The Public Service Commission holds a special meeting today on the sale of the Cleco to a foreign investment group. Jeff Palermo has more…
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It was a common belief that vipers, which are venomous snakes like cottonmouths, had the fastest strike, but new research from UL-Lafayette suggests that isn’t true. Emelie Gunn has more…
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A proposed bill would establish the process by which pharmacies go about selling medical marijuana, including a 5-thousand dollar application fee. Halen Doughty has more…
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The Public Service Commission is expected to meet today for a special hearing on the sale of Pineville-based CLECO to Macquarie Infrastructure. The PSC rejected the proposal last month, and since then two sides have revised terms they say would further benefit the utility company’s employees and customers. PSC member Foster Campbell says “real” money from the sale should go to customers..
CLECO says during the last meeting with the sale was turned down, inaccurate statements were made that they hope to clear up today. Commissioner Lambert Boissiere says, no matter what the new proposal entails, they all want to see rate reductions for CLECO customers…:
CLECO and Macquarie have offered additional commitments including 100 million dollars of immediate rate relief for customers, and a 15 million dollar contribution to economic development in Louisiana. Commissioner Clyde C. Holloway says they want to know where all this money is coming from…:
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Vipers, which are venomous snakes like rattlesnakes and cottonmouths, were thought to have the quickest strike, but researchers at UL-Lafayette say that’s not the case. Doctoral student David Penning says their study shows that all snakes can strike quickly.
Penning says to observe snakes striking they filmed them with cameras capable of capturing high-speed action. He says they noticed that nonvenomous Texas rat snakes struck with the same velocity and acceleration as vipers.
Penning says it takes a snake 70 milliseconds to strike, and it takes a human 200 milliseconds just to blink. He says what people can take away from this study is that they should not try to grab a venomous snake before it strikes.
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It appears pharmacies who want to sell medical marijuana in the state will have to jump through a lot of hoops. Based on a bill moving through the legislature, an application fee of $5-thousand would be needed to cover inspections, background checks and paperwork. And Ville Platte Representative and pharmacist Harvey LeBas says federal law prohibits the sale of medical marijuana in the same facility where other prescriptions are sold.
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LeBas says once medical marijuana is available, it will only be sold at ten different locations around the state. He says there are still a lot of unknowns surrounding the issue.
LeBas says this situation will not be like what’s happening in Colorado. These dispensaries will only offer medications derived from the plant for medical uses, not the actual plant itself. He says this will be quite an investment for pharmacies, between the application fee and opening a new facility.
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Legislative hearings begin today on the state’s spending plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1st. Over the course of the next two months, legislators will have to pass a budget that will contain 750-million dollars in cuts from the previous year. Governor John Bel Edwards says since he’s been in office, 170-million dollars in budget cuts have been put in place…
Edwards says despite the recent cuts to state funding and revenue increases, legislators will have to make some more difficult cuts, because of the large shortfall they are still facing…
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By law, legislators must approve a balanced budget. Edwards predicts legislators will find out during this regular session that state government can’t sustain anymore deep cuts