ST. FRANCISVILLE — Kenny Havard, sworn in as West Feliciana's second parish president Monday, said he plans to make the parish's roads and bridges his main focus during the next year.
Monday, December 10, 2018
Dadrius Lanus has joined his friend Tramelle Howard as the newest and youngest members of the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board, a board filled with incumbents responsible for the public school system they’ve spent the past few months challenging.
Funding for some pay raises delayed after Louisiana House speaker objects to budget forecast upgrade
More than $43 million in budget priorities – mostly law enforcement expenditures – has been delayed again, after state House leadership again objected to an attempt at upgrading the state's economic forecast on Monday.
Monday, December 10, 2018
After East Baton Rouge Parish voters approved a tax increase to fund a mental health crisis center beginning in the year 2020, philanthropists and the mayor's office hope to find a way to set up the center faster.
A new bridge across the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge is doable but would require support from voters in five area parishes, the founder of the Shaw Group said Monday.
Sunday, December 09, 2018
Gov. John Bel Edwards is walking a thin line. The only Democratic governor in the Deep South is attempting a re-election bid in a state that saw an unprecedented vote tally in favor of Republican Donald Trump for president.
Sunday, December 09, 2018
Melville police chief challenger Cleven Clark was arrested Saturday night, accused of hitting a Melville police officer who rode past his daughter’s home with sirens going off in celebration of Chief Anthony Moreau's re-election.
Saturday, December 08, 2018
A pair of tax proposals for road improvements and a mental health facility cruised to easy victories in Saturday's election.
Louisiana Senate President John Alario recalls a time when lawmakers huddled on the House floor to resolve budget debates by deciding the price of oil.
Saturday, December 08, 2018
Kyle Ardoin, the bureaucratic caretaker who initially wasn’t going to run for the office, was elected Saturday night as Louisiana’s Secretary of State.
A half-cent sales tax to pay for road improvements and a 1.5-mill property tax to open a mental health crisis center have both taken commanding leads as officials count Saturday's votes.
Baton Rouge residents hit the polls Saturday to elect Louisiana's secretary of state and decide the fate of a few local tax proposals and local seats.
Saturday, December 08, 2018
Ascension Parish voters turned out on a dreary day Saturday to adopt a new 1-mill property tax to finance the parish's animal shelter and animal control services and build a new home for both operations, complete but unofficial results show.
Friday, December 07, 2018
Polls are open between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday as Louisiana votes for its Secretary of State and decides a number of local elections.
When Arthur Parker left prison this summer after serving more than 20 years for a burglary conviction, what he wanted most was a job to support himself.
Friday, December 07, 2018
Is it feasible for a private firm to underwrite a new, $1 billion plus bridge across the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge?
Thursday, December 06, 2018
With less than a year left before the next Louisiana governor's election, a number of candidates have announced their candidacy while far more have declared they won't run.
WASHINGTON — Congress punted yet again on overhauling the National Flood Insurance Program, extending the program for two more weeks as part of a broader stop-gap funding deal.
The state is getting $25 million in federal funds to upgrade Interstate 12 in St. Tammany Parish near the site of a four-person fatality earlier this year, officials said Thursday.
Republican U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham is running for governor against Gov. John Bel Edwards next year, the two-term congressman announced on Wednesday — the latest development in a rapidly congealing election less than a year away.
Wednesday, December 05, 2018
Gov. John Bel Edwards asked in a Tweet Wednesday afternoon for the state’s residents to pray for former Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who is facing an incurable cancer.
While much attention recently has been placed on next year’s gubernatorial campaign, voters will decide Saturday on the state official who will run that election.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is set to speak at a gaming industry-sponsored event in New Orleans next month that is expected to draw state lawmakers from around the country.
U.S. Sen. John Kennedy said Wednesday that he "agonized" over his decision not to run for Louisiana governor next year, making his choice only hours before announcing it, even after receiving a personal entreaty from President Donald Trump to stay…
Tuesday, December 04, 2018
Louisiana now has one of the nation's most modern Medicaid enrollment systems — an undertaking that leaders say will help address concerns over potentially misspent funds in the health care program that covers more than a third of the state's population.
