Local Politics

Gubernatorial candidates mostly react cautiously to indictment of Donald Trump

BY TYLER BRIDGES | Staff writer
1 hr ago

With former President Donald Trump likely to play an outsized role in Louisiana’s governor’s race this year, only one of the seven candidates offered a strong defense of him following his indi…

LaToya Cantrell, aides charged city for South Korea flight upgrades. They say they're allowed.

By JOSEPH CRANNEY | Staff writer
5 hrs ago

Cantrell and two aides charged for first-class flights, which normally aren't permitted under city policies.

Gov. John Bel Edwards seeks to reassure shippers that state support for container port is firm

BY SAM KARLIN | Staff writer
Updated 2 hrs ago

Gov. John Bel Edwards is seeking to reassure the shipping industry that a massive container terminal planned by the Port of New Orleans still has state support, after House leaders cut funding…

Senators introduce competing bills aimed at lowering college costs

BY MARK BALLARD | Staff writer
9 hrs ago

WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats and Republicans on Wednesday introduced competing legislative packages aimed at reducing the cost of college for incoming students.

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To address rape kit backlog, new law creates tracking system

BY SAM KARLIN | Staff writer
10 hrs ago

Louisiana will establish a centralized system to track rape kits from when they are administered at a hospital to when they are tested at a lab, an effort to address a longstanding backlog tha…

Under indictment, on patrol: Controversial Lafayette officer evaded detection, was rehired

By JOSEPH CRANNEY | Staff writer
11 hrs ago

Officer Marvin Martin was hired by Rayne police after he resigned in Lafayette. He was indicted last year on excessive force charges.

'I’ve had enough': For victims and their families, push for clemency on Louisiana death row stirs strong emotions

BY MATT BRUCE and JACQUELINE DeROBERTIS | Staff writers
13 hrs ago

Kimen Lee was reaching out the window to drop sales receipts into a bank deposit box in 1993 when a series of gunshots interrupted her nightly routine. When Lee, then the manager of a local Pi…

Sister Helen Prejean: Granting clemency to death row inmates is "what we have to do"

BY JILLIAN KRAMER | Staff writer
15 hrs ago

“What’s the news?” Sister Helen Prejean asked a reporter Tuesday afternoon as she stepped outside a Lower Ninth Ward cathedral, where an international film crew had interviewed her for hours w…

She was the teacher. They were her students. Now they serve together in the state House.

BY TYLER BRIDGES | Staff writer
Jun 13, 2023

Here’s a legislative oddity: Two of state Rep. Barbara Freiberg’s colleagues in the House were her students at the University Laboratory School in Baton Rouge 25 years ago.

Jeff Landry says he'll fight Louisiana death row prisoners' clemency pleas

By JAMES FINN | Staff writer
Jun 13, 2023

Attorney General Jeff Landry, a leading Republican candidate in the Louisiana governor's race, says his office will fight a historic batch of clemency requests filed Tuesday on behalf of most …

House clears conservative stall and passes gun brace and gas stove bills

BY MARK BALLARD | Staff writer
Jun 13, 2023

WASHINGTON – The U.S. House on Tuesday voted to block government bans on gas stoves in homes and businesses, after a group of conservatives who had stalled that proposal and other work on the …

Trump pleads not guilty to all 37 federal charges over classified documents

By ERIC TUCKER, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON
Updated Jun 13, 2023

Former President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging he hoarded classified documents detailing sensitive military secrets and schemed to thwart government efforts t…

Death penalty in Louisiana

Staff report
Jun 13, 2023

Almost all of Louisiana's death row inmates filed for clemency on Tuesday morning, meaning they asked for Governor John Bel Edwards to spare their lives.

Who is on death row in Louisiana? Here are the 57 names and their history.

Staff report
Updated Jun 13, 2023

Almost all Louisiana death row inmates asked Governor John Bel Edwards to spare their lives on Tuesday morning.

Fort Polk is now Fort Johnson. Here's why the change was made.

