At the state capitol, the House Ways and Means Committee is debating a proposed constitutional amendment that would move Louisiana to a centralized sales tax collection system. Local governments are concerned such a change will result in fewer tax collections for parishes and cities. But Manish Batt, vice president of the state tax policy at the Tax Foundation, says because Louisiana’s sales tax system is one of the most complex in the country, state and local governments could be missing out on tax revenue…

Cut 6 (06) “…committee”

A state lawmaker wants to increase teacher pay and has a bill to do so. There’s also constitutional amendment three, which would result in a permanent pay raise by paying down teacher retirement debt. Monroe Representative Michael Echols…

Cut 12 (09) “…in teachers pay”

A new study from LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center finds that Assumption Parish residents who didn’t graduate from high school are more than twice as likely to have blood pressure and high cholesterol. Doctor Stephanie Broyles with Pennington Biomedical says the big takeaway is that health is closely tied with one’s education level. Broyles says they will also release data out of Franklin Parish as well…

Cut 9 (07) “….in the U.S.”

Broyles these studies are to explore why people who live in rural areas suffer disproportionately from heart and lung disease, stroke, diabetes and obesity.

The LSU baseball team nearly gave Tiger fans a heart attack yesterday as Coach Jay Johnson’s fell behind seven to nothing in the third inning, only to come back and win 17 to 10 over Kentucky…

Cut 15 (14) “…made it happen”

Jon Pearson hit a grand slam and Seth Dardar’s three-run blast gave the Tigers the lead for good.