CAMERON PARISH, Louisiana — A dolphin that was found dead on a beach last month was shot by a firearm, federal authorities say, and they’re now offering a reward of up to $20,000 to find out who is responsible.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says in a news release officials with the Southeast Marine Mammal Stranding Hotline were notified about the juvenile bottlenose dolphin on March 13. The dolphin was found on West Mae’s Beach.

The NOAA says a necropsy performed on the dolphin shows its injuries were “consistent with being shot with a firearm.” Multiple bullets were found in the dolphin’s carcass, including in the brain, spinal cord and heart, the NOAA says.

Harassing, harming, killing, or feeding wild dolphins is prohibited under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, according to the NOAA. Violations are punishable by up to $100,000 in fines and up to one year in prison per violation.

Anyone with information on the incident can call the NOAA Enforcement Hotline at 1-800-853-1964. Tips can left anonymously, but a name and contact information are required to be eligible for a reward.

Louisiana’s poorest workers won’t get a minimum wage increase and employers won’t be forced to address the pay gap for women after lawmakers killed bills to address income disparities in the state with the highest poverty rate in the United States.

State senators on the Labor Committee voted to halt Democratic New Orleans Sen. Gary Carter’s bills to create a state minimum wage higher than the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour and an equal pay measure for women. Both 5-2 votes fell along party lines with all five Republicans against the measures and two Democrats in favor.

Meanwhile, the full House advanced measures to reduce unemployment benefits (House Bill 119) and repeal a child labor law requiring employers to give a meal break to teenage workers (House bill 156).

Carter, whose Senate Bill 173 would have created a state minimumum wage at $10 per hour and gradually be raised to $14 per hour, argued that people “should not be living in poverty while working full time.”

But those who opposed the bill like Patrick Robinson with the Louisiana Association for Business and Industry testified that Carter’s bills would create hardships on businesses, trigger job cuts, increase costs to consumers and in the case of the equal pay measure create a hostile work environment.

“It’s bad policy,” Robinson said. “It would make our state less competitive. It would force businesses to cut work forces.”

But others who advocated for the minimum wage bill like Melissa Flournoy of Elevate Louisiana noted 34 other states have already established minimum wages higher than federal law, including northern neighbor Arkansas. Neighoring Texas and Mississippi don’t have state minimum wages.

“Arkansas has an $11 minimum wage and we didn’t hear stories of economic devatation in Arkansas,” Flournoy said. “The Legislature continues to demonize the poor. These invisible men and women toil in back-breaking jobs.”

Carter also said employers who pay what he described as “poverty wages” encourage workers to remain dependent on taxpayer assistance like Medicaid and food stamps even while working full time, placing a burden on the state budget.

“This is an opportunity for people to provide for themselves and their families,” Carter said.

About one in five Louisianians live in poverty.

Louisiana women in particular face bleak circumstances on nearly every front from poverty to life expectancy to education, according to a study released earlier this year.

The WalletHub study ranked Louisiana 50th among states and the District of Columbia as best places for women, ahead of only Oklahoma.

Last spring a WalletHub study ranked Louisiana as the worst state in America for working mothers with data showing moms here are shortchanged on everything from pay to childcare.

The Louisiana House Labor Committee has already rejected a minimum wage bill in the lower chamber, ending the effort for another year.

More: Louisiana women face bleak circumstances, according to new study ranking the state 50th

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.

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RUSTON, La. (KNOE) – The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) gave Louisiana Tech University a “green light” rating, making it one of only two universities in Louisiana and one of 65 institutions nationwide to receive such recognition from the organization.

A green light rating means FIRE has found no written policies that have serious potential to threaten student free speech practices.

Louisiana Tech had a red light rating only one year ago during the summer of 2023, but that quickly changed after FIRE notified the university of what an analysis of its policies found. That winter, Louisiana Tech moved to a yellow light rating when it removed a sexual misconduct provision from its student handbook. FIRE and Louisiana Tech continued to work together and have revised 11 policies in the first quarter of 2024.

“Louisiana Tech, with its commitment to sharing knowledge, expanding ideas, and pursuing discovery, must also provide an environment that upholds free expression in its broadest sense,” said Louisiana Tech President Jim Henderson. “A culture of inquiry and informed argument generates lasting ideas. We appreciate FIRE’s partnership in evaluating our policies to ensure we can meet this ideal we have for our community at large.”

Changes to Louisiana Tech policies include allowing students to decorate their rooms with no restrictions on the content of decorations and allowing student organizations to display signs in university buildings regardless of viewpoints unless the sign violates the law or other university policies. The university also has a bulletin board where students can post without prior approval.

“The ability to post without administrative approval in at least one area on campus is absolutely critical to a healthy campus climate for free expression,” said FIRE Senior Program Officer Mary Griffin. “At a time when other institutions are sharply limiting student expression by censoring unpopular views, Tech’s policy revisions signal to its community that its campus is a place to engage in robust dialogue on the issues of the day.”

FIRE and the University of Louisiana System, which Louisiana Tech is a part of, have worked together for two years to protect students’ free speech. FIRE works with other universities nationwide, free of charge, to revise policies to ensure institutions meet First Amendment standards.

For more information about FIRE and what the organization does, contact FIRE’s campus Policy Reform team at speechcodes@thefire.org.

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