The House has approved a measure to allow public high school students to participate in a national survey on sexual risks. Don Molino has more…
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Since Ted Cruz and John Kasich have both dropped out of the presidential race, Donald Trump is now the presumptive Republican nominee. Michelle Southern has the story…
CUT 2 (29) “I’m Michelle Southern”
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A bill to allow public high school students to participate in a national sex survey scarcely got enough votes to pass the House. Baton Rouge Representative Patricia Smith authors the bill. She says Louisiana has a high rate of STDs and pregnancy among teens. Opponents of the bill say it’s the parents’ place to talk about these things with their kids, but Smith says that isn’t working.
Baton Rouge Representative Denise Marcelle supports the legislation. She says lawmakers need to do something to prevent the cases of STDs and teen pregnancy from continuing to increase.
Students would not be required to participate, and parents would be able to opt their child out. Shreveport Representative Thomas Carmody also spoke in support of the bill. He says the survey is anonymous, and it is not mandatory.
The measure passed on a 53-40 vote and moves to the Senate.
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A bill to restrict college athletic teams in Louisiana, except for LSU, from traveling more than 375 miles to play games has been withdrawn. Baton Rouge Rep. Steve Carter, says he’s decided not to push his measure further, but told the House Education Committee we’re using taxpayer dollars to fund athletic programs when the state is in a massive budget deficit.
Carter says he’s trying to make a point on the state’s priorities. He says there are a lot of out of student athletes using state dollars to travel when this money could be used to prevent cuts on the academic side….
Carter says money used to fund long road trips for athletic teams could be put towards hiring new professors or for the TOPS scholarship program.
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The Powerball Jackpot for tonight’s drawing is up to $348 million. Louisiana Lottery spokesperson Kim Chopin says this jackpot is one of the top ten biggest jackpots in lottery history.
Chopin says Powerball has been producing big jackpots that the players have come to expect.
Chopin says Louisiana has had 15 Powerball jackpot winners. She says the last jackpot winner from Louisiana was in May of 2014. She says a Louisianan is due to win the grand prize again
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Donald Trump is now the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, as both Ted Cruz and John Kasich have both dropped out of the race. UL-Lafayette political science professor Pearson Cross says Trump might start to reign in some of his controversial comments to get more voters to rally behind him.
Cross says not all Republicans will be happy to see Trump uncontested at the convention, but he doesn’t think the GOP will look for another nominee.
Cross says Trump probably cannot count on getting much of the Democratic vote, because most Bernie Sanders supporters say they would support Hillary Clinton if Sanders didn’t get the nomination. Cross says Republicans will likely do what they can to market Trump to more of the party.