The man who fatally shot two people and wounded a Bossier City police officer during a shootout at a gas station off of I-20 is reportedly a suspect in a fatal stabbing that took place in Alabama. Teiko Foxx has more…
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On a nine to five vote, the House Labor Committee rejects a proposal to raise the minimum wage above the current $7.25 an hour. Jeff Palermo has the story…
Cut 2 (31) “….I’m Jeff Palermo”
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The armed gunman who murdered two people and injured two more including a police officer at a Valero gas station in Bossier City is reportedly connected to a deadly stabbing and shooting in Alabama. Spokesperson Louis Johnson says he is familiar with the reports but their agency has not released any information.
Booking records show 50-year-old Cortrell Burks is also a fugitive from Birmingham, Alabama in Jefferson County where authorities say Burks is suspected of stabbing a woman to death and shooting four other people before the tragic incident in Bossier City. Bossier City Police have not released the names of the suspect or victims. Johnson says the initial call came in as an armed robbery and they received a “shots fired” call.
The wounded officer who was shot multiple times is listed in stable condition and the fourth victim is in critical condition.
A press conference releasing more details is scheduled for today.
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May is Mental Health Awareness Month and the Louisiana Department of Health is promoting the use of 988, a 24/7 suicide and crisis call line. Karen Stubbs, Assistant Secretary in the Office of Behavioral Health, says 988 launched in July and they want more people to know help is available and it’s only three digits away.
Stubbs says they’ve also launched a dashboard to provide transparency of 988 to include call volume, demographics, and what people are using the line for and it will be updated monthly.
Cut 7 (11) “…conversation again.”
In addition to receiving council by calling 988, Stubbs says you can also receive assistance via text and chat. You can find the dashboard and more information at ldh.la.gov/crisis
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A bill that would raise the statewide minimum wage to $10 an hour failed in House Labor Committee on a 9-5 vote. The bill’s author, Alexandria Representative Ed Larvadain (Larva-dane), says citizens making between $7.25 an hour and ten-bucks an hour are struggling to survive and lawmakers must step up.
Cut 9 (09) “….is unacceptable.”
NFIB State Director Dawn McVea says Louisiana small businesses oppose this legislation.
President of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry Jim Patterson says there are very few non-government workers making less than 10-dollars an hour…
The last federal wage increase was in 2009. Thirty out of fifty states has a minimum wage greater than the federal minimum wage. Arkansas raised its minimum wage to eleven dollars an hour this year. Larvadain says the lack of a higher minimum wage is contributing to the state’s outmigration problem.
Cut 12 (06) “…other locations.”
The minimum wage will continue at 7.25 an hour. During Governor John Bel Edwards two terms in office he’s pushed the Louisiana Legislature to raise the minimum wage, but in his seven-plus years in office, the proposal has been rejected by the Republican controlled Legislature.
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The House Education Committee approves legislation requiring high school students to take a financial literacy class to graduate. Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley says he hears from parents who say public school students should be educated on how to handle their finances…
Brumley says the course will provide students with life skills to understand economics…
Cut 14 (09) “…day-to-day basis”
Brumley says 11th and 12th graders would take the financial literacy course.
Cut 15 (10) “…some replacement”
The bill heads to the House floor for more discussion.