State Politics

Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles under fire over customer service

BY WILL SENTELL | Staff writer
Updated 11 hrs ago

State lawmakers grilled Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles officials on Monday over complaints about poor customer service, including allegations that staffers often respond rudely to customer…

Author Walter Isaacson to receive National Humanities Medal from President Biden

BY MARK BALLARD | Staff writer
Updated 12 hrs ago

WASHINGTON – New Orleans native and Tulane University professor Walter Isaacson will receive a 2021 National Humanities Medal from President Joe Biden during an East Room White House ceremony …

Joe Biden taps Baton Rouge trial lawyer Darrel Papillion to New Orleans federal court

BY MARK BALLARD | Staff writer
Updated 14 hrs ago

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden has nominated Baton Rouge trial lawyer Darrel Papillion as a trial judge on the New Orleans-based U.S. Eastern District of Louisiana's bench, the White House a…

YOUR VIEWS: Does Baton Rouge have an underage drinking problem?

Staff report
16 hrs ago

After Madison Brook's death, East Baton Rouge leaders considered the parish's options to dissuade underage drinking in the community.

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Running for governor, Hunter Lundy is a trial attorney and fundamentalist Christian

BY TYLER BRIDGES | Staff writer
17 hrs ago

Running as a political independent, attorney Hunter Lundy is aiming to attract votes from both the left and the right as he campaigns to be governor.

Louisiana lawmakers approve more money for I-10 widening

BY WILL SENTELL | Staff writer
Updated 12 hrs ago

A legislative committee Monday agreed to allow the state to borrow as much as $850 million from the federal government to pay for higher than expected costs to widen Interstate 10 in Baton Rouge.

Why Louisiana keeps turning to low-rated insurers to reduce Citizens' policy load

BY MICHAEL FINCH II | Staff writer
Mar 20, 2023

Members of the board that oversees the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. were primed for a discussion that nobody wanted to have.

How the proposed National Parents Bill of Rights was influenced by Louisiana

BY MARK BALLARD | Staff writer
Updated Mar 19, 2023

WASHINGTON – A former University of Louisiana Monroe administrator and professor, U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow already had the bonafides to lead the effort to pass a national “Parents Bill of Rights Act.”

Stephen Waguespack is an obstacle in Jeff Landry's path to the Governor's Mansion

BY TYLER BRIDGES | Staff writer
Updated Mar 19, 2023

In outdistancing the other candidates in fundraising and endorsements, Jeff Landry has established himself as the early front-runner in this year’s governor’s race.

Trump says he expects to be arrested Tuesday as New York DA eyes charges

BY MICHELLE L. PRICE and JILL COLVIN | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Updated Mar 18, 2023

NEW YORK — Donald Trump said in a social media post that he expects to be arrested Tuesday as a New York prosecutor is eyeing charges in a case examining hush money paid to women who alleged s…

Lawmakers OK $42 million for insurance firms who agree to work in embattled Louisiana market

By JAMES FINN | Staff writer
Mar 17, 2023

State lawmakers agreed Friday to dole out $42 million in incentive payments to eight insurance firms in a bid to draw more competition to Louisiana's beleaguered property insurance market.

Neuty, the controversial pet nutria, allowed to stay with Bucktown family

BY DOUG MACCASH | Staff writer
Updated Mar 17, 2023

Public outrage had greeted Wildlife and Fisheries plan to seize orange-toothed rodent

Dems say many foreign gifts to Trump remain unaccounted for, totaling more than $250K

By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press
Updated Mar 17, 2023

A report from a House committee's Democrats says Donald Trump's White House has failed to report more than 100 gifts from foreign nations. And federal officials have been unable to find a life…

Rep. Francis Thompson becomes a Republican, gives GOP supermajority in Louisiana Legislature

By JAMES FINN | Staff writer
Mar 17, 2023

For nearly 50 years, State Rep. Francis Thompson has represented his north Louisiana House district as a conservative Democrat, earning the title of the state's longest-serving legislator unde…

Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality secretary Chuck Carr Brown resigns

By JAMES FINN | Staff writer
Updated Mar 16, 2023

The head of Louisiana's Department of Environmental Quality has stepped down from his post atop the state regulatory agency, Gov. John Bel Edwards said — the latest official from Edwards' admi…

Share your views: Does Baton Rouge have an underage drinking problem? What should be done?

