In his inaugural address, Governor John Bel Edwards spoke of raising the minimum wage in Louisiana. Many wonder what kind of affect this would have on business and workers. LSU Economist Jim Richardson says it really depends on how much the increase in the minimum wage would be…:
CUT 3 (06) “on the workers”
Louisiana’s current minimum wage is the federally mandated wage of $7.25 per hour.

Also in his inaugural address, the Governor said he would begin accepting the federal funds to expand Medicaid starting today. He has called a 1:30pm news conference to announce those plans.

President Barack Obama will speak at McKinley High Thursday at 9:45am, and all of the public tickets available for the event are reportedly sold out. Tickets were free but limited, and they were handed out beginning at 9 this morning, and were gone by 10:15.

Lottery officials announce the estimated Powerball jackpot is now $1.5 billion, with an estimated cash value of $930 million. The odds of matching all 6 numbers for Wednesday’s drawing are one in 292.2 million.

As Louisiana has sworn in a new governor, we also have a new Lt. Governor, Republican Billy Nungesser. He also has budget issues to face. He says it will take creativity and working with the legislature to change laws to create more money within tourism…
cut 13 (10) “welcome centers”
Nungesser says it’s hard to ask for money for tourism when education and other critical needs are being cut.

In the final NCAA AP poll, LSU is ranked 16th, while running back Leonard Fournette is the nation’s leading rusher as he averaged 163 yards a game.