10:30 AM Newscast

Vice President Mike Pence arrives in Lafayette this afternoon and will visit Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, one of the three churches recently torched in St. Landry Parish. Pence will meet with community and church leaders. Southwest Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins believes the way law enforcement and the church community faced the situation stands out to the Vice President.
Cut 4 (10) “…horror was handled.”
Legislation that would require Louisiana businesses to provide employees with paid leave to deal with family or medical issues cleared its first legislative hurdle. The Senate Labor committee approved the measure on a 4-to-1 vote after hearing about the benefits of the proposal. This new dad believes its a great idea
Cut 9 (11) “…exception..

The measure heads to the Senate Finance, because it requires a small payroll tax to create a fund that would provide the temporary paid leave.

The loosening on regulations based on rules written following the 2010 BP oil spill may make the Gulf of Mexico more attractive to those looking to establish offshore rigs.  Tulane Energy Institute Professor Eric Smith says the new rules will reduce the number of times a rig has to open up a blowout preventer for inspection, as well as expands who can conduct the inspections when they take place.

Cut 8 (10) “…by federal inspectors.”

Ecologists are sounding the alarm about a huge increase in the number of dead dolphins being found off the coast of Mississippi, and are pinning the blame partly on the opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway in March. But Institute for Marine Mammal Studies President Dr. Mody Solangi says it’s not just the Spillway at fault. In previous decades, the spillway’s opening wasn’t as devastating, but the Mississippi River has grown so polluted that dumping that water into the gulf is disastrous.

Cut 11 (11) “…used to.”