Free Republic

On 25 May, 2018, Governor Edwards of Louisiana signed HB 892 into law. The bill now becomes ACT 341, which reforms Louisiana knife law, removing a 1950's era ban on switchblades.  From wafb.com: BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) – On Friday, May 25, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards signed 79 bills into new laws. The bills he signed are as follows:(snip) ACT 341 – HB 892 Provides relative to the illegal carrying of certain knives. The wording of HB892, now ACT 341, is as shown at legiscan.   From legiscan.com: (4)(a) The manufacture, ownership, possession, custody or use intentional concealment...

In the waning minutes of the Louisiana Legislature’s 2018 regular session on Friday evening, Louisiana legislators gave final passage to the Commissioner Selection resolution (HCR 4) offered by the Convention of States Louisiana team! The resolution provides for the selection and authority of commissioners representing the state when a convention is called to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution under Article V. This resolution (and other similar resolutions already passed in several other states) means a runaway convention is impossible. This resolution says Louisiana will send five commissioners (aka delegates) to the convention, all selected by the state legislature. Three...

The 2018 Atlantic Tropical Storm season is off to an early start with Subtropical Storm Alberto. Gradual strengthening is forecast until the system reaches the northern Gulf Coast by Monday night. Rainfall totals of 5 to 10 inches with maximum amounts of 15 inches are possible along the track of Alberto from eastern Louisiana, across much of Mississippi, Alabama, western Tennessee and the western Florida panhandle. Rainfall totals of 3 to 5 inches with maximum totals of 8 inches possible from the southern Appalachians into the coastal southeast. Mash image to find lots of satellite imagery linksPublic AdvisoriesNHC DiscussionsFL Radar...

Gov. John Bel Edwards issued an executive order Tuesday night (May 22) prohibiting Louisiana state government from doing business with companies that boycott Israel. The order directs the state commissioner of administration, Jay Dardenne, to terminate existing state contracts with companies if they are currently boycotting Israel or supporting those who do so. Moving forward, companies will be required to sign an agreement certifying that they aren't boycotting Israel before being awarded a state contract. The prohibition will not be applied to companies that have contracts with the state that total less than $100,000 or that have fewer than five...

On April 13th, 2018, the Louisiana repeal of the switchblade ban (HB892) unanimously passed the House.  From legiscan.com: (4)(a) The manufacture, ownership, possession, custody or use intentional concealment on one's person of any switchblade knife, spring knife, or other knife or similar instrument having a blade which may be automatically unfolded or extended from a handle by the manipulation of a button, switch, latch, or similar contrivance located on the handle. Section 2. R.S. 14:95(J) is hereby repealed in its entirety. CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored are additions. On May 10th,...

GOP seeks farm bill support amid immigration debate House Freedom Caucus members are trying to flex some muscle on immigration in exchange for support on the farm bill; A sprawling and subsidy-packed farm bill that also would have tightened food stamp rules failed in the House on Friday, in a dramatic defeat for GOP leaders who faced an uprising from conservatives over inaction on immigration. The farm bill, which was voted down 213-198, had been hanging in the balance as the conservative House Freedom Caucus threatened to withhold support without an agreement on an immigration bill vote. The GOP leadership,...

Two Louisiana lawmakers got into a fistfight at a Baton Rouge bar, evidently over a disputed bill in the Legislature, Greg Hilburn with the USA Today Network reports. State Rep. Stuart Bishop, R-Lafayette, and Sen. Norby Chabert, R-Houma, were involved in a dispute on the House floor Tuesday (May 15) and squared off later that night at the River Room on Laurel Street. Bishop said Chabert "punched me several times" but he didn't throw any punches back. Chabert said he "loved Stuart like a brother" and regretted the incident. Police were called to the bar, but Bishop and Chabert had...

On Monday, a divided Supreme Court said a court in a Louisiana murder case couldn’t accept a lawyer’s admission of his own client’s guilt over his client’s objections. In McCoy v. Louisiana, the Court considered a basic question about the proper role of attorneys in murder cases. Robert McCoy originally filed his own appeal directly to the Supreme Court about two questions related to his conviction on three murder charges. McCoy was sentenced to death in the case. McCoy was accused of killing three people in 2008 in a dispute with his then-wife and he was arrested after fleeing to...

Vanity lead in about this: In 1978-1979, then California Governor Jerry Brown 'punished' the taxpayers for passing Proposition 13 (making property taxes affordable for those who had lived in California all their lives). Governor Brown cut police and fire services to 'punish' the taxpayers of California for passing Prop 13 (or Proposition 13). Then in 1981, then California Governor Jerry Brown hired 'Hanoi Jane Fonda' to head an Arts Committee with a $1 million budget. This infuriated California voters even more. One of the articles below attributes the actions of then California Jerry Brown to getting Ronald Reagan president. Articles...

