News

Legislative wrapup

TOPS funding bill deferred By Katie Gagliano Manship School News Service BATON ROUGE — A measure to ensure consistent funding for the TOPS scholarship program was voluntarily deferred in a House Appropriations Committee Tuesday over concerns about diverting monies from the state’s general fund,...

House decides schools rule on corporal punishment

Louisiana lawmakers in the House determined Monday that local schools, not the state, should decide whether to spank or subject students to other forms of physical punishment. They rejected Monday 34-61 House Bill 497 by Rep.

Stripper age minimum stays 18

Sen. Ronnie Johns, R-Lake Charles, moved his Senate Bill 144, through the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday aims to protect young women from human trafficking by prohibiting strippers under the age of 18, three years younger than what he wanted. The tweaks, authored by Sen. J.P.

Trump might not be the failure you thought

Ask the New York Times and they’ll tell you President Trump has been an abject failure in his first 100 days or so. Ask Trump and he’ll tell you he’s a “yuge” success. So, which is it? It depends on how you’re keeping score.

Lawmakers crack down on free-speech crackdown

Back in the 1930s, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously referred to states as “laboratories of democracy.” But these days, those labs are looking less Albert Einstein and more Dr. Frankenstein.

Information sought about vehicle burglaries

St. Landry Crime Stoppers and the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office is asking for help in locating the suspects involved in two vehicle burglaries in the Opelousas area. On April 14, deputies were dispatched to Cypress Drive in Opelousas for an attempted vehicle burglary.

Report touts transportation projects possible with gas tax hike

As legislators are considering a proposal to raise the state’s fuel tax by 17 cents a gallon, a report outlined the state’s transportation infrastructure needs.

Lawmakers take aim at drug pricing

A set of bills moving through the state Legislature’s ongoing regular session would create new layers of disclosure in regard to prescription drug pricing in Louisiana.

Sales tax revenue up in April

Eunice sales tax collections jumped 28 percent from March to April, however, collections from January through April lag 1.6 percent below the same period in 2016. According to statistics from the St.

Acadia Crime Stoppers seeks information about burglary

Crime Stoppers of Acadia Parish needs your help to solve a crime. The Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Office is investigating a commercial burglary which occurred around 4 a.m. April 30 in the 1600 block of Crowley Rayne Highway in Crowley. Entry into the business was made by breaking the glass front door.