Tag Archives: Louisiana

Via press release: Gov. John Bel Edwards is calling upon Louisianans who believe in the power of prayer to join him and First Lady Donna Edwards in praying and fasting during their lunch time for three days for Louisiana health care workers and all of those who are sick with or affected by COVID-19. In addition to prayer, the Governor …

Pitchfork reports: The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has officially canceled its 2021 edition due to concerns over the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 edition of Jazz Fest will occur in the event’s typical spring time slot. The festival was initially postponed in March 2020 amid early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Festival organizers announced that the rescheduled event …

New Orleans’ CBS News affiliate reports: The New Orleans City Council pardoned thousands of people who have been cited for marijuana possession. According to Council President Helena Moreno, about 10,000 convictions and pending case penalties for small amounts of cannabis possession have been pardoned as well as any future summons. The council hopes that the new move will help the …

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports: As confirmed COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to surge in Louisiana, Gov. John Bel Edwards reinstituted an indoor mask mandate on Monday requiring residents to wear face coverings in schools, churches, businesses and any other public spaces. “It has been clear that current recommendations on their own haven’t worked,” said Edwards, who already has signed …

CBS News reports: Roughly one in three Louisianans are fully vaccinated. This week, the state’s health department reported the highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations since late February. Scott Roe is one of them. “Here I am recovering, getting out of here finally tomorrow. Am I going to get a vaccine? No,” Roe said. “Because there’s too many issues with these …

A furious press release from the NRA’s lobbying arm: In the waning hours of last night, the final day to sign Louisiana’s Constitutional Carry Legislation into law, John Bel Edwards decided to listen to the anti-gun minority in the Sportsman’s Paradise, and veto Senate Bill 118. Despite the thousands of emails, calls, and texts coming from NRA Members and Second …

The Baton Rouge Advocate reports: Gov. John Bel Edwards today vetoed legislation that would have barred transgender girls and women from participating on sports teams that match their gender identity, calling the proposal discriminatory and a “solution in search of a problem that does not exist in Louisiana.” Senate Bill 156, sponsored by Sen. Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, would have required …

NBC News reports: Democrat Troy Carter won Saturday’s special election for Louisiana’s vacant U.S. House seat, defeating his state Senate colleague and ending an acrimonious, intraparty clash. Carter easily defeated Karen Carter Peterson in the race for Louisiana’s only Democrat-held seat in Congress, handing a victory to the more moderate side of the party after Peterson planted herself firmly in …

The Guardian reports: The Republican Julia Letlow easily won a Saturday special election for a north-east Louisiana-based US House seat her husband, Luke, won before his death from complications related to Covid-19. Julia Letlow becomes the third woman ever elected to the US House from Louisiana, the first Republican woman elected to Congress from the state and the only woman …

The Associated Press reports: A person entered a gun store and shooting range in a New Orleans suburb and fatally shot two people Saturday, prompting customers and staff to open fire on the shooter, a sheriff said. The shooter also died. The shooting happened around 2:50 p.m. at the Jefferson Gun Outlet in the suburb of Metairie, according to a …

From an op-ed in the Baton Rouge Advocate: Rather than defending the Constitution, President Trump was actively subverting the peaceful transfer of power, which is a bedrock principle of the Constitution. I voted to convict former President Trump because he is guilty. That’s what the facts demand. I have no illusions that this is a popular decision. I made this …

ABC News reports: The Republican Party of Louisiana’s Executive Committee unanimously voted Saturday to censure Senator Bill Cassidy over his vote to convict former President Donald Trump during Trump’s second impeachment trial. Cassidy was one of seven Republicans to cast a ‘guilty’ vote during the trial, along with all 50 democrats, for a total of 57 votes. Less severe than …

The Baton Rouge Advocate reports: Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry on Friday sued a reporter for The Advocate and The Times-Picayune over a public-records request she filed, asking a judge to issue a declaratory judgment denying the request and seal the proceedings. The unusual action came a few days after the newspaper warned Landry that it intended to sue him …

The Christian Post reports: A judge in Louisiana has rejected a motion filed by controversial Pastor Tony Spell to quash six misdemeanor charges filed against him for holding church services in violation of state orders aimed at mitigating the spread of the coronavirus. Judge Eboni Johnson-Rose of Louisiana’s 19th Judicial District Court denied Spell’s motion Monday, ruling that the constitutionality …

Baton Rouge’s NBC News affiliate reports: A Louisiana man and his cousin were arrested on Saturday (Jan. 16) after officials discovered that they entered the U.S. Capitol with other rioters on Jan. 6 The United States District Court for the District of Columbia filed a criminal complaint against Louisiana resident Cody Connell, after he claimed to have breached the Capitol, …

USA Today reports: Julia Letlow, the widow of U.S. Rep.-elect Luke Letlow, will run for the 5th Congressional District seat her husband was unable to fill because of his COVID-19 death Dec. 29. “Everything in my life and in my marriage has prepared me for this moment,” she said in a statement. “My motivation is the passion Luke and I …

The Hill reports: Rep.-elect Luke Letlow (R-La.), who was hospitalized for COVID-19 on Saturday, has been transferred to an intensive care unit (ICU) in Louisiana, a spokesperson for Letlow confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday. He is receiving the antiviral medication remdesivir and steroids to help combat the virus, according to G.E. Ghali, chancellor of the Shreveport Academic Medical Center. …

The Monroe News-Star reports: Louisiana Congressman-elect Luke Letlow has been hospitalized in Monroe as his COVID-19 symptoms persist. Letlow, R-Start, announced Friday he tested positive for COVID-19 and was quarantining at his Richland Parish home. But on Saturday he was admitted to St. Francis Medical Center. “As a precaution and under the recommendation of his doctors, Congressman-Elect Luke Letlow is …

Law & Crime reports: Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito flatly rejected a plea by a Louisiana megachurch pastor to keep his church fully open against orders from the government to limit the size of worship gatherings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The application, styled as Spell v. Edwards, complained that the orders by Gov. John Bel Edwards forbade the Life …

The Baton Rouge Advocate reports: A federal judge in Baton Rouge has reaffirmed that Gov. John Bel Edwards has the authority to fashion “reasonable restrictions” on religious activity during the novel coronavirus pandemic and that his series of gradually evolving limits on public gatherings this year complied with the Constitution. U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson this week dismissed claims by …