The Colorado State University forecast team is predicting a below-average 2015 Atlantic hurricane season. Dr. Phil Klotzbach says a typical hurricane season has 12 named storms, 6 hurricanes and two major hurricanes…:
CUT 10 (07) “hurricane season”
He says the tropical Atlantic has cooled over the past several months and the chance of an El Nino forming is high and historical data indicates fewer storms form in these conditions.

Higher Education Commissioner Joe Rallo is very concerned about how some universities will be able to operate if lawmakers are not able to come up with a funding solution to the state’s one-point-six billion dollar budget deficit. Rallo says higher ed is facing a potential cut of about 600-million dollars in state funds…:
CUT 7 (08) “would not be viable”
LSU president and chancellor F King Alexander says every parish will feel the impact if these deep cuts go through.

Republican Bossier City Representative Mike Johnson says he plans to amend the religious freedom bill he has filed amid public concerns but gay rights advocacy groups want the legislation pulled altogether. Johnson told the Jim Engster Show he’ll remove a paragraph in the bill that some believed gave businesses the right to deny benefits to same-sex couples as other married couples based on religious beliefs…:
CUT 3 (09) “has been alleviated”
Gay rights groups feel this bill legalizes discrimination and are banding together in opposition to Johnson’s legislation.

State Treasurer John Kennedy announces he will seek re-election this year. The letter ends speculation Kennedy would join the governor or attorney general races.