Lawmakers and the governor say its likely another special legislative session is necessary to solve the state’s looming 1.3 billion dollar fiscal cliff. President of the Council for a Better Louisiana Barry Erwin says there’s been very little movement in the current session to address the over one billion dollars in temporary taxes that will expire next year…

Cut 14 (11) “this session”

The House rejected a measure to prohibit kids under 12 from handling automatic weapons. Lafayette Representative Stuart Bishop says automatic weapons are not defined in the bill. He says kids would not be allowed to use pellet guns either, which many have to learn about gun safety.
Cut 10 (10) “6 months”
The bill failed on a 59-21 vote.

Students with disabilities would be protected from corporal punishment in public schools under a proposal heading to the Senate floor. Baton Rouge Representative Franklin Foil says his bill would prohibit school employees from spanking students with developmental disabilities.
Cut 21 (08) “not corporal punishment”

The bill has been approved by the House and received the backing of the Senate Education Committee.
The author of a bill to raise the state’s gasoline tax by 17-cents continues to work on the legislation so it can receive the 70 votes necessary to get approval from the House. Baton Rouge Representative Steve Carter says he is looking at a variety of options, including having the tax increase over time.
Cut 15 (10) “of time”

The LSU baseball team goes after its ninth straight victory tonight as they’ll face Kentucky in the SEC Tournament. Tigers Coach Paul Mainieri is expecting an outstanding game….
cut 30 (13) “….a lot of confidence”
Tonight’s game should start around 8:00. Yesterday, LSU beat Missouri 10-3. Win number 500 for Mainieri at LSU.

Louisiana Tech was eliminated from the Conference USA Tournament Today as the Bulldogs could not overcome a 4-0 deficit and lost 5-2. Matt Miller was roughed up for four runs in two innings. The Diamond Dogs will now wait to see if they receive an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament. Tech has a record of 36-20.

UNO kept its season alive with a 4-3 win over Stephen F Austin in 10 innings at the Southland Tournament in Sugar Land, Texas. Darren Willis two-out seeing-eye single drove home Hezekiah Randolph with the winning run. The Privateers play again tomorrow morning at 9 AM. They’ll face the loser of this afternoon’s Southeastern Louisiana—Sam Houston State matchup. Also tonight. top-seeded McNeese takes on Central Arkansas.

Tulane was eliminated from the American Athletic Conference as the Green Wave fell to UCF 8-3. Tulane’s season ends with a 27-31 record.

And the Ragin Cajuns begin play tomorrow in the rain-delayed Sun Belt Tournament. UL Lafayette will face Georgia Southern in what has been turned into a single-elimination tournament.

LSU will kick off the 2017 season 100 days from now and it was announced today that the Tigers season opener against BYU in Houston will kick-off at 8:30 central time and it will be shown on ESPN.

With two weeks to go before the end of the legislative session, still not much movement towards addressing the one-billion dollar budget gap that will hit the state in July 2018 when one-point-three billion dollars in temporary taxes expire. Governor Edwards and legislative leaders say a another special session is likely at this point.

The family of Alton Sterling is demanding the immediate termination of the cops involved in his shooting death. Michelle Southern reports….
voicer 2 (30) “…I’m Michelle Southern”

NOAA is calling for an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season as their forecasters predict 11 to 17 named storms, five to nine hurricanes and two to four major hurricanes. Acting administrator Ben Friedman says we can’t prevent hurricanes, but we can prepare…
cut 8 (12) “…be prepared”
Hurricane season begins a week from today.

A state judge has ruled Ronald Gasser’s arrest in a similar road rage incident can be admitted in his trial on the shooting death of former-NFL player Joe McKnight. Legal analyst Tim Meche says like most states, Louisiana allows prior incidents of a similar nature into evidence if it is relevant. But he says in this case:
Cut 3 (11) “incident”
A trial date has not yet been set in the McKnight murder case.

Legislative leaders and the governor agree another special legislative session is likely to address the state’s $1.3 billion dollar fiscal cliff. Over a billion dollars in temporary sales taxes expire in July of 2018. President of the Council for a Better Louisiana Barry Erwin says the push to address this fiscal problem is not there.
Cut 12 (09) “come back”

A state judge has ruled Ronald Gasser’s arrest in a 10 year old road rage incident can be admitted in his trial in the shooting death of former-NFL player Joe McKnight. Gasser was charged with a misdemeanor and never prosecuted in the decade old case. Legal analyst Tim Meche says the prosecutor should think twice about using this as evidence because it could backfire with Gasser’s testimony.
Cut 3 (11) “incident”

A trial date has not been set.

We could see an above average hurricane season this year, according to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. Halen Doughty has more…
Cut 1 (30) “I’m Halen Doughty”

A sales tax discount is available for hurricane preparedness items this weekend. Eligible items like batteries, storage coolers, and portable generators will be subject to only 3-percent sales tax, a 2-percent discount from the normal 5-percent state sales tax. The Department of Revenue says the exemption was put in place to encourage people to buy emergency supplies before a storm hits. For more information on eligible items, visit revenue.louisiana.gov.

The family of Alton Sterling is demanding the immediate termination of the cops involved in the man’s death. Michelle Southern reports…:

Cut 2 (30) “I’m Michelle Southern”

The principal at a New Orleans school has been fired after he wore Nazi symbols in a video posted online. Crescent Leadership Academy issued a statement saying Nicholas Dean will not return to his position. A video surfaced today of Dean wearing symbols associated with Nazism and white supremacy while being interviewed earlier this month at protests surrounding the removal of confederate monuments.

We can expect an above average hurricane season this year, according to NOAA’s forecast. They’re predicting 11 to 17 named storms with 5 to 9 of them becoming hurricanes. Acting administrator Ben Friedman says when an El Nino is nonexistent, conditions are more conducive for tropical development.

Cut 7 (10) “same region”

According to the forecast, 2 to 4 hurricanes will be category 3 or stronger.

The House rejects a proposal to prohibit children under 12 from handling Uzis and automatic weapons. Shreveport Representative Barbara Norton authored the measure after a child in Arizona accidentally killed a gun safety instructor with an Uzi.

Cut 9 (09) “someone’s life”

Opponents said the bill would also prohibit kids from using paintball and hunting guns.

NOAA predicts an above average 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season with the potential for as many as 17 named storms and a half a dozen hurricanes. Acting administrator Ben Friedman says they are anticipating a weak or nonexistent El Nino, which typically leads to an above normal season..:
Cut 6 (09) “become hurricanes”
Friedman says they predict two to four of those hurricanes will become major hurricanes of category 3 strength or higher.

A task force will be formed to examine the TOPS program closely…:
CUT 26 (21) “Jeff Palermo”

The man accused of killing former NFL player Joe McKnight in an apparent road-rage incident was involved in a similar heated exchange while driving 10 years ago, and a judge said that can be used in court. But Legal analyst Tim Meche says the ruling to allow this as evidence is wide open for reversal on appeal. He says Ronald Gasser’s defense could even use it to their advantage…:
Cut 4 (11) “weak case”
A trial date has not yet been set.

The House rejects a proposal to prohibit children under 12 from using machine guns. River Ridge Representative Kirk Talbot asked why the bill only included automatic weapons. He says any gun can be dangerous in the hands of an unsupervised child…:
Cut 11 (09) “fully automatic weapon”
But supporters argued it would protect children. The bill was killed on 21-59 vote.

We could see an above average hurricane season this year, according to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. Halen Doughty has more…:
Cut 1 (30) “I’m Halen Doughty”

The bill that would have banned children from having access to fully automatic weapons failed on the House floor by a wide 21-59 margin. Representative Barbara Norton, who often files anti-gun legislation, said this proposal is about protecting our kids. But opponents said the bill is based on a one-time freak accident that would have been impossible for law enforcement to be present to prevent.

People affected by the Great Flood of 2016 did not give favorable ratings to FEMA or the state government’s response, according to a recent survey by the LSU Public Policy Research Lab. Director Michael Henderson…:
CUT 12 (11) “about the same”
He says the study found that more people were affected by the flooding than we thought.

The circle of politics continues to spin at the Capitol as criminal justice reform bills have been temporarily put on hold because Republicans aren’t happy that Democrats are holding up an unrelated measure dealing with state-financed construction projects.

The 2017 Atlantic Hurricane season is forecast to be above-normal according to NOAA. Forecasters say there is a 70 percent chance 11-17 named storms could form, 5 to 9 could become hurricanes and 2-4 of those could be major. An average season produces 12 named storms of which six become hurricanes, including three major hurricanes.

A state judge has ruled Ronald Gasser’s arrest in a similar road rage incident can be admitted in his trial on the shooting death of former-NFL player Joe McKnight. Legal analyst Tim Meche says like most states, Louisiana allows prior incidents of a similar nature into evidence if it is relevant. But he says in this case, it’s a stretch for the prosecutor:
Cut 3 (11) “incident”
A trial date has not yet been set in the McKnight murder case.

More people were affected by the Great Flood of 2016 than you might think. That’s according to a recent survey by the LSU Public Policy Research Lab. Director Michael Henderson says, while the entire state felt the brunt of the flood, some areas were hurt more than others..:
Cut 11 (07) “as well”
He says the poll found that statewide, about 1 in five people lost income as a result of flooding in March and August.

Some lawmakers say a special session will be needed to address the budget shortfall, as it’s not expected the legislature will pass tax hikes in the current session that must end June 8th. Republican House Speaker Taylor Barras says the public doesn’t want to have their taxes increased which is why the GOP hasn’t had an appetite to consider those bills. Over a billion dollars in temporary taxes are set to expire in July 2018:
CUT 25 (03) “going to happen”
That’s Jeremy Alford with LaPolitics.com.