The Louisiana House budget-writing committee Monday advanced a $24 billion spending plan for next year that could force steep cuts on colleges and health services, but few lawmakers expect it to resemble the final bill.
Property owners whose annual tax assessments increase by 15 percent or more in one year would be allowed to pay that increase over a three-year period, under a measure approved Monday by the House Ways and Means Committee.
A joint meeting between the City-Parish Council and the Lafayette Parish School Board set for Tuesday evening has been postponed. No new date has been set.
On Thursday, May 2, Hearts of Hope will present “An Evening with Elizabeth Smart” at Our Savior’s Church in Lafayette.
Lawmakers are making their first changes to Gov. Bobby Jindal's $24.7 billion budget proposal for next year in the House Appropriations Committee.
A sharply divided Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal from a Louisiana man who claimed that most of a seven-year delay between his arrest and murder trial was the result of a breakdown in the state's system for paying defense lawyers in death penalty cases.
State Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain is advising horse owners to vaccinate their animals for eastern equine encephalitis and west Nile virus as mosquito season kicks in.
In a letter distributed Wednesday to the Iberia Parish Council, attorney Gary McGoffin argues that the damages claim of Holly Leleux-Thubron will not likely hold weight in court; her attorney responded Thursday by filing a complaint in federal court.
It’s typical, says Lafayette Parish Schools Superintendent Dr. Pat Cooper, for gifted and talented students to get the short end of the stick. Case in point: Senate Committee Resolution 23.
A permit to keep a tiger named Tony at a truck stop outside Baton Rouge was invalid because the truck stop's owner wasn't the animal's legal owner, the state 1st Circuit Court of Appeal ruled Thursday.
The Advocate has succeeded in its legal effort to get the names of the candidates who applied for the top post.
MAY 22 This post was written the day after the second line shooting in NOLA, by Brentin Mock. Mock is a friend of Deb "Big Red" Cotton, a blogger who was shot in the back and was seriously injured. It is a raw, emotional piece of writing, something the writer obviously felt he needed to get off his chest. But it raises questions that can't be easily dismissed, and might give some insight into where the source of these events truly is.
MAY 22 In this Baton Rouge Business Report post, Rolfe McCollister considers the privatization of bus service in Baton Rouge. After decades of under-funding, it is a mess, and although a tax (partially) passed last year, improvement hasn't happened yet. McCollister apparently feels it is time to let private business get in on the transit business.
MAY 22 This post on Bayou Buzz by Jeff Crouere urges the defeat of a bill that would grant modest pay increases over the next several years to the state's judges and clerks of court. The state is in no position to fund pay hikes, Crouere argues, with the pay increases costing a total of $9 million over several years. It sends the wrong message to the (proverbial) hard-working people of Louisiana, he says.
MAY 22 The Advocate reports here that State Treasurer John Kennedy is complaining about a meeting of the corporation that oversees the state's tobacco settlement. The Governor wanted it restructured, and he has some support, but not a lot. The corporation agreed with his plan, but Kennedy didn't, and it appears that the meeting was noticed in a manner completely different than that of all previous meetings. Kennedy's given to hyperbole, but in this case the fish don't smell too fresh.
MAY 22 In this Advocate story, Carencro Police Chief Carlos Stout says the recent federal indictment of a strip club owner is all wrong. The indictment alleges that drugs and prostitution went on with impunity because club staff made arrangements with "local" police. Stout says it never happened, and while his cops do work security in the parking lot, they're not allowed inside.
MAY 22 This amusing post in DIG Baton Rouge recounts an ad that ran on Craig's List recently; the advertiser was seeking tenants for a Beauregard Town house. He knew his market, and wrote an ad that the most ironical hipster couldn't resist. Apparently, he really did know his market, because the ad worked like a charm.
MAY 22 In this post in The Lens, Mark Moseley comments on the rhetoric Gov. Jindal employed in trying to save his tax "reform" package. One interesting point concerns Jindal's use of his brother, Nikesh, in a little story. Nikesh left Louisiana because of his inability to get a decent job, the story goes, but the story won't hold water: Nikesh lives in DC, which has an income tax level comparable to Louisiana, Moseley says. If income taxes caused the dismal situation, it should exist in DC too. Right?
MAY 22 This post by columnist John Maginnis traces the trajectory of the bill that would fund construction at community and technical colleges -- and bypass the Board of Regents and traditional higher ed funding mechanisms. Sure, it will bust the legislature's self-imposed debt limit, but some leges feel that there's more need (because there is more growth) in the community and technical college area than in the university area, he says.
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