The Jindal administration will propose a budget for next fiscal year to lawmakers that’s expected to include significant cuts to higher education and health care. Jeff Palermo has the story…
______________________________________
The new movie “Focus”, featuring Will Smith, hits theatres today and it’s just one of many major Louisiana shot movies to be released this year. Scott Carwile reports…
______________________________________
Comedian Bill Cosby is appearing tonight at the Heymann Performing Arts Center in Lafayette and not everyone is laughing. Michelle Southern reports.
______________________________________
Governor Bobby Jindal’s proposed budget for next fiscal year will be presented to lawmakers today and significant cuts to higher education and health care are expected. La-politics-dot-com publisher Jeremy Alford says during today’s joint legislative budget committee there will be discussion on how to mitigate those cuts
Drastic cuts are needed as the state faces a one-point-six billion dollar revenue shortfall. Alford says the governor opposes any tax increase to close the deficit, but Jindal is open to changing the rules for refundable tax credits to increase revenue, but the budget ax will likely still fall hard
Alford says once lawmakers have a chance to see the proposed budget and how bad the cuts will be, ideas will start flowing on how to deal with it….
______________________________________
Cleco’s shareholders have approved the sale of the Pineville-based company, but the Public Service Commission still has to give its consent. A North American investor group led by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets and by British Columbia Investment Corporation is seeking to purchase the utility company. PSC Commissioner Clyde Holloway says he will study this proposed merger carefully.
CUT 7 (10) “present employees”
Holloway says their job is to take care of people who work for CLEO and its customers. He says he knows what they have now with CLEO, but they don’t know what they’d be getting with Macquarie — a company outside of the US…:
Cut 8 (09) “and for the employee”
Holloway says he expects a vote before the PSC during the latter part of the third quarter of this year…:
Cut 9 (07) “their findings are”
______________________________________
The new movie “Focus”, featuring Will Smith, hits theatres today and it’s just one of many major Louisiana shot movies to be released this year. Chris Stelly, Executive Director of Louisiana Entertainment, says “Focus” could top the box office this weekend…
The streak started last weekend with the release of “Hot Tub Time Machine 2″. Stelly says other Louisiana films scheduled to open this year include “Pitch Perfect 2″ in May and “Jurassic World” in June. Stelly says he’s looking forward to seeing “Get Hard” starring Will Farrell and Kevin Hart that will open next month…
This summer will also see the release of “Terminator Genisys” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in July and the reboot of the “Fantastic Four” franchise in August. Stelly thinks this summer is going to be a blockbuster season for films shot in Louisiana…
______________________________________
The embattled comedian Bill Cosby is appearing tonight at the Heymann Performing Arts Center in Lafayette. There are some who aren’t happy about that due to allegations which recently surfaced accusing Cosby of sexually abusing women. Ebony Turner, Director of the Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault, is concerned people who still buy tickets to Cosby’s show don’t take these alleged victims seriously…:
The comedian released a statement thanking fans for love, support and trust and added he can’t wait to warm the hearts of the audience with the gift of laughter. Turner says it’s their hope that people in the audience tonight realize that famous people also have private lives that are very different from who they portray…:
Cut 14 (06) “criminal activity”
The performance is set for 8pm. Turner says there has been so much victim blaming surrounding the Cosby allegations that people are separating Dr. Huxabtable from someone who is capable of committing a horrible crime…:
______________________________________
The LSU men’s basketball team looks to extend its winning streak to three games on Saturday when they host Ole Miss. The Rebels are led by five-foot-ten guard Stefan Moody, who is averaging 16 and a half points a game. Tigers Coach Johnny Jones Ole Miss likes to create shots for Moody by running him off screens…
LSU has been led lately by Jarell Martin who is also 16.5 points a game. He’s coming off a 25-point performance against Auburn and Jones likes how the sophomore is playing
Cut 17 (19) “vast improvement”
A win on Saturday for LSU gives them 10 conference wins. In Jones first two seasons in Baton Rouge, LSU won nine games in the league each year
____________________________________________________