1830 Newscast March 30

Three death row inmates have filed a suit after spending decades in solitary confinement at Angola. All three plaintiffs have spent more than 25 years in solitary, and Attorney Betsy Ginsberg says living in isolation for this long takes a serious toll on the inmates’ physical and mental health.

Cut 4 (08) “they experience”
The Department of Corrections has not issued a comment on the suit.

According to the Louisiana Survey, more Louisianans are optimistic about the future of the state for the first time since 2012. Director of the LSU Public Policy Research Lab Michael Henderson says 40-percent of the respondents say they are confident state government can effectively address the state’s important problems, which is a 6 percent increase over last year.

Cut 8 (10) “increase”
A measure for the upcoming legislative session has been filed that would require TOPS recipients to pay back half of their scholarship if they leave the state after graduating. Alexandria Senator Jay Luneau authored the measure and says students would have to follow through with a contractual agreement.

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Luneau says this would be like paying back an interest free student loan.

WalletHub finds Louisiana ranks dead last in financial literacy. Analyst Jill Gonzalez says they found the average credit score in the state is a 654, and Louisianans are not being responsible with their credit cards.

Cut 13 (09) “sooner”
She says this can cause interest payments to drag out for years.