Louisiana

Inside a Louisiana NPR station threatened by federal cuts:

Published

6 months ago

June 24, 2025

Press Room

Inside a Louisiana NPR station threatened by federal cuts:

Karen Hua

June 23, 2025 / 8:29 PM EDT
/ CBS News

Before the sun comes up in Shreveport, Louisiana, Jeff Ferrell arrives at the city’s National Public Radio station and turns on the lights.

Ferrell is the news director of Red River Radio and its only full-time news employee. He’s also the on-air host, field reporter, writer and sound editor. Everything that happens in KDAQ’s control room, he does it solo.

From the time he wakes up at 4 a.m., Ferrell spends 15-hour days covering the news in three states. The radio station is part of a network that serves East Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.

Recently, the House approved President Trump’s request to cut funding to NPR.

Jeff Ferrell of Red River Radio, a public radio station in Shreveport, Louisiana.

CBS News
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NPR stations like KDAQ are some of the few sources of news left in the rural region. Often referred to as “news deserts” because of the lack of local news organizations, they would suffer the brunt of the Trump administration’s planned federal funding cuts to public television and radio.

“There are a couple of parishes in Louisiana that have nothing, not even any kind of newspapers,” Ferrell told CBS News. “They’re empty completely. And it’s just like a food desert in an urban area where people can’t get fresh fruit — with us, they can’t get the news.”

Ferrell and Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith say these cuts could have a vital impact on rural communities, especially during the hurricane season when residents rely on public radio broadcasts for life-saving information.

About 19% of Louisiana residents live in poverty, according to the U.S. Census, and 15% don’t have access to the internet. Ferrell said public radio is how many Shreveport residents stay connected to the world. If his station’s funding is cut, there will be less local news service in their area.

“You can’t afford satellite TV, you can’t buy cable, and they’re alone. And so it is a lifeline. And what’s great about this is that they feel connected,” Ferrell said. “Public radio saves lives. The Emergency Broadcast System, without it, people would die.”

Red River Radio General Manager Kermit Poling said the network gets about $160,000 each year from the government. It’s about 15% of their $1 million budget.

“It’s kind of like any nonprofit. You’re always in one form or another asking for donations,” Poling said.

The federal money that Red River Radio receives is part of the $1.1 billion total in proposed cuts for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds to NPR and PBS. NPR and three local stations have joined a lawsuit against the Trump administration over these cuts. A rescissions package to claw back funding for NPR, PBS and international aid approved by the House earlier this month is now headed to the Senate.

The cuts to public broadcasting have been touted by the Trump administration and Republicans as an effort to slash taxpayer funding for news media outlets they accuse of being “liberal” or politically biased in their content. But according to a congressional report obtained by CBS News from Senate Democrats, approximately 60% of the hundreds of radio and television stations that could suffer funding cuts are in Trump-won states.

Rural broadcasters have a harder time raising private funds, and it makes them more vulnerable to the proposed federal funding cuts, the co-chairs of the Public Broadcasting Caucus said earlier this month.

“Public broadcasting represents less than 0.01% of the federal budget, yet its impact reaches every congressional district,” Nevada Republican Rep. Mark Amodei and New York Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman said in a joint statement. “Cutting this funding will not meaningfully reduce the deficit, but it will dismantle a trusted source of information for millions of Americans.”

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Louisiana

Louisiana pastor convicted of abusing teenage congregant

Published

17 minutes ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Louisiana pastor convicted of abusing teenage congregant

A Pentecostal pastor in Louisiana charged with sexually molesting a teenage girl in his church has been convicted of indecent behavior with a juvenile – but was acquitted of the more serious crime of statutory rape.

Milton Otto Martin III, 58, faces up to seven years in prison and must register as a sex offender after a three-day trial in Chalmette, Louisiana, resulted in a guilty verdict against him on Thursday. His sentencing hearing is tentatively set for 15 January in the latest high-profile instance of religious abuse in the New Orleans area.

Authorities who investigated Martin, the pastor of Chalmette’s First Pentecostal Church, spoke with several alleged molestation victims of his. But the jury in his case heard from just two of them, and the charges on which he was tried pertained to only one.

That victim’s attorneys – John Denenea, Richard Trahant and Soren Gisleson – lauded their client for testifying against Martin even as members of the institution’s congregation showed up in large numbers to support him throughout the trial.

“That was the most courageous thing I’ve ever seen a young woman do,” the lawyers remarked in a statement, with Denenea saying it was the first time in his career he and a client of his needed deputies to escort them out the courthouse. “She not only made sure he was accountable for his crimes – she has also protected many other young women from this convicted predator.”

