Today is Martin Luther King Jr Day, and Wallet Hub has issued a report on race relations which indicates Louisiana is among the top 10 for making the most progress. We’re among a handful of other southern states in WalletHub’s rankings of racial progress, and spokeswoman Jill Gonzales says there is a bit of the “nowhere to go but up” factor at play…:
Cut 8 (09) “deep south states”
She says Louisiana’s biggest improvement areas over time were health care, education and civil engagement.

A homeowner in Slidell shot and killed a man early Monday morning, according to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office. The resident told investigators that he was confronted by a subject acting erratically in the front yard of his residence; so he fatally shot the man. No arrests have been made. Sheriff Randy Smith is expected to give an update tomorrow.

A special session is likely next month so that lawmakers can decide how to deal with the state’s $313 million dollar budget shortfall. Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne says the legislature raised nearly $2 billion in taxes last year, but it wasn’t enough to balance the budget…:
Cut 15 (12) “wants to do”
Dardenne says they plan to use money from the rainy day fund to close some of the gap, but that still leaves about another 200 million dollars in cuts.

AT-and-T Louisiana donates 150-thousand dollars to the Jobs for America’s Graduates program in Louisiana. Governor John Bel Edwards says JAG is a non-profit program that helps young people who face difficult challenges earning a high school diploma, going to college or getting a job. Edwards is appreciative of the donation that will help bolster the state’s workforce…
cut 11 (10) “…local level”