The early report is that enrollment in the individual health plans through the U.S. Affordable Care Act marketplace is down from last year, but that may not mean much until final numbers are in.

Accepting his party's presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention in New Orleans in 1988, George Herbert Walker Bush promoted the power of civic engagement by celebrating America's volunteers as "a thousand points of light" advan…

Louisiana is less dependent on oil and gas revenues than it was decades ago, but when prices slump even a bit, the state ought to be cautious.

With the runoff for senator from Mississippi over, the nation’s elections are pretty much in the bag for 2018.

A victory for property rights at the U.S. Supreme Court does not mean all is lost for dusky gopher frogs, a small tribe of amphibians whose cause was taken up through the Endangered Species Act.

The tragedy of Hurricane Florence that struck the Carolinas in September has once again highlighted the national struggle against the elements, including the issue of flood insurance for homes and businesses.

The lights of Christmas have arrived once again, their presence in the south Louisiana landscape such a reliable part of the holidays that the dazzle of the season seems inevitable.

The holiday promise of peace on earth and good will toward men can seem elusive on south Louisiana roadways this season, as Yuletide shoppers stress an already strained traffic grid.

For those of us who live in Louisiana, these November days after Thanksgiving bring another big reason to be lucky. The Atlantic hurricane season officially ends on Nov. 30, and it appears that our part of the world will be spared damage from a bi…

After Donald Trump entered the White House, he gave a portrait of Andrew Jackson a prominent place in the Oval Office — a nod from one populist president to the other. Jackson’s image was already a familiar sight in Louisiana, thanks to a huge sta…

As Louisiana families gather for Thanksgiving this week, John James Audubon will, in many houses, be there above the mantel to welcome sons and daughters home.

Even at nearly 900 pages, Bob Spitz’s new biography of Ronald Reagan couldn’t include every detail of Reagan’s presidency. Even so, we were disappointed that “Reagan: An American Journey,” didn’t make room for a few words about Reagan’s speech at …

Around almost a thousand Thanksgiving tables this year, new families have come into being for children who needed them the most.

On Dec. 8, voters will face important propositions in East Baton Rouge and Lafayette parishes, along with a runoff election for secretary of state and some local offices.

Police officers get a lot of attention when they do things wrong, but they deserve public praise when they perform well, as we were recently reminded when two members of the New Orleans Police Department were honored for outstanding service to the…

The approach of Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the bounty of our dinner tables — and also remember those who aren’t sharing in that plenty as the holidays arrive.

Maybe it is making the best of a bad situation, but a bipartisan bill is aimed at once again dealing with the U.S. government's schizophrenia about the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

When it comes to the disparaging of Louisiana’s out-of-date and inefficient tax code, which has been criticized by analysts of both the left and the right, coming in at 14th worst doesn’t sound so bad.

Everybody wants a shiny A on the report card, but the goal of then-Gov. Bobby Jindal when he pushed letter grades for public schools was to make clear to the public whether a school was doing well or not.

When Louisiana in 2016 joined the majority of states expanding Medicaid insurance coverage for the working poor, it turned out to be a good move for the state's people and for its general fund, as almost all of the costs are picked up under the mu…

At LSU’s Baton Rouge campus today, the university will hold a 3 p.m. ceremony to rededicate Memorial Oak Grove, an area of 31 oak trees dedicated in 1926 to honor 30 LSU students who died in World War I. The fighting in the war ended 100 years ago…

If brains, not brawn, are the primary engine of the 21st century, then Louisiana can take heart that some 250 authors will be on hand at Saturday’s Louisiana Book Festival in downtown Baton Rouge. Many, if not most, of the featured authors either …

When Tuesday’s election gave the Democrats a majority in the House, it also shifted around some positions in the Republican leadership, but some of those changes were expected.

When a midterm electorate delivered him a stinging rebuke in 2010, President Barack Obama called it a shellacking.

If the talk of walkouts of teachers and school employees has spread to Louisiana, it's in part because such extreme actions have been successful elsewhere.

Louisiana’s 2017 statewide ballot was relatively thin, with a special election for state treasurer, along with races for mayor and city council in New Orleans and a smattering of local elections or propositions in other communities. Sadly, many st…

A set of constitutional amendments is on Tuesday's ballots, which also include a statewide special election for Louisiana secretary of state and for members of Congress.

Louisiana is one of only two states — Oregon is the other — that don’t require the unanimous agreement of 12 jurors to convict someone accused of a serious crime.

For centuries, Louisiana’s Catholic Church has attracted devout followers drawn to the faith because it answers their search for truth.

Lafayette leaders have a big decision before them concerning whether to place the stewardship of its government-owned energy utility under private management. It’s a business decision that Lafayette officials should carefully assess, and that take…

Lafayette leaders have a big decision before them concerning whether to place the stewardship of its government-owned energy utility under private management. It’s a business decision that Lafayette officials should carefully assess, and that take…

Amendment 2, a proposed change to the state constitution that would require unanimous verdicts before the government takes away your freedom, has won support across the political spectrum. Even Louisiana’s Democrat and Republican parties are backi…