After three grueling legislative sessions, Louisiana’s budget is still in bad shape. Barry Erwin with the Council for a Better Louisiana hopes lawmakers will be able to work towards reform across party lines in next year’s session, because it’s something both Democrats and Republicans recognize the state needs. He says the question still remains if they will agree to work together:
cut 14 (12) “some revenue”
He says next year lawmakers will have more time to get the job done.

Two men are behind bars in Lafayette in connection to the murders of two people who were found in two separate burned out vehicles. Deputies say 31-year-old Joshua Willis and 21-year-old Joseph Sylvester face charges including two counts of first degree murder in the deaths of 23-year-old Ashley Metz and her boyfriend, 22-year-old Walter Hill. The case remains under investigation.

Residents in the Monroe area are wondering when the state will build a new bridge over the Ouachita River the way they are the Red River in Shreveport. Ouachita parish police juror Walt Caldwell says the Monroe project would require a lot of federal funding, and that money doesn’t appear to be available…:
Cut 5 (11) “dwindle dramatically”
The cost for the new Shreveport bridge is projected between $80 and $100 million.

Governor John Bel Edwards still has a lot on his plate even though the legislative sessions are over. ULM political science professor John Sutherlin believes one of the things the governor will look to do is improve broadband internet service throughout the state…:
cut 12 (08) “development”