New Orleans will host the 2024 Super Bowl after being the only team invited to bid this year. Connor Ferrill has more.
Cut 1 (30) “I’m Connor Ferril”
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Louisiana had it’s biggest drop in prison population in over a decade from 2016 to 2017. Jeff Palermo has more.
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New Orleans officials say the last Super Bowl, in 2013, had a 480 million dollar economic impact, and Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation President Jay Cicero confirmed that the city and state had to provide an economic incentive package to seal the deal, but says we’ll easily make that money back.
Cicero says the NFL changed its bidding process after several years of embarrassing bids for leaders in traditionally successful Super Bowl cities.
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The last time New Orleans hosted the Super Bowl, the power went out, leading to a massive comeback effort from the 49ers that almost toppled the eventual champion Baltimore Ravens.
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A low pressure system near Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula could bring the Gulf Coast wet weather for the Memorial Day weekend. The disturbance has been given a medium chance of developing into at least a tropical depression in the central or eastern Gulf of Meci. State Climatologist Barry Keim
The system is currently in the Caribbean Sea, and is on its way to the Gulf. Keim says we aren’t at risk for any heavy winds or dangerous storm surge, but there’s a good chance we could see a ton of rain.
Despite the threat of a rained out Memorial Day weekend and the potential for a troubling amount of rain, Keim says at least there’s some good news.
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A Marshall Project report shows Louisiana saw its largest drop in prison population in a decade between 2016 and 2017. The 1,943 person decrease is a 5.4 drop in the total population, one of the biggest drops in the nation. State Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc says it’s a testament to recent criminal justice reforms.
In 2012 Louisiana was named the world’s “Prison Capital” after a report noted that the state has a higher percentage of incarcerated people than any other state, or country, including Iran, China, and Russia.
LeBlanc says the good news is, a declining incarceration rate has not led to an increased crime rate in Louisiana.
While the crime rate has gone down at the same time the state has released more prisoners, the percentage of people who make return trips to prison, or the recidivism rate, has not changed. LeBlanc says the next phase of criminal justice reform includes a set of programs that aims to fix that.
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The House Ways and Means committee held its first hearing of the special session and it became more of a gripe session. Republicans on the panel criticized the Edwards administration for vetoing a budget in the regular session, and expressed concerns about raising revenues, instead of finding savings. Democrats are also frustrated, New Roads Representative Major Thibaut.
The state is facing a 648 million dollar shortfall that could lead to mass reductions in healthcare services, higher education funding, and TOPS.
Oil City Representative Republican Jim Morris says he’s concerned that relying on taxes alone to plug the budget gap will just lead to further tax increases in the future if the budget balloons.
Baton Rouge Representative Ted James says the Edwards administration is not asking for an overall increase in taxes…
As a way to generate revenue, the Edwards administration is proposing to keep a portion of an expiring one-cent sales tax and also eliminate certain sales tax breaks that businesses enjoy. Baton Rouge Representative Barry Ivey says he prefers spending reform as a way to address the fiscal cliff…
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