The House Education Committee said “No” to a bill that would make a TOPS recipient pay back some or all of their scholarship if they fail or withdraw from school. New Orleans Representative Walt Leger says changing TOPS to a loan makes it less of an opportunity for students…:
CUT 9 (11) “many students”
They also rejected a proposal to increase the GPA a college student must achieve to keep their TOPS scholarship.

Two new Zika cases have been confirmed in Louisiana, bringing the total number who have had the infection here to four — and the Department of Health and Hospitals says all have recovered. The CDC told state officials that two Louisiana residents who recently traveled to the Caribbean and South America were found to be infected, but no longer had the virus in their bloodstream. They say there have been no cases of local transmition of the virus in the US.

The Confederate monuments bill failed in a Senate Committee today. Lawmakers voted along party lines, 5-4, that they didn’t want to make it harder for local municipalities to remove statues of Confederate soldiers.

A petition on change-dot-org is calling for Natchez, Mississippi, to secede from the state and into Louisiana after our neighboring governor signed a bill saying people with religious objections don’t have to serve gay people. Natchez resident Casey Hughes says she launched the petition with tourism in mind…:
CUT 4 (07) “come here”
Hughes says Natchez welcomes all kinds of people, even if the rest of the state does not.

A couple from Vidalia was found shot to death in bed by their two children this morning, according to cops. They say a person of interest has been identified, but no other information is being released at this time.