Louisiana

Crime tops concerns across Louisiana, WBRZ poll finds

Published

2 years ago

August 24, 2023

Crime tops concerns across Louisiana, WBRZ poll finds

BATON ROUGE – Louisiana voters name crime and violence as their top concern, with education close behind. That’s according to a new WBRZ News 2 poll.

When asked to identify the most important problem facing the state, 18 percent of respondents listed crime and violence. Another 16 percent named education, followed by high insurance rates (16 percent) and economic growth and employment (11 percent).

Crime and violence also landed atop the list when a respondent’s “second most important” answer is included. About 33 percent ranked crime first or second among their concerns, with 30 percent making education one of their top two issues.

Landry, Wilson likely to advance, but one of them is ‘best positioned’ to become governor

Though it’s been the talk of the town locally — with the massive I-10 overhaul on the horizon — roads and bridges rated fifth statewide in the poll.

Nearly one in five respondents answered “all of the above” rather than choosing specific areas of concern.

Slightly more than half of voters want officials to get rougher on crime and extend sentences, while 41 percent want to see renewed emphasis on systemic issues of race, poverty and unemployment instead of more incarceration.

The poll was conducted last week by Faucheux Strategies. Other media outlets in the polling partnership include WWL-TV, KTBS-TV, KATC, and The Times-Picayune/The Advocate. The Urban League of Louisiana and the Public Affairs Research Council round out the sponsorship group.

Faucheux Strategies is a nonpartisan research company. The margin of error for the full polling sample is 3.46 percent, with 800 completed surveys included in the results of the poll.

Sixty-four percent of respondents are white, 30 percent Black and six percent other.

Interviews were conducted via cell phones and landlines.

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Louisiana

Woodside Courts Aramco for Louisiana LNG Stake | OilPrice.com

Published

9 hours ago

May 14, 2025

Press Room

Woodside Courts Aramco for Louisiana LNG Stake | OilPrice.com

Australia’s Woodside Energy and Saudi Aramco have signed an agreement to explore cooperation opportunities that may include the Saudi company buying a stake in the Louisiana LNG project.

The agreement is non-binding, Woodside said, adding that it could involve “Aramco’s potential acquisition of an equity interest in and LNG offtake from the Louisiana LNG project.”

Woodside’s CEO, Meg O’Neill, said the deal was “another demonstration of the ongoing interest Louisiana LNG is generating among high-quality potential investors, following our recent agreement with Stonepeak to acquire a 40% interest in the project’s infrastructure holding company.”

The Australian energy major announced the final investment decision on the $17.5-billion facility in late April, with first production scheduled for 2029. The facility is designed to have three liquefaction trains with a total capacity of 16.5 million tons annually.

This would boost Woodside’s total LNG capacity to 24 million tons annually by next decade, the company said earlier. Woodside also has permits to expand the Louisiana LNG facility by another two trains, which would boost its capacity to a total 27.6 million tons annually.

Woodside bought the former Driftwood LNG project as part of its acquisition of Tellurian for $1.2 billion last year. The deal “adds a scalable US LNG development opportunity to our existing approximately 10 Mtpa of equity LNG in Australia,” Woodside chief executive Meg O’Neill said at the time. Then, this year, reports emerged that Woodside was looking for partners in the projects, seeking to sell up to 50% of the ownership.

The Australian company has already sold a 40% stake in Louisiana LNG to infrastructure investors Stonepeak, with the latter committing to cover $5.7 billion of the total capex for the project, equal to 75% of the 2025 and 2026 capex. Woodside wants to sell another 20-30% in the project. Woodside eyes net operating cash income of some $2 billion annually from Louisiana LNG, beginning the 2030s.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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Louisiana

British Tiktokers sample south Louisiana cuisine, swamp tour on visit to Houma

Published

1 day ago

May 13, 2025

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British Tiktokers sample south Louisiana cuisine, swamp tour on visit to Houma

British TikTokers Joshua Cauldwell-Clarke and Jason Riley visited Houma, Louisiana, documenting their culinary and wildlife experiences.
The duo sampled barbecue at Big Mike’s BBQ Smokehouse, trying various dishes including brisket and ribs.
They then embarked on a swamp tour with Cajun Man Swamp Tours, where they observed and fed alligators.

