This year all public school students in Louisiana will learn cursive writing, thanks to a new law by Franklinton Senator Beth Mizell. Halen Doughty has more…
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U.S. Senator John Kennedy is among 10 in the Senate who have sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell requesting that he cancels August Recess. Jeff Palermo has the story…
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Louisiana farmers and ranchers impacted by the 2016 floods are eligible for recovery grants. Halen Doughty has more…
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Public school students will be required to learn cursive writing this year, as a bill by Franklinton Senator Beth Mizell went into effect on July 1. Mizell’s bill passed during last year’s legislative session, but it didn’t take effect right away. She says this gave school systems more time to prepare.
Mizell says she’s visited about 15 schools since passing the legislation last year. She says the kids she’s spoken with are excited about learning how to write in cursive. She’s especially thrilled these kids will be able to sign their names.
The law requires students to be taught cursive writing by the third grade, but it does not outline how long teachers should spend on the matter. Mizell says she wanted to leave that up to the school districts and the teachers.
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The new fiscal year is underway and 38,000 state employees will see a pay raise. A two percent pay hike was approved. State civil service director Byron Decoteau says traditionally state employees were eligible for a four percent performance adjustment on October 1, but that won’t happen this year.
Law enforcement and child welfare workers specifically will see higher pay in the hopes of combating high turnover rates. So Decoteau says prison guards and probation officers are among the state workers that will see an even higher pay on January 2.
The higher wages will cost the state an additional 48-million dollars this year. But Decoteau says raises help combat a high turnover rate in state government, which is also costly.
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U.S. Senator John Kennedy is among 10 Senate Republicans calling for the cancellation of the August recess in order to address issues that demand immediate attention. Kennedy says the current Senate calendar shows only 33 potential working days remaining before the end of the fiscal year and they’ve yet to approve meaningful reforms…
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Kennedy says changes are still being made to the Senate health care reform bill and he’s waiting to see if the final product is better than so-called Obamacare…
Kennedy says Congress has three months to extend the National Flood Insurance Program, which expires September 30th. He says a budget and 12 appropriations bills before that date also has to be approved to avoid a government shutdown…
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Farmers and ranchers who were impacted by last year’s floods could be eligible for recovery grants. Ag Commissioner Mike Strain says the state has $10 million to help affected farmers. He says it is part of the $1.6 billion Congress appropriated for flood recovery.
Strain says to qualify, you must have had at least $10,000 in uninsured losses. He says they’re also doing what they can to make sure all farmers and ranchers are aware of this opportunity.
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Strain says the floods caused more than $100 million in agriculture losses, and this is something his office has worked for since the floods. He says there needs to be a better system in place to help farmers after disasters.
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The Pelicans have re-signed free-agent guard Jrue Holiday to a five-year, 126-million dollar contract. Pelicans insider and Bourbon Streets Shots writer Jake Madison says it was a signing that had to happen for the Pels to compete in the difficult Western Conference….
Holiday’s return gives the Pelicans three star players along with big men Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins. Madison says the Pelicans do not have a lot of salary cap flexibility to add more firepower, but they have enough money to sign a good three-point shooter…
Madison says the Holiday signing assures that the Pelicans will be in contention for a playoff spot….
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