Latest Louisiana state government News
Online students score lower on Louisiana standardized tests
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana education leaders said Tuesday state standardized test results show that public school students who attended in-person classes during the coronavirus pandemic outperformed those who relied on distance learning. The Advocate reports the...
Louisiana breaks record for COVID-19 hospitalizations
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana's COVID-19 hospitalizations surged Tuesday to record levels, with 2,112 largely unvaccinated people in hospital beds struggling and hospital leaders describing facilities overrun with patients. The Louisiana Department of Health...
Louisiana reinstates indoor mask mandate amid COVID surge
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana on Monday reinstated a mask mandate in all indoor locations, including schools and colleges, as the state experiences the highest per capita COVID-19 growth in the nation, driven by the delta variant and one of the country's lowest vaccination rates. ...
Analysis: La. rental aid moves slowly as eviction ban ends
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana received hundreds of millions of dollars in federal cash to assist renters struggling with job losses and slashed paychecks because of the coronavirus pandemic, but the aid has been slow to reach tenants and landlords. Across two...
Lawsuit challenges Louisiana's end to federal jobless aid
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A group of unemployed Louisiana residents filed a lawsuit challenging Gov. John Bel Edwards’ decision to stop accepting the federal pandemic benefits that gave jobless workers an extra $300-a-week boost and made some self-employed and gig workers eligible for the...
Breakneck pace of crises keeps National Guard away from home
SHADDADI, Syria (AP) — In the searing 108-degree heat, far from his Louisiana health care business, Army Col. Scott Desormeaux and his soldiers are on a dusty base near Syria’s northern border, helping Syrian rebel forces battle Islamic State militants and keeping an eye on Russian troops...
Louisiana veto session carried $76K price tag for taxpayers
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana’s two-day veto session, which saw Republicans unable to override any of Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards' bill rejections, cost taxpayers $76,000. Information provided in response to a request from The Associated Press showed most of...
Masks mandated in New Orleans; Louisiana may follow Monday
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell reinstituted a citywide indoor masking mandate Friday and said all city employees and contract workers will be required to get COVID-19 vaccinations as Louisiana deals with skyrocketing numbers of new infections and hospitalizations. ...
Louisiana House speaker ousts Democrats after veto session
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Republican House Speaker Clay Schexnayder on Friday said he removed two Democrats from their leadership positions, fallout from Louisiana's failed veto session in which Democrats blocked GOP efforts to overturn any of the governor's bill rejections. ...
COVID-19 cases soar in Louisiana amid pleas to vaccinate
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Increasingly urgent efforts to persuade, entice or cajole people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 are taking a variety of forms in Louisiana, where new cases and hospitalizations continued a steep climb on Thursday. Three heralded music venues in...
