State Police are proud to announce that 58 new cadets graduated to become troopers today. Sgt. Nick Manale says graduation day is about celebrating the hard work of the cadets over the last 19 weeks in training and of course the pinning of the golden Louisiana badge…:
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He says there are now about 1000 troopers statewide.

Saturday marks the 29th annual Franklin Parish Catfish Festival in Winnsboro. The festival has grown into the largest one-day festival in the state. Festival board member Leslie Young says the festival offers something for everyone…:
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The musical acts will be headlined by 2015 Grammy Award winner Jo-El Sonnier.

At a gathering of about 600 Christian conservatives in Iowa Thursday the largest applause of the night went to Governor Bobby Jindal. Three other Republican presidential hopefulls, Rick Perry, Mike Huckabee, and Rick Santorum, also spoke at the event. Jennifer Jacobs with the Des Moines Register says it was obvious Jindal hit a home run…:
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Jindal is expected to announce his candidacy for president after the legislative session concludes in June.

A multi-day rain event rolls through the state today as a cold front pushes through and pretty much hovers over south Louisiana. Forecasters say showers and thunderstorms are expected with some possibly severe in the afternoon. They say if storms do get bad the biggest threat will be from damaging winds and hail — rain will linger through the weekend and into Monday with local flooding possible.