Louisiana
Louisiana Legislators Slam ‘Lewd’ Halftime Performance By Rihanna Ahead of Super Bowl LIX, Ask For ‘Family Friendly’ Show
Things are getting a little uneasy in the Big Easy. According to Nola.com, ahead of Kendrick Lamar‘s anticipated halftime show at Feb. 9’s Super Bowl LIX, a group of 17 Republican Louisiana legislators sent a letter to the leaders of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation and the Louisiana Stadium and Expo District claiming that the state’s taxpayers should have a say in what takes place during the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.
Specifically, the note called out what is deemed a “lewd” performance by Rihanna in 2023 and the 2020 halftime show by Jennifer Lopez, during which they said the singer “wore little clothing and was groped by male and female dancers on stage, while the performer made sexually suggestive gestures and performed on a stripper pole.”
“While certainly a large amount of support exists among many Louisianians who are excited about the Super Bowl coming back to New Orleans, many are also hardworking taxpayers with children who have serious concerns about the fact that past Super Bowl halftime performances have been less than family-friendly,” the letter read.
The note does not specifically name Lamar, instead focusing on some past performances, including the infamous 2004 Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake “wardrobe malfunction,” while devoting half a paragraph to a vivid description of Rihanna’s halftime show. It describes the singer “groping herself while she sang song lyrics that were so offensive that few Louisiana adults could read those lyrics before an audience without shame.”
The signatories to the letter said they refused to repeat the lyrics in their note because they are “so offensive.”
“We realize that these past vulgar performances may have been acceptable to the residents of those states where those Super Bowls were held but, in Louisiana, these lewd acts are inappropriate for viewing by children, objectify women, and are simply NOT welcomed by the majority of Louisiana parents,” they wrote.
This year’s game will take place at the Caesars Superdome in the city known for its generous embrace of all manner of debaucherous behavior, including nearly round-the-clock drunken, boisterous tourists stumbling through the legendary French Quarter and women hoisting up their shirts to expose themselves for beads during Mardi Gras.
And while the lawmakers acknowledged that the contracts for next month’s Super Bowl are already signed, they expressed a wish that future contracts for the use of facilities “funded and paid for by Louisiana taxpayers” ensure, in writing, that any performers’ conduct adheres to “Louisiana’s community decency standards.”
Pulitzer Prize honoree and 17-time Grammy winner Lamar will be joined by four-time Grammy winner SZA for this year’s halftime show.
Read the full letter here.
Louisiana
Network outage causing OMV closures across Louisiana
BATON ROUGE (WVUE) — Offices of the Motor Vehicles around the state are experiencing network outages due to connectivity issues related to the installation of new core network equipment.
The Office of Technology Services replaced a legacy piece of hardware on Sunday. While migrating to the new hardware, the old system began to cause issues for the state’s network team. In the fall of 2025, OTS decided to purchase brand-new core network routers and planned on installing them after the 2026 legislative session ended.
“We experienced a similar issue on the last day of the fiscal session last year, so we decided to wait until this year’s session was over before we installed the new hardware,” said Thomas Mule, communications director for OTS. “This weekend we began switching our core network from a 1992 Honda Civic to a 2026 McLaren 750.”
Legacy system failures during migration
On Sunday, the installation of and migration to the new core network began. During the migration, the legacy systems began to fail. When this occurred, the network team paused the migration and addressed the issues. These issues started to manifest in OMV offices across the state.
“As of now, our new core system is up and running. We are experiencing problems with connectivity to the new system. Our team has been working nonstop since Sunday, and will continue to work until our network is back to 100%,” Mule said.
OTS is prioritizing LSP and OMV connectivity and has made tremendous progress since Sunday. Current office status information can be found at www.expresslane.la.gov.
Louisiana
Louisiana Lottery Powerball, Pick 3 results for June 8, 2026
The Louisiana Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at June 8, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from June 8 drawing
03-24-34-43-49, Powerball: 20, Power Play: 3
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from June 8 drawing
2-1-5
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from June 8 drawing
0-3-3-3
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 5 numbers from June 8 drawing
4-9-5-8-2
Check Pick 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
All Louisiana Lottery retailers will redeem prizes up to $600. For prizes over $600, winners can submit winning tickets through the mail or in person at Louisiana Lottery offices. Prizes of over $5,000 must be claimed at Lottery office.
