7:30 A.M. News/Feb. 5, 2016
Sheriff’s deputies are seeking at least to subjects
suspected of stealing a car from the parking lot of a
business off Range Road in Ponchatoula.
The 1992 Chevrolet Caprice was stolen at about midnight
after a green Mustang with solid racing stripes down the
back was seen on surveillance video pulling into the
parking lot.
Deputies believe two subjects were in the Mustang.
Anyone with information about the theft is asked to call
Crime Stoppers at 800-554-5245. The names of persons
giving information will remain anonymous, and a cash
reward may be available.
Regions Bank will be the exclusive sponsor of the
President’s Toast that opens Southeastern Louisiana
University’s largest fundraiser, Chef’s Evening.
Providing the food and wine pairings for this year’s event
is Executive Chef Paul Farlow of Jacmel Inn.
The President’s Toast precedes the major event, scheduled
from 4-5 p.m. March 13 at the university president’s
residence.
Chefs Evening follows from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at
Southeastern’s Student Union Grand Ballroom.
Chef’s Evening has been a Southeastern tradition for over
30 years.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Gov. John Bel Edwards is
readying to release his outline for a special legislative
session he is calling to stabilize Louisiana's finances.
He intends to issue an executive order today setting the
dates and parameters for the session to begin Feb. 14.
Edwards is proposing tax increases to raise new money for
the treasury, saying that's the only way to avoid
devastating cuts to public colleges and health services.
But Republican lawmakers and other critics of tax
increases, such as state Treasurer John Kennedy, say there
is room for reductions in government spending.
They have urged Edwards to include those ideas in the
special session.
Edwards has said little about budget cuts, concentrating
instead on tax increases.
Pro-life groups are concerned about the views that new
Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Rebekah
Gee has on abortion.
Louisiana Right to Life claims Gee, a gynecologist, is prochoice and has ties to Planned Parenthood.
Gee says she is personally pro-choice, but when it comes
to being the head of DHH, she’s pro-family.
Louisiana Right to Life Executive Director Benjamin
Clapper says Governor John Bel Edwards named a DHH
secretary with stances incompatible with his own pro-life
values.
But Gee says she is committed to upholding the views of
the governor in this role.
President Obama will propose a $10 per barrel fee on oil to
be paid by oil companies in order to fund a clean energy
transport system.
Republicans were quick to declare the plan "dead on
arrival" in Congress.
Critics say the fee will, of course, be passed on to
consumers, with higher gasoline taxes a likely target.
The fee would be phased in over five years and would
provide $20 billion per year for //traffic reduction,
investment in transit systems and other modes of
transport such as high-speed rail.
It would also offer $10 billion to encourage investment in
clean transport at the regional level.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said that once again, the
president expects hardworking consumers to pay for his
out of touch climate agenda.
The White House claims the added cost of gasoline would
incentivize the private sector to reduce the reliance on oil
and to increase investment in clean energy technology.
The plan also saw opposition from advocates for the oil
industry, who warned it would only harm consumers.
Amid growing reports of irregularities in the Iowa
Democratic caucuses, Bernie Sanders’s presidential
campaign says the state Democratic Party has rebuffed its
initial requests for paper records tallying the votes in each
precinct that were used to determine Hillary Clinton’s
narrow victory.
Sanders’s supporters have complained in recent days that
some caucuses, which were administered by the Iowa
Democratic Party, were disorganized. In at least one case,
Sanders’s backers say, results were not reported
accurately to the state party.
The campaign has declined to discuss what options they
may have to protest the results.
The Des Moines Register published a scathing editorial
yesterday under the headline, “Something Smells in the
Democratic Party.”
Russia seemingly has ignored Secretary of State John
Kerry’s appeals to stop bombing civilians and allow critical
humanitarian aid to starving Syrians.
Instead, Moscow is escalating its military involvement,
deploying four of its most capable fighter jets to Syria.
That move poses yet another hurdle for Kerry’s efforts to
proceed with peace talks.
The Su-35S is Russia’s most advanced warplane, capable
of air-to-air and air-to-ground missions.
Continued Russian airstrikes against Syrian opposition
fighters, some backed by the CIA, were enough to derail
proposed peace talks in Geneva on Wednesday.