After record crowds for Mardi Gras, followed by the Final Four, Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser is hopeful as festival season kicks off the tourism industry will rebound. Brooke Thorington has more.
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The National Hurricane Center released its final report on Hurricane Ida today and the major storm that hit southeast Louisiana last August will go down in the record brooks. Jeff Palermo has more…
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A Senate committee unanimously approves a bill that enhances the penalties for those convicted of knowingly lacing drugs with fentanyl but marketing it as another substance. Lilly Harvey testified in support. She lost her 28-year-old daughter to a drug overdose and says last year Louisiana experienced a 53-increase in overdose deaths…
Harrisonburg Senator Glen Womack’s legislation would add another five years to a prison sentence for an individual who knowingly misrepresented or knowingly marketed a mixture or substance containing fentanyl. Harvey says fentanyl use is increasing among junior high students…
East Baton Rouge Senator Bodi White is in full support of this bill as he’s seen how fentanyl has impacted his community…
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It’s an exciting time of year in the Bayou State as festival season kicks off with someone 400 parish festivals on the calendar for 2022. After almost two years of cancellations, Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser says he’s hopeful the trend of large crowds from carnival and the Final Four continues.
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This year the Louisiana Office Tourism is a major sponsor for LSU’s first football game of the season which pits the Tigers against the Seminoles on Sunday Labor Day Weekend. Nungesser says it will be a big attraction in the Big Easy.
With the state’s economy so dependent on the hospitality industry Nungesser says its vital festival season returns to help make up for the losses during the pandemic.
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Tuesday the National Hurricane Center issued its final report on Hurricane Ida. The biggest finding of the report? Here’s state climatologist Barry Keim.
The report confirmed Ida’s status as one of the strongest storms to ever hit Louisiana, and Keim says we’re fortunate the damage wasn’t more extensive.
The storm caused more than $18 billion in damage to Louisiana, but the cost of the lives lost during and after made it that much more tragic says Keim.
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The House Transportation Committee put the brakes on a proposal that would prohibit the state department of transportation from putting tolls on existing interstate systems. Sulphur Representative Les Farnum authored the legislation as he’s concerned about tolls being used to fund a new I-10 bridge in Lake Charles
The price tag for a new I-10 bridge in Lake Charles is around one-point-five billion dollars. Louisiana Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson says he would like to pay for a new bridge with federal and state dollars, but tolls might also be needed…
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Several local groups also opposed the bill like the Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce and Ascension Parish government. Tolls might also be needed to build a new I-10 Mississippi River Bridge in Baton Rouge. Wilson says he does not want to limit his options…
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The bill failed on a six to nine vote.