BESE says starting next school year, high school seniors will no longer be required to submit FASFA for college aid or apply for TOPS in order to graduate. The board believes the requirements place unnecessary burdens on parents. And BESE President Ronnie Morris says some families do not want to give out their personal tax and income information
Cut 3 (12) “…for everybody.”
Louisiana led the nation in FAFSA completion last year.

A bill signed into law from the crime special session will result in a 25 to 99 year prison sentence for anyone convicted of producing fentanyl to attract minors. Governor Jeff Landry…
cut 11 (08) “…our children”
Landry also signed a bill that increases the sentences for those convicted of carjacking.

Baton Rouge Republican Congressman Garret Graves says he’s definitely running for re-election this year and he’ll seek to continue to represent the sixth district despite major changes to the district’s political boundaries. Graves says he does not want to leave Congress when he’s set to be the next Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee…
Cut 29 (09) “…do that.”
Baton Rouge state senator Cleo Fields has expressed interested in challenging Graves now that it has been redrawn to give an African-American an excellent chance to win.

According to the Crawfish App, crawfish prices are down a dollar a pound from last week. But Laney King says prices are still up over last year…
cut 9 (13) “….every week”

At a press conference in New Orleans, Governor Jeff Landry signed the remaining bills approved during the crime special session. Many of the new laws will lead to longer prison sentences. Landry highlighted the bill that will raise the minimum sentence for a carjacking from two to five years
Cut 10 (12) “…long time.”

Baton Rouge Republican Garret Graves has been representing Louisiana’s Sixth Congressional District since 2015 and will run for re-election this year, despite his district being redrawn so a Black Democrat can represent it. Graves believes the new Congressional map is unconstitutional and expects to continue to represent the district he’s currently serving…
Cut 6 (12) “…to earn.”

Entergy is seeking approval from the PSC to build a floating natural gas power station and microgrid for southeast Louisiana. Brooke Thorington has more.
Cut 3 (29) “…I’m Brooke Thorington.”

Two juveniles and three adults are facing charges for their roles in the fatal drive by shooting of a 65-year-old Lake Charles woman. Calcasieu Parish Sheriff-elect Stitch Guillory says 18-year-old Jordan Jones of Lake Charles was firing the weapon and he’s been charged with second-degree murder…
Cut 23 (04) “…at houses”
Guillory says they arrested 36-year-old Chelsea Hyatt of Sulphur because her daughter was in the vehicle and she never reported it to law enforcement.

Governor Jeff Landry has signed a disaster declaration for the crawfish industry. Landry says the mudbug shortage is not only affecting Louisiana’s economy but also our way of life. The severe drought in 2023 has led to a huge shortage t in crawfish this year.

But there is some good news. Brooke Thorington reports the average price of a pound of mudbugs is down a dollar this week…
cut 1 (32) “…I’m Brooke Thorington”

Baton Rouge Congressman Garret Graves says he is running for re-election and he’ll seek to represent the sixth district again. A new Congressional map approved this year dramatically changes Graves’ district, giving a Black Democrat a much better chance of representing it. But Graves says he’s in line to become the next chairman of House Transportation, which would be huge for Louisiana…
cut 5 (12) “….to flod”

Entergy Louisiana is seeking approval from the Public Service Commission to build a 411-million dollar natural gas power station that would be build on top of a barge. Entergy’s Laura Beauchamp says the facility would provide essential backup power for industries located at Port Fouchon…
cut 14 (12) “…critical base”

One of former Governor John Bel Edwards’ signature pieces of legislation has been changed as a result of a new law signed by Governor Jeff Landry. Teiko Foxx has the story…
cut 2 (34) “…Teiko Foxx”

Starting next year, high school seniors will no longer be required to submit Free Application for Federal Student Aid forms. BESE has voted to scrap that requirement. Republican lawmakers and Education Superintendent Cade Brumley say the FAFSA requirement put an undue burden on students and forced families to share personal info with the federal government.

Entergy Louisiana is seeking approval to construct a floating natural gas power station off the state’s southeast coast. Director of Resource Planning and Market Operations Laura Beauchamp (Beach-um) says the project will enhance coastal reliability and resilience for a vital part of the state.
Cut 13 (10) “…communities.”
The project must first receive approval from the Public Service Commission and will come with a price tag of $411 million.