Two traveling British TikTokers visited Houma for some local flavor and to check out the wildlife.

Joshua Cauldwell-Clarke and Jason Riley are from Nottingham in the United Kingdom, best known from their on-camera reactions to American cuisine as @JohnandJase on TikTok. They currently are traveling through southern Louisiana. They stopped in Houma May 12, where they ate at Big Mike’s BBQ Smokehouse and then went on Cajun Man Swamp Tours.

“That’s the size of my head,” Cauldwell-Clarke said, holding a slab of brisket next to his head. He then took a bite, eyes rolling back as he chewed, “That’s good brisket.”

The two ate three trays of food and many large plastic cups of sides. Owner, operator and pitmaster Mike “Big Mike” Lewis was seated just off camera as the two ate. The meal included mac n cheese balls, ribs, brisket, beans, mac and cheese, green beans and banana pudding.

“They were pretty cool guys,” Lewis said. “It was fun.”

After scarfing down the massive meal, the two headed to the swamps with Captain Billy Gaston giving them an up-close experience with some alligators. Gaston is the owner and operator of Cajun Man Swamp Tours, which operates in Gibson.

“They wanted to wrestle the alligators, but I told ‘em my insurance wouldn’t cover it,” Gaston said.

Instead, he gave the two a long metal pole with a hook with pieces of chicken on the end, and the two fed the gators.

“They’re so strong aren’t they,” Riley said after the gator pulled the chicken from the pole.

While in Houma, the two announced they are having a raffle for Americans to visit the United Kingdom. To enter into the drawing click here, or visit their TikTok.

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From John Foster’s audition to ‘American Idol’ top 5, see 11 of his performances

Published

2 days ago

May 12, 2025

Press Room

From John Foster’s audition to ‘American Idol’ top 5, see 11 of his performances

Louisiana teen John Foster stole the hearts (and stomachs) of the “American Idol” judges when he showed up to his audition in Nashville, Tennessee, with Cajun food from his family’s business in Addis, Benoit’s Country Meat Block.

He walked in with three small plastic coolers filled with boudin, Benoit’s seasoning and beef jerky and proceeded to tell the judges about his hopes to go to medical school. He’s currently enrolled at LSU, studying biology.

“I have a passion for cancer treatment, so the dream is to be a singing oncologist,” he said.

Since his audition, Foster has climbed his way to the top five in the show, performing songs like “Callin’ Baton Rouge,” “Jailhouse Rock” and Disney’s “Almost There.” On Monday night, he’ll perform at 7 p.m. on ABC for a chance in the show’s top 3. Those in the top 3 will head into the Sunday finale.

Take a look at Foster’s performances on “American Idol” thus far.

Cajun charm and Conway Twitty

Foster, 18, first performed “Don’t Rock the Jukebox” by Alan Jackson for his Nashville audition. Then, “Idol” judge Carrie Underwood asked him for another song that would showcase his vocals a bit more.

“Goodbye Time” by Conway Twitty proved to be the perfect choice for Foster to receive his golden ticket to Hollywood.

“You’ve got a lot of great tools. That last song really showed us that,” judge Luke Bryan said.

Hollywood week

The show’s “Hollywood Week” is historically stressful for the participants, with the judges making big cuts to the number of contestants. Foster performed “In Color” by Jamey Johnson.

Johnson is a Grammy-nominated country music singer and songwriter who is a Grand Ole Opry member.

Top 24

After pulling an all-nighter in preparation for the show’s duets round, Foster makes the top 24. The contestants headed to Aulani, a Disney resort in Ko Olina, Hawaii, where Foster took it up a notch in his energy levels with “Callin’ Baton Rouge,” by Garth Brooks.

“I haven’t really shown America or the judges what I can do with a really energetic song. I’m usually a slow, sad ballad guy,” Foster told guest mentor Josh Groban prior to taking the stage.

