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Louisiana State Police urge caution when using fireworks

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Louisiana State Police urge caution when using fireworks


ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) – As 2025 approaches, it is time to say goodbye to the old year and bring in the new, which for many, includes celebrations.

Troopers with Louisiana State Police are urging the public to remain mindful and prioritize safety if they plan to use fireworks this holiday.

Fireworks can be fun, but they can also be dangerous. If not handled properly, they can lead to accidents, injuries and even fires or death.

State Trooper Casey Wallace stressed the importance of being cautious and responsible during the New Year season. He advised everyone to follow local laws and safety guidelines when using fireworks.

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“Always make sure you’re following the rules and regulations in your area,” Wallace said. “Remember to keep a safe distance, never light fireworks indoors and never let children handle them.”

People need to stay alert and aware of their surroundings to prevent accidents. Wallace pointed out that even seemingly harmless fireworks, like sparklers, can be dangerous if not used carefully.

“Don’t turn a fun family event into something fatal,” he cautioned. “You don’t want to lose a career or, worse, a loved one.”

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in 2023, there were reports of eight deaths and approximately 9,700 injuries from fireworks. Of the eight deaths, five were due to misuse of fireworks, two were caused by device malfunctions and one involved unknown circumstances.

Following safety guidelines and being responsible can help ensure a fun and safe holiday for everyone.

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Clancy DuBos: Louisiana’s Top 10 Political Stories of 2024

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Clancy DuBos: Louisiana’s Top 10 Political Stories of 2024


There were so many big political stories in 2024 that my initial list ran well past the usual dozen or so items. I considered trying to convince my colleagues that a column on the year’s top 17 political stories would be clickbait gold, but then I remembered I’m decades older than most of them and know nothing of how clickbait actually works.

My only recourse was to lump quasi-related stories together to pare down my list to the requisite 10. Even then, at least half of the stories that made the cut involve Gov. Jeff Landry. It’s been that kind of year.






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Clancy DuBos



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1. Jeff Landry’s power grabs — The Man Who Would Be Kingfish got busy in his first year as governor, stirring things up in everybody’s pond. I noted soon after he took office that he was attempting a Huey Long-style power grab. Now, less than a year later, a compliant GOP-dominated Legislature has given him a weaker public records law and absolute control of the most important state boards and commissions, particularly the higher-education boards and the ethics board. Lawmakers also gave him a Sword of Damocles over the state Supreme Court, the Public Service Commission, the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the state’s GOP congressional delegation by subjecting them all to party primaries beginning in 2026. Anyone who represents a conservative district (which is most of them) will be “primaried” on the GOP side if they don’t toe Landry’s line. And he’s just getting started.







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For Sale signs dot the roadways along Little Caillou Road. Many homeowners and realtors say it’s difficult to find buyers who can afford the insurance costs.

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2. Louisiana’s insurance crisis — The irony of the second-biggest story of the year is that Landry and lawmakers did so little about it — beyond making it easier for insurance companies to raise rates, under the unproven theory that it will increase competition and somehow lower rates … eventually. Landry failed to call a special session to deal with the crisis and then vetoed the most important “tort reform” bill that lawmakers passed — handing his trial lawyer friends (read: campaign contributors) a big win.







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Press Robinson, the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit arguing Louisiana should have a second majority-Black congressional district, spoke on the steps of the State Capitol on the first day of a special legislative session on redistricting.



3. Redistricting — Under pressure from federal lawsuits (and with Landry’s support), lawmakers created a second majority-Black congressional district and a second majority-Black Supreme Court district. This story isn’t over, however; the congressional map faces a court challenge.

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4. Criminal justice reforms undone — As promised, the governor called lawmakers into a special session on crime. They promptly rolled back criminal justice reforms that a bipartisan majority of lawmakers approved in 2017. The new “tough on crime” laws guarantee that taxpayers will ultimately pay hundreds of millions of dollars more every year to fund prisons — one of Louisiana’s few growth industries.

5. Landry’s tax package passes, sort of — He didn’t get everything he wanted, but he got what he wanted most: a flat, 3% personal income tax. It’s not tax reform, though. To keep the plan in balance, Landry agreed to raising the state sales tax to 5%. Ironically, poor people won’t be the only ones paying more. Big, out-of-state corporations also will take a hit, despite a nominal reduction in their income tax rate from 7.5% to 5.5% — thanks to Landry and lawmakers eliminating corporate income tax loopholes.







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Senate President Cameron Henry greets Governor Jeff Landry along the Senate gallery on Thursday, May 16, 2024.

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6. The Senate steps up — State senators, led by Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, killed or watered down some of Jeff Landry’s most egregious proposals in his first year as governor — most notably the governor’s repeated attempts to call a quickie constitutional convention. Henry earned widespread praise for his stewardship of the upper chamber throughout the year, particularly for rescuing Landry’s tax plan in the November special session.







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Mayor-President-elect Sid Edwards addresses the Chamber of Commerce of East Baton Rouge Parish at its Cafe Americain luncheon on Monday, December 10, 2024.




