State

Teacher pay raise turns into $2K stipend

Rebecca Chaisson

Friday, June 9, 2023

Under a compromise approved in the chaotic closing minutes of the spring session Thursday, state lawmakers limited a $2,000 pay increase for teachers to a one-year stipend and cut $100 million from what the Senate had sought for the Louisiana Department of Health.

Senate President Page Cortez proposed lifting the state spending cap, and the House agreed on Wednesday. (Photo by Francis Dinh/LSU Manship School News Service)

House raises state spending limit

(not verified)

Thursday, June 8, 2023

The House voted 85-19 Wednesday to raise the Legislature’s limit on spending to make use of much of the large pile of extra cash flowing into state coffers. Senate Concurrent Resolution 3 would raise the expenditure limit for this fiscal year and next.

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Permitless concealed carry dies

Rebecca Chaisson

Wednesday, June 7, 2023

A bill to allow permitless concealed carry of firearms was withdrawn by a Republican lawmaker Tuesday, meaning that his efforts to push it are over this year. House Bill 131, authored by Rep.

Irregular, water-soaked greasy, brown leaf spots on upper (right) and lower (left) leaf surfaces on bell pepper caused by bacterium Xanthomonas species. (Photo by Raj Singh/LSU AgCenter)

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Diseases on the rise in Louisiana vegetables

Rebecca Chaisson

Friday, June 2, 2023

Vegetable growers all over Louisiana are facing Southern bacterial wilt and bacterial spot in tomatoes and pepper production. LSU AgCenter plant doctor Raj Singh said Southern bacterial wilt is caused by the soil-borne bacterium, Ralstonia solanacearum.

Blue Daze flowers can sometimes appear purple-blue or lavender. (LSU AgCenter photos)

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Evolvulus named summer 2023 Louisiana Super Plant selection

Rebecca Chaisson

Friday, June 2, 2023

If you are looking for something blue to brighten up the landscape this summer, have we got the plant recommendation for you.

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Ice cream in a block or angel food light?

Rebecca Chaisson

Friday, June 2, 2023

With the temperature climbing higher every day, it was welcome news in Crowley in the early summer of 1923 that the town’s first ice cream plant would soon be ready for business.

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Could a crisis hotline number be printed on driver’s licenses?

Rebecca Chaisson

Friday, June 2, 2023

A House committee passed a bill Tuesday that would require printing the number for a crisis hotline on the back of driver’s licenses. Senate Bill 34, authored by Sen. Louie Bernard, R-Natchitoches, passed its first hurdle in the House without any objection.

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Bill to collect data on school diversity programs rejected

Rebecca Chaisson

Friday, June 2, 2023

The House Education Committee rejected a resolution Wednesday that would have asked public schools, including universities, to provide information on programs and activities related to critical race theory, diversity, equity and inclusion, and social-emotional learning.

Representative Kathy Edmonston, R-Gonzales, brought two bills to further exemptions for vaccines for children in schools. (Photo by Allison Allsop LSU Manship School News Service)

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Bill eases vaccine mandates

Rebecca Chaisson

Friday, June 2, 2023

The Senate Education Committee unanimously advanced two bills Thursday that would relax vaccine requirements for K-12 students. Rep. Kathy Edmonston, R-Gonzales, wrote both bills. Colleges and universities are no longer included in the bills after amendments by the committee.

BATON ROUGE — Seventy-seven percent of Louisiana residents say a woman should be able to obtain a legal abortion if she became pregnant after being raped, according to an LSU survey released Thursday.

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Survey: 77% of Louisiana residents support legal abortions after rape

Rebecca Chaisson

Friday, June 2, 2023

Seventy-seven percent of Louisiana residents say a woman should be able to obtain a legal abortion if she became pregnant after being raped, according to an LSU survey released Thursday. That finding is at odds with Louisiana’s near-total ban on abortions.