While performing, Foster was lively, and the crowd and judge Underwood sang along.

Top 20

Foster sang an original song to gain a spot in the top 20. He performed “Tell That Angel I Love Her,” in honor of his friend Maggie Dunn, who was killed on New Year’s Eve in 2022 when an Addis police officer ran a red light during a high-speed pursuit.

Foster’s family, along with Dunn’s mother, Erin Martin, and friend Leslie Kleinpeter were in the studio audience for the show.

“When you open your mouth on this song, you’re country, but you’re also storytelling country, judge Lionel Richie told Foster. “Now, whether that’s old, new, happening now, later, whatever the case may be, it was so believable and I heard every word of every part of your story and that’s what great music is about.”

Top 14

For a spot in “Idol’s” top 14, Foster covered Brooks and Dunn’s 1991 “Neon Moon.” During this episode, LSU student Baylee Littrell was one of six contestants sent home.

After Foster performed, all three judges were on their feet with applause.

Top 12

Music icon James Taylor mentored Foster before his tribute to Elvis’ 1957 hit “Jailhouse Rock,” which earned him a spot in the top 12. Foster steered clear of the Elvis impersonator route, which proved to be useful.

“John, I’m very proud of you on that one. It was exactly what you wanted — it wasn’t like an Elvis imper(sonator), it was just John Foster doing Elvis. It was very comfortable just watching you,” judge Luke Bryan said.

Underwood wrapped up the critiques with, “That was such a great song choice, you were having fun with it, you made it your own and I feel like I was watching like a young Dwight Yoakam up there.”

Top 10

Despite ditching his guitar, Foster was pure country when he covered “I Told You So,” which Underwood and Randy Travis performed on “Idol” in 2009.

“Idol” winner Fantasia mentored Foster, who she said looks like “a little Ken doll.”

“I’ve never been called a Ken doll before, but to be called a Ken doll by Fantasia was quite the compliment,” Foster said.

When Foster told her that he planned to sit during his performance, a first for him, she urged Foster to do a modulation on the song.

“He has a beautiful voice,” she said. “It’s like water, and I didn’t want it to get lost.”

Top 8

For the show’s “Iconic Women in Music” night, Foster covered Bonnie Raitt’s “Something to Talk About” to make it into the top 8. Miranda Lambert served as a guest mentor.

During his session with Lambert, Foster admitted that she was his first crush.

“I had a really hard time making eye contact with her because, you know, she was my first childhood crush. I was too nervous,” Foster said on the show.

Lambert encouraged him to interact with the crowd during his performance, which he did while sporting a cowboy hat and his guitar.

Top 7

Judge and former “Idol” winner Underwood offered George Strait’s “I Cross My Heart” for Foster to sing during the show’s “Judges’ Choice” night. Foster went with Underwood’s pick, one of three songs the judges chose for the finalist to perform.

While Foster honored Straight, he also dedicated the song to his girlfriend, Brooklyn Bourque, who got time in the spotlight during the episode.

“I’ve never been able to perform a love song that I’ve actually meant. I’m now dating someone, we’ve almost been dating for a year now,” Foster said. “I’m really excited to take the stage again. Brooklyn, this one’s for you.”

Top 5

Foster moved his way up in the competition to “Idol’s” top 5. On Sunday night’s show, the remaining seven contestants were trimmed to five, Foster included.

He performed “Almost There,” from the film “The Princess and the Frog,” for the show’s “Disney nights,” a tribute to his Louisiana roots.

Later in the Mother’s Day episode, Foster sang Brooks and Dunn’s “Believe” to his mother, Amanda Benoit.

Lin-Manuel Miranda was the mentor for contestants Sunday night and is expected to return for Monday night’s show.

Foster and the other four contestants will perform again at 7 p.m. Monday on ABC for part two of the show’s Disney nights. After voting, the top 3 will be announced and will head into the Sunday finale.

The show streams the next day on Hulu. Voting is only allowed while the show airs.

To help put Louisiana teen in the top 3, here’s how to vote (up to 30 times):

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