News
Feds prioritize billions for Louisiana coastal projects
Not all of the projects are fully funded. Those with dollars from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will require 35% in matching money from the state.
Louisiana nursing home employees lag behind with COVID-19 vaccine boosters
Employees at Louisiana nursing homes are not far off the national pace for COVID-19 vaccinations, but they lag well behind when it comes to obtaining the boosters health experts recommend.
Congressman Troy Carter tests positive for COVID-19
"I am so thankful to be fully vaccinated and have received my booster shot, measures which are highly protective against more severe symptoms and illness," Carter said.
Less than half of Louisiana K-3 students reading at or above grade level
Reading skills for more than half of Louisiana’s kindergarten through third-grade students were below grade level last fall, according to a Louisiana Department of Education report. On the upside, data shared Tuesday at a Board of Elementary and Secondary Education meeting also showed more students reached grade-level status or above as they advanced each year. […]
Legislatures across the country back off COVID-19 protocols
Unlike recent years, when masks and social distancing were common, if not the explicit rule, in many state legislatures you’d hardly know that we were entering the third year of a pandemic.
Louisiana surpasses 1 million COVID-19 cases
State health officials reported Tuesday that Louisiana has surpassed 1 million unique cases of the coronavirus, having totaled more than 29,125 case over the extended weekend. The actual number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 is believed to be far higher because the state’s numbers do not include home test results. As of […]
Louisiana among best states for highway safety laws in latest report
Louisiana has some of the best highway safety laws in the nation according this year’s “roadmap” from an organization with backers in the insurance industry and consumer groups. Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety ranked the states as part of its “Out of Control” report, released Tuesday. It calls attention to a recent increase in fatal […]
Forest Service in ‘paradigm shift’ to use logging, controlled burns to prevent wildfires
The Biden administration will announce Tuesday it is using $3 billion from last year’s infrastructure law to revamp the federal approach to wildfire management, introducing a 10-year plan to deal with the large swaths of the West scientists consider most at risk of destructive blazes. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, is scheduled […]
Louisiana GOP faction still upset over former Senator Ronnie Johns skipping veto session
A faction of GOP members wants the Louisiana Senate to block the appointment of former Sen. Ronnie Johns, a Republican, as the state’s top gambling regulator. Johns skipped last year’s veto override session that Republican members of the Legislature called, a decision some consider disloyalty to the party. Johns’ critics pushed a resolution at the […]
Embattled Louisiana Republican Party chairman keeps his job
The embattled chairman of the Republican Party of Louisiana won a party election Saturday to keep his job in spite of allegations that he has mismanaged the party’s finances and mistreated state party staff. The Louisiana Republican State Central Committee cast 101 votes for Louis Gurvich and 90 votes for Michael Bayham, the party’s former […]
Online orders for free at-home COVID tests to begin Jan. 19
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Friday launched a new website for Americans to request up to four free COVID-19 tests per household. The administration is buying 1 billion at-home rapid COVID-19 tests, and Americans will be able to begin ordering the tests online on Jan. 19 at COVIDtests.gov. This is part of the administration’s effort […]
Seven states to watch in the 2022 push to restrict voting rights
WASHINGTON — Republican state lawmakers across the country are ramping up their drive to enact voting laws in time for crucial 2022 midterm elections. As federal legislation that would limit state-level voting restrictions appears stymied in Washington, Republicans in the states are moving forward with new proposals and revisiting old ones that Democrats and voting […]