A bill to prohibit an employer from refusing to hire or fire a person, because they are gay or transsexual will be heard in a House committee today. Emelie Gunn has more…
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Educational TV shows in French for kids are now airing on Louisiana Public Broadcast. Jeff Palermo has more.
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The House Transportation Committee will debate a bill today that would increase the fines for moving violations when a child under 15-years-old is in the vehicle. Halen Doughty has more…
Cut 3 (30) “I’m Halen Doughty”
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A bill that forces the LHSAA to end its public-private school playoff split will be heard on the House floor today. River Ridge Representative Kirk Talbot says his bill would prohibit schools from receiving public funds, if they belong to an athletic organization with split playoffs for select and non-select schools. Talbot says the LHSAA’s current playoff split is discriminatory…
The split began in football playoffs in 2013, and it is set to expand to include basketball, baseball and softball starting in 2016-17. Talbot says his goal with the legislation is not take away state funds from schools, but get the LHSAA to not separate its schools based on whether they are public or private….
Cut 5 (08) “equal opportunity”
LHSAA member principals voted to expand the postseason split in January, but a special meeting will take place in June to vote on a metro-rural division plan, which would also combine 4A with 5A and B with C. Talbot says he’s still moving forward with his bill, even though it appears the LHSAA is taking a positive step to rectify the situation…
Opponents to the bill raised questions about whether the legislature should be involved in this controversy.
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A bill that would prohibit an employer from firing or refusing to hire an individual based on their sexual orientation or gender identity will be heard in the House Civil Law committee today. Matthew Patterson with Equality Louisiana says this needs to be done because discrimination against gay and transgendered people is pervasive.
Opposition is expected to come from pro-business groups. State director of the National Independence Business Dawn Starns says business owners are concerned this legislation will lead to frivolous lawsuits…
But Patterson says Shreveport and New Orleans have passed ordinances that are similar to this proposed law and it has not led to a flood of lawsuits…
Starns understands equality for the LGBT community is important but making this a law will create problems for businesses…
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Louisiana Public Broadcasting is launching educational TV shows for kids in French. LPB’s program director Jason Viso says they are partnering with the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana to help more kids learn “en francais.” He says they have started showing several different kids’ shows that are in French.
The shows are airing on LPB 2 between 3pm and 5pm Monday through Friday and also on the weekends. Viso says French teachers are thrilled about helping future Francophones learn more about the language.
According to CODOFIL, there are about 45-hundred students in French immersion programs in the state. Viso says kids learn French in school, but aren’t able to practice it elsewhere. He hopes this gives more students a chance to develop their language skills.
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A bill to increase the fines for moving violations when a child under the age of 15 is in the car is being debated in the House Transportation Committee today. Baton Rouge Representative Paula Davis says she authored the proposal when several constituents called her after a child was killed in a car accident.
Davis says children under age 15 need to be protected because until that age, they cannot be in control in a vehicle. She believes the increased fines will help stop dangerous driving with children in the car.
Davis says she doesn’t expect much opposition to the bill. She says she hopes this bill will raise awareness about how dangerous these bad driving habits are, especially when kids are in the vehicle.
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5th ranked LSU avoided a sweep to Mississippi State by beating the Bulldogs 11-8 on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers scored all of their runs in the three middle innings, after falling behind 3-0. Coach Paul Mainieri is happy his team pulled off the victory after tough losses on Friday and Saturday nights….
Russell Reynolds was the winning pitcher. He entered in the third inning for the starter John Valek and Reynolds went on to pitch 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball. Mainieri says Reynolds did a good job of holding the Bulldogs down, until the Tigers got the bats going…
Jake Fraley was one of LSU’s hitting stars as he collected three hits on the afternoon. Fraley says it was a big win for the Tigers…