Louisiana
Bill to allow U.S. currency at Louisiana airport vendors authored by Cenla legislator
ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) – A bill in Louisiana’s regular legislative session would require airport vendors to accept cash payments.
Central Louisiana state Representative Chuck Owen (R-District 30) authored House Bill 339, which aims to regulate the forms of payment accepted at air carrier airports and their authorized agents.
“Two years ago, I was going through the Atlanta airport, and I wanted to get a hamburger, and I wanted to use cash, and I couldn’t,” said Owen. “We don’t have to do that in Louisiana.”
At the Louisiana House of Representatives’ Transportation, Highways and Public Works Committee hearing held on March 14, Owen expressed his reasoning further.
“If we have the authority, I would like to ensure that vendors, and I’m not talking about airlines, I’m not talking about rental cars,” Owen said. “I’m talking about vendors where I can buy a Coke, or you can buy a Coke, a hamburger, Representative [Jacob] Braud. Make sure that they accept us greenbacks as a currency.”
HB339 defines “authorized agent” as any non-aeronautical service at the airport that provides business or products not associated with aviation. The measure, if passed through the legislature, would not apply to certain transactions, such as purchasing airline tickets, paying luggage fees, making purchases through the airline or paying rental vehicle fees.
However, for places like England Airpark, this bill would not put a major dent in the vendors at Alexandria International Airport (AEX).
“It’s a bill that requires certain vending types to accept cash payments,” said Ralph Hennessy, executive director for England Airpark. “When you look at the exclusions, it excludes operations of the airlines and the rental car agencies.”
Hennessy said vendors taking cash at AEX has never been an issue.
“Our vending machines already accept credit cards or cash payment and same with our food vendor,” Hennessy said. “It’s going to be seamless for us, business as usual.”
While HB339 will only affect a portion of flyers in Louisiana, Owen said he still wants this to be an option for consumers.
“I think our money is still good at the moment, so that’s all I’m asking, is that vendors at airports accept American currency,” said Owen.
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Project aims to curb dengue by releasing millions of mosquitoes
Google-backed researchers are taking an unusual approach to fighting mosquito-borne diseases: releasing more mosquitoes. The effort, known as Debug, is designed to reduce populations of mosquitoes that spread illnesses such as dengue fever by using specially bred male mosquitoes that cannot produce viable offspring.
Fox – 35 Orlando
Bug spray is an everyday necessity in Louisiana, as mosquitoes in the state are active year-round.
Mosquitoes thrive in Louisiana’s climate, as ample rainfall and bodies of water provide optimal breeding grounds and the insects favor humidity and mild winters.
All of these factors contribute to the state’s high mosquito population, abundant number of mosquito species and high volume of West Nile cases reported annually.
Louisiana and mosquitoes
While the exact count of mosquitoes in Louisiana is impossible to calculate, the state is estimated to have the fourth highest mosquito population in the U.S.
The 10 states with the most mosquitoes, according to World Population Review:
- Alabama
- Florida
- Georgia
- Louisiana
- Montana
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Virginia
The 10 states with the least mosquitoes, according to World Population Review:
- Arizona
- California
- Delaware
- Hawaii
- Nevada
- West Virginia
- Alaska
- Arkansas
- Colorado
- Connecticut
Louisiana has the fourth highest number of mosquito species. How many does the state have?
Louisiana is home to a total of 68 species of mosquito, making it the state with the fourth most species. The three most common species of mosquito in Louisiana include southern house mosquitoes, Asian tiger mosquitoes and floodwater mosquitoes, says J&J Exterminating.
Here’s how Louisiana compares to other states in terms of mosquito species, according to World Population Review:
- Texas: 85
- Florida: 80
- New York: 70
- Louisiana: 68
- Georgia: 63
- South Carolina: 61
- Alabama: 60
- Kentucky: 60
- New Jersey: 60
- North Carolina: 60
- Oklahoma: 60
- Pennsylvania: 60
- Ohio: 59
- Delaware: 57
- Iowa: 57
- New Mexico: 57
- Wisconsin: 56
- Arkansas: 55
- Indiana: 55
- Michigan: 55
- Connecticut: 54
- Illinois: 52
- Massachusetts: 51
- California: 50
- Idaho: 50
- Maryland: 50
- Minnesota: 50
- Mississippi: 50
- Missouri: 50
- Montana: 50
- Nebraska: 50
- Oregon: 50
- Utah: 50
- Virginia: 50
- Rhode Island: 46
- Colorado: 45
- Maine: 45
- Vermont: 45
- Wyoming: 45
- New Hampshire: 43
- South Dakota: 43
- Arizona: 40
- Nevada: 40
- Washington: 40
- North Dakota: 38
- Alaska: 30
- West Virginia: 26
- Tennessee: 9
- Hawaii: 8
- Kansas: 2
Louisiana among states that report the most cases of West Nile virus. How many cases were reported in 2025?
A total of 1,941 cases of West Nile virus were reported in the U.S. in 2025 and 64 were reported in Louisiana the same year, making the state rank ninth for total cases of West Nile reported in 2025.
West Nile virus has been actively spreading throughout Louisiana since its first detection in the state in 2002, says the Louisiana Department of Health.
