The governor’s recommendations on criminal justice reform are now in the hands of lawmakers. Jeff Palermo reports…:
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The Greater Ouachita Water Company is looking for a buyer. Jeff Palermo has more…
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Proposals to raise the state’s gasoline tax is getting pushback from the conservative political advocacy group, Americans for Prosperity. Halen Doughty has more…
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Now that the governor has released his plan for how he’d like to see criminal justice reformed in Louisiana, the recommendations are now in the hands of lawmakers. New Orleans Representative Walt Leger is a member of the Louisiana Justice Reinvestment Task Force. He hopes the legislature realizes that this plan is one that actually fights crime…:
Leger says it’s the legislature’s responsibility to file as many bills as necessary that would tackle the recommendations made by the task force. He says, ultimately, lawmakers are the ones who decide what becomes state law, and it’s time for a change in what’s been the norm…:
Leger says in 1965, Louisiana ranked 13th in incarceration, then in 2005 became the incarceration leader of the nation. He says legislation will be offered that will get the state where it needs to be in terms of prison population…:
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Greater Ouachita Water Company is looking for a buyer. Ouachita Parish Police Jury President Scotty Robinson says GOWC’s roughly 25-thousand customers have been dealing with discolored water and billing errors for years. He says OPPJ has a say in who the buyer will be because they have a member on the water company’s executive board.
Robinson says customers have had billing errors because the meter readers, Severn Trent Services, would bill customers for the minimum usage monthly without reading the meter, and customers would later get a year’s worth of bills for their actual usage all at once. But he says the quality of the water is sometimes worse than the cost.
Robinson says Ouachita parish residents have been receptive to the idea of selling GOWC to another company. After years of dealing with these issues, he believes many would welcome a change. He says in a buyer, they’re looking for a company that’s good for the citizens and good for the parish.
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A Tulane study finds cancer patients are more likely to receive palliative (pay-lee-ay-tive) care after learning more about it. Researcher Michael Hoerger (Her-ger) authored the study and says there are a lot of misconceptions about palliative care. He says the purpose of this study is to dispel some of the rumors.
Hoerger says palliative care can seem scary to patients because many believe it is the same as hospice care. He says the study looked at whether cancer patients were more or less likely to see this kind of care after learning more about it.
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Hoerger says this is something patients can do while they’re still receiving treatment. He adds that they don’t have to be near death to receive palliative care. He says after learning about the benefits of palliative care, 75-percent of participants were more likely to seek it out.
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The conservative political advocacy group, Americans for Prosperity, is pushing back against proposals to increase the state’s gasoline tax. State Director John Kay says they stand against any increase on the gasoline tax, no matter how big or small, because Louisiana taxpayers have already seen their taxes go up enough.
There’s talk of increasing the state’s gasoline tax between 17 to 23-cents to generate more money to fix Louisiana’s lousy roads. But Kay says only 11-percent of the money in the transportation trust fund is used to repair and construct roads. He says structural changes should be made before taxes are raised.
Kay says Louisianans are already paying a combined state and local tax of more than 38 cents for every gallon of gas they buy. Proponents for increasing the tax say it hasn’t been raised in 30 year and doesn’t account for inflation. But Kay says taxes shouldn’t go up just because they haven’t been increased in a while.
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The LSU baseball team begins SEC play tonight as they host Georgia, but the Tigers go into league action without its closer. Senior right hander Hunter Newman is out with a bad back and could miss at least a couple of weeks. Coach Paul Mainieri says other pitchers will have to step up…
Alex Lange will start on the mound tonight for the Tigers and then Saturday it will be Jared Poche. The senior lefty from Lutcher has not allowed a run in 29 innings this year, but he hasn’t been perfect…
The Tigers also head into conference play without a regular designated hitter. Mainieri says he continues to wait for someone to step up and take that role on a permanent basis…