The powerful storms that plowed across south Louisiana Tuesday claimed the lives of at least two people in St. James Parish. The governor’s office of homeland security and emergency preparedness spokesperson, Mike Steele, says the Sugar hill trailer park in Convent served as a temporary home for those living there…:
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More than 30 people were injured and three remain unaccounted for. Governor John Bel Edwards says it’s a shocking scene.
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Assumption and St. John were also hit hard and many schools and state offices are still closed today. Cleanup efforts are underway. The National Weather Service says at least 6 tornadoes could have touched down.

Over a third of Louisiana adults do not get the recommended 7 or more hours of sleep according to the CDC. Halen Doughty reports…
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The public feud between Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards and Republican state Treasurer John Kennedy continues to ramp up. Edwards released a statement claiming Kennedy is misleading the public when talking about the state’s current budget crisis. UL-Lafayette Political Science Professor Pearson Cross says surveys show most people agree with Kennedy..:
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Several tornadoes ripped through southeast Louisiana on Tuesday, and two people were killed at the hardest hit region in St. James Parish at a trailer park in Convent. More than 30 were injured. State Police Col Mike Edmonson says an estimated 160 mobile homes were completely demolished…:
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Governor John Bel Edwards said it was a minor miracle that more people weren’t killed a the Sugar Hill trailer park.

Today is higher education day at the state capitol. Hundreds of students are expected to rally on the steps at noon to protest proposed cuts to public colleges and universities. Higher Education Commissioner Joseph Rallo is glad that college students are voicing their concerns…:
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The Louisiana Public Service Commission votes on if Cleco will be sold to an investment group for close to 5 billion dollars today….:
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Do you feel like you’re getting enough sleep? The CDC says a third of Louisiana adults don’t get the recommended 7 hours. Professor Oleg Chernyshev (ah-Leg CHER-nuh-shev) with LSU Health Shreveport Sleep Medicine says it’s very important to get enough sleep because many people sometimes have trouble functioning in the daytime and that could lead to significant consequences…:
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Wasn’t a good night for hoops in Louisiana. LSU put on a brutal performance against Arkansas as the Razorbacks sailed to an 85-65 victory. The Tigers are playing without second leading scorer Keith Hornsby. With 2:02 to play, Ben Simmons was sent to the bench after his fifth personal foul. With the loss, LSU may have ended any hope that they’ll be invited to the NCAA tournament. The Tigers host Florida at the PMAC Saturday night.

Because of severe weather, Southeastern Louisiana postponed last night’s scheduled men’s basketball game against UNO to 7pm tonight. Also today, Tulane hosts East Carolina with a 7pm tipoff.

In the NBA, the Wizards knew better than to let Pelicans star Anthony Davis have much action last night, and the tough defense worked. The Pels lost in Washington last night 109-89, and Davis was held to just 9 points but did grab 20 rebounds.

ESPN cites “a league source” in reporting the Saints will part ways with franchise-leading receiver Marques Colston in the coming days. Many say this doesn’t come as a huge surprise. Colston is leading the franchise with 9,750 yards receiving and 72 touchdown passes, but last season you could tell the beating he took early in his career started to take a toll. The Saints would save $3.2 million dollars in cap space by releasing the 32-year-old.

LSU Baseball coach Paul Mainieri is already shuffling the lineup after three games. He’s moving third baseman Cole Freeman to shortstop and insert freshman O’Neal Lochridge at third base. The switch will begin today as LSU travels to Beaumont Texas for a 6pm game against Lamar.

McNeese State couldn’t handle ninth-ranked Houston last night as the Pokes fall to the Cougars 14-1 on the road. Today Tulane hosts Alabama A&M. Southern travels to face Auburn. UL-Lafayette heads to Ruston to take on Louisiana Tech. Southeastern hosts Alcorn State. UNO is at Southern Miss. Nicholls State is at Alabama. Northwestern State hosts Sacramento.

