Tag Archives: Louisiana

Axios reports: Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) was forced into a runoff Saturday night after winning 47% of the vote in a tight gubernatorial race, results show. Edwards stood out as a rare Democratic governor in “Deep South Trump territory.” His failure to win 50% of the vote outright over 5 challengers, including 2 Republicans, brings into question his …

NPR reports: The U.S. Supreme Court has jumped headlong back into the abortion wars. The court said Friday that it will hear arguments in a case from Louisiana that is nearly identical to a Texas case decided by the court three years ago. Like the Texas law that the court previously struck down, the Louisiana law requires any doctor performing …

Jared Holt reports at Right Wing Watch: A right-wing candidate for governor in Louisiana said the “n-word” on a local radio show on Wednesday. Gary Landrieu, a cousin of former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, is running as an independent candidate for governor of Louisiana and has largely built his campaign around a right-wing platform of targeting undocumented immigrants in …

The New Orleans Advocate reports: The Gretna Police Department has put Officer Charlie Rispoli on administrative leave following Rispoli’s Facebook comment last week that suggested a Democratic congresswoman should be shot. The email, sent just before 1 p.m. Monday, said Rispoli has been suspended without pay pending the department’s internal investigation. Rispoli had posted a story about U.S. Rep. Alexandria …

The New Orleans Advocate reports: A Gretna police officer posted a comment on his Facebook page this past week calling U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a “vile idiot” who “needs a round, and I don’t mean the kind she used to serve.” The comment, which alludes to the freshman Democrat’s past work as a NYC bartender while apparently saying she should …

The New York Times reports: Barry began to sweep into south Louisiana on Saturday and was upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane. The storm strengthened slightly, with maximum sustained wind speeds at 75 miles per hour. Barry is moving at 5 m.p.h., about 40 miles south of Lafayette. The storm is now at hurricane strength. But wind speeds are not …

CBS News reports: Tropical Storm Barry was moving toward the Louisiana coastline Friday, and nearly 10,000 people have already been ordered to evacuate. The National Hurricane Center said there was a chance the slow-moving storm could strengthen into a hurricane as it comes ashore Saturday. Barry’s biggest threat will be rain with 10-20 inches expected to fall in parts of …

The Associated Press reports: Thousands of Louisianans broke out sandbags or fled to higher ground Thursday as Tropical Storm Barry threatened to turn into the first hurricane of the season and blow ashore with torrential rains that could pose a severe test of New Orleans’ improved post-Katrina flood defenses . National Guard troops and rescue crews in high-water vehicles took …

Yahoo News reports: Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency Wednesday ahead of a storm forecast to hit the state later this week. Edwards warned that the low-pressure system currently in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to produce storm surge, hurricane-force winds and up to 15 inches of rain throughout the state. Louisiana already began experiencing …

ABC News reports: Louisiana has become the latest state to have a controversial abortion ban signed into law. The Louisiana House of Representatives passed the bill on Wednesday, sending it to the governor’s desk for signature in order for it to become law. Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, has been vocal in his support for an abortion ban and …

NBC News reports: Louisiana lawmakers passed an abortion ban on a 79 – 23 vote Wednesday that would prohibit women from terminating a pregnancy once a fetal heartbeat has been detected. Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards [photo] has indicated that he would break with his party and sign the ban if it crosses his desk. The Senate already approved the …

The Hill reports: A new U.S. News & World Report ranking published Tuesday named Washington the best state to live and Louisiana the worst. The list determined that Washington, New Hampshire and Minnesota are the best states while Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana are the worst. The list factored in states’ health care, education, economy, infrastructure, public safety, opportunity and the …

The Associated Press reports: The white man suspected in the burnings of three African American churches in Louisiana will remain in jail, denied bond Monday by a judge, as state prosecutors added new charges declaring the arsons a hate crime. Twenty-one-year-old Holden Matthews, the son of a sheriff’s deputy, entered his not guilty plea via video conference from the St. …

Lafayette, Louisiana’s ABC News affiliate reports: KATC has confirmed with multiple law enforcement sources that one person is in custody in the recent church fires in St. Landry Parish. Sources confirm the suspect in the church arsons is Holden Matthews, 21. He is the son of a St. Landry Parish Deputy. He was booked at around 5:30 this evening into …

The Wall Street Journal reports: A divided Supreme Court late on Thursday blocked Louisiana from implementing abortion regulations that could limit the availability of the procedure in the state, in an interim action that could set the stage for the court to weigh in on abortion rights in the near future. The court’s action, which split the justices 5 to …

Lafayette’s Fox affiliate reports: Two Religious Organizations are suing in an attempt to stop Drag Queen Story Time at the Lafayette Library. The suit was filed in federal court in Lafayette by Warriors for Christ and Special Forces of Liberty. “By bringing this lawsuit, we are unapologetically and firmly defending the civil rights movement led by pastor Martin Luther King.” …

Weather Underground reports: Tropical Storm Gordon is quickly heading toward a landfall tonight along the northern Gulf Coast as a Category 1 hurricane. The National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane warning from the mouth of the Pearl River, Mississippi, to the border between Alabama and Florida. Tropical storm warnings are posted from west of the mouth of the Pearl …

The Weather Channel reports: Tropical Storm Gordon is pushing into the Gulf of Mexico as it continues to bring heavy rain and gusty winds to Florida. Gordon will head for a northern Gulf Coast landfall late Tuesday as a strong tropical storm or possibly a Category 1 hurricane. The National Hurricane Center has now issued a hurricane watch from the …

The Associated Press reports: In Louisiana, a proposal to strengthen the law against bestiality is facing unexpected opposition from conservative lawmakers who see it as an underhanded move to strike the state’s unconstitutional ban on sodomy. Creating a new, wide-ranging anti-bestiality law would untangle the offense from the ban on sodomy in Louisiana’s “crime against nature ” statute, prompting some …

The Associated Press reports: In a 4-3 decision, Louisiana’s Supreme Court on Friday rejected Gov. John Bel Edwards’ attempt to revive an executive order protecting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in state government. The court refused to hear arguments on Edwards’ April 2016 order banning discrimination in state government and state contracts based on sexual orientation …