As expected, state lawmakers are coming back for a veto override session. Jeff Palermo has the story…
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A machete attack of a priest in St. Landry Parish last night leaves a small town in shock. Brooke Thorington has more.
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Lawmakers will return to the State Capitol next Tuesday for a veto override session. House Speaker Clay Schexnayder says Governor Edwards vetoed 25 bills and specific items in three different budget bills…
Lawmakers had until midnight Thursday to cancel the veto session, but the votes fell short of a majority vote needed in either the House or Senate.
Schexnayder says the governor’s veto of a bill to ban gender affirming care of transgender minors has motivated Conservative lawmakers to hold a veto session for a third consecutive year…
Representative Les Farnum’s bill would move voters to an inactive list if they have not voted in ten years and they would then be purged from the voter rolls if they do not correspond with the Secretary of State’s Office or fail to vote in two federal elections.
Twelve members in the Senate and 31 members in the House voted to cancel the veto override session. The Legislature will meet at noon on Tuesday and Schexnayder says it will take a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate to override any of the governor’s vetoes…
The veto override session is scheduled to take five days. The Legislature successfully overrode the governor’s veto of a new Congressional district map last year, but in 2021 legislators failed to override a veto of a bill that banned transgender athletes from playing girls sports.
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The small town of Melville in St. Landry Parish is in shock after a man used a machete to attack a priest. Police Chief Phillip Lucas says 58-year-old Johnny Neely of Melville is in custody after the alleged attack on a St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church priest Thursday night.
Lucas says the witness who was with Neely fled the scene and called 9-1-1. The priest is listed in critical condition following the attack and Neely faces second-degree attempted murder charges. Lucas says he could also be charged with a hate crime.
Lucas says Neely had been walking around town looking for work and that he has a history of being in and out of jail. Lucas says the investigation is ongoing and the machete attack has shaken the community.
The priest is being treated for lacerations to his head and body. Neely is also charged with home invasion.
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Cancer patient advocates are thrilled that Governor Edwards has signed four bills into law aimed at getting folks facing cancer the treatments they need. Former state Rep. Julie Stokes is now with the Louisiana Oncology Society and the Survivors Cancer Action Network. She says the bills help assure care without un-needed exclusions and help keep covered treatments in pace with developing medical technologies…:
Biomarker testing allows doctors to gather more and better genetic information with which to formulate cancer treatments.
Stokes says another important bill signed into law by the Governor assures a patient’s right to speedy review and coverage…:
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The new law also requires insurance to approve whatever oncologists prescribe as treatment.
Another new law taking effect January 1st will offer you the choice to list yourself as a bone marrow donor on your driver’s license; which Stokes says is a now-painless procedure. And the last of the package of bills signed by Governor Edwards provides that health insurance must cover fertility preservation procedures for persons undergoing cancer treatment. Stokes says it’s an advancement for women and for prospective dads…:
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The police chief in Grand Coteau has been arrested after authorities received a tip that Jeffrey Guilbeau was involved in the use and distribution of illegal drugs. St Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz says they began surveillance and verified the information.
Guilbeau is charged with distribution, theft, obstruction of justice, and malfeasance in office.
The investigation revealed the drugs involved in the case had been previously seized by police in Grand Coteau. Guidroz says it’s bad enough that the small community has drug dealers…
The investigation is ongoing and Guidroz says other individuals along with more charges could be filed in the case. As for who’s leading the Grand Coteau Police in the meantime…
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According to KATC-TV in Lafayette, last week Guilbeau turned in his resignation and the following day he withdrew it.