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Renewable energy developer files unsolicited bid for offshore wind lease in Gulf of Mexico
Federal energy regulators announced Friday that they received an unsolicited request from a renewable power company seeking an offshore wind lease in a part of the Gulf of Mexico considered critical to the nation’s transition to renewable energy and the Biden administration’s climate goals. The request came from Hecate Energy, an American company that specializes […]
Customers who save on electric bills could be forced to pay utility company for lost profits
Louisiana’s major electric utilities are still pushing state regulators to allow them to charge customers for the costs of a new statewide energy efficiency program and for the electricity customers will no longer need because of that program. A large group that included Louisiana Public Service Commission staff, utility company executives, consumer advocates and other […]
U.S. home prices hit a record high as sales fell. Here’s how housing experts explain the trends
U.S. median home prices hit a record high for the second month in a row as sales continued to fall, according to a report released this week, as potential buyers continue to lie in wait for lower mortgage rates. Existing home sales fell 5.4% in June and median home sales reached its highest level on […]
Louisiana GOP joins Citizens United to block Harris from Biden campaign funds
WASHINGTON — A conservative group and a group of Republican state parties Thursday filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission accusing Vice President Kamala Harris of improperly assuming control of Biden campaign funds after he withdrew from the race. The complaint is asking the FEC’s six-person commission — split evenly between Democrats and Republicans […]
VP Harris tells teachers union she’s ‘fighting for the future,’ blasts Project 2025
Vice President Kamala Harris — the likely 2024 Democratic presidential nominee — outlined on Thursday some of her “vision of the future” while touting the administration’s education record in her keynote address to the American Federation of Teachers national convention in Houston. Harris has quickly drawn the support of major unions like the AFT in […]
Louisiana among 25 states asking U.S. Supreme Court to halt EPA’s carbon rule
Attorneys general in 25 states, including Louisiana’s Liz Murrill, have sent an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to immediately halt a Biden administration rule that they say threatens to shutter the country’s remaining fleet of coal-fired power plants. The emergency appeal to stay the Environmental Protection Agency’s plans to require strict […]
Louisiana won’t see constitutional changes to tax and budget policy anytime soon
Voters won’t be deciding on constitutional changes to the state budget or tax structure anytime soon now that Louisiana lawmakers have decided not to meet again for the rest of 2024. Despite the efforts of Gov. Jeff Landry, conservative activists and one particularly influential GOP donor, legislators could not be convinced to return to Baton […]
A federal law could block reforms for Louisiana’s beleaguered prison health care system
This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with Verite News. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published. Several months ago, in a lawsuit that was in its ninth year, a federal judge blasted the medical care at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at […]
Coal power plants cost Americans millions when they didn’t have to, study says
Utility companies in Louisiana saddled in- and out-of-state customers with $340 million in unnecessary costs over the past three years by choosing to run outdated, inefficient coal plants when cleaner, more affordable energy sources were available, according to a recent study an environmental group commissioned. The Natural Resources Defense Council, a coalition of environmental lawyers, […]
Latest LEAP scores show why the three Rs at Louisiana schools shouldn’t include religion
Results from the most recent round of standardized testing at Louisiana public schools reveal progress for third- through eighth-grade students is mired in math and science while improving only slightly in English. Officials and researchers believe learning loss over the COVID-19 pandemic — when schools had to turn to remote instruction — is now showing […]
Louisiana lawmakers won’t call special session, constitutional convention in August
Louisiana lawmakers won’t return to Baton Rouge in August to address tax and budget policy in a special session despite a last-minute push from Gov. Jeff Landry’s revenue secretary to do so, according to a handful of legislators interviewed this week. Legislative leadership is expected to make a formal statement saying as much Thursday, but […]
Rhetoric versus reality: Addressing common misconceptions about abortion
Reproductive rights has taken center stage in the first post-Roe presidential election that presently features a longtime advocate for reproductive rights in possible Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, opposite former Republican President Donald Trump, whose three appointed U.S. Supreme Court justices helped overturn federal abortion rights. Although Trump’s former health staffers have co-authored the […]
Louisiana patients rely on Congress to clear pharmacy middlemen who block access to care