Neither Martin’s attorney, Jeff Hufft, nor his church immediately responded to requests for comment.

The documents containing Martin’s criminal charges alleged that he committed felony carnal knowledge, Louisiana’s formal name for statutory rape, by engaging in oral sex with Denenea’s client when she was 16 in about 2011. The indecent behavior was inflicted on her when she was between the ages of 15 and 17, the charging documents maintained.

A civil lawsuit filed against Martin in parallel detailed how he would allegedly bring the victim – one of his congregants – out on four-wheeler rides and sexually abuse her during breaks that they took during the excursions.

The accuser, now about 30, reported Martin to Louisiana state police before he was arrested in March 2023. Other accusers subsequently came forward with similar allegations dating back further. Martin made bail, pleaded not guilty and underwent trial beginning on Tuesday in front of state court judge Darren Roy.

Denenea said he believed his client’s testimony on Wednesday was pivotal in Martin’s conviction, which was obtained by prosecutors Barry Milligan and Erica Moore of the Louisiana attorney general’s office, according to the agency.

As Denenea put it, it seemed to him Martin’s acquittal stemmed from uncertainty over whether the accuser initially reported being 16 at the time of the alleged carnal knowledge.

State attorney general Liz Murrill said in a statement that it was “great work” my Milligan and Moore “getting justice for this victim”.

“We will never stop fighting to protect the children of Louisiana,” Murrill said.

Martin was remanded without bail to the custody of the local sheriff’s office to await sentencing after the verdict.

The lawsuit that Denenea’s client filed against Martin was stayed while the criminal case was unresolved. It can now proceed, with the plaintiff accusing the First Pentecostal church of doing nothing to investigate earlier sexual abuse claims against Martin.

The plaintiff also accused the Worldwide Pentecostal Fellowships to which the Chalmette church belonged of failing to properly supervise Martin around children, and her lawsuit demands damages from both institutions.

Martin’s prosecution is unrelated to the clergy molestation scandal that drove the Roman Catholic archdiocese of nearby New Orleans into federal bankruptcy court in 2020 – but the two cases do share a few links.

State police detective Scott Rodrigue investigated Martin after also pursuing the retired New Orleans Catholic priest Lawrence Hecker, a serial child molester who had been shielded by his church superiors for decades. Rodrigue’s investigation led to Hecker’s arrest, conviction and life sentence for child rape – shortly before his death in December 2024.

Furthermore, Denenea, Trahant and Gisleson were also the civil attorneys for the victim in Hecker’s criminal case.

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Louisiana

This Japanese partnership will advance carbon capture in Louisiana

Published

12 hours ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Newlab New Orleans is deepening its energy-tech ambitions with a new partnership alongside JERA, Japan’s largest power generator, to accelerate next-generation carbon capture solutions for heavy industries across Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, The Center Square writes.

The collaboration brings JERA Ventures into Newlab’s public-private innovation hub, where startups gain access to lab space and high-end machinery to commercialize technologies aimed at cutting emissions and improving industrial efficiency.

The move builds momentum as Newlab prepares to open its fifth global hub next fall at the former Naval Support Activity site, adding New Orleans to a network that includes Riyadh and Detroit. JERA’s footprint in Louisiana is already growing—from a joint venture on CF Industries’ planned $4 billion low-carbon ammonia plant to investments in solar generation and Haynesville shale assets—positioning the company as a significant player in the state’s clean-energy transition.

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Louisiana

Fed’s ‘Catahoula Crunch’ finished its first week in Louisiana

Published

1 day ago

December 11, 2025

Press Room

Federal immigration authorities are keeping a tight lid on key details as “Catahoula Crunch” closes its first week in southeast Louisiana, Verite writes.

The operation—one of Department of Homeland Security’s largest recent urban crackdowns—began with raids at home-improvement stores and aims for 5,000 arrests, according to plans previously reviewed by the Associated Press. While DHS publicly highlighted arrests of immigrants with violent criminal records, AP data shows fewer than one-third of the 38 detainees in the first two days had prior convictions.

Meanwhile, advocacy groups report widespread fear in Hispanic communities, with residents avoiding hospitals, schools, workplaces and even grocery stores amid sightings of federal agents.

Business impacts are already visible: restaurants and Hispanic-serving corridors like Broad Street appear unusually quiet, with staff shortages forcing menu cuts and temporary closures. School absenteeism has doubled in Jefferson Parish, and protests have spread across New Orleans and surrounding suburbs as local leaders demand transparency around federal tactics.

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