The Louisiana Survey finds 47 percent of respondents support religious freedom laws for businesses to refuse service based on sexual orientation. Dr. Michael Henderson with the LSU Public Policy Research Lab says 56 percent of residents think transgender people should use the bathroom of their birth gender.

Cut 7 (10) “nationally”

The survey also finds three-fourths of Louisianans support legal protections from discrimination at work based on sexual orientation.

A bill by Shreveport Senator John Milkovich seeks to end bullying in the Bayou State. Milkovich says children deserve a safe place to learn. He says that’s why his bill empowers teachers to do whatever it takes to keep students safe.

Cut 23 (09) “police involved”

The state has selected the same contractor it had originally denied to handle the federal flood aid program. The details still need to be hammered out, according to the governor’s Deputy Chief of Staff Julie Baxter Payer, but it looks like IEM will be the lead on helping homeowners rebuild.

Cut 9 (09) “cost figure”

IEM was the same firm originally chosen to do the work, but the state scrapped the contract because it was too costly.

Louisiana is the trashiest state in America. That’s what State Parks Director Robert Barham told lawmakers at a budget hearing this week. He says if you don’t believe him, just look at the litter in ditches on the side of the road. He says he’s been to all 50 states, and he’s never seen anything like the litter here in the Bayou State.

Cut 24 (10) “in shame”