As the search for the five remaining Orleans Parish Jail escapees continues, calls grow for the sheriff to step down. Andrew Greenstein reports.
Cut 1 (33) “…I’m Andrew Greenstein.”
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Online sportsbooks could soon be paying additional state taxes if a certain bill makes it onto Governor Landry’s desk. Jeff Palermo reports.
Cut 2 (35) “…I’m Jeff Palermo.”
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It’s been one year since construction began on a new 360-million-dollar Jimmie Davis Bridge in Bossier and Caddo parishes. State Transportation spokesperson Erin Buchanan says the new four-lane bridge will replace the existing two-lane structure….
Construction of the bridge’s foundations is advancing, aided by two temporary trestle bridges. Buchanan says significant work is also underway to realign and widen LA 511, including a raised median to enhance traffic flow.
Cut 4 (08) “…things like that.”
Buchanan says the project is set to open in early to mid 2027 and will serve over 30-thousand vehicles daily.
Cut 5 (09) “…two years from now.”
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Five down, five to go – Five inmates who escaped from the Orleans Justice Center last Friday have been recaptured, and five remain on the loose. As the search for the remaining at-large escapees continues, Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson continues to come under fire – so much so that she has temporarily suspended her re-election bid. Hutson told the New Orleans City Council that the jailbreak is very troubling.
Cut 6 (09) “…urgency and transparency.”
But Sheriff Hutson deflected some of the blame, saying that the city has not provided her office the necessary resources to properly operate the jail and prevent incidents like this.
A pair of House Democrats who represent New Orleans are calling for Hutson not only to drop her re-election bid, but also to step down immediately. Among them is Jason Hughes.
Cut 8 (08) “…down to leadership.”
Another House member feeling the same way is Aimee Adatto Freeman.
Cut 9 (10) “…from these criminals.”
The total reward money for each remaining fugitive is 20-thousand dollars – 10-thousand from the FBI and the rest from ATF and Crime Stoppers.
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A state representative is charged with DWI and child endangerment after he was involved in a single vehicle wreck early this morning. Three children in the vehicle. State Police Trooper Jacob Pucheu (POO-show) says troopers arrested Marrero Democrat Kyle Green.
Cut 10 (07) “…placed under arrest.”
Troopers transported Green, who was uninjured in the crash, to the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center, where he refused to provide a breath sample. Trooper Pucheu says the crash happened at around 2:30 this morning on U.S. 90-B in Jefferson Parish and the crash was minor in nature.
Cut 11 (10) “…with him, though.”
Pucheu says troopers at the scene noticed signs of impairment and conducted a series of field sobriety tests…
Cut 12 (08) “…injury or death.”
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Online sportsbooks could soon be paying additional state taxes if a certain bill makes it onto Governor Landry’s desk. Piper Hutchinson with the Louisiana Illuminator says 25-percent of that added revenue would go to a new college sports fund.
Cut 13 (06) “…One athletic programs.”
The legislature is betting on that added revenue adding about two-million dollars to each Division One college’s athletic program. While that may be a drop in the bucket for LSU, that would mean the world to smaller schools like ULM. Hutchinson says Columbia Republican Representative Neil Riser’s bill originally called for the tax rate to increase to 32.5-percent. But then, the sports betting lobbyists got involved.
Cut 14 (09) “…their lobbying efforts.”
Fiscal analysts had said that the state would have been able to parlay the original rate hike into almost 200-million dollars in annual sports betting tax collections. But with the scaled-back rate, the revenue estimate is less clear. Hutchinson says the state has nothing to lose by raising the online sports betting tax rate.
The bill passed the House and is now in the Senate, where Hutchinson expects it to pass. Governor Landry has come out in favor of it. The tax rate for brick-and-mortar sports betting in Louisiana would remain unchanged at ten-percent.