26-year-old Jamie Sousa of Ponchatoula and 47-year-old Dexter Schexnayder of Deridder have been arrested after an inter-agency investigation found them allegedly preying on children on social media. State Police Trooper Taylor Scrantz says this is a vital reminder to parents to always make sure you know what your child is doing on the internet.
President Biden’s moratorium on new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters has sent a jolt through the state’s fossil fuels industry. LSU Center for Energy Studies Director David Dismukes says the economic damage from this decision will be highly uneven with coastal communities like Houma getting pummeled while other regions of the state see less impact.
Jonesboro Representative Jack McFarland is planning to file a bill in the upcoming legislative session to raise the state’s gasoline tax to fund road projects. Governor John Bel Edwards says this is not to time to raise taxes during a pandemic and believes the state’s best hope for additional funds for road construction is if Congress approved a large infrastructure bill for highway projects.
The Secretary of State’s Office has re-started the process of replacing the state’s current stock of 10-thousand voting machines, which are decades-old. Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin says the Office of State Procurement is now accepting bids from vendors and they are looking to purchase new voting machines that provide a paper record…
Cut 4 (08) “…Louisiana elections.”
Bids are due by March 24th and Ardoin says if all goes well the new machines could be in use by the 2022 spring elections.