By mail, follow these instructions:
- Sign and complete the information on the back of your winning ticket, ensuring all barcodes are clearly visible (remove all scratch-off material from scratch-off tickets).
- Photocopy the front and back of the ticket (except for Powerball and Mega Millions tickets, as photocopies are not accepted for these games).
- Complete the Louisiana Lottery Prize Claim Form, including your telephone number and mailing address for prize check processing.
- Photocopy your valid driver’s license or current picture identification.
Mail all of the above in a single envelope to:
Louisiana Lottery Headquarters
555 Laurel Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70801
To submit in person, visit Louisiana Lottery headquarters:
555 Laurel Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70801, (225) 297-2000.
Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes of any amount.
Check previous winning numbers and payouts at Louisiana Lottery.
When are the Louisiana Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 3, Pick 4 and Pick 5: Daily at 9:59 p.m. CT.
- Easy 5: 9:59 p.m. CT Wednesday and Saturday.
- Lotto: 9:59 p.m. CT Wednesday and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Louisiana editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Louisiana
ICE facility in Louisiana reports its second detainee death in less than 2 months
A second detainee has died in less than two months at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Louisiana where a recent inspection report found insanitary conditions, problems with medical care and the use of excessive force.
Mamuka Artmeladze, a 43-year-old from the country of Georgia, was found unresponsive June 4 at Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, Louisiana, ICE announced in a press release Sunday. ICE said staff began lifesaving measures before he was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where a doctor pronounced him dead less than an hour later.
Additional circumstances surrounding the death were not available, and ICE said the cause of death is pending an autopsy. Artmeladze had been detained at the facility, managed by the Winn Parish Sheriff’s Office and ICE contractor LaSalle Corrections, for nearly four months.
The facility holds more than 1,500 male detainees, and like the majority of them, Artmeladze did not have a criminal record. Artmeladze entered the country illegally on an unknown date and the Border Patrol allowed him to temporarily remain in the country under ICE supervision after encountering him in September 2022, ICE said. He was arrested in Alabama in February after ICE determined he no longer had lawful status to remain in the U.S.
He is the 19th detainee who has died in ICE custody since Jan. 1 and the second at Winn since April 11. A coroner’s report obtained by The Associated Press shows 49-year-old Alejandro Cabrera Clemente was found unresponsive during a security check that day, staff tried to resuscitate him, and he died after he was taken to the same hospital as Artmeladze.
The coroner ruled that Cabrera, a native of Mexico who had recently lived in Tennessee, died from natural causes due to cardiovascular disease. Cabrera woke up coughing and wheezing about 2½ hours before he was found unresponsive, but said he was OK and went back to sleep, the report said.
A separate ICE report on Cabrera’s death said detainees alerted nearby nursing staff to his unresponsiveness, and they found him “with left-sided facial droop” and his skin discolored due to low blood oxygen. Cabrera received treatment for high blood pressure and other medical problems during his months of detention, the report said.
The deaths come amid mounting scrutiny over whether ICE detention facilities are medically neglecting detainees and forcing them to live in inhumane conditions, charges that ICE denies.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General issued a report last week that said an unannounced inspection at Winn found violations of standards governing environmental health and safety, food service, use-of-force, medical care and other subjects.
The report described water leaking through vents in the kitchen, holes and exposed insulation in the intake building’s ceiling, and food stored in freezers above required temperatures.
Medical staff at Winn failed to keep updated treatment documents and laboratory testing records, which could “negatively impact detainee health care and safety,” the report warned.
The inspection also found violations of use-of-force policies, including an officer who put a detainee in a banned chokehold and a second officer who stabbed a detainee’s thumb with a pen after the detainee refused to remove his hand from a door.
The report said ICE agreed with nine recommendations to improve conditions at Winn, and had implemented several of them.
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