According to a new report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Louisiana ranks No. 47 in the nation for overall well-being of children. The report was published in the 25th edition of the Kids Count Data book and study co-author Laura Speer says one of the big factors hurting Louisiana’s score is the fact that we have one of the highest teen birth rates in the nation:
CUT 6 (12) “their children”
She also says Louisiana continues to get poor marks in education as we lag the nation in 4th and 8th grade reading and math scores and also has a poor graduation rate.

The Monroe City Council has passed a resolution that would allow a grant application that city officials believe can help the airport get direct flights to Denver. The report says Monroe is offering United Airlines $100,000 from the mayor’s economic development fund.

Governor Jindal’s legal counsel is confident they’ll prevail in a lawsuit that claims the Administration overstepped its legal authority to halt the implementation of Common Core. A collection of concerned parents and teachers were behind this latest filing. The suit claims the governor can’t dictate education policy. But attorney jimmy Faircloth says allegations the Jindal misused his authority are unfounded…:
CUT 12 (07) “doing here”
He says the suit has no legal basis.

A federal judge has sentenced a Shreveport pastor to six-and-a-half years in prison for taking minors across state lines and having sex with them. 54-year-old Andrea (Andre) Lewis, pastor of Act on Faith Ministries, was found guilty of three federal sex crimes in May. Evidence in the case showed Lewis transported at least three minors to and from Texas to have sex with them. US Attorney Stephanie Finley says the young girls were very brave in coming forward and sharing their stories…:
CUT 14 (11) “them sexually”
Lewis is also sentenced to three years supervised release and must register as a sex offender.