The SEC is thinking about moving its annual baseball tournament and New Orleans has put in a bid. Emelie Gunn has more…
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The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Louisiana’s admitting privilege law for abortion doctors can be enforced, and the Center for Reproductive Rights plans to appeal that ruling to the US Supreme Court. Halen Doughty reports…
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The House has passed legislation to raise the state’s four-cent sales tax by one penny, but there’s still more work to do to solve the state’s budget crisis. Jeff Palermo has the story…
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The Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation has submitted a bid to host the SEC baseball tournament at Zephyr Field in Metairie from 2017 to 2021. Several other cities are also bidding, including Nashville. But GNOSF President Jay Cicero says we have the biggest college baseball fan base of any area in the nation within driving distance, plus other assets.
It’s expected the SEC will award a bid to host the tournament after the 12 team event is held in late May. Cicero says the Zephyr’s new owners are extremely supportive of the bid.
The SEC baseball tournament has been held in Hoover, Alabama for the last 18 years. Cicero says The Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation is excited to have an opportunity to bid and have a strong desire to grow the tournament here.
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The Center for Reproductive Rights plans to appeal the ruling by the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals that says Louisiana’s admitting privilege law for abortion doctors can be enforced. David Brown, an attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, says the ruling will make it very difficult for Louisiana women to get a legal abortion.
The 5th Circuit’s action means abortion doctors must have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles. Brown says as a result there are now only two clinics available in Louisiana where an abortion can be performed, one in Shreveport and one in New Orleans…
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Brown says the abortion doctor in Shreveport with admitting privileges is part-time. Brown says they are appealing the 5th Circuit’s ruling to the US Supreme Court…
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The state House has sent to the Senate a bill that will increase the state’s four-cent sales tax by another penny for an 18-month period beginning on April 1st. The higher sales tax is expected to generate an estimated 200-million dollars this fiscal year, but Jeremy Alford with la-politics-dot-com says more needs to be done to deal with the 940-million dollar shortfall…
Measures to increase cigarette and alcohol taxes and legislation to reduce tax breaks for businesses has yet to be taken up by the full House. Alford says those are other revenue generating items that the House could send over to the Senate…
The House also sent to the Senate legislation that cuts government spending by 100-million dollars and it includes a 44-million dollar reduction in state funding for public school education. Alford says the state department of education has some serious concerns about what the House has done…
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Secretary of State Tom Schedler says early voting totals for the March 5 Louisiana Presidential Primary have already surpassed 2012 numbers, and there’s still two days left to early vote. Schedler says there’s been a lot of interest in this Presidential election and the early voting totals so far reflect that….
Schedler says heading into Thursday, about 47-thousand early votes were casted. In 2012, only 35-thousand votes were recorded during the entire early voting period. Schedler says it’s nice to see republican and democratic voters get involved in the process…
Schedler says he does not have a break down on how many registered republican and democratic early voters. But while the turnout has been encouraging, it can always be better…
Early voting remains open through Saturday.
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North Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell announced on the Jim Engster Show that he is making preparations to run for the US Senate. Campbell says if he goes to Washington he’ll bring is populist beliefs with him…
Campbell would join a crowded field of candidates seeking to replace Republican David Vitter, who is not running for re-election. The race currently only has one Democrat in it and that’s New Orleans businesswoman Caroline Fayard. Campbell says….