St. James Sheriff Willy Martin says two people were killed and 30 people were injured after a tornado ripped through an RV park in Convent. The governor’s office of homeland security and emergency preparedness spokesperson, Mike Steele, says the twister caused extensive damage…:
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Officials said more than 40 people were injured, and seven of them critically. Governor John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency in seven parishes hit with severe weather.

A deadly officer involved shooting in Baton Rouge is being investigated by State Police and the DA’s office. Officials say the deceased man had earlier in the day attacked a woman and her child with mace, then threatened to jump off the Mississippi River Bridge. Apparently he attempted to ram cops with his vehicle when he was shot and killed. The sheriff said 6 deputies were involved.

It’s higher education day at the state capitol, and students are expected to rally on the steps of the capitol. Jeff Palermo has the story…:
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At least seven tornadoes hit southeast Louisiana and southwest Mississippi Tuesday according to the National Weather Service. Teams are being sent out this morning to document the damage. St. James, St. John and Assumption appear to be the parishes hit hardest.

It’s been a stormy day across south Louisiana with numerous tornadoes causing damage. First responders are at a trailer park in St. James parish where it’s been reported one person was killed after a twister touched down at around 4 o’clock this afternoon in convent. The manager of the Sugar Hill RV Park confirmed that hundreds of trailers were damaged. There have also been reports that many people were injured.

Over 30 different bills that would increase taxes on Louisiana residents and businesses advanced out of a House committee today. Jeff Palermo has the story…

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State lawmakers are discussing behind closed doors whether to file a proposed constitutional amendment in the special session that would ask voters should Louisiana legalize recreational marijuana so the state could tax it. Jesse McCormick is the head of the Louisiana Cannabis Association…

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But he believes getting such a constitutional amendment out of the legislature will be tough.

A report from Tulane University finds that students in Louisiana’s voucher program are scoring drastically lower in math. President of the Louisiana Federation for Children Ann Duplessis says reports like this help show the program where it needs to improve…

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Co-author of the study Jonathan Mills says after one year in the program, they found a large drop in both English and math scores.

The House Ways and Means Committee sent several tax bills to the House floor today. But the panel used a procedural move to advance the tax hikes without having to vote “yes or “no.” Louisiana Association of Business and Industry President Stephen Waguespack says the committee basically punted these revenue-generating pieces of legislation to the House floor

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Governor John Bel Edwards is pushing lawmakers to approve some of these tax increases as a way to balance this fiscal year’s budget, which has a 900-million dollar deficit. Many republicans oppose the tax hikes, but Jan Moller, director of the Louisiana budget project, says there are other republican legislators who understand the need for them

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Moller expects a fierce debate on the House floor over these tax bills as it will take 70 votes for them to advance to the senate.

Lawmakers are discussing letting voters decide whether or not Louisiana should legalize recreational marijuana so the state could tax it. Michelle Southern reports…:

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Wednesday is higher education day at the state capitol. Students are expected to rally on the steps of the capitol at noon to protest proposed cuts to public colleges and universities. Several public colleges are also facing the threat of a credit rating downgrade because of budget problems. A lower credit rating will make it more difficult for schools to borrow money.

The House Ways and Means Committee sent several tax bills to the House floor today. But the panel used a procedural move to advance the tax hikes without having to vote “yes or “no.” The full House is expected to vote on Thursday whether or not to increase taxes on cigarettes, alcohol, telephones, rental cars and there’s proposal to raise the state sales tax by a penny. Louisiana Association of Business and Industry President Stephen Waguespack hopes the rest of the House is up to speed on these different tax proposals…

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A report out of Tulane University finds that students in Louisiana’s voucher program end up scoring drastically lower in math. Co-author of the study Jonathan Mills says after one year in the program, they found a large negative drop in both English and language arts and math scores on the Louisiana State assessment test…

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A tornado watch remains in effect for southeast Louisiana parishes until 10 tonight. Andrew Ansorge is with the national weather service in Slidell.

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There have been reports of suspected tornadoes in parishes in and around the Baton Rouge area.  There have also been reports of property damage and power lines down, but no major injuries have been reported.

