U.S. Senator John Kennedy is bucking his Washington colleagues as he’s threatening to be the fly in the ointment on gun control. Jim Shannon has more.
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Governor Edwards and Republican state senator Sharon Hewitt are calling on Secretary of State Tom Schedler to resign because of sexual harassment allegations. Jeff Palermo has the story…
Cut 2 (30) “I’m Jeff Palermo”.
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The small town of Urania in LaSalle Parish has landed a big sawmill that will create 110 jobs and an additional 300 indirect jobs. A joint venture by Hunt Forest Products and Tolko Industries will build a state of the art 115-million-dollar mill in the heart of the state’s 11-billion-dollar forest products industry. Mayor Terri Corley is thrilled they can use the former location of the old Louisiana-Pacific mill…
The mill will supply wood fiber and residuals to Drax Biomass, which occupies part of the property. The project will create 150 jobs when construction starts in April and is expected to be completed in early 2019. Corley hopes they can attract local workers who left after L-P closed…
The new mill will require 850-thousand tons of wood per year and produce 200-million board feet of lumber annually. Corley says her community is ready for the challenge…
Hunt is getting a performance based forgivable loan of one-million-dollars under a state program.
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Louisiana Senator John Kennedy says he will not support what he terms a “knee-jerk” reaction to additional gun control laws in the wake of the Florida shootings. Kennedy opposes a bill to modify the existing back-ground check systems for firearm purchases because he says that system is broken.
Kennedy sympathizes with the victims of the Florida shootings but will not, as he says, be sucked into a pro temporary gun-control law we don’t need.
The proposed legislation does not expand background checks but rather requires officials to do a better job of screening. Kennedy says statistically speaking gun owners are not the problem.
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Parts of North Louisiana are bracing for more rain tonight into Thursday. Flood Warnings have been issued for the Ouachita and Red Rivers until further notice. Governor Edwards has declared a State of Emergency for nine Parishes along those rivers due to flooding. Shreveport National Weather Service Forecaster Aaron Stevens says the area can’t take any more water…
The Red River at Shreveport is above flood stage at nearly 32 feet, while downstream at Grand Ecore, it is over 35 feet and expected to hit 39 feet by Friday. Stevens says the forecast is dire for the area…
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Governor John Bel Edwards is calling on Secretary of State Tom Schedler to resign immediately as a result of a lawsuit filed that accuses the state’s top election official of sexual harassment. Edwards says sexual harassment in the workplace should not be tolerated…
Cut 11 (06) “sexual harrassment.”
An employee in the Secretary of State’s office filed the harassment suit. Schedler admits to what he calls a consensual relationship with the accuser. Edwards says this issue goes beyond Schedler’s personal life. The alleged incident casts doubt on the integrity of the Secretary of State’s Office …
Republican state senator Sharon Hewitt also believes Schedler should step down. Hewitt’s political consultant Jay Connaughton (Con-au-tin) says Hewitt wants to make sure this behavior is not tolerated…
Connaughton says Hewitt believes there will be a negative impact on the Secretary of State’s office if he remains…
Hewitt is the first Republican asking for Schedler’s resignation. Schedler has no comment about the calls for his resignation.
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Governor John Bel Edwards calls the next 24 hours critical for the state House to get behind tax bills to address a looming one billion dollar deficit. With one week to go in the special session, the House has yet to pass any revenue general proposals. Houma Representative Tanner Magee says he sees a lack of urgency in the House
A billion dollars work of temporary sales taxes will expire June 30th and Edwards called lawmakers into a 17-day special session to replace the revenue that will be lost. Magee says any tax bill will need 70 votes to pass and he doesn’t see it happening…