Vice President Mike Pence will visit this afternoon with leaders of the churches burned down by a suspected arsonist in St. Landry Parish. Speaking at a National Day of Prayer event at the White House, Pence said the world condems the recent attacks on religious buildings…
cut 5 (12) “….churches in Louisiana”
Governor Edwards and members of Louisiana’s Congressional delegation will join Pence for the visit.

Marine biologists are sounding an alarm over an increase in dolphin deaths off the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi. President of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, Doctor Moby Solangi, says pollution from the Mississippi River and fresh water getting into the Mississippi Sound are the two biggest factors and dolphins are not the only marine life impacted…
cut 12 (08) “….easily seen”

The Louisiana House approves a proposal that would extend the license of the state’s lone land-based casino for 30 years. House Speaker Taylor Barras says New Orleans Harrah’s casino’s minimum annual payment to the state would go from 60-million dollars to 65-million in 2022 and increase by two percent per year thereafter…
cut 14 (12) “…salary expenses”
The legislation still needs Senate approval.

The Trump Administration is giving oil and gas companies more flexibility in meeting safety requirements that were put in place after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. Tulane Energy Institute Professor Eric Smith says among those rules was a requirement to break down blowout preventers after every drilling program….
cut 7 (12) “….the blowout preventer”
Smith says the new rules will reduce the number of times a rig has to open up a blowout preventer for inspection.