Mayor LaToya Cantrell ascended to New Orleans' highest public office Monday (May 7), becoming the first woman to lead the city in its 300-year history, and telling a large audience at the Mahalia Jackson Theatre that "There's only you and me and the work before us." "I vow to each one of you standing here today, before God Almighty, I'll spend every breath and every moment of the next four years proving that you made the right choice," Cantrell said in her speech. Cantrell's relatively short inaugural speech, which clocked in at about 12-1/2 minutes, touched on themes of equity,...

Kanye West revealed in a TMZ interview on Tuesday that he wanted to apologize to George W. Bush for saying in 2005 that the president did not care about black people in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Kanye West said he was always told not to apologize to Bush, but that he recently saw the former president pushing his father’s wheelchair at Barbara Bush’s funeral in March, and he felt sympathy for him. “Do you know how bad I would want to go to George Bush and say I’m sorry for hurting you. I was an artist I was hurting...

Lawsuit could undercut 2012 amnesty, end ongoing legal battles over Trump phaseoutTexas and a half-dozen other states filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the legality of the Obama-era DACA deportation amnesty, opening up a new legal front in the increasingly messy battle over illegal immigration. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in southern Texas, asks judges to rule against the 2012 program that’s granted tentative legal status to more than 800,000 illegal immigrant “Dreamers.”

In Shreveport, on the afternoon of 30 October, 2017, three suspects are alleged to have been breaking into a car behind a restaurant. The restaurant owner surprised the suspects.   He felt threatened, and fired at one of the suspects, hitting him in the head. The suspect later died. The other suspects fled the scene. Two police officers, a Lt. and the police chief, also fired at the suspects.  From    ktbs.com: Tacorey Banks, 17, was one of three teens allegedly breaking into a car behind a restaurant when the car's owner confronted the teens and shot Banks in the head. Banks...

For the last two years, Richard and Linda Brown have been living in a shell of a home -- no insulation, drywall or flooring -- while trying to raise four kids. Their house in Louisiana was destroyed by floodwaters in 2016. At the time they didn't panic, because they had a flood insurance policy worth $168,000. To date, they've received less than half of that -- around $62,000. "We pay into this premium, and all I want is [it] just to be fair, and we weren't getting fair," Linda said. Two years later, they're living in a house that's still...

[full title] REVEALED: Mitch McConnell’s In-Laws Bought 10 Massive Ships from the Chinese Government Since His Wife Elaine Chao Became Transportation Secretary Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) in-laws have ordered 10 massive cargo ships from the Chinese government since the senator’s wife Elaine Chao became Secretary of Transportation. The deep financial ties between the Chao family’s shipping business Foremost Group and the Chinese regime were first revealed in the #1 New York Times bestseller Secret Empires.Foremost has yet to disclose the financial details of its latest deals with CSSC. Similar transactions with CSSC have recently cost over $47 million...

A lawyer who led the fight against Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate, eventually winning the Hobby Lobby case before the Supreme Court, won confirmation by the Senate Tuesday to a federal appeals court. Senators voted 50-47 to confirm Stuart Kyle Duncan to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Only one Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, broke with his party to support Mr. Duncan. Other Democrats voiced opposition to Mr. Duncan as an “unfit ideologue” who fought women’s access to reproductive healthcare. They also said his defense of state laws requiring photo-ID to vote,...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — The No. 3 House Republican leader has been released from a hospital after follow-up surgery related to the wounds he received from a shooting at a GOP baseball practice 10 months ago.</p> <p>Rep. Steve Scalise (skuh-LEES’) of Louisiana is out of MedStar Washington Hospital Center after successful surgery Monday and is expected to recover at home for several days.</p>

A New Orleans resident has received several speeding tickets over the past few years for racing through town at the blistering speed of ... 0 mph. Donald Schulz says he’s been issued at least 10 citations since 2011 for having his pickup truck legally parked along Canal Boulevard. The street has a 35 mph speed limit and a stationary traffic camera on the median. “It’s a nuisance; I've had to take time out of my day several times and go down there and correct the situation,” Schulz told Fox News. “It got so bad that years ago I even had...

A U.S. senator on Thursday criticized Citigroup Inc and Bank of America Corp’s restrictions on lending to firearm makers and sellers, saying the new policies were wrongly politicizing banking services. Speaking during a hearing on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Republican Senator John Kennedy said he planned to personally file complaints with the U.S. consumer watchdog regarding the firearm policies. “Our friends at Citigroup and Bank of America apparently aren’t busy enough with their banking business; they have decided that they are going to set policy for the second amendment,” the Louisiana lawmaker said, referring to the component of...

Trump judicial nominee Wendy Vitter’s personal pro-life views were under intense scrutiny from several Democratic senators at her confirmation hearing Wednesday. Vitter was repeatedly asked about her pro-life beliefs and whether they would interfere with her role as a judge. She was also grilled about statements made in past, pro-life speaking engagements. The main questions from Democratic senators centered around two appearances she made, that were recently cited by the abortion giant Planned Parenthood in an op-ed targeting Vitter prior to the hearing. One appearance was as the moderator of a 2013 Louisiana Right to Life panel where views...