WASHINGTON — A battle’s brewing in the U.S. Senate over a bipartisan package of criminal justice reforms, and Louisiana’s senators have wound up on opposite sides of the issue.
A jury will be allowed to hear testimony that a former LSU student charged in the fatal 2017 alcohol-related hazing of Phi Delta Theta pledge Max Gruver was adamant about not wanting Gruver in the fraternity, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Rep. Steve Scalise joined the ABC daytime talk show "The View" on Tuesday morning to discuss his new book, "Back in the Game," about his recovery from a near-deadly shooting in June of 2017.
Monday, December 03, 2018
Porn actress Stormy Daniels is set to join a protest on Dec. 9 at the State Capitol over the age requirement for adult entertainers, officials said Monday.
With the most prominent potential contender officially out of the race, Louisiana Republicans appear to be left without a well-known figure to challenge Gov. John Bel Edwards less than a year away from Election Day.
Saturday, December 01, 2018
One year after a gas tax hike died in the Legislature, trade groups and others are kicking off a $500,000 campaign to force another legislative debate on the issue, possibly in 2019.
Rickie Collins wasn’t surprised when his niece, Gwen Collins-Greenup, flew under the radar of the Louisiana politico class yet won a spot at the top of Saturday’s ballot.
Friday, November 30, 2018
While Republicans are angling to find an opponent to challenge the reelection of the only Democratic governor in the Deep South, some of the GOP’s biggest names are aligning with Gov. John Bel Edwards.
With a major election year approaching, Louisiana's work to replace voting machines it bought 13 years ago has remained stalled for months, amid bid-rigging allegations, a voided contract award, and claims of political meddling.
Thursday, November 29, 2018
WASHINGTON — Congress pushed back its deadline to deal with the National Flood Insurance Program by at least a week, passing yet another short-term extension of the program late Thursday.
In her 12 years on the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board, Vereta Lee has engaged many political fights, but she is in perhaps her toughest yet as she battles for re-election to the district representing much of the northern part of the parish.
A group that helped kill the 2017 push for a higher gas tax is launching an unusual ad campaign to derail any similar effort in 2019, officials said Thursday.
WASHINGTON — Federal officials will clear the way for Louisiana to dole out recovery grants to flood victims who'd taken out Small Business Administration loans without additional action from President Donald Trump, Sen. Bill Cassidy tweeted on Thursday.
U.S. Sen. John Kennedy won't say if he is running for governor for a few more days, but he's already being hit with negative campaign ads.
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
The Louisiana secretary of state's office will have to redo its work to replace the state's decade-old voting machines.
About $43 million in spending, mainly earmarked for public safety programs, is stalled in the disagreement between Gov. John Bel Edwards and House Republican leaders over state income projections.
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Louisiana had planned to require online retailers in other states to collect sales taxes come Jan. 1.
Jim Richardson, the LSU economist who has served on the panel that forecasts how much revenue the state will collect each year, has announced that he is stepping down from the role he's held for more than three decades.
Just when it seemed fights over Louisiana's state budget had become a thing of the past, tempers flared again at the State Capitol on Tuesday over better-than-anticipated revenue collections.
Monday, November 26, 2018
When the fundraising arm for Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center fired its longtime chief amid allegations of embezzlement earlier this month, the announcement was a double shock: not only was a fixture on the high-dollar charity circuit …
Sunday, November 25, 2018
Attorney General Jeff Landry's recent announcement that he will run for re-election next year put an end to speculation that Landry was gearing up to run for governor, but it also has set the stage for another possible hotly contested statewide race.
Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome has gotten notable buy-in for her proposed MovEBR road tax from business leaders and elected officials parishwide. But is their support and the public's frustration with traffic pileups enough to get voters to …
Saturday, November 24, 2018
WASHINGTON — The National Flood Insurance Program has lurched along for more than a year as lawmakers on Capitol Hill have deadlocked over how to overhaul the debt-laden federal program that underwrites most of the nation’s flood coverage.
Friday, November 23, 2018
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will put $180 million more into navigation and flood-control projects in Louisiana during the upcoming year, the agency announced this week.