The regular legislative session is at the halfway point, with issues like TOPS reform, gun control, and gambling expansion mostly dead, while new sexual harassment policies, tougher hazing laws, and medical marijuana expansions have received broad support. Political Analyst Bernie Pinsonat says the session has been bogged down by one issue.
Cut 6 (10) “gunna have”
A bill to make hazing a felony, which means harsher penalties for those convicted, moved a step closer to final passage, when it was approved by a Senate committee. The parents of LSU student Maxwell Gruver, who died in a suspected hazing incident were on hand to approve it…
cut 5 (11) “…saved Max’s”
Festival International begins tomorrow in Lafayette, a five-day music festival that features music groups from over 20 countries. The festival attracts 300-thousand people every year and has an estimated economic impact of 49-million dollars. Marketing director Carly Viator says there’s no other festival in Louisiana you can attend for free and hear music from across the globe.
cut 11 (11) “…this year”
84-year-old Arcadia Mayor Eugene Smith has passed away from complications related to a lung illness. Smith led the north Louisiana town for 16 years. Homer Representative Patrick Jefferson says Smith was a man of the people.
cut 30 (11) “was everywhere”