At the State Capital, the full Senate overwhelmingly approved legislation that would criminalize the act of prescribing, distributing, or administrating abortion pills without an in-person visit with a licensed doctor. Slidell Senator Sharon Hewitt says she wrote the bill because the current law prohibiting such activity is unclear…:

CUT 09(12)      “…in Louisiana.”

Hewitt says her legislation would apply criminal penalties to the distributor of the abortion pill, not the pregnant woman. The bill moves to the House for committee consideration.

COVID numbers statewide are cratering. Only 38 people statewide in the hospital with the virus and no one on a ventilator. State Health Officer Dr. Joe Kanter is happy with those numbers…:

CUT 06(06)      “…of this pandemic.”

He says another surge of a variant is almost a certainty, though.

Baton Rouge Senator Regina Barrow will not move forward with a bill that would give judges the authority to sentence a convicted sex offender to surgical castration if the victim is under the age of 13. Morgan Lamandre, with a group called STAR, Sexual Trauma Awareness and Response, told the Senate Judiciary C Committee that surgical castration does not serve as a deterrent…:

CUT 13(11)      “…more deadly.”

Barrow voluntarily deferred her own bill, but says she may bring it back in another form next year.

A head-on crash in Pointe Coupee Parish claims the life of a woman and leaves six people hurt – five of them kids. Police say no one is either vehicle was wearing a seatbelt. The crash is under investigation.

An eagle-eyed person out for a stroll spotted two bald eagles grabbing a snack near Lake Pontchartrain. While near the Mandeville lakeshore, Janet Wakeland managed to snap a couple of photos of the pair, stealing bait from local fishermen yesterday.