Among the new laws that went into effect last Friday is one that relates to the post-conviction appeals process. Andrew Greenstein reports.
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The Southern Shrimp Alliance is applauding President Trump’s 25-percent tariffs on shrimp imports from India. Kace Kieschnick reports.
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The search is on for a new athletics director at ULM after John Harwell suddenly resigns after 18 months on the job. Andre Champagne (SHOM-pine) has the story…
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Death row convicts can no longer drag out their appeals for decades, thanks to a new law that went into effect last Friday. Slidell Republican Representative Brian Glorioso authored House Bill 675, which, among other things, speeds up deadlines in death-row cases.
Glorioso says the purpose of the new law is to give the victims’ families the swift justice that they deserve.
Glorioso says under the old law, death row convicts and their attorneys were incentivized to delay the proceedings for as long as possible, forcing the families’ victims to wait until final justice is served.
Glorioso says the convict is still afforded due process, including the ability to get DNA testing. They just no longer have an infinite amount of time to do so.
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The Trump administration announced the cancellation of plans to use more than 3.5 million acres of federal waters for offshore wind farms, ending plans to have wind farms in the Gulf of Mexico. Greg Upton, the executive director of the LSU Center for Energy Studies, says planning got underway to construct wind farms in the gulf during the Biden administration.
There are three operating offshore wind farms off the eastern coast of the United States and four more projects under construction off the Northeastern coast. Upton expects those projects to continue, but any plans to build a wind farm off of Louisiana’s coast have been eliminated.
Upton says several Louisiana-based energy companies were excited about the development of offshore wind energy projects. He says in May, shipbuilder Edison Chouest Offshore completed construction of a ship to service the five-billion-dollar Empire Wind project off the New York coast.
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The Southern Shrimp Alliance is applauding President Trump’s 25-percent tariff on shrimp imports from India, which is by far the biggest exporter of shrimp to the U.S. Board member Cheri Blanchard of Houma says the low cost of imported shrimp is costing local shrimpers their livelihoods.
Blanchard says shrimp exporters, including India, Indonesia and Vietnam, do not abide by the same rules that domestic shrimpers have to abide by, and that makes imported shrimp a lot less healthy.
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Blanchard says she hopes the tariffs will level the playing field between local shrimpers and the exporters
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Big shakeup at the University of Louisiana at Monroe as Athletic Director John Hartwell announces his resignation after only 18 months on the job. Hartwell is responsible for several major hires, in particular football head coach Bryant Vincent, who led the Warhawks to a 5 and 1 start last season. Sean Fox, the sports director at Sports Talk West Monroe, says Hartwell gained a lot of credibility from the Vincent hire.
Fox says Hartwell’s resignation comes as a surprise and an exact reason for his departure is unknown. He says ULM hired a new president in May, Doctor Carrie Castille, and it’s unknown if the two had a falling out.
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ULM’s athletics budget is one of the smallest in the country among FBS schools and recently eliminated its women’s tennis program. Hartwell’s official statement explained that he was planning to pursue other professional opportunities. Fox says funding of ULM’s athletic department has been an issue for years.
Hartwell’s next destination is a question, but some are speculating that he might return to Troy University, where he served as the Athletic Director from 2012 to 2015.
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The LSU defense will be anchored by preseason All-SEC linebackers Whit Weeks and Harold Perkins. Perkins has been a dominant pure pass rusher, but head coach Brian Kelly says he’s grown more comfortable with the other aspects of the position as well.
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On the outside, LSU features a secondary with four incoming four-star transfer defensive backs, along with returning corners Ashton Stamps and PJ Woodland. Add in five-star freshman corner D.J. Pickett and five returning safeties, and Kelly says playing time becomes the ultimate motivator.
South Florida transfer defensive lineman Bernard Gooden has been one of the early standouts of camp. Gooden received All-AAC honors after totaling 35 tackles, 10 TFL’s and one and a half sacks in 13 games last season. Kelly says his performance has elevated the defense.
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The Louisiana Tech defense is coming together under new coordinator Luke Olson. Olson led a Jacksonville State defense that was second in the conference in takeaways last season, and cornerback Cedric Woods says he’s brought that same mentality to Ruston.
The Bulldogs were anchored by a dominant defense last year, but much of the defensive front has moved on. Redshirt sophomore Judd Royeau says he welcomed eight new guys to the D-line room.