17:30 LRN Newscast February 23rd

US Senator Bill Cassidy held another town hall meeting this morning in Thibodaux and the crowd was not as raucous as what the senior senator faced yesterday in Metairie. Cassidy is one of several Republican Congressional members who has faced furious constituents upset over health care and public education. UL Lafayette Political Science Professor Pearson Cross says you can expect to keep seeing this type of activism….
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The Edwards administration unveiled its proposed budget for next fiscal year and it does not fully fund TOPS. The spending plan funds the scholarship program at its current level, which is 70-percent. But Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne says if additional revenue is approved in the regular session, it’s the governor’s top priority to fund TOPS at 100-percent.

Governor John Bel Edwards expressed a serious tone when asked about the travel scandal involving four members of the State Police who took side trips to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon while attending a law enforcement conference in San Diego. Edwards, who has already ordered a full investigation, says this incident shouldn’t be taken lightly.:
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State Police Superintendent Col. Mike Edmonson issued a statement saying he’s instructed all administrative personnel at LSP to cooperate with the investigation.

LSU Health Shreveport will soon begin to help children who have chronic respiratory diseases, like cystic fibrosis as they are opening a new pediatric chronic ventilator clinic….
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That’s Doctor Keith Scott who says there’s no other facility like this in north Louisiana.