Latest Louisiana Headlines
All the headlines from our Louisiana Topic Page, ordered by recency.
4.6M Quake Shakes Gulf of Mexico Near Louisiana Coast
May 8 2018 // A light earthquake has shaken the Gulf of Mexico south of the Louisiana coast. The United State Geological Survey says an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.6 struck around noon Sunday. The quake happened about...
Louisiana Farmers, Ranchers Awarded Disaster Recovery Grants
May 7 2018 // More than 900 Louisiana farmers and ranchers will receive disaster grants to help them recover from the March and August 2016 floods. Louisiana’s agriculture department says the average grant is $9,905, and the...
Louisiana Lawmakers Eye Stiffer Penalties for Pipeline Damage
Apr 26 2018 // A fight over a crude oil pipeline in southern Louisiana has spilled into the Legislature. A proposal to stiffen penalties for damaging or trespassing around pipelines is nearing final passage after winning approval from a...
Louisiana Man Admits Setting 9 Fires in Neighborhood, Gets 2 Years
Apr 20 2018 // A 44-year-old Louisiana man has admitted setting nine fires in his neighborhood — the last six on his own street. Authorities say he confessed while being interviewed about the last fire, which was set in a car outside...
Louisiana Auditor: State Spent $5M on Sexual Harassment Lawsuits
Apr 19 2018 // Louisiana has spent more than $5 million on lawsuits involving sexual harassment claims since 2009, the state’s legislative auditor said in a new report released Tuesday on the eve of debate on bills targeting sexual...
Study: Louisiana Medicaid Expansion Brought Jobs, $3.5B Impact
Apr 16 2018 // Louisiana’s Medicaid expansion program has helped create or support nearly 19,200 jobs across the state and $178 million in state and local taxes, according to a new economic analysis. The three LSU professors hired...
Louisiana Bill Would Create Reinsurance Pool for Health Coverage
Apr 12 2018 // Louisiana Insurance Commissioner James Donelon says he is supporting a bill that would create an insurance pool to help stabilize the state’s individual market for health insurance. The Louisiana Department of...
Yiannopoulos’ Louisiana State University Speech Canceled for Lack of Insurance
Apr 12 2018 // Organizers say right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos will not speak at Louisiana State University after failing to acquire proper insurance for the event. The Advocate reports that student group College Republicans at...
$1.2B in Federal Flood Control Funds Going to Louisiana
Apr 9 2018 // Louisiana is set to receive $1.2 billion in grant funding from the federal government for flood control and prevention projects. Gov. John Bel Edwards and U.S. Rep. Garret Graves announced the funding on April 5. The...
Study: Mississippi River Flood Control Work Likely Worsened Downstream Flooding
Apr 6 2018 // Flood control engineering on the Mississippi River and its tributaries has likely made floods worse in Mississippi and Louisiana, researchers say. Using 500 years of data from tree rings and from sediment in oxbow lakes...
Owners Settle with Louisiana Sheriff, Deputy Over Killing of Dog
Apr 6 2018 // The owners of a dog that was shot and killed by a Louisiana sheriff’s deputy will receive $75,000 in a settlement of their lawsuit against a sheriff who has had legal troubles. The settlement isn’t an...
Bill to Lower Louisiana Drinking Age Shelved
Apr 5 2018 // Louisiana’s legal drinking age will remain 21, after a state senator shelved his proposal to let some younger people buy alcoholic beverages if they’re educated about the risks before imbibing. Sen. Eric...
3 Petrochemical Companies to Pay $11M for Waste Violations in Louisiana
Apr 2 2018 // Three petrochemical companies have agreed to pay $11 million to settle charges of illegally disposing hazardous waste that damaged natural resources in part of a Louisiana river’s estuary. The Environmental...
Louisiana Bill Raises Civil Penalties in Hazing Death Lawsuits
Apr 2 2018 // People who file civil lawsuits in Louisiana when someone dies from hazing could be in line for higher penalty payments, under a bill that won easy passage from the state Senate. Senators voted 28-3 for Senate Bill 91 by...
Louisiana Lawmakers Eyeing BP Oil Spill Money
Apr 2 2018 // As Louisiana lawmakers scrounge for money, state senators are eyeing an annual stream of Gulf oil spill recovery money tied to economic losses from the disaster. Louisiana is expected to receive yearly payments of $53.3...
Louisiana Senate Backs Higher Civil Penalties in Hazing Death Lawsuits
Mar 29 2018 // People who file civil lawsuits in Louisiana when someone dies from hazing could be in line for higher penalty payments, under a bill that won easy passage from the state Senate. Senators voted 28-3 Wednesday for Senate...
Louisiana Bill Banning Forced Arbitration in Workplace Harassment Claims Fails
Mar 28 2018 // Louisiana lawmakers have jettisoned a measure that would have banned employers from requiring their workers to sign contracts that keep them from filing sexual harassment lawsuits in civil court. The House voted 50-42...
State Paying to Move Residents as Louisiana Island Shrinks
Mar 26 2018 // The effects of global warming can be seen and touched in Louisiana, where officials have begun buying higher ground to relocate an entire town in a bayou being swallowed by higher seas. The Louisiana Office of Community...
Outlooks Revised to Stable for Louisiana’s Stonetrust Commercial Insurance
Mar 21 2018 // A.M. Best has revised the outlooks to stable from negative and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B++ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “bbb” of workers’ compensation insurer,...
Why Storm-Prone States Continue to Balk at Tough Building Codes
Mar 19 2018 // The showdown in the Florida statehouse last year had all the drama of a knock-down political brawl: Powerful industries clashing. Warnings of death and destruction. And a surprise last-minute vote, delivering a sweeping...