7. Sid Edwards wins BR mayor-president’s race — Republican Edwards, a high school football coach with no previous political experience, unseated Democratic two-term East Baton Rouge Parish mayor-president Sharon Weston Broome in a Dec. 7 runoff. Edwards is the first Republican to win the Capital City mayor-president’s job in nearly a quarter-century, and he did it in convincing fashion by capturing 54% of the vote.

8. Henry Whitehorn wins Caddo do-over — Democrat Whitehorn had to prove his worthiness twice to become Caddo Parish’s first Black sheriff. He won by a single vote last year, but the courts tossed that outcome and forced a do-over in March of this year. Whitehorn, a former head of the Louisiana State Police and former Shreveport police chief, garnered a convincing 53% of the vote in his second head-to-head race against Republican John Nickelson. Turnout for the do-over was significantly higher than the 2023 runoff, proving that Whitehorn’s one-vote margin last year was no fluke.

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Comeaux students present a banner they created in attempt to prevent the closure of Comeaux High during a community meeting at Comeaux Park Center for parents, teachers, students, and alumni of Comeaux High School, Tuesday, October 22, 2024.



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9. Lafayette school system in crisis — Addled by declining enrollment and soaring insurance costs, the Lafayette Parish School Board faces a $38 million budget challenge in the current academic year. A consultant hired by the board recommended large-scale school closures and consolidations, but board members last month bowed to public pressure and refused to implement most of those recommendations. Instead, the administration has announced a temporary hiring freeze across all departments.

10. LaToya Cantrell in feds’ sights — New Orleans’ globe-trotting mayor began to look more and more like a target of federal investigators after the feds indicted her bodyguard and a favored city contractor in separate cases. She’s handling the pressure well, however, by maintaining a busy travel schedule at taxpayers’ expense. Meanwhile, the New Orleans City Council filled the Big Easy’s leadership void and challenged Cantrell on several fronts. The council’s latest move was a vote to sidetrack Cantrell’s attempt to give a long-term French Quarter trash collection contract to a political ally who has no experience in trash collection. The French Quarter — and Cantrell — will no doubt draw lots of media attention during the Super Bowl, which New Orleans hosts on Feb. 9. Voters hope both will clean up in time for the big event.

And 2025 promises even more “interesting times.”

Happy holidays, y’all.



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Seeking Louisiana Young Heroes for 2025

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Seeking Louisiana Young Heroes for 2025


Louisiana Public Broadcasting is looking for nominees for its 2025 Louisiana Young Heroes program that identifies exceptional individuals who have excelled in academics, given significantly through public service, overcome adversity,



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Louisiana prisons routinely hold inmates past their release date, Justice Department argues

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Louisiana prisons routinely hold inmates past their release date, Justice Department argues


Louisiana’s prison system routinely holds inmates for weeks or months after they were supposed to be released from custody following the completion of their sentences, the U.S. Justice Department said in a lawsuit filed Friday.

The lawsuit against the state comes after a multi-year investigation into a pattern of “systemic overdetention” that violates inmates’ rights and costs taxpayers millions of dollars per year.

Since at least 2012, more than a quarter of the inmates scheduled to be released from Louisiana prisons have been held past their release dates, according to the DOJ.

LOUISIANA LAWMAKERS WEIGHING CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT THAT WOULD SEND MORE JUVENILE OFFENDERS TO ADULT JAILS

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Louisiana’s prisons often hold inmates long after they were supposed to be released following the completion of their sentences, the DOJ says. (AP)

The Justice Department warned Louisiana officials last year that it may file a lawsuit against the state if it failed to fix the problems. Lawyers for the department argue that the state made “marginal efforts” to address the issues, noting that such attempts at a fix were “inadequate” and showed a “deliberate indifference” to the constitutional rights of inmates.

“[T]he right to individual liberty includes the right to be released from incarceration on time after the term set by the court has ended,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement.

“To incarcerate people indefinitely … not only intrudes on individual liberty, but also erodes public confidence in the fair and just application of our laws,” the statement added.

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More than a quarter of the inmates scheduled to be released from Louisiana prisons since at least 2012 have been held past their release dates, the Department of Justice said. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and state Attorney General Liz Murrill, both Republicans, attributed the problem to the “failed criminal justice reforms” pushed by “the past administration.”

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“This past year, we have taken significant action to keep Louisianans safe and ensure those who commit the crime, also do the time,” Landry and Murrill said in a joint statement to The Associated Press. “The State of Louisiana is committed to preserving the constitutional rights of Louisiana citizens.”

BIDEN CONSIDERS COMMUTING THE SENTENCES OF FEDERAL DEATH ROW INMATES: REPORT

Jeff Landry at CPAC Texas

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry speaks at CPAC Texas 2022 conference at Hilton Anatole. (Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The two state officials also purported that the lawsuit is a last-ditch effort by President Biden, who leaves office next month, arguing that President-elect Trump’s incoming administration would not have pursued the case.

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Advocates have repeatedly challenged the conditions in Louisiana’s prison system, which includes Angola, the largest maximum-security prison in the nation, where inmates pick vegetables by hand on an 18,000-acre lot. The site was once the Angola Plantations, a slave plantation owned by Isaac Franklin and named after Angola