according to the audit, was […]
New housing programs created for struggling Lake Charles residents
With promised federal assistance slow to come, $11.3 million in funding has been cobbled together from different state and federal sources to help Lake Charles residents whose homes were damaged from hurricanes and floods. The funding was announced Monday in a joint press conference with Gov. John Bel Edwards and Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter. […]
Senate confirms first tribal member in history to lead National Park Service
The U.S. Senate approved by voice vote late Thursday the nomination of Charles F. Sams III as the first confirmed National Park Service director since 2017. Sams, an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation near Pendleton, Ore., will be the first tribal member to lead the Park Service in the […]