State lawmakers learned today the budget deficit for this fiscal year is nearly 70-million dollars, which is twice as high as what lawmakers hoped for when they approved hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes during the special session. That means more cuts to higher education and health care.

LSU System President F King Alexander was testifying in the House Education Committee when this news came down and says this is not good news for their students and the hospitals they help operate. Alexander says there was huge demand for their new medical center in New Orleans, but that’s not the case anymore with the talk of budget cuts…
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The budget deficit for next fiscal year now stands at 750-million dollars. The House is expected to begin hearings on next year’s budget next week.

Republican US Senator David Vitter doesn’t anticipate a hearing on President Barack Obama’s nominee for the US Supreme Court, Merrick Garland. Vitter is a member of the committee that would hold a hearing on Garland’s appointment, but he won’t go if there is a meeting…
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Vitter believes the next President should choose the next Supreme Court justice.

Flooding in Livingston and Tangipahoa parishes will impact the strawberry crop this year. Whitney Wallace, with the LSU Ag Center, says we won’t know how much the berries were damaged until farmers go to harvest…:
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Wallace says the losses will vary from one field to another, based on the berries and how much rain fell. Some areas received over a foot of rain last week and a few strawberry fields were completely covered in water.