The US Supreme court hears arguments today over whether same sex couples have the right to get married. Michelle Southern reports…:
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A bill that would eventually phase out the state’s film tax credit program will be heard today in the House Ways and Means Committee. Michelle Southern reports…:
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After all of the recent bad storms we’ve been dealing with in Louisiana, The American Red Cross wants you to know about a new app which helps you to prepare for severe weather. Scott Carwile reports…:
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The US Supreme court hears arguments today over whether same sex couples have the right to get married. Attorney Kyle Duncan has been hired by the state AG’s office to make Louisiana’s case in the social debate. He says it’s their belief that each state should have the right to determine what is legally defined as marriage. Matthew Patterson with Equality Louisiana says other courts around the nation are not divided on this issue…:
A ruling is not expected until later this year. Patterson says this is not just a mtter of recognition and social standing but it’s a concrete case of people who are not being treated fairly under the law. He says he is ecstatic that this case is finally being heard…:
Duncan says states should have authority when it comes to family law including ways to define marriage. He doesn’t think the state’s judiciary should be the ones to decide such a massive issue…:
Duncan says this is a huge political issue that should not be handled in the courts. He says this would be a major change to Louisiana’s family law…:
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Louisiana’s film tax credits will be talked about by lawmakers today as legislation that would essentially phase out the motion picture benefits is set to be taken up in the House Ways and Means committee. House Bill 276 is by Alexandria Representative Lance Harris. He says the movie subsidy has gotten way out of control…:
Harris says in light of the $1.6 billion dollar budget deficit and the cuts healthcare and higher ed are facing, it’s past time to address the motion picture tax credits. He says this program is costing taxpayers way too much money…:
Harris’s proposal would put a $50 million dollar cap on the program next fiscal year the completely stop issuing credits in 2019. Celtic Studios Executive Director Patrick Mulhearn says this is not the answer to fixing the 2015-2016 budget…:
Cut 10 (09) “squeezing blood from a turnip”
Mulhearn says they are asking supporters of the film industry in Louisiana to come to the Capitol today wearing red shirts to show their opposition to this legislation. He says they would possibly support bills that would clean up the program, but if it went away then close to 30,000 people would lose their jobs. Mulhearn says Louisianians love having movies filmed here…:
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After all of the recent bad storms we’ve been dealing with in Louisiana, The American Red Cross wants you to know about a new app which helps you to prepare for severe weather. Spokeswoman Nancy Malone says by taking a few simple steps ahead of time, you can help ensure that you and your family knows what to do when severe weather occurs…:
Malone says the free Red Cross Emergency App provides instant access to weather and emergency alerts, life saving information and also lets you connect with family and friends…:
Malone says the app covers 14 types of disasters including tornado, flood and severe thunderstorms and also lets you customize more than 35 emergency alerts for yourself and where loved ones live…:
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The Baton Rouge Police Department says they still have no suspects in the case of the pregnant woman who was found shot dead in her apartment. Corporal Don Copolla says they believe 29 year old Brittney Mills opened her door to someone she likely knew…:
Copolla says Mills, who was about 8 months pregnant, was shot several times and died on the scene. He says they raced the victim to the hospital…:
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The number one ranked LSU Tigers are back on the baseball diamond tonight to host Alcorn State. The Bayou Bengals have had a lot of success against schools from the SWAC over the years. But Coach Paul Mainieri says LSU needed extra innings to beat Southern earlier this year and had trouble beating Alcorn last year…
LSU is coming off an emotional series in which they won two of three from second ranked Texas A-and-M. Mainieri says he’s told the team they need to move past those games and focus on the now….
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If LSU is involved in a close game tonight, Mainieri says he won’t have second thoughts about using Jesse Stallings as his closer, even though Stallings has blown three saves in SEC play. The coach says the Colfax native has great stuff, but has trouble locating his fastball at times…