Lawmakers begin public hearings this week on how to deal with the state’s $1.6 billion budget shortfall. Legislation that would raise more revenue will get their first hearing today in the Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee. Governor Bobby Jindal says dealing with this deficit will be complicated, but feels conversations so far have been very positive…

cut 4 (09) “and health care”

The House Ways and Means Committee will begin hearing tax bills tomorrow.

The chair of the Louisiana House Transportation Committee proposes a one cent sales tax that could generate $7 billion dollars over the next decade to help fund roads and bridges. Pierre Part Representative Karen St. Germain says the state needs to free up money for preservation and maintenance because we need to take care of what we have…

cut 7 (11) “isn’t quite there yet”

She says current revenue sources will never provide enough funding to keep up with needed highway construction.

It’s the fifth anniversary Deepwater Horizon spill, which is considered America’s worst environment disaster ever. But LSU department of environmental sciences professor Ed Overton is impressed with how well the Gulf has bounced back…

cut 13 (10) “unbelieveable”

It’s estimated three to four million barrels of oil spewed into the Gulf for 87 days after the Deepwater Horizon explosion.

Honey production in the United States was up 19 percent from 2013 to 2014 and continues to climb, according to the USDA. Thomas Rinderer is the head of the USDA’s Baton Rouge Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics, and Physiology Research…

cut 10 (11) “their bees”

A study indicates there were 2.74 million colonies producing honey in 2014, up 4 percent from the prior year.