An Advocate report accuses Attorney General Jeff Landry, known for his hardline stance on immigration, of bringing in Mexican workers to help build a plant in Cameron Parish…
cut 2 (32) “…I’m Matt Doyle”

Governor Edwards budget proposal for next fiscal year calls on the legislature to approve nearly a million dollars in pay raises for his staff, Cabinet secretaries and other high-level political appointees. Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne says these employees have not seen a raise since 2016.

State Police has identified the man fatally shot in yesterday’s police shooting in Bossier city. L-S-P says 42-year-old Jeremy Fox of Bossier City was shot after a struggle with an officer in the parking lot of the CenturyLink Center. Trooper Brent Hardy says the officer intervened because Fox tried to a carjack a vehicle belonging to a Bossier City permit inspector…
cut 15 (07) “…active and ongoing”
The carjacking victim had surgery on his should, but he’s expected to recover.

71-year-old Robert Blair is heading to Angola to serve a 40-year prison sentence for the 1989 disappearance of his wife, Isabelle and friend Marian Coutee. Blair was arrested in October and Rapides Parish Assistant District Attorney Christopher Bowman says Blair confessed to killing the two in self-defense, and the victims’ families were fine with the sentencing…
cut 8 (12) “…40 years”

The Tax Foundation ranks Louisiana in the bottom ten for the least business-friendly tax code. Matt Doyle has the story.
Cut 1 (29) “I’m Matt Doyle”

Governor John Bel Edwards budget proposal for next fiscal year calls on the legislature to approve nearly a million dollars in pay raises for his staff, Cabinet secretaries and other high-level political appointees. Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne says these employees have not seen a raise since 2016.

Louisiana has the second-highest decline in marriage rate in the country. That’s according to Quote Wizard who used data from the National Centers for Health Statistics. The state’s marriage rate fell 28-percent according to the report. But LSU Health New Orleans clinical psychologist Amy Dickson says this doesn’t mean there are fewer couples in committed relations…
cut 10 (08) “….for 20 years”
But Mississippi has the largest increase in marriage rate in the country at 31-percent.

100 new jobs are coming to Webster Parish as a Canadian Company called E-I Williams Industries plans to invest 700-thousand dollars into an existing facility to manufacture industrial sound-control equipment. President of the Louisiana Economic Partnership Scott Martinez says Northwest Louisiana Technical College will help develop the workforce…
cut 9 (09) “….in Webster Parish”
Martinez says the state first approached E-I Williams at a trade show in Calgary last June.

The Tax Foundation ranks Louisiana as having the ninth least business-friendly tax code in the nation. Policy Analyst Janelle Cammenga says the Bayou State gets poor marks because of its high sales tax rate, above-average corporate tax rate and Louisiana has a franchise tax…
cut 5 (10) “…income”
Lawmakers will have to wait until next year’s fiscal session to address this.

Legislators have been filing bills for the non-fiscal session that begins March 9th. Covington Representative Mark Wright has filed a constitutional amendment that would ask voters if they want the governor and lieutenant governor running on the same ticket…
cut 14 (10) “…candidates”
It will take a two-thirds vote by the legislature and a majority yes votes from the public for the amendment to pass.
Roses are red, violets are blue. The marriage rate is dipping, but the divorce rate is too…
Cut 2 (31) “…I’m Kevin Barnhart”

The Louisiana Family Forum says for the second year in a row Wallace and Gladys Menard will be honored on this Valentine’s Day as the state’s longest known married couple. They’ve been married for 81 years.

College baseball returns tonight, 11th ranked LSU hosts Indiana and the Ragin Cajuns face Southeastern Louisiana in the first game for UL-Lafayette since the death of longtime coach Tony Robichaux.

According to a Quote Wizard report that used data from the National Centers for Health Statistics, there was a 28-percent decline in Louisiana’s marriage rate from 2009 to 2018. That’s the second-highest decline in the country. But the same report also shows Louisiana’s divorce rate declined nearly 23-percent during that same time period. LSU Health New Orleans clinical psychologist Amy Dickson says some people who marry young and split up, never go through an official divorce…
cut 11 (11) “…bother with that”
The only state that has a higher decline in the marriage rate is Nevada at 34-percent.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has been known to rail against illegal immigration, but a lengthy report from the Advocate finds evidence that three firms that have ties to Landry were connected with a Houston man, who has been convicted of visa fraud for bringing hundreds of Mexican workers into the U-S under false pretenses. A video recorded by Landry’s brother says they are victims of a liberal newspaper trying to damage high profile conservatives.

Should Louisiana continue to vote for its Governor and Lt. Governor separately? Matt Doyle spoke to a Covington lawmaker who doesn’t think so…
Cut 3 (30) “…I’m Matt Doyle.

Tax bills can not be heard in the upcoming session, but the Tax Foundation says Louisiana has the ninth-worst business tax climate in the nation. Policy analyst Janelle Cammenga says the legislature could do something about this…
cut 6 (09) “…right now”

Louisiana has the 9th worst business tax climate in the nation according to the Tax Foundation’s 2020 report. Policy Analyst Janelle Cammenga says that’s largely due to having the 3rd highest sales tax in the nation, an above-average corporate tax rate, and decentralized sales tax collection.
Cut 4 (10) “…there”
Only Washington and Alabama rank worse in sales tax issues.

Webster Parish is welcoming a new manufacturing facility with the arrival of E.I. Williams Industries. President of the North Louisiana Economic Partnership Scott Martinez says the Canadian company specializes in sound-control equipment such as vent silencers, fan silencers, industrial silencers, and noise enclosures.
Cut 7 (07) “…segment they serve.”
Martinez says E-I Williams will hire 100 workers over the next five years.

The Advocate newspaper has on its front page today a lengthy investigative piece that claims firms owned by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry conducted business with a felon who broke immigration laws. Two days ago, Landry posted on Twitter his brother has been the victim of months of harassment by the Advocate in an apparent attempt to attack him.

For the upcoming session, Covington Representative Mark Wright has filed a bill that would change the state’s constitution so the governor and lieutenant governor are elected jointly. Wright says it would result in more efficient operations in the governor’s office and the lieutenant governor can be used as a high profile surrogate when not available…
cut 15 (07) “…need”
If the measure receives a two-thirds vote in the legislature, it will appear on the November ballot.

Multiple students at Many High School in Sabine Parish have been charged with illicit acts for their roles in an alleged sexual assault recorded on video and went viral on social media. Trooper Casey Wallace says State Police began its investigation earlier this month
Cut 12 (09) “one adult”
Parents who send their children to Many High School are troubled over the video that reportedly shows a victim being held down by other students and sodomized with an object in what has been labeled as bullying.

State Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson is making a plea to drivers to concentrate on the road after an investigation revealed a DOTD employee was hit by a distracted driver earlier this month in a work zone near Carencro. Wilson says the state is doing its part with new safety measures
cut 5 (13) “…construction zones”
Wilson says two DOTD employees have been killed by distracted drivers since 2016.

A case of ticket fraud involving last month’s college football national championship game lands a Lafayette man in jail. Jeff Palermo has the story…
Cut 1 (31) “…I’m Jeff Palermo”

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and Louisiana Family Forum President Gene Mills says for the second year in a row Wallace and Gladys Menard from Duson hold the distinction as the state’s longest married couple at 81 years. Mills says a strong marriage benefits society…
cut 11 (09) “…traditional tomorrow”