The Senate Health and Welfare Committee approved a measure to allow for the sale of raw, unpasteurized milk. Halen Doughty has more…
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The attorney for the family of Will Smith said the former Saints star was shot 8 times and the lawyer for the accused shooter is spreading lies about what happened. Michelle Southern reports…:
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The Senate has approved a bill to increase the fine for texting or using social media while driving from $175 to $500 for the first offense. The fine goes up to $1,000 for subsequent offenses. Baton Rouge Senator Yvonne Colomb says there will not be a fine for voice texting.
West Monroe Senator Mike Walsworth says he’s concerned about minors because sometimes a fine is not enough to get their attention. He added an amendment to the bill to increase the penalties for minors.
The bill now heads to the House for more debate.
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A bill to allow for the sale of raw, unpasteurized milk gets the approval of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee on a three to two vote. Sierra Majors of Melville says people should have the right to choose if they want to drink raw milk. She says many of our parents enjoyed raw milk their whole lives.
Majors says consuming raw milk is not dangerous. She says every year about four people die in Louisiana from eating raw oysters, but that has never happened with raw milk.
But Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain says according to the Center for Disease Control, from 1993 to 2006, there were 202 people hospitalized and two deaths due to raw milk consumption. He says drinking raw milk is not safe.
Strain says the bacteria in milk can cause a wide range of diseases. He says those bacteria need to be killed before the milk is consumed.
The bill now heads to the Senate floor.
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A proposed constitutional amendment to allow non-felons to carry concealed hand guns without a permit was shot down by the House Criminal Justice committee. Victoria Joy with Louisiana Violence Reduction Coalition says this bill could allow dangerous people to carry loaded, hidden weapons in public with no safety training. She says it would also let people with a dangerous arrest record or violent misdemeanors conceal a gun.
A volunteer with the Louisiana Chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America says when she was only 13 years old she was a victim of gun violence, when she was kidnapped, raped, and then shot in the head. She says this bill will remove our safeguards and put the safety of all citizens at risk.
Author of the legislation, Baton Rouge Rep. Barry Ivey, tried to make the case that the bill would not put guns in the hands of dangerous criminals. He says most of these same arguments were made before Louisiana passed the open carry law.
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The attorney for the family of Will Smith said the former Saints player was shot 8 times in the back, Smith’s wife Racquel was hit twice and that the shooting was intentional. Peter Thomson says he wants to clear up lies being spread by the defense lawyer of Cardell Hayes. Thomson says there was no hit and ru n on Magazine Street as Hayes is claiming…:
Thomson says the Hummer later violently rammed the back of Smith’s car, and that’s when he and the suspect got into an altercation. Thomson says Racquel and another woman went to diffuse the situation and walk Smith back to their vehicle…and that’s when the suspect shot Smith’s wife in both legs…:
Thomson says after the killer shot Smith, he showed no remorse and actually stood over Smith’s dead body and kept yelling. Thomson also says there was no fender bender before the altercation, but that the Hummer slammed hard intentionally into the back of Smith’s vehicle. As to the subject of the gun that was in Smith’s vehicle, Thomson says it was never removed from the car…:
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Governor John Bel Edwards has signed an executive order that bans discrimination against members of the LGBT community who work for the state, or who receive state services or benefits. Matthew Patterson with Equality Louisiana says it’s a great day, and a historic day, for Louisiana.
Similar orders were signed by former Democratic governors Edwin Edwards and Kathleen Blanco, but those orders were specific to sexual orientation. Patterson says this new order also includes gender-identity, making this the first order protecting transgender individuals in the state.