BY FAIMON A. ROBERTS III | Staff writer
Jun 13, 2023

FORT JOHNSON, La. -- With the clang of a hammer hitting a ceremonial anvil and the raising of a red, white, blue and yellow banner, Louisiana's largest military installation took on a new name…

Almost all Louisiana death row prisoners ask John Bel Edwards to spare their lives

By JAMES FINN | Staff writer
Jun 13, 2023

Nearly all of the 57 people on Louisiana's death row have asked Gov. John Bel Edwards to spare their lives, a historic request made after Edwards broke his silence on how he views capital puni…

Trump will face judge in historic court appearance over charges he hoarded secret documents

BY ERIC TUCKER and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jun 13, 2023

MIAMI — Donald Trump is expected to become Tuesday the first former president to face a judge on federal charges as the city of Miami prepared for possible protests by crowds that officials sa…

Port NOLA caught in crossfire of political maneuvers as funding stripped last minute

BY SAM KARLIN | Staff writer
Updated Jun 12, 2023

In December, House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, Gov. John Bel Edwards and Port of New Orleans leaders touted the state and federal money headed to the $1.8 billion international container termina…

City Council lawsuit against LaToya Cantrell over Wisner money tossed by appellate court

BY DAVID HAMMER | WWL-TV
Jun 12, 2023

A Louisiana appellate court has dismissed a lawsuit by the New Orleans City Council against Mayor LaToya Cantrell over the Wisner Trust, saying the legislative body essentially didn’t have sta…

Louisiana Legislative session ends in frenzied votes, anger: 'You set out to cause havoc'

BY TYLER BRIDGES and JAMES FINN | Staff writers
Jun 10, 2023

Gov. John Bel Edwards and Senate President Page Cortez triumphed on the biggest issue of the legislative session this year by allocating more than $1.5 billion to state construction projects, …

Activity reignites in Louisiana redistricting challenges following significant Alabama ruling

BY SAM KARLIN | Staff writer
Jun 9, 2023

Attorney General Jeff Landry’s office and plaintiffs challenging Louisiana’s political maps as discriminatory are both asking courts to revive the dormant cases, after the U.S. Supreme Court i…

Clay Higgins calls for war over Trump indictments, author says

BY MARK BALLARD | Staff writer
Jun 9, 2023

WASHINGTON – Republicans have come out swinging at Friday’s federal criminal indictment of former President Donald Trump.

Mark Ballard: Louisiana poised to draw a majority-Black congressional district

BY MARK BALLARD | Staff writer
Jun 9, 2023

WASHINGTON – Within hours of Thursday’s stunning U.S. Supreme Court decision that effectively requires Alabama to draw a second majority-Black congressional district, The Cook Report, a respec…

In late move, LSU arena renovation project was added to Louisiana's construction budget

BY SAM KARLIN | Staff writer
Updated Jun 12, 2023

Tucked deep into last-minute amendments to the state’s capital budget that lawmakers passed late Thursday is a notable victory for LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey.

Trump-appointed judge who issued rulings favorable to him assigned to oversee criminal case

By ERIC TUCKER, JILL COLVIN and MICHAEL BALSAMO | Associated Press
Jun 9, 2023

The historic federal criminal case against former President Donald Trump has been initially assigned to a judge he appointed who faced criticism over her decision to grant the Republican's req…

Gov. John Bel Edwards says he'll veto anti-LGBTQ+ bills passed by Louisiana Legislature

By JAMES FINN | Staff writer
Jun 8, 2023

Louisiana Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards plans to veto three bills that target LGBTQ+ people, he said Thursday, setting up a possible veto showdown with the state's Republican-controlled Leg…

Steve Scalise meets with Brian Kelly and Nick Saban on NIL legislation

BY MARK BALLARD | Staff writer
Jun 8, 2023

WASHINGTON – LSU football coach Brian Kelly and University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban met privately with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise Thursday to discuss legislation that woul…

Gas stoves bills held up by conservative mutiny over debt limit solution

BY MARK BALLARD | Staff writer
Jun 8, 2023

WASHINGTON – Legislation barring the federal government from banning gas stoves in American homes and restaurants was sidetracked this week in the U.S. House by a few conservatives angered by …