The Governor’s Office is hosting an equal pay summit today in Baton Rouge. Don Molino has more…
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The eastbound lanes of I-10 near Sorrento will close over the weekend as crews move a damaged bridge. Jeff Palermo has more…
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After the stripper age requirement law was blocked by a federal judge, the author of the measure says he plans to bring it back in the upcoming regular session. Halen Doughty has more…
Cut 3 (29) “I’m Halen Doughty”
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Today, the Governor’s Office hosts an equal pay summit in downtown Baton Rouge. Co-chair of the summit Aprill Springfield says equal pay is good for families, businesses, and the state. She says women make up about half of Louisiana’s workforce but live in the second highest rate of poverty in the US.
Springfield says the three panel summit will cover the facts about pay equity, business solutions and practices, and a call to action. She says pay equity would also help the state by moving more people off government assistance programs. She says Louisiana’s wage gap equates to more than $16-thousand a year.
Springfield says equal pay boosts productivity in the workplace, helps with recruiting, and increases competitiveness. She says an equal pay bill died in last year’s legislative session, and they’re hoping with this call to action that pay equity can finally be achieved in Louisiana.
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The eastbound lanes of Interstate 10 near Sorrento will be closed over the weekend as crews with the state Department of Transportation will remove a damaged bridge. DOTD Spokesperson Rodney Mallet says the two lane closure will begin tonight at 9 and the highway will reopen Monday at 5 a.m.. He recommends checking multiple alternative routes to avoid big delays.
The designated detour takes motorists on U.S. 61 to LA 641 back onto I-10 east. Mallet says the original plan was to remove the damaged on-ramp bridge back in January but they chose to push it back because of the chance of extended I-10 closures.
Mallet says a large piece of machinery will be used to remove the bridge, so it can be renovated.
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Out of four judicial races in Louisiana this year, every candidate running in the March 25 election is a woman. A Newcomb College Institute of Tulane University study, authored by Sally Kenney, finds even though the Bayou State ranks fairly low when it comes to women in the legislature…
The study finds that in 2016, 31-percent of judges in the Louisiana were women, up from 27-percent in 2011. Kenney says in three out of the four races, a female candidate will replace a male. She says the numbers look good in the state as a whole, but that masks the lack of female leadership outside of East Baton Rouge and Orleans.
Allison Penzato was elected during qualifying to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals and the other seats on the ballot are the 3rd and 4th Circuit Court of Appeals and the Civil District Court in New Orleans. Kenney says seeing more women run for these positions and winning is a great motivator to get other females interested in filling these seats.
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The author of the stripper age requirement bill says he plans to present a similar version in the upcoming legislative session. The law was recently blocked by a federal judge in New Orleans for being unconstitutional as written. Lake Charles Senator Ronnie Johns says Judge Carl Barbier’s ruling was clear about what language violated the constitution.
Johns says he plans to alter the language in the bill so that it’s legal, but keep the intent of requiring strippers to be at least 21-years-old. He’s confident they can find a legal way to accomplish this because other laws impose age restrictions.
The bill was originally presented as a means of curbing human trafficking in the state. Johns says many victims who are brought into Louisiana end up working in strip clubs. He says anyone who think this type of modern day slavery doesn’t happen in our state is sadly mistaken.
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Spring football kicks off this weekend for the LSU Tigers. It’s the first spring practice for new head coach Ed Orgeron, who declared there will be an open competition at starting quarterback. David Ching covers the Tigers for espn.com and says Danny Etling is the clear favorite to be the starter, but it doesn’t hurt to make him fight for the job…
Who will Etling throw the football to next season is a big question for the Tigers? LSU’s top two receivers from last season are headed to the NFL, Malachi Dupre and Travin Dural. Ching says there are some young wide outs on the Tigers roster, but they are unproven…
LSU’s top pass rusher, Arden Key, will not participate in spring practice as he’s away from the football team for undisclosed reasons. Ching says developing additional other pass rushers will be a priority during spring football…