The House is set to try again today on passing tax proposals that will go towards closing a one-billion dollar budget deficit. A sales tax bill that would generate 300-million dollars annually was soundly defeated on Wednesday, but House Speaker Taylor Barras says

If the legislature cannot pass any bills to replace a billion dollars in sales taxes that are set to expire on June 30th, significant cuts would be needed to balance the budget. Barras remains optimistic

Cut 15 (04) “work to do”

Lawmakers are running out of time as the special session to pass revenue generating measures must end Wednesday night.

The Reverend Billy Graham will be laid to rest today in North Carolina.  There is a Louisiana connection. The 99-year-old evangelist will be buried in a coffin made by prisoners at Angola. Former inmate David Bacon says his life wouldn’t be what it is today, had it not been for him to meet Graham while he was at Angola…

Cut 6 (11)  “everyone else.”

Graham’s wife Ruth, who died in 2007, is also buried in one of the Angola caskets.

Four months of construction work will begin Saturday on the I-10 bridge in Lake Charles. DOTD spokesman Rodney Mallet says 8.5 million dollar project will initially close the inside eastbound lane so crews can replace expansion joints on the nearly 60-year-old structure.

The joints need to be replaced because the I-10 Lake Charles Bridge will take on more traffic when a re-decking project gets underway on I-210.

The Reverend Billy Graham will be laid to rest today in North Carolina.  There is a Louisiana connection. The 99-year-old evangelist will be buried in a coffin made by prisoners at Angola. Former inmate David Bacon  recalls the time when there wasn’t much use for religion at Angola, but former warden Burl Cain opened the door for churches to come in and Graham helped to satisfy the prisoner’s spiritual needs…

Cut 5  (11)  “several chapels.”

We will find out Sunday if two movies filmed in Louisiana will win an Oscar.  Mudbound was filmed in New Orleans and rural St. James Parish, while Logan was filmed in several locations including Amite, Ferriday, Hammond and New Orleans. Louisiana Entertainment Executive Director Chris Stelly hopes this will convince other film studios to consider Louisiana for locations. He says the state continues to demonstrate there is no better place than here to create entertainment content…

Cut 12 (12) “office sucess.”

Drivers in Lake Charles will see the start of a four month project this weekend on I-10 that includes the World War Two Memorial Bridge. Kelley Ray has more.

Cut 2 (31) “I’m Kelley Ray.”

The House is set to try again today on passing tax proposals that will go towards closing a one-billion dollar budget deficit. A sales tax bill that would generate 300-million dollars anually was soundly defeated on Wednesday, but House Speaker Taylor Barras says Lawmakers are running out of time as the special session to pass revenue generating measures must end Wednesday night. Barras says we’ll know after today on whether this special session will be successful…

Cut 14 (10) “the Senate.”

The House will try again today to pass tax proposals that would generate revenue to replace the loss of a billion dollars in temporary taxes. Jeff Palermo has a preview…

Cut 3 (30) “I’m Jeff Palermo”

The Reverend Billy Graham will be laid to rest today in North Carolina.  There is a Louisiana connection. The 99-year-old evangelist will be buried in a coffin made by prisoners at Angola. Former inmate David Bacon says Graham was so impressed with the caskets they made for those who died while in prison, he ordered one on the spot…

Cut 4  (10) “simple casket.” 

We will find out Sunday if two movies filmed in Louisiana will win an Oscar.  Mudbound was filmed in New Orleans and rural St. James Parish, while Logan was filmed in several locations including Amite, Ferriday, Hammond and New Orleans. Louisiana Entertainment Executive Director Chris Stelly says…

Typically, movies that are nominated get a second life after their initial release. He says this puts Louisiana on the silver screen to many more fans…

Cut 11 (07) “the state.”

Four months of construction work will begin Saturday on the I-10 bridge in Lake Charles. DOTD spokesman Rodney Mallet says 8.5 million dollar project will initially close the inside eastbound lane so crews can replace expansion joints on the nearly 60-year-old structure…

The joints need to replaced because the I-10 Lake Charles bridge will take on more traffic when a re-decking project gets underway on I-210. Mallett says it’s also just time to replace the joints, because they’ve been known to go out over the years…

Cut 8 (10) “these repairs.”

There is a Louisiana connection with today’s funeral for evangelist Billy Graham. Michael Farrar has the story.

Cut 1 (28) “I’m Michael Farrar.”

Four months of construction work will begin Saturday on the I-10 bridge in Lake Charles. DOTD spokesman Rodney Mallet says 8.5 million dollar project will initially close the inside eastbound lane so crews can replace expansion joints on the nearly 60-year-old structure…

Cut 7 (10)  “section work.”

