According to new analysis of federal data by Governing magazine, Louisiana is one of two states to see a decrease in median wages between 2013 and 2016. Halen Doughty has more…
Cut 1 (31) “I’m Halen Doughty”
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A bill to up the age requirement for strippers to dance in an exotic club from 18 to 21 will be heard before a Senate Committee today. Emelie Gunn has more…
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A measure to end corporal punishment in public schools gets swatted down by the full House. Jeff Palermo has the story…
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West Monroe is once again the setting for a reality TV show, as the History Channel airs an episode of American Pickers filmed in the Ouachita Parish town. The show’s stars Mike and Frank picked through Pete Caldwell’s collection, at the request of the late collector’s children. Kaye Caldwell McBride says her father was an antique collector for many years.
McBride says the pickers walked out with around 30 items including vintage toys and gambling machines. They also snagged an old Jell-O wagon, giving the episode its name “Hello Jell-O.” She says Mike and Frank were interested in a lot of pieces of her father’s collection.
McBride says they even bought some items she never thought would sell. She says they also got them in touch with other buyers for items they didn’t take, which was a huge help in clearing out the space. She says it was fun filming the episode and discovering lost items of her dad’s collection.
The episode aired Monday night, but you can stream it online at History.com.
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Louisiana is one of just two states to see a decline in median wages between 2013 and 2016, according to Governing magazine’s analysis of federal data. LSU economist Dr. Loren Scott says that’s not surprising because the Bayou State has been in a recession since August of 2015.
Delaware was the only other state to see a decline in wages. The report finds Louisiana’s median hourly wage fell by 0.5 percent to $15.43 last year. Scott says the real surprise is that we didn’t lose more in terms of wage values. But he says the industry could rebound.
Scott says anytime you lose jobs in a high paying field like oil and gas, you should expect median wages to decrease.
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A measure that would increase the age requirement from 18 to 21 for exotic dance clubs to hire strippers is scheduled to be heard by a Senate Committee today. The bill has been touted as a way to stop human trafficking. Jim Kelly runs the Covenant House in New Orleans and he’s helped over 90 human trafficking victims recently..
A law to raise minimum age requirement to work as a stripper in a dance club passed last year, but three exotic dancers were successful in a lawsuit to get the law tossed out, and a federal judge ruled the wording was too vague. Kelly says the wording in this new proposed law is much more specific.
Strip clubs are still opposed to this proposed law. Kelly believes if you have to be 21-years-old to drink in a strip club, you should be 21 to dance without clothes on in a strip club.
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In a 61-34 vote, the full House rejected a measure to ban the spanking of misbehaving kids in public schools. New Orleans Representative Joe Bouie spoke in favor of the bill. He says 31 states have banned corporal punishment in schools and research shows this form of physical punishment does not work…
Denham Springs Representative Rogers Pope spoke out against the measure. Pope is a retired school superintendent from Livingston and he says paddling is a way to discipline students without sending them home…
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The House has sent a bill to the Senate that would ban the use of tobacco products on school property. West Monroe Representative Frank Hoffman got 60 “Yes” votes for his proposal…
Hoffman describes himself as an ex-smoker and told Baton Rouge Representative Denise Marcelle that he hopes this legislation gets teachers and school employees to quit smoking…