With more than 2.9 million Louisiana patients living with at least one chronic illness, access to a prescribed treatment plan is essential to manage symptoms. However, middlemen, known as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), are making it harder for Louisiana patients to get the care they need by raising costs and creating unnecessary medication access barriers […]
Efforts to release prisoners from long sentences draw new interest
Lawmakers across the country have considered legislation this year that would allow courts or parole boards to reevaluate a person’s long prison sentence and decide whether they can be safely released into society. The bills, known as “second look” legislation, often focus on older populations, people sentenced as minors, or those whose crimes might have […]
Fines might not deter abuse at La. facilities caring for the disabled, audit finds
A review of how state officials respond to allegations of abuse at Louisiana facilities that care for the developmentally disabled found that fines assessed for infractions haven’t been effective in preventing abuse. A Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s report issued Monday noted that maximum fine amounts handed down to intermediate care facilities (ICFs) haven’t been adjusted since […]
Steep fines in Iowa set off state-federal showdown over child labor laws
Michelle Cox was in disbelief when a U.S. Department of Labor official told her earlier this year she was violating federal law by employing 14- and 15-year-olds past 7 p.m. on school nights. Cox, the owner of a Subway franchise in Maquoketa, Iowa, knew the state legislature had made substantial changes to state labor laws […] The post Steep fines in Iowa set off state-federal showdown over child labor laws appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator.
OB-GYN questions Louisiana’s ‘dangerous’ classification of abortion, miscarriage drugs
A physician who also serves as the chief deputy coroner for Louisiana’s largest parish raised concerns about a new state law that will classify a drug used to treat miscarriages and ulcers as “dangerous” because it’s also used for abortions. “There’s a lot of misconceptions about how that drug is used,” said OB-GYN Dr. Randall […] The post OB-GYN questions Louisiana’s ‘dangerous’ classification of abortion, miscarriage drugs appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator.
Nursing home owner Bob Dean avoids prison time for deaths in botched evacuation
A nursing home owner will not face prison time for the deaths of residents moved from seven of his facilities during their evacuation for Hurricane Ida, our partners with WVUE-TV Fox 8 report. Bob Dean, 70, pleaded no contest Monday to 15 criminal charges related to the deaths of seven people who were among 840 […] The post Nursing home owner Bob Dean avoids prison time for deaths in botched evacuation appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator.
Harris enters fast-tracked campaign to challenge Donald Trump
Vice President Kamala Harris is poised to become a first yet again. Following President Joe Biden’s announcement on Sunday that he would be dropping out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsing Harris, she issued a statement saying she intends “to earn and win the nomination” to be the Democratic Party’s official candidate for president. […] The post Harris enters fast-tracked campaign to challenge Donald Trump appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator.
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The Louisiana Illuminator is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization driven by its mission to cast light on how decisions are made in Baton Rouge and how they affect the lives of everyday Louisianians, particularly those who are poor or otherwise marginalized. Here readers will find in-depth investigations and news stories, news briefs and commentary, all of which is intended to help them make sense of how state policy is crafted, how it helps or hurts them and how it helps or hurts their neighbors across the state. Notwithstanding the way political reporting is often presented, we see politics as neither sport nor entertainment. There are quality-of-life consequences – even life-and-death consequences – to environmental permitting decisions, to health care policy, to income- and sales-tax rates, to budgetary cuts and to economic development plans. For those reasons, the Illuminator does not cover politics in a way that centers on politicians, their squabbles with one another or their career ambitions. Instead, we center on Louisianians from Ouachita to Calcasieu, from Plaquemines to Caddo who must live with the decisions their political leaders make. Though we’re located in Baton Rouge, we understand that the ramifications of decisions made in our capital are felt across the state and that those stories are often best told in cities, towns and parishes far from the halls of power. As our name indicates, our mission is to shine a bright light on Louisiana, to highlight the state’s successes and its examples of good and responsive government and to expose its failures and corruption. An affiliate of States Newsroom, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by grants and a coalition of donors and readers like you, the Louisiana Illuminator retains editorial independence.
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