We will find out Sunday if two movies filmed in Louisiana will win an Oscar.  Mudbound was filmed in New Orleans and rural St. James Parish, while Logan was filmed in several locations including Amite, Ferriday, Hammond and New Orleans. Louisiana Entertainment Executive Director Chris Stelly says these projects had far reaching impacts in the state’s economy…

Cut 10 (09) “59-million-dollars.”

The House is set to try again today on passing tax proposals that will go towards closing a one-billion dollar budget deficit. A sales tax bill that would generate 300-million dollars anually was soundly defeated on Wednesday, but House Speaker Taylor Barras says that measure is still a critical part of addressing the fiscal cliff…

Cut 13 (06)  “as we can”

LSU baseball will play three different teams at Alex Box Stadium this weekend, starting tonight when they host Toledo out of the Mid-American Conference. Tomorrow, the Tigers play Sacred Heart and Southeastern Louisiana on Sunday. LSU’s starting middle infielders Hal Hughes and Brandt Broussard are two of the Tigers hottest hitters and Coach Paul Mainieri is not surprised

Cut 16 (23) “…at bats”

First pitch tonight is at 7 PM.

The Pelicans Anthony Davis is the NBA’s Western Conference Player of the Month. A-D averaged 35 points and 13 rebounds in February. New Orleans takes a seven-game winning streak into Dallas on Sunday.

____________________________________________

The Ragin Cajuns won their school-record 26^th game as they defeated Arkansas State 85-74. UL Lafayette also moved to 14-0 at home. Frank Bartley surpassed 1,000 points for his career by scoring 18 points, and Bryce Washington added 15 for the Sun Belt champs.

ULM helped its chances at securing a first-round bye in the Sun Belt Tournament by beating Little Rock 48-44. Travis Munnings had 22 points as the Warhawks improved to 9-8 in the Sun Belt. ULM is in a three-way tie for fourth place.

10^th ranked Cincinnati clobbered Tulane 78-49, Grambling remains in first place in the SWAC after beating Alabama A-and-M 84-74 in overtime. Ivy Smith junior had a career-high 32 points. Smith had four three-pointers and nine rebounds. Grambling leads Texas Southern by one game in the conference standings. T-S-U topped Southern 90-88.

There is a Louisiana connection with today’s funeral for evangelist Billy Graham. Michael Farrar has the story.

Cut 1 (28) “I’m Michael Farrar.”

______________________________________

Drivers in Lake Charles will see the start of a four month project this weekend on I-10 that includes the World War Two Memorial Bridge. Kelley Ray has more.

Cut 2 (31) “I’m Kelley Ray.”

_______________________________________

The House will try again today to pass tax proposals that would generate revenue to replace the loss of a billion dollars in temporary taxes. Jeff Palermo has a preview…

Cut 3 (30) “I’m Jeff Palermo”

____________________________________________

The Reverend Billy Graham will be laid to rest today in North Carolina.  There is a Louisiana connection. The 99-year-old evangelist will be buried in a coffin made by prisoners at Angola. Former inmate David Bacon says Graham was so impressed with the caskets they made for those who died while in prison, he ordered one on the spot…

Cut 4  (10) “simple casket.” 

Bacon recalls the time when there wasn’t much use for religion at Angola, but former warden Burl Cain opened the door for churches to come in and Graham helped to satisfy the prisoner’s spiritual needs…

Cut 5  (11)  “several chapels.”

Bacon says his life wouldn’t be what it is today, had it not been for him to meet Graham while he was at Angola…

Cut 6 (11)  “everyone else.”

Graham’s wife Ruth, who died in 2007, is also buried in one of the Angola caskets.

____________________________________________

Four months of construction work will begin Saturday on the I-10 bridge in Lake Charles. DOTD spokesman Rodney Mallet says 8.5 million dollar project will initially close the inside eastbound lane so crews can replace expansion joints on the nearly 60-year-old structure…

Cut 7 (10)  “section work.”

The joints need to replaced because the I-10 Lake Charles bridge will take on more traffic when a re-decking project gets underway on I-210. Mallett says it’s also just time to replace the joints, because they’ve been known to go out over the years…

Cut 8 (10) “these repairs.”

Yahoo Travel in 2013 rated the bridge the number 7 “Most Dangerous Bridge in the Country”, due to the wear and tear 72,000 cars put on it daily. Mallet says this work will make the bridge stronger and safer…

Cut 9 (10)  “that bridge.”

