Deaf students are suing the Louisiana Community College System, alleging a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Matt Doyle talked to the plaintiff’s attorney Andrew Bizer…

Cut 1 (30) “I’m Matt Doyle”

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The attorney for former State Police leader, Mike Edmondson, has responded to a scathing audit that alleges he abused his position. Jeff Palermo has more…

Cut 2 (30) “I’m Jeff Palermo.”

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Deaf students have filed a discrimination suit against the Louisiana Community College System, alleging Delgado Community College denied sign language interpreters and other accommodations. Plaintiffs’ attorney Andrew Bizer says Delgado violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Cut 3 (08) “everybody else.”

Bizer says the discrimination directly led to a loss of financial aid…

Cut 4  (10) “the class.” 

Two plaintiffs, Lee Bruce and Ronneka Smith, have been named so far, but Bizer says he expects more to be named after the story took off on social media. Bizer says he hopes the suit will force the state to overhaul its treatment of disabled students…

Cut 5  (09)  “civil rights law”

System spokesperson Quintin Taylor says he can’t comment on pending litigation, but released the following statement: “We take this issue and all issues of accessibility of our students and faculty very seriously, we always do everything we can to provide proper access to our students and faculty.”

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Tallulah has been struggling with water issues and now an electrical transformer failure has left the city without water today. Hard freezes hampered the system earlier this month. Administrative Assistant to the Mayor Yvonne Lewis says water was restored to the city Tuesday and now another catastrophe has hit…

Cut 6 (11)  “storage tanks.”

Mayor Paxton Branch says water should be flowing again Entergy crews restored power in about 2 hours, but still need to replace a control panel, before putting the water panel back online. The school day was cut short today and Lewis doesn’t have a time table on when classes will resume…

Cut 7 (09)  “or not.”

Lewis says they are asking for donations to get the city through the lack of water…

Cut 8 (10) “-0964.”

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A mobile trailer fire in Hammond has claimed one life. Preliminary findings from the state fire marshal indicates the deadly blaze was a result of the resident using an outdoor cooking burner to heat the trailer. No smoke alarms were found and Fire Marshal Butch Browning says that tends to be the case in most fatal fires…

Cut 9 (07) “smoke alarms.”

The man’s name has not yet been released

Browning says the last month has had a noticeable spike in fire fatalities…

Cut 10 (12) “heating homes.”

Most of the spike in recent fire deaths has been attributed to people finding unconventional ways to keep warm, but Browning says year round there’s another reason for most fires…

Cut 11 (08) “around cooking.”

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Retired State Police Superintendent Mike Edmondson’s attorney has responded to a legislative audit that found evidence of misconduct and tax evasion throughout his nine year tenure. The letter touted Edmonson’s character and leadership, but Loyola University Law Professor Dane Ciolino says there was one notable omission.

Cut 12 (07) “respond to them”

Edmondson’s attorneys say at the moment he doesn’t have the resources to respond to each allegation. Ciolino says this may be due to the breadth of allegations.

Cut 13 (10) “state officials”

Edmondson’s was accused of using a state facility for housing, and not reporting it on his taxes. Ciolino says finding a defense for that accusation will be difficult.

Cut 14 (07) “case here”

The 2018 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival will feature artists including Aerosmith, Aretha Franklin, and Jimmy Buffett. Michelle Southern spoke with Festival Producer Quint Davis…:

Cut 1 (31) “I’m Michelle Southern”

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Congressman Clay Higgins is co sponsoring an immigration reform bill. Kelley Ray spoke with him about why he’s join in with over 70 other House members…

Cut 2 (29) “I’m Kelley Ray.”

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The recent cold snap could cause the strawberry crop to be pushed back a couple of weeks.  There are nine to 12 commercial growers in Tangipahoa Parish.   Whitney Wallace from the LSU Ag Center says those farmers took extra precautions during the brutally cold weather and expects the crop should come through just fine…

Cut 3 (08) “great season.”

With a decline in production and available strawberries, Wallace says there might be an increase in prices at the market, but any increase will be short lived.  Many of the blossoms on the plants that weren’t protected will have to regrow again, which is a 21 day process.  She says after that, prices will stabilize…

Cut 4  (09) “cold weather.” 

Wallace says the big event of the year for Tangipahoa Parish will go on as usual.  She says there should be plenty of warm weather between now and mid-April for the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival…

Cut 5  (09)  “to enjoy.”

It’s estimated strawberry production in Louisiana is valued at 17-million-dollars.

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The 2018 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival will feature Aerosmith, Aretha Franklin, Sting, Jimmy Buffett, Beck, Jack White, and Lionel Richie — just to name a few. Jazzfest will be April 27-29 and May 3-6. Festival producer Quint Davis says Aerosmith will be making it’s Jazzfest debut, but they weren’t hard to bill…:

Cut 6 (08)  “to do it”

Also included in the talent lineup this year is Bonnie Raitt, Jack Johnson, Sheryl Crow, Trombone Shorty, Steve Miller Band, and Smokey Robinson. Davis says Jazzfest this year will also be joining in the celebration of the City of New Orleans’ 300th anniversary. He says there will be a massive Cultural Exchange Pavilion featuring all things New Orleans…:

Cut 7 (10)  “festival”

The full lineup features a little something for everyone, and can be found online at nojazzfest.com. Davis says Aretha Franklin is bringing one of the biggest setups they’ve ever seen, and it might be one of her final performances. He says they are also doing a “Locals Thursday” discount day on May 3rd…:

Cut 8 (04) “remainder of 2018.”

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Now that the federal government shutdown is over, Congressman Clay Higgins is setting his sights on passing a bill to bolster the existing immigration law.  Higgins is co-sponsoring the “Securing America’s Future Act”.  The St. Landry Parish Republican  says he wants to cut through the Red Tape to ease the process of hiring an additional ten-thousand Border Patrol and Border Protection Agents…

Cut 9 (10) “new job.”

Farm owners and crawfish producers have been concerned they won’t be able to hire agricultural workers. Higgins says this bill would create a guest worker program that would address the state’s agricultural and seafood processing needs…

Cut 10 (12) “address that.”

Higgins adds there are provisions in the bill that would punish sanctuary cities, by withholding funds if deported criminals illegally return to the U.S and are protected in those municipalities.  New Orleans currently prohibits police officers from asking suspects about their immigration status.  Higgins is tired of these cities disrespecting federal laws…

Cut 11 (07) “been discarded.”

The bill is authored by Republican Virginia Representative Bob Goodlatte and has 77 co-sponsors.  The bill is currently being considered by several subcommittees…

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The governor’s proposed budget calls for an 80 percent cut in state funding for TOPS, because of a one-billion dollar reduction in state revenues. President of the University of Louisiana System Dr. Jim Henderson says a cut like that would cost students and their families thousands of dollars a year…

Cut 12 (12) “good ballpark”

Along with a massive cut to TOPS, the budget included an additional 26-million dollar cut to higher education. Higher ed dodged budget cuts last year, and Henderson says it had a big impact on the UL system…

Cut 13 (10) “five years”

According to UL analysis, Louisiana universities currently operate at the lowest per student funding in the country.

Henderson says cutting TOPS would be a betrayal of hard working students…

Cut 14 (07) “to them”

Henderson says he doesn’t believe the “Doomsday Budget” will be adopted, but he is concerned that continued uncertainty involving TOPS could drive Louisiana’s best and brightest out of state.