Governor Landry has formally requested a federal major disaster declaration for the nine northeast Louisiana parishes impacted by the recent winter storm. He says the state meets the threshold with more than 11-million dollars in costs related to the storm already incurred. Senator Bill Cassidy says with such a declaration, FEMA can help those affected with some much-needed financial assistance.
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The nine parishes the request covers are Bienville, De Soto, East Carroll, Franklin, Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland, Tensas, and West Carroll.
We can add Republican state Rep. Michael Echols of Monroe to the candidates seeking Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District seat. He made the announcement today. Qualifying begins tomorrow. Echols serves as chair of the Louisiana House Republican Caucus and joins fellow state Sens. Rick Edmonds of Baton Rouge and Blake Miguez of Erath and Louisiana Board of Regents Chair Misti Cordell of Monroe for the Republican primary election on May 16th.
In a statement Echols said, “President Trump needs more businessmen and builders like him to cut off illegal immigration, protect our farmers and rural communities, and fix the greatest economy in the history of the world that Joe Biden and his autopen tried to destroy.”
A months-long investigation into drug activity tied to Mexican cartels has resulted in 742 arrests statewide. Jeff Palermo has the story.
Cut 1 (31) “…I’m Jeff Palermo.”
Filmmaking activity is heating up again in Louisiana. Jason Waggenspack, the president of Film Louisiana and the CEO of The Ranch Film Studios says movie production in Louisiana and the United States was slower than normal the last two seasons. He says the writers’ and actors’ strikes in 2023 resulted in more movie production in Canada and Europe, but film production is now coming back to the U-S.