Motorists are advised to use I-210 as a detour while work takes place. Additionally, drivers can use LA 12 via LA 27 and US Highway 171.

_________________________________________________________

We will find out Sunday if two movies filmed in Louisiana will win an Oscar.  Mudbound was filmed in New Orleans and rural St. James Parish, while Logan was filmed in several locations including Amite, Ferriday, Hammond and New Orleans. Louisiana Entertainment Executive Director Chris Stelly says these projects had far reaching impacts in the state’s economy…

Cut 10 (09) “59-million-dollars.”

Typically, movies that are nominated get a second life after their initial release. Stelly says this puts Louisiana on the silver screen to many more fans…

Cut 11 (07) “the state.”

Frustrations are high and time is short for lawmakers trying to solve the fiscal cliff. Jeff Palermo has the story…

Cut 2 (30) “I’m Jeff Palermo”.

House Speaker Taylor Barras says the House will reconvene at 10am tomorrow to consider tax bills. He says there is some progress, but there is still plenty of work to do and stressed that the clock is ticking. The special session is nearly through it’s second week and it must end no later than next Wednesday.

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Enforcement agents are offering a 55-hundred-dollar reward for information about who killed two black bears last month in St. Mary Parish in the Atchafalaya Basin. Spokesman Adam Einck says the bears were about a half mile apart. There’s no evidence as to why they were killed…

Cut 5  (05)  “under investigation.”

Anyone with information can call 800-442-2511 or use the Tip 411 phone app.

A state Department of Children and Family Services report finds there has been a 77-percent increase in the amount of juvenile human trafficking victims aged 12 or less. Juveniles account for over 52-percent of the 681 identified victims in 2017.   Author of the report Walter Fahr says once a victim is identified, they ask qualified organizations to help provide services they need…

Cut 11 (09) “related issues.”

The special session is on the verge of collapsing without a tax plan that addresses a looming one billion dollar shortfall. The House has failed to get behind a proposal to raise revenues to replace expiring sales taxes. Republican Barry Ivey of Baton Rouge says GOP legislators are not willing to work with a Democratic governor…

Cut 12 (05) “tax reform”

Legislators have been meeting today behind closed doors.  It’s unclear if they are any closer to resolving the fiscal cliff.

State Senator Troy Carter has filed a bill for the regular session that raises the age to purchase an assault rifle from 18 to 21. Opponents could say you can join the military under the age of 21 and carry an assault rifle, so why couldn’t you buy one? Carter argues….

Cut 15 (08) “or none.”

Gus Mijalis, a Shreveport businessman and noted close friend of former Gov. Edwin Edwards, has died. Mijalis family owned the Farmers Seafood Company which opened in 1918. Former Governor Edwin Edwards remembers Mijalis in an adversarial position when they first met. But things quickly changed.

Cut 6 (10)  “ever since”

A memorial service is scheduled for Monday and the former governor says he will attend.

A judge who halted the construction of the Bayou Bridge oil pipeline says her decision was designed to prevent further irreparable harm to wetlands.   U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick issued a temporary injunction after environmentalists, including the Louisiana Bucket Brigade expressed concerns about it’s effect on the economy and wildlife.  The line would pass through the Atchafalaya Basin between Lake Charles and St. James.

Partisan politics are complicating state budget talks while the one billion dollar shortfall gets closer.  Chairman of the House Republican Legislative Caucus, Lance Harris, blames Governor Edwards for poor negotiating tactics….

Cut 13 (10) “what happened?”

But the governor blames the House Speaker for abandoning his own plan that was on the table.

A state Department of children and Family Services report says there was a 77-percent increase in the number of juvenile human trafficking victims. 72 of juvenile victims were 12 or younger, which is a 260-percent increase from 2016. Walter Fahr with Child Protective Services says these young victims are easily coerced back to the trafficking lifestyle…
cut 10 (09) “….the juveniles”
Fahr says they need more oganization to help get these children out of the trafficking lifestyle.

Gus Mijalis (Muh-Jail-Us), a well known businessman of Shreveport has died.  His family owned the Farmer’s seafood company that began 100 years ago.   He was beloved by former Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards who says during his four terms as Louisiana’s governor he met plenty of friends. But few were like Mijalis (Muh-Jail-Us).

Cut 8 (10) “we were very close”

A memorial service is scheduled for Monday and Edwards says he will attend.

A 55 hundred dollar reward could be yours if you have information about who killed 2 black bears in St Mary parish.  L-D-W-F spokesman Adam Einck says they think the same suspects may be involved in both bear killings.

Cut 4  (09) “any information.”

Call 800-442-2511 or the dial Tip 411 app on smartphones .