The House Ways and Means Committee approves legislation designed to make Louisiana more attractive to companies which are building and launching rockets. Jeff Palermo has the story.
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The crew of the Artemis Two is en route back to Earth, with splashdown happening Friday evening. Andre Champagne reports we will learn a lot through this mission.
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A new LendingTree study shows that Louisiana has the third lowest rate of small business failures within the first year. Andrew Greenstein reports.
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Legislation to attract the aerospace industry to Louisiana has been approved by the House Ways and Means Committee. Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois says other states are currently providing better tax incentives to lure aerospace companies.
The measure would give sales tax rebates to aerospace businesses that create 200 permanent jobs and make a one-billion-dollar investment. The legislation has the support of the Landry administration. The governor’s chief of staff, Julie Emerson, testified in favor of the bill.
Cut 5 (10) “…here in Louisiana.”
Louisiana has a history in the aerospace industry. The Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans has been building rockets for NASA in the 1960s, and Bollinger Shipyards has built barges to transport rockets.
While it was not mentioned during the discussion in House Ways and Means, this legislation is likely designed to attract Elon Musk’s Space X and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. The bill’s author is Ways and Means Chairman Tony Bacala from Prairieville.
Industry experts say SpaceX and Blue Orgin are looking for additional launchpads. There’s also controversy with this industry, as concerns have been raised about the damage done to local wildlife and environment as a result of the rocket launches.
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The Artemis Two crew has circled the moon and is en route back to Earth. Americans Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch (“cook”), as well as Canadian Jeremy Hansen, have traveled farther from Earth than anyone else ever has. Eric Burns, a professor of physics and astronomy at LSU, says we’re going to learn a lot from this mission.
Cut 7 (09) “…astronauts’ own cells.”
Burns says this mission is also a way for America to get reacquainted with an old friend it has not seen up close and personal since Apollo 17 in December 1972.
Burns says while this mission has been smooth for the most part, there are a few kinks that will need to be worked out in future Artemis missions.
Cut 9 (08) “…routinely and safely.”
Splashdown of the Orion capsule is scheduled for just after seven Central time Friday evening off the coast of San Diego.
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When it comes to the initial resiliency of small businesses, Louisiana actually does quite well. That’s the finding of a new study by LendingTree. Chief Consumer Financial Analyst Matt Schulz:
Cut 10 (11) “…about 20-percent.”
Schulz says while that’s the third lowest rate for first-year small business failure in the country, the five-year failure rate paints a very different picture.
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Schulz says while times are challenging for people everywhere across the country, entrepreneurs in Louisiana especially face significant headwinds when it comes to starting a business.
Cut 12 (10) “…take advantage of.”
Schulz also notes that Louisiana is traditionally a low credit score state, making it more difficult for entrepreneurs to secure the funding needed to start their own businesses. But he says with that relatively low number comes lack of competition, which means a better chance of survival in that first year.
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There are 455-thousand people on the state’s inactive voter list, but Secretary of State Nancy Landry says they are still able to vote in the upcoming primaries.
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Landry says a registered voter gets put on the inactive list if he or she has not cast a ballot in the last ten years and did not respond to an address confirmation card sent by the Secretary of State’s Office.
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Landry says there has been an increase in the number of inactive voters this year because of a law approved in 2024 that allows the Secretary of State to move voters to the inactive list if they can’t verify their address and they haven’t voted in more than a decade.
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She says a person can be completely taken off the voter rolls if one who is already on the inactive voter rolls does not vote in two consecutive federal election cycles.
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The LSU football team is now two and a half weeks into spring practice, and one name starting to turn heads is early enrollee freshman Richard Anderson. Head coach Lane Kiffin says the top-rated defensive lineman in the 2026 class has been impressive so far.
Cut 16 (14) “…excited about him.”
Last season, LSU struggled to run the ball, ranking 124th nationally with an average of just 104 rushing yards per game. Kiffin says that to be successful this season, the Tigers must establish a consistent running game.
Kiffin says that throughout his coaching career, he has won with a variety of team styles. So far this spring, Kiffin says the defense has had the upper hand over the offense.
Cut 18 (18) “…playing right now.”
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Louisiana Tech football is still looking to fill a hole at running back after the departure of Clay Thevenin. Head coach Sonny Cumbie says he still wants to see more from his backs and believes the starting role is still up for grabs.
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Cumbie says senior quarterback Trey Kukuk (CUE-kuck) has already shown tremendous improvement in just seven practices.
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