A bill that would prevent local governments from removing Confederate monuments failed in a Senate Committee. Confederate monument supporter Leslie Tassin says this issue is important to future generations so they will have the opportunity to understand the history of Louisiana. He says historic monuments shouldn’t be torn down, new monuments should be built.
The bill failed on a 5-4 vote.
Two new Zika cases have been confirmed in Louisiana, bringing the total number to four. Medical Director for the Louisiana Center for Community Preparedness, Dr. Frank Welch says these results are from tests submitted 6 to 8 weeks ago. He says only one in five people who contract Zika actually get sick, and the illness only lasts three to five days.
The House Education Committee rejected a proposal to make a TOPS recipient pay back some or all of their scholarship if they fail or withdraw from school. Kenner Representative Julie Stokes authored the proposal. She says a lot of students get to college and have too much fun, then they end up dropping out.
cut 10 (04) “take it seriously”
The committee also rejected a proposal to increase the GPA a college student must achieve to keep their TOPS scholarship.
A petition on change-dot-org is calling for Natchez, Mississippi, to secede from the state. The idea comes as a response to a bill that allows individuals and institutions with religious obligations to deny services to gay people. Natchez resident Casey Hughes says the petition was mostly a joke, but she wouldn’t mind if her town moved over to the Bayou State.
The petition has been signed by almost 700 people.