The federal government agrees to pay 75-percent of the rebuilding costs incurred by local governments from the April 25th tornado that killed two people in Ruston. Jeff Palermo has the story…
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Lawmakers gave final legislative approval today to a bill that redirects 700-million dollars in BP oil settlement money for road improvement projects around the state. Matt Doyle has more…
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President Donald Trump approves the state’s request for federal assistance to help rebuild public property and infrastructure from the EF-3 tornado that hit Ruston in April. Ruston Mayor Ronny Walker says this is huge for a city of their size…
Cut 3 (08) “…75-percent of that back.”
Walker says most of their expenses are from repairing the city’s electrical grid and fiber system, plus debris removal. Louisiana Tech suffered another nine-point-five million dollars in uninsured damages.
Walker says the declaration does not provide assistance for the hundreds of homes that sustained damage, but he hopes that changes…
Cut 4 (07) “….sanitary environment”
Walker says over five-hundred structures were damaged in Ruston and about one-hundred of them were totaled. He says the other issue they are dealing with his fraudulent contractors…
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Final legislative approval came on Monday for a measure to give a pay raise of $1000 to teachers, $500 to school support workers, and $39 million in block grant funding for school districts. President of the Louisiana Association of Educators Debbie Meaux says while it is a modest amount, teachers are ecstatic that lawmakers recognize the importance of the raise.
Cut 6 (10) “…southern regional average.”
Meaux applauds lawmakers on greenlighting the funding for school districts to help with resources in the classroom.
Cut 7 (10) “…to our children.”
The raise is the first for Louisiana teachers in ten years, but it does not bring their salary up to the Southern Regional Average, Meaux believes more money will come in time.
Cut 8 (08) “…find that money.”
The legislative instrument results in a $140 million increase to annual school spending. Lawmakers continue to work on the budget to fund the state this week.
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A bill that would direct 700 million dollars in BP oil spill settlement money to road projects gains final passage.
Houma Representative Tanner Magee says the money will find it’s way to every corner of the state, and target projects with the greatest economic impacts.
Magee says when federal matching dollars are accounted for, the total investment could top a billion dollars.
The legislation redirects funds that were earmarked in 2014 away from the rainy day and Medicaid trust fund. Magee says choosing to use it for infrastructure instead puts us in line with our neighbors.
The state says there’s a roughly 14-billion-dollar backlog in road projects.
The legislation originally only addressed the LA 415 connector near I-10 and a stretch of highway on LA 1 that needed to be elevated, but was amended to a number of other projects. Magee says that stretch of LA 1 heading into Port Fourchon floods three days a year, costing incredible sums of money…
That stretch of LA 1 runs from Golden Meadow to Leeville.
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An expecting mother is dead and her husband is under arrest charged with second-degree murder and first-degree feticide in Natchitoches Parish. Authorities received the call about the woman being unresponsive in a Clarence home and during the investigation, her husband arrived at the scene. Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Captain Tony Moran says he appeared nervous, so he was taken in for questioning.
Cut 12 (07) “…wife by strangulation.”
25-year-old Christopher O’Neal Houston Jr. of Campti remains in police custody without bond for his role in the death of 22-year-old Elonzeya Teal-Houston, who was five months pregnant. Moran says the murder has impacted the investigators as well as the community.
Cut 13 (05) “…murder occurred yesterday.”
Moran says the motive appears to be tied to a financial issue.
The suspect has a criminal history and is on felony probation until November for a previous drug charge.