Louisiana Illuminator

09/12/2024

Four years after the Rev. Donald Ray Henry resigned from the Southern University System Board of Supervisors as part of a plea agreement, Gov. Jeff Landry has reappointed him to the same board.

Gov. Landry appointed a man to the Southern University System Board of Supervisors who quit in 2020 as part of a plea deal

09/12/2024

Tabitha Crowe woke up around 4 a.m. covered in blood. She was visiting her parents in south Louisiana when she started miscarrying her first pregnancy. Her mom and dad drove her to a nearby hospital while she fought dizziness from the blood loss in their back seat.

Over the course of the next few days, Crowe said she passed baseball-sized blood clots and experienced extreme pain and dizziness in two different hospitals, while never being offered a common miscarriage procedure, even after she requested it.

Doctors in Louisiana report a rise in miscarriage patients who are receiving more risky and invasive terminations.

05/12/2024

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, intends to build a $10 billion artificial intelligence data center in northeast Americans for Prosperity - Louisianaiana and hire more than 500 employees at the site, Gov. Jeff Landry and state economic development officials announced Wednesday.

They have labeled the project as having the potential to reverse course in the state’s poorest, most economically beleaguered region, though it could come at the expense of incentives worth tens of millions of dollars in state revenue.

Meta intends to build a $10 billion data center in northeast Louisiana and hire more than 500 employees at the site.

04/12/2024

Tax breaks to the liquified natural gas export industry could deprive Louisiana communities of more than $21 billion in much needed infrastructure funds through 2040, according to a new Sierra Club report. Its authors criticizes Gov. Jeff Landry’s decision to leave the Industrial Tax Exemption Program (ITEP) untouched during the recent special session to overhaul state tax policy.

Tax breaks to the liquified natural gas export industry could deprive Louisiana communities of more than 20 billion in much needed infrastructure funds through 2040, according to a new report.

02/12/2024

Four years ago this month, LSU became engulfed in scandal following a USA Today investigative report that revealed how the university mishandled sexual misconduct complaints against student-athletes.

LSU employees allege the arm of the university tasked with preventing and investigating power-based violence, discrimination and Title IX violations on campus is instead perpetrating those same offenses.

Our joint investigation with Tiger Rag.

Several LSU employees allege the office tasked with preventing and investigating power-based violence, discrimination and Title IX violations is instead perpetrating those same offenses.

23/11/2024

Louisiana voters will decide whether to make it easier to send younger teenagers to adult prisons in a constitutional proposal next spring.

It would remove constitutional limits on crimes that can get people under age 17 sentenced as adults. Legislators would then have to enact new laws outlining how courts could send those minors to adult facilities.

Louisiana voters will decide whether to make it easier to send younger teenagers to adult prisons in a constitutional proposal next spring.

22/11/2024

Two pieces of legislation that would make a temporary pay raise for K-12 teachers and school support workers permanent received final passage Friday in the Louisiana Legislature, but voters have to approve a constitutional amendment before the money appears in their paychecks next school year.

Legislators approved a two bills that, together, would make permanent a temporary teacher pay raise of $2000 for K-12 public school teachers

22/11/2024

State lawmakers have agreed to a pared-down version of Gov. Jeff Landry’s tax overhaul package but one that would still affect most people and businesses in Louisiana. The deal, hashed out in back-room negotiations Thursday, is expected to receive full approval Friday.

State lawmakers have agreed to a pared-down version of Gov. Jeff Landry’s tax overhaul package but one that would still affect most people and businesses in Louisiana.

21/11/2024

A new report from a government accountability group alleges the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hasn’t regulated key pollutants in wastewater from plastics plants across the country – including 22 in Louisiana.

A new report alleges the Environmental Protection Agency hasn’t regulated pollutants in wastewater from plastics plants – including 22 in Louisiana.

20/11/2024

Transgender women will not be permitted to use women’s restrooms in parts of the U.S. Capitol complex, House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday, following some House Republicans’ targeting of the first openly trans person to win a congressional election.

Transgender women will not be permitted to use women’s bathrooms in parts of the U.S. Capitol complex, House Speaker Mike Johnson said.

20/11/2024

A law to require all public school classrooms in Louisiana display the Ten Commandments won’t take effect until a court case plays out on whether the law is constitutional, a federal appellate court has ruled.

07/11/2024

A live tiger will attend the LSU-Alabama football game Saturday in Baton Rouge but it won’t be its resident mascot, Mike VII. Gov. Jeff Landry and Surgeon General Ralph Abraham have been behind the push to return a live tiger to the sidelines of Tiger Stadium.

A live tiger will attend the LSU-Alabama football game Saturday in Baton Rouge but it won’t be its resident mascot, Mike VII. State Sen. Bill Wheat, R-Ponchatoula, confirmed to the Illuminator that Gov. Jeff Landry will get his wish of having a live tiger mascot attend an LSU football game. Wheat ...

05/11/2024

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday it would hear arguments in a lawsuit challenging Louisiana’s congressional redistricting plan that has two majority-Black districts, the latest development in a redistricting battle that has spanned nearly three years.

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday it would hear arguments in a lawsuit challenging Louisiana’s congressional redistricting plan

30/10/2024

Are you ready for Election Day? Our 200+ States Newsroom journalists are on the ground in all 50 states – including the team at the Louisiana Illuminator – covering the news that matters to you.
Bookmark our DECISION 2024 coverage and stay with States Newsroom and the Illuminator from now through Nov. 5 and beyond. https://www.newsfromthestates.com/rising-trend/decision-2024

29/10/2024

A former Louisiana state trooper charged in the 2019 beating death of Black motorist Ronald Greene walked free Monday after striking a deal with Union Parish prosecutors before his trial began.

A former state trooper charged in the 2019 beating death of Black motorist Ronald Greene walked free Monday in a deal with prosecutors.

26/10/2024

We are the local reporters covering the state and national races that will affect your life. Our 200+ on-the-ground journalists in all 50 states – including our local team at the Louisiana Illuminator – are working to keep you informed this election season. Follow our DECISION 2024 coverage for the news that matters in your community. https://www.newsfromthestates.com/rising-trend/decision-2024

16/10/2024

The LSU Board of Supervisors may have violated Louisiana’s open meetings law when it recently increased its power without giving the public sufficient notice. The board’s executive committee quietly met and voted to change its bylaws to allow its chairman to make appointees to any search committee in the LSU System.

The LSU Board may have violated the open meetings law when it recently increased its power without giving the public sufficient notice.

05/10/2024

A state lawmaker has issued a scathing rebuke of what she characterized as an embarrassing and “misleading” response from the Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival after the Illuminator reported that multiple vendors sold imported shrimp at this year’s event.

A lawmaker has issued a scathing rebuke of an embarrassing and “misleading” response from the Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival after the Illuminator reported multiple vendors sold imported shrimp at this year’s event.