State

UL Lafayette faculty and staff members, students, and public officials gathered Wednesday to celebrate its recent designation as an R1 university, and talk about its significance. (Photo by Rachel Rafati / University of Louisiana at Lafayette)

UL Lafayette faculty and staff members, students, and public officials gathered Wednesday to celebrate its recent designation as an R1 university, and talk about its significance. (Photo by Rachel Rafati / University of Louisiana at Lafayette)

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UL Lafayette celebrates R1 status, far-reaching significance of designation

Harlan Kirgan
Friday, February 25, 2022
LAFAYETTE — University of Louisiana at Lafayette faculty and staff members, students, and public officials gathered Wednesday to celebrate its recent designation as a Carnegie R1 university.

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Gamblers place $40M in mobile sports bets

Victor Skinner / The Center Square contributor
Friday, February 25, 2022
The first available report on mobile sports betting in Louisiana shows the online platform took in nearly $40.5 million in bets in the first four days, compared with nearly $50 million for a full month of retail betting.
Vincent Simmons greets family, friends, supporters and a CBS national news crew as he leaves Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola Monday night. Simmons had served 44 years of a 100-year sentence after being convicted of two counts of attempted aggravated rape in 1977. In the hearing Monday, Judge Billy Bennett ordered a new trial, citing violations of Simmons’ constitutional rights in the original trial. District Attorney Charles Riddle said he will not prosecute Simmons, thus resulting in him being free

Vincent Simmons greets family, friends, supporters and a CBS national news crew as he leaves Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola Monday night. Simmons had served 44 years of a 100-year sentence after being convicted of two counts of attempted aggravated rape in 1977. In the hearing Monday, Judge Billy Bennett ordered a new trial, citing violations of Simmons’ constitutional rights in the original trial. District Attorney Charles Riddle said he will not prosecute Simmons, thus resulting in him being free

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After 44 years in prison, Vincent Simmons is free

Raymond L. Daye / The Bunkie Record
Friday, February 25, 2022
Shouts of “He is free” pealed like bells on Marksville’s Courthouse Square Monday afternoon as family and friends of Vincent Simmons walked out of the courthouse, celebrating the end of his 44-year journey to win his freedom.

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Senators, congressman, governor release statements on Russian invasion of Ukraine

Harlan Kirgan
Thursday, February 24, 2022
Senator, congressman release statements on Russian invasion of Ukraine U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), and Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Benton, (LA-04), released statements this about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Sen. Cassidy “Russia has just become a pariah nation.

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Fire marshal rescinds statewide burn ban/ St. Landry Parish ban dropped

Harlan Kirgan
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
Due to recent dry conditions statewide being sufficiently alleviated following several rain events, State Fire Marshal H. “Butch” Browning, along with Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain, is rescinding the statewide cease and desist order for all private burning issued on Feb. 15.
This map shows what would be the new boundaries of the state’s six congressional districts as approved by the Legislature Friday. Courtesy of the Louisiana House of Representatives

This map shows what would be the new boundaries of the state’s six congressional districts as approved by the Legislature Friday. Courtesy of the Louisiana House of Representatives

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Louisiana Legislature advances political maps that maintain the status quo

Piper Hutchinson and Alex Tirado / LSU Manship School News Service
Sunday, February 20, 2022
On the final day of the redistricting session, the Louisiana House and Senate passed bills Friday that turned back efforts to expand minority representation and preserved the current balance of power in the state’s congressional delegation and the Legislature itself.
Bird eats fruit from an Arrowwood viburnum tree.

Bird eats fruit from an Arrowwood viburnum tree.

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Feed the birds

Heather Kirk-Ballard / LSU AgCenter horticulturist
Friday, February 18, 2022
February is National Bird-feeding Month, and this year’s theme is “Winter Comforts — Feed the Birds and Keep Them Happy and Healthy.”

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La. Senate, House approve maps that maintain minority representation

Victor Skinner / The Center Square
Wednesday, February 16, 2022
Both chambers of the Louisiana Legislature have approved new districts for members that would maintain the current number of minority-majority districts, rejecting numerous proposals to expand minority representation.
State Senate President Page Cortez, R-Lafayette, sponsored the Republican bill to redraw the maps for the state Senate. (Photo by Alex Tirado/LSU Manship School News Service)

State Senate President Page Cortez, R-Lafayette, sponsored the Republican bill to redraw the maps for the state Senate. (Photo by Alex Tirado/LSU Manship School News Service)

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Senate, Supreme Court districts approved

Allison Kadlubar, Alex Tirado and Lura Stabiler / LSU Manship School News Service
Tuesday, February 15, 2022
Two weeks of debate, public testimony and pleas from activists for greater minority representation culminated in a 40-minute Senate floor meeting Monday that advanced two Republican bills mostly maintaining the status quo of the state Senate and Supreme Court district maps.
Research by Stanley Nelson, an author and former Louisiana newspaper editor, will be featured in the FRONTLINE show. (Photo courtesy of Wes Faulk and Stanley Nelson)

Research by Stanley Nelson, an author and former Louisiana newspaper editor, will be featured in the FRONTLINE show. (Photo courtesy of Wes Faulk and Stanley Nelson)

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Longtime Louisiana newspaper editor’s work featured in cold case documentary

Harlan Kirgan
Tuesday, February 15, 2022
The work of a longtime Louisiana newspaper editor will be included in a PBS FRONTLINE documentary Tuesday on the 1967 Ku Klux Klan murder of Wharlest Jackson, a 37-year-old Black man in Natchez, Mississippi. Jackson, who had five children, was treasurer of the Natchez NAACP.