State lawmakers are discussing whether to file a proposed amendment to the state constitution in the special session that would ask voter whether or not to legalize recreational marijuana in Louisiana so the state could tax it. Jesse McCormick, head of the Louisiana Cannabis Association, says some feel this is not the time to be getting into the marijuana debate, but he knows there is support from lawmakers who are open to considering every revenue raising option. But he believes getting such a constitutional amendment out of the legislature will be tough…:

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Over 30 different bills that would increase taxes on Louisiana residents and businesses advanced out of a House committee today. Jeff Palermo has the story…
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Tornado watches are still posted across south Louisiana. The New Orleans area is under a watch box until 10 o’clock. There are been some suspected tornadoes spotted as a cluster of storms move through the state. There have been reports of property damange from the strong winds and power outages. No major injuries have been reported.

 
State lawmakers are discussing behind closed doors to file a proposed constitutional amendment in the special session that would ask Louisianaians to vote on legalizing recreational marijuana so the state could tax it. Jesse McCormick, the head of the Louisiana Cannabis Association, says they argue that these discussions need to be had as the state deals with such a major budget crisis that schools could be closed or lights turned off at hospitals…:
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But he believes getting such a constitutional amendment out of the legislature will be tough…:

The Louisiana Public Service Commission is set to vote tomorrow on whether or not Cleco will be sold for nearly 5 million dollars to the investment group Macquarie Infrastructure. Cleco says this merger will not charge utility customers for any costs related to the sale and their rates will not go up. Cleco claims the transaction will result in 143 million dollars in credits to customers over the next 15 years.

The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for south central and southeast Louisiana until five o’ clock today. The watch box came as a result of a strong line of storms, associated with a cold front. Andrew Ansorge with the National Weather Service in Slidell says these strong thunderstorms have the potential to produce lightning and hail…
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Entergy is reporting thousands of people are without power due to high winds.
The House Ways and Means Committee sent multiple tax bills to the House floor today. But the panel used a procedural move to advance the tax hikes without voting “yes or “no.” Louisiana Association of Business and Industry President Stephen Waguespack says the committee basically kicked these revenue-generating pieces of legislation to the House floor
cut 12 (10) “these bills”
State lawmakers are discussing wether or not to file a proposed constitutional amendment in the special session that would give Louisiana residents a chance to vote on legalizing recreational marijuana so the state would have the ability to tax it. Jesse McCormick is the head of the Louisiana Cannabis Association…
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But so far nothing has been filed in this special session related to legalizing marijuana.

A report from Tulane University finds that students in Louisiana’s voucher program are scoring drastically lower in math. President of the Louisiana Federation for Children Ann Duplessis says reports like this help show the program where it needs to improve…
cut 10 (10) “ultimate goal”

Co-author of the study Jonathan Mills says after one year in the program, they found a large drop in both English and math scores.

The National Weather Service says they’ve received reports of a tornado which passed through Prairieville in Ascension Parish which caused significant damage to a brand new gym. They say a tornado crossed I-10 in the area and another in the southern part of East Baton Rouge Parish and another near the New Orleans Airport in Kenner. Andrew Ansorge is with the National Weather Service in Slidell…:
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A tornado watch remains in effect for south/southeast Louisiana until 5pm. Wind advisories are posted throughout the state.

The proposal to raise the state sales tax by one “clean penny” advances today out of the House Ways and Means Committee and heads to the full House. The Chairman of the committee is New Orleans Democrat Representative Neil Abramson…:
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Governor John Bel Edwards issued a statement following the vote saying by moving this revenue debate forward, Louisiana is one step closer to avoiding catastrophic cuts.

A report out of Tulane University finds that students in Louisiana’s voucher program end up scoring drastically lower math. But President of the Louisiana Federation for Children Ann Duplessis says we have to put the study into context because all of these students were attending failing and under-performing schools…:
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Co-author of the study Jonathan Mills says after one year in the program, they found a large negative drop in both English and language arts and math scores on the Louisiana State assessment test…:
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Entergy is reporting that about 3800 customers in southeast Louisiana are without power. Tornadoes have been reported in the area. They say additional crews are on standby to get power restored as soon as possible.