How Louisiana compares to other states in terms of West Nile virus cases reported in 2025, according to World Population Review:
- Colorado: 283
- Illinois: 136
- Minnesota: 112
- Texas: 104
- California: 98
- North Dakota: 86
- South Dakota: 86
- Pennsylvania: 80
- Louisiana: 64
- Arizona: 63
- New York: 56
- Oklahoma: 53
- Nebraska: 52
- New Mexico: 51
- Iowa: 49
- Utah: 48
- Michigan: 46
- Ohio: 44
- Indiana: 38
- Kentucky: 35
- Missouri: 34
- Mississippi: 32
- Kansas: 29
- Maryland: 27
- Wisconsin: 26
- Virginia: 25
- Alabama: 24
- Arkansas: 24
- New Jersey: 21
- Tennessee: 16
- Georgia: 15
- Wyoming: 14
- Montana: 11
- Idaho: 9
- Massachusetts: 9
- North Carolina: 9
- Connecticut: 6
- Florida: 6
- Washington, D.C.: 4
- South Carolina: 4
- Delaware: 3
- Oregon: 2
- Rhode Island: 2
- Washington: 2
- West Virginia: 2
- Maine: 1
Presley Bo Tyler is the Louisiana Deep South Connect Team reporter for USA Today Network. Find her on X @PresleyTyler02 and email at PTyler@Gannett.com
A Louisiana pastor who assaulted his church’s neighbor last month has been ordered to stay at least 50 yards away from the young man’s home.
Mark Anthony “Tony” Spell, 48, pastor of Life Tabernacle Church near Baton Rouge, was arrested for second-degree battery in June, Roys Report (RR) previously reported. A video of the attack shows Spell punching his 20-year-old neighbor more than 30 times. Spell also threw the man to the ground, sat on top of him, jerked the man’s neck and twisted it, then stood up and kicked him.
A protection order against Spell was issued Friday in Commissioner Kory Tauzin’s Courtroom, reported the Baton Rouge-based Advocate. Tauzin works in the 19th Judicial District Court as a quasi-judge, a person who exercises court-like powers but is not a judge.
The order states that Spell must stay more than 50 yards away from the home of the family that lives across the road from the church, unless he is checking the mail. Spell must also not contact the family in person or electronically, including through social media, the Advocate reported.
RR requested a copy of the protection order from the district clerk but didn’t immediately receive the document.
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RR also emailed Spell at his church for comment, but he didn’t immediately respond.
Spell previously said the 20-year-old neighbor threatened to rape his wife and grandchildren, which the neighbor denied. The two families have been feuding since 2020, when Spell’s church defied COVID-19 lockdown orders.
Scott Sherwin, father of the man Spell punched, had allowed federal authorities to install cameras on his property to surveil the church, RR previously reported. Life Tabernacle is a Oneness Pentecostal church located 14 miles northeast of Baton Rouge.
The elder Sherwin called police on June 25 — two days after Spell’s arrest, according to a police bodycam video obtained by WBRZ-TV Ch. 2, an ABC affiliate in Baton Rouge.
In the police video, Sherwin told police Spell was mowing the church’s lawn at 4 a.m. within 50 yards of his residence. Sherwin told police about a protection order that was in process. Sherwin also said he believed Spell was disturbing the peace and trying to “intimidate” his family by mowing his lawn so early.
“He’s got a protective order and he’s doing this on purpose to keep me and my family awake and drive us insane,” Sherwin told police in the video.
The video next shows police confronting Spell, who was sitting on his mower in the church’s yard. Spell then called Sherwin’s 20-year-old son an anti-gay slur, according to the TV station, which redacted it from the video.
“He’s just sore because I beat the crap out of his f—-t boy,” WBRZ reported Spell saying in the video. “And he’s next if he comes over here and harasses these boys.”
Some teenagers were in the video with Spell holding weed trimmers.
The June incident was at least the second time Spell was arrested for assault, RR previously reported. Spell allegedly backed a bus toward a man who was protesting the church’s decision to stay open during the pandemic. This was also caught on video. Those charges were later dismissed, RR previously reported.
Rebecca Hopkins is a journalist based in Colorado.
Love Our Waterways, a new statewide waterway and shoreline cleanup initiative, will take place throughout Louisiana in September.
Under the auspices of Keep Louisiana Beautiful and Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, the program will involve volunteers, businesses, schools, civic organizations, and community groups in removing litter and debris from Louisiana’s rivers, lakes, bayous, beaches, and shorelines.
World Cleanup Day will take place on Sept. 20, with September globally recognized as Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup Month. Love Our Waterways will serve as a registered effort supporting both initiatives.
Registration is now open at LoveLaWaterways.org. Volunteers can register for a cleanup event or find opportunities to participate. Participants can clean shorelines, clean out drains and ditches, clean by paddle or motorized boat, promote on social media, and/or donate to amplify the impact. Keep Louisiana Beautiful will provide supply boxes for the first 200 groups to register.
Volunteers will also help collect important litter data by documenting the types of debris removed and identifying larger abandoned items, including derelict crab traps, abandoned vessels, and other marine debris. This information will be shared with partner agencies to support future removal efforts.
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