Finally, some good news about crawfish. Crawfish App co-founder Laney King says mudbug prices are down a dollar a pound this week. She says boiled crawfish average $5.99 a pound and you can find a sack for about $160. King says the outlook has definitely improved.
Cut 7 (11) “…prices down.”
King says now is the time to visit your favorite crawfish spot because they’re at a good size and prices are reasonable.

A Texas attorney received a 180-day jail sentence for slipping his now estranged wife with abortion inducing medication and the brother of the victim says that’s way to light of a punishment…
cut 5 (04) “…not just”
That’s Shreveport Senator Thomas Pressly, who has authored a bill that would punish a person for doing a similar thing in Louisiana for at least

Former New Orleans Representative and the current Assistant to the Commissioner of the Office of Motor Vehicles, Austin Badon, has switched political parties making him one of the state’s newest Black Republicans. When asked if Governor Jeff Landry asked him to join the GOP…
Cut 13 (09) “…at all.”
But Badon says he did text Landry and let me know that he changed parties.

The driving factor to why he chose to leave the Democratic Party, Badon says was the immigration issue at the Texas border.

After decades of delays, major flood projects for the Baton Rouge and New Orleans areas are close to receiving funding from Congress…
Cut 3 (32) “…I’m Colleen Crain”

The U-S House is expected to approve this funding this week

Congressman Clay Higgins has announced another 14-million dollars for hurricane Laura recovery efforts. Eight million dollars will go to Jefferson Davis Electric Co-op for permanent repairs to a substation, Jefferson-Davis will get another four million for permanent restoration of their north power distribution system and one million dollars will go towards repairs at College Oaks Elementary School in Lake Charles.

A Texas attorney was sentenced to 180 days in prison for slipping abortion medication to his now estranged wife. Brooke Thorington reports the brother of the victim is calling for stiffer penalties here in Louisiana
Cut 1 (32) “…I’m Brooke Thorington.”

Governor Jeff Landry signed eleven bills into law yesterday that were approved in the crime special session, including legislation that gives the state additional options to carry out an execution and also parole will no longer be an option for most criminals. Landry will have another bill signing ceremony this afternoon in New Orleans.

Baton Rouge Congressman Garret Graves says an appropriations bill that will be voted on later this week contains 575-million dollars for two major flood control projects in southeast Louisiana, one for the Baton Rouge area and the other for the West Shore project that would protect St. John, St. Charles and Saint James parishes from flooding from Lake Pontchartrain…
cut 10 (08) ….really excited”

Former state representative and current assistant commissioner at the Office of Motor Vehicles, Austin Badon, is the state’s newest Black Republican. Badon says the immigration issue at the Texas border drove him to leave the Democratic Party…
cut 14 (08) “….many years”
He says the Republican Party has welcomed him with open arms and he even received a call from Congressman Steve Scalise.

The U-S House is expected to approve later this week an appropriations bill that contains 575 million dollars to finish construction on major flood projects in the Baton Rouge and New Orleans areas. Congressman Garret Graves says this ensures the Comite Project is fully funded and it gets them closer to fully funding the West Shore Project which protects the river parishes from flooding….
cut 12 (06) “…I was born”

Former state representative and current assistant Commissioner of the Office of Motor Vehicles, Austin Badon, has announced he’s now a Black Republican. Badon says he was a conservative Democrat when serving in state legislature, but he believes the Republican Party better represents his views…
cut 15 (09) “…better alignment”
Badon also says he is a pro-life Catholic.

A freshman state lawmaker wants to make it a crime to livestream illegal activities on social media platforms…
cut 2 (29) “….I’m Teiko Foxx”

An officer involved shooting in Lafayette Parish has resulted in the arrest of 30-year-old Michael Brumley of Scott. State Police say Scott Police officers responded to a domestic disturbance on Saturday when they encountered Brumley who was armed with a knife. L-S-P says a Taser gun was not effective against Brumley and a second officer fired his weapon. Brumley was released from the hospital and booked into jail yesterday.