Louisiana’s new Speaker of the House is Representative Taylor Barras, a Republican from New Iberia. Governor John Bel Edwards’ pick was New Orleans Democrat Walt Leger, but in a runoff between the two, the Republican majority house voted for Barras. The vote was 56-49. Leger was selected to be Speaker Pro Tempore.

John Bel Edwards is being sworn in as Louisiana’s next governor at this hour on the steps of the state capitol. So what can we expect out of the new administration? Political analyst Clancy Dubos says Edwards plans to immediately expand Medicaid and he is going to call a special session to deal with all the fiscal issues in the state..:
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A 96 year old woman plowed her car into the Mandeville Community center this morning, causing at least four people to be injured according to police. They believe the woman accidentally hit the gas instead of the break causing her to jump the curve and crash through the front plate glass.

The Louisiana National Guard has mobilized almost 300 personnel to build protective barriers against approaching flood waters from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers. Eric Gill reports..:
CUT 1 (29) “I’m Eric Gill”

The massive Powerball prize is now worth an estimated $1.4 billion dollars for Wednesday night’s drawing. Nobody won the big prize Saturday which caused the pot to roll to $1.3 billion in what’s being called the largest jackpot in the world. Lottery officials announced mid-morning the new prize of $1.4 billion with a cash value of $868 million.