State

Mother’s Day is gone, but termites aren’t

LSU AgCenter urban entomologist Karen Sun says right now is when Formosan subterranean termites swarm and spread their colonies. The swarm season for this destructive pest starts as early as April and lasts through June, with a peak in early to mid-May around Mother’s Day.

Louisiana state income tax filing deadline is Monday

The filing and payment deadline for 2021 state individual income tax is Monday. Taxpayers can file their returns electronically through Louisiana File Online, the state’s free web portal for individual tax filers.

Juvenile justice with focus on therapy questioned

Michele Piazza’s face swelled up with bruises. Her leg was broken in more than one place. She was beaten so severely that a year after the attack on her, she continues to have physical and mental health challenges. Piazza has worked in prisons and secure care facilities for 18 years.

Fit only for frogs and alligators

Every year about this time, when the Mississippi begins to fill with snowmelt and rainwater from the north, talk begins again about the possibility of the Atchafalaya grabbing almost all of the water from the big river — with dire consequences on both of the streams.

Hammerhead worms on the rise in Louisiana

An invasive, wriggling creature with a head that resembles a hammer has been showing up lately in some south Louisiana lawns. They’re called hammerhead worms. LSU AgCenter entomologist Nathan Lord said it is believed they were imported from Southeast Asia in the soil of ornamental plants.

Pretty petunias that take the heat

Are you looking for reliable, easy-care color for the landscape this summer? Look for new and improved petunias that tolerate the heat. Petunias of the past couldn’t handle the heat, but newer varieties have improved tolerance.

TOPS recipients could soon keep family income private

Louisiana might soon remove the requirement that recipients of the state’s popular merit-based TOPS college scholarship provide information on their family income. The end of such disclosure in the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS) is proposed in Senate Bill 81, authored by Sen.

Lawmakers propose study for wind energy pilot project in Gulf

Louisiana lawmakers want state regulators to study the most cost-effective pathways to complete an offshore wind energy pilot project in the Gulf of Mexico within four years.

Ban on hand-held driver phones fails

Lawmakers on Tuesday narrowly rejected a bill to ban hand-held driver phones after a handful of amendments, debates and product demonstrations. The bill would have allowed law enforcement to ticket anyone caught with a cell phone in hand while driving.

State’s 2006 abortion law ready if Roe v. Wade is overturned

More legal challenges are expected, but an outright ban on abortions would go into effect immediately in Louisiana except in certain instances. If the leaked draft of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on a Mississippi abortion law overturns the landmark Roe v.