Staff report
Mar 16, 2023

In the wake of Madison Brook's sexual assault and death after a night of drinking at Reggie's bar, East Baton Rouge Parish is assessing what it can do to tamper underage drinking.

Trump's VP? Some in GOP already jockeying for consideration

By JILL COLVIN | Associated Press
Updated Mar 16, 2023

The first Republican presidential primaries are nearly a year away and the candidate field is unsettled. But already, a shadow contest of another sort is underway with several Republicans open…

PSC member Mike Francis to run for secretary of state against fellow Republican Ardoin

By SAM KARLIN | Staff writer
Mar 15, 2023

Public Service Commissioner Mike Francis, a Crowley Republican, said he will run for secretary of state this fall, joining a growing field of candidates seeking to unseat incumbent Kyle Ardoin.

Steve Scalise's energy bill is 'dead on arrival'; needs tweaks, Senate Majority Leader says

BY MARK BALLARD | Staff writer
Updated Mar 17, 2023

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday predicted a rough road for House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s sweeping legislation to spur energy production, but said De…

Unemployment in Louisiana is down, but could inflation change that?

BY MARK BALLARD | Staff writer
Updated Mar 16, 2023

WASHINGTON – Though the latest White House employment numbers show Louisiana has one of the lowest jobless rates in the country, some congressional lawmakers fear an ongoing inflation fight co…

Porn star Stormy Daniels meets with prosecutors investigating Trump

By JENNIFER PELTZ and DEEPTI HAJELA | The Associated Press
Updated Mar 15, 2023

Baton Rouge native thanks lawyer for 'helping me in our continuing fight for truth and justice'

Jim Patterson named interim LABI head, nationwide search set to begin

BY TIMOTHY BOONE | Business editor
Mar 15, 2023

Jim Patterson, a longtime staffer with the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, has been named interim president and CEO of the influential business organization.

Corps finds corroded pumps in New Orleans flood protection system

BY MARK SCHLEIFSTEIN | Staff writer
Updated Mar 15, 2023

The Army Corps of Engineers has discovered severe corrosion to a pump at the end of the London Avenue Canal in New Orleans and less corrosion to another at the Orleans Avenue Canal, Corps offi…

Nine insurers seek $62 million in incentive cash to revive Louisiana marketplace

BY MICHAEL FINCH II | Staff writer
Updated Mar 15, 2023

Nine insurers have applied for a total of $62 million in grants from a revived program that will allow insurance companies who agree to write business in Louisiana to receive direct subsidies …

How do you describe your race? U.S. government asks for input about census categories.

By MIKE SCHNEIDER | Associated Press
Updated Mar 14, 2023

Nyhiem Way is weary of people conflating African American and Black. Shalini Parekh wants a way for South Asian people to identify themselves differently than East Asians with roots in places …

Attorney General Jeff Landry sues to trim costs of diabetes care

BY WILL SENTELL | Staff writer
Mar 14, 2023

Joining a growing movement of state attorneys suing insulin manufacturers over pricing, state Attorney General Jeff Landry filed a lawsuit Tuesday aimed at trimming the costs of insulin needed…

Amid crisis, Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon says he won't seek a fifth term

BY MICHAEL FINCH II | Staff writer
Updated Mar 14, 2023

Amid a historic crisis in Louisiana’s property insurance marketplace, Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said Tuesday morning that he will not seek re-election to a fifth full term this fall.

EPA to limit toxic 'forever chemicals' in drinking water, hoping to reduce various illnesses

By MICHAEL PHILLIS and MATTHEW DALY | Associated Press
Mar 14, 2023

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed limiting the amount of harmful “forever chemicals” in drinking water to the lowest level that tests can detect, a long-awai…