A bill to suspend child support payments for felons incarcerated for over six months receives Senate approval and heads to the House for final legislative passage. Emelie Gunn has more…
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Despite strong opposition from alumni and students the House approves a bill that changes the name of the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts in Natchitoches. Jeff Palermo has more…
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Following this weekend’s terrorist attack in London, Congressman Clay Higgins says on Facebook the free world is at war with Islamic horror. Halen Doughty has more…
Cut 3 (30) “I’m Halen Doughty”
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Testing on a water sample from puddles on Bourbon Street finds more than just spilled Hurricanes and Hand Grenades. Milwaukee-based Microbe Detectives finds traces of fecal-related bacteria. Chief Technology Officer Dr. Trevor Ghylin (Jill-in) says they looked for microbes and bacteria in the sample using DNA sequencing.
Ghylin says it’s likely the bacteria are coming from police horses’ manure. He says this was the most fecal bacteria he’s ever seen in a sample. Bourbon Street is cleaned nightly, but he wasn’t surprised to find such high concentrations of fecal bacteria.
Cut 5 (12) “anything like that”
Ghylin says with so many horses regularly doing their business on the street, it’s not surprising manure would be present in the samples. While no pathogens were found, he still advises people not to drink the so-called Bourbon Gumbo street water.
Ghylin says the samples were taken during a visit to New Orleans last September.
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A measure that suspends child support payments for individuals incarcerated for over 180 days nears final legislative passage as the bill heads to the House for approval of Senate changes. Metairie Senator Danny Martiny is a co-author and says it’s virtually impossible for a parent behind bars to pay child support.
But Lafayette Senator Page Cortez says some offenders will still refuse to pay up.
Alexandria Senator Jay Luneau supports the measure saying this gives an incarcerated parent the time to build up funds to actually pay child support.
The bill is one of 10 different proposals that make up with governor’s criminal justice reform package. Supports of the comprehensive plan say it will help reduce the state’s inmate population by 10-percent over the next decade.
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A proposal to change the name of the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts nears final passage. The Natchitoches school would be named Jimmy D. Long Sr. Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts in honor of the late state lawmaker who established the school. The bill was amended to allow the original name on diplomas and transcripts, and Franklin Representative Sam Jones says it’s a good compromise.
The bill passed the House on a 56 to 43 vote, three more than minimum needed. Houma Representative Beryl Amedee voted against the measure because she’s heard a lot of opposition. She says a survey of more than 4,000 students, alumni, and other stakeholders finds the people invested in the school disagree with the proposal.
Amedee says 84 percent of respondents wanted to honor the father of the school in some other way. She says one idea was to give him an honorary degree, which has never been done at LSMSA. She says others suggested naming a dorm building after the former state representative.
Alexandria Representative Lance Harris presented the amendment. Some students were worried about how a possible name change could affect their college admissions if the university didn’t recognize the new name of the school. He says this amendment is a good compromise.
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The amended measure heads back to the Senate for approval on changes made by the House.
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Southwest Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins says every conceivable measure should be taken to hunt down radical Islamic terrorists. The Facebook post in response to the weekend London Attack adds that “For the sake of all that is good and righteous, kill them all.” UL-Lafayette political science professor Pearson Cross says Higgins could face backlash from moderate constituents, but it shouldn’t be a concern for the man known as the Cajun John Wayne.
Cross says voters in the 3rd Congressional District had a good idea of who Higgins is from his viral crime stoppers videos with the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office. He says comments like this likely won’t come as a surprise to his supporters.
Higgins has since issued a statement saying he’s never been accused of being politically correct, and terrorists take advantage of the politically correct madness that consumes the West. But Cross says while some Americans may agree with the comments, they could be used as propaganda by terrorists to fuel radicalization.
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LSU Freshman pitcher Eric Walker has been outstanding in his last two starts. Helping the Tigers win an SEC Tournament Championship and a Regional title. In the two games, he allowed just one run. Coach Paul Mainieri says Walker has a great feel for his pitches…
LSU has three established starters and Mainieri believes the Tigers bullpen is just as good as the 2009 national championship team….