House Appropriations begins its budget hearings today, as the Corrections Department and the Office of Juvenile Justice seek more funding amid growing incarceration populations. Jeff Palermo has the story.

Cut 1 (34) “…I’m Jeff Palermo”

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LSU is once again requiring applicants to provide their ACT or SAT scores as part of the admissions process. Jeff Palermo has the story…

Cut 2 (40) “…I’m Jeff Palermo.”

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In 2023, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry issued its LA Driven strategic plan to improve the state’s economic competitiveness by 2030. Andrew Greenstein gives us a progress report.

Cut 3 (35) “…I’m Andrew Greenstein.”

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A House committee begins holding hearings today on Governor Landry’s spending plan for the next fiscal year. The governor’s office is seeking an 82-million-dollar increase in state funding for its corrections department as the prison population has grown. Appropriations Chair Jack MacFarland says some of the additional funding is for offender rehabilitation.

Cut 4 (10) “..tax dollars.” 

The Office of Juvenile Justice is also seeking a 28-million-dollar increase as Louisiana’s juvenile justice system is incarcerating more youth offenders. Fifteen-million dollars will be used to open a new youth prison in Vernon Parish, and MacFarland says they also want to increase staff salaries.

Cut 5 (11) “…make it competitive.”

MacFarland expects debate over the L-A GATOR program, the state’s education voucher program that provides financial assistance to 56-hundred low-income families to attend private school. Landry wants to grow the program to help more than just low-income families with their educational expenses. MacFarland says Landry wants to increase funding from 44-million dollars to 88-million.

Cut 6 (09) “…still being discussed.”

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LSU applicants will once again have to submit their ACT or SAT scores when applying to the Baton Rouge campus. LSU has been operating under a test-optional policy since June 2022. LSU Board of Supervisors member James Williams opposes changing the policy. He says it will put low-income families at a disadvantage because they cannot afford A-C-T tutoring…

Cut 7 (08) “…on testing.”

But LSU says retention rates and the GPA of students who do not submit a standardized test score are lower than those of students who do provide their ACT scores. LSU Chancellor Doctor James Dalton also says the test score is one piece they will look at for admission…

Cut 8 (13) “…success.”

The average ACT score of LSU students is 27. A minimum score is not needed to be admitted to the flagship campus. And Dalton says the test score is just one component of the total comprehensive admittance process…

Cut 9 (10)  “…two jobs.”

Williams is concerned because standardized tests display known socioeconomic and geographic biases…

Cut 10 (12) “…get it.”

The holistic admissions process that LSU has used over the last several years is designed to promote economic and racial diversity. Since adopting the test-optional admissions, Black and Hispanic enrollment has increased.

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The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry says the state is making great strides towards economic competitiveness. In 2023, the group released its LA Driven strategic plan, outlining a series of goals to achieve by 2030. President and CEO Will Green says Louisiana now ranks 24th in the country in both job creation and wage growth, both far exceeding their original goals well ahead of schedule.

Cut 11 (10) “…of those goals.”

Green says one key to economic competitiveness is workforce readiness, and that involves a strong education system. He says Louisiana has made significant improvements in the classroom.

Cut 12 (08) “…than ever before.”

Green says as such, Louisiana is well on its way towards achieving its education goals of 66 percent third-grade reading proficiency and an 88-percent high school graduation rate by 2030.

Cut 13 (11)  “…our goal there (2x).”

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It was a mere formality that the University of Louisiana Board of Supervisors made official last Friday – it unanimously appointed Dr. Ramesh Kolluru the new president of U-L Lafayette, removing the interim tag that he had since November. One of Kolluru’s first tasks as he assumes the role full time is to balance the school’s budget, and he says he plans on doing so without any government bailouts.

Cut 14 (10) “…the fiscal year.”

Dr. Kolluru says he wants to enhance the student experience, and that includes all facets like health and wellness, financial assistance and connecting them with business and industry as soon as possible.

Cut 15 (10) “…can choose from.”

Before being appointed interim president last year, Kolluru was the university’s vice president for research, innovation and economic development – a role he held for more than a decade. Now that he’s the full-time president, Kolluru says he will continue to grow U-L Lafayette as a research institution.

Cut 16 (11) “…academics and research.”

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The LSU baseball team improved to 11-1 yesterday afternoon with a three to nothing win over Dartmouth. William Schmidt was dominant on the mound as he threw a career-high seven and a third innings, striking out nine, allowing four hits and no walks. Schmidt has better command of his pitches this season and he explained why following yesterday’s start…

Cut 17 (12)  “…throwing more strikes.”

It was not a great weekend for LSU’s bats. The Tigers scored just 11 runs over the last three games after scoring 34 runs in three games in Jacksonville. Jake Brown, who homered for the fifth time on the season on Sunday, is confident the bats will come back around…

Cut 18 (16)  “…back to it.” 

LSU hosts Northeastern tonight at 6:30 to conclude the wrap around series.

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The Ragin Cajuns seven game winning streak was snapped on Friday, but U-L Lafayette won on Saturday and Sunday to take the three-game series against UC San Diego. The Cajuns held on for a four-to-three victory yesterday after taking a three-to-nothing lead into the sixth inning. Coach Matt Deggs wishes they could have made it easier on themselves…

Cut 19 (17) “…finish line.”

The Cajuns will host LSU on Wednesday and visit Dallas Baptist this weekend.

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Tough weekend for Louisiana Tech as the Bulldogs were swept by 12^th ranked Southern Miss. Tech lost all three games by a combined score of 25-5. Coach Lane Burroughs is not hitting the panic button…

Cut 20 (13) “…late into the summer.”

La Tech will host Arkansas State for a two-game midweek series starting tomorrow night.

Governor Landry wants to shift West Feliciana Parish’s federal judicial districts. Andre Champagne reports while Landry stated his reason to Congress, there’s an ulterior motive in play.

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Crawfish season is officially here, and that means we begin monitoring crawfish prices. Andrew Greenstein reports.

Cut 2 (35) “…I’m Andrew Greenstein.”

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Governor Landry is asking Congress to shift West Feliciana Parish’s federal judicial district from the Middle District to the Western District. In a letter to lawmakers, Landry stated that his reason is to ease the caseload in a district with a growing population. However, legal analyst Franz Borghardt says Landry has an ulterior motive – to shift cases involving prisoners at Angola to court where he could get more favorable rulings.

Cut 3 (09) “…the Middle District.”

All judges in the Middle district were appointed by Obama, whereas the vast majority of the judges in the Western District were appointed by Trump. Borghardt says once confirmed to the federal bench, that’s when politics are supposed to come to an end.

Cut 4 (08) “…run for re-election.”

Borghardt says shifting cases involving Angola prisoners to the Western District will not guarantee Landry any change in outcomes in those cases, since the president who nominates a certain judge to the federal bench is no indication of how that judge will rule in future cases.

Cut 5 (09) “…conservative or liberal.”

It will require an act of Congress to approve Landry’s request; Borghardt says approval is far from guaranteed.

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Three vital members of the state’s ag industry were inducted into the Louisiana Agricultural Hall of Distinction in a ceremony hosted by the Louisiana Radio Network. They are David Cupp, Billy Rogers Leonard and Jim Simon (Sea-mon). Cupp is the president of the Walsh Timber Company in Sabine Parish and has spent 45 years working in the forestry industry

Cut 6 (09) “…faboulous.”

Leonard is the owner of Integrated Crop Consulting. He spent over 35 years working for the LSU Ag Center, where he worked on over one-thousand scientific and technical articles and mentored dozens of grad students…

Cut 7 (12) “…to be here.”

Simon has been the general manager of the American Sugarcane League since 2004. He’s considered a titan in the sugar industry as he’s led research efforts, secured funding for sugar producers and played a pivotal role in U-S and Mexico’s sugar trade agreements….

Cut 8 (11) “…be recognized.”

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Now that Tony the crawfish has been pardoned, crawfish season is officially underway – and that means it’s time to start tracking crawfish prices. Laney King is the co-founder of The Crawfish App. ($4.50/lb. for live crawfish; $7.25/lb. for boiled crawfish)

Cut 9 (11)  “…for boiled crawfish.”

King says the official start of crawfish season is a big reason why those prices are down at least a dollar a pound over the last two to three weeks.

Cut 10 (09) “…sell to us.”

King says today’s prices are about $1.50 a pound higher than what they typically are at the official outset of crawfish season.

Cut 11 (13) “…definitely by Easter.”

King says she expects crawfish prices to come down about $2.50 a pound between now and Mother’s Day, when crawfish prices usually hit their lowest level of the year.

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Governor Landry is going to have another tough sell on his hands with the L-A GATOR program. That’s the voucher program that provides tax dollars to allow parents to, among other things, send their kids to private schools. Senate President Cameron Henry is looking to keep funding at 43.5-million dollars, while Landry wants to bump it to 88-million, which Henry says is untenable.

Cut 12 (07) “…to stop it.”

Henry says when you double funding for a program every year, you have to eventually figure out when to stop doubling it.

Cut 13 (07) “…it’s not sustainable.”

Furthermore, Henry says the program is too new to examine any results to determine whether it’s even worth increasing the state’s investment on it.

Cut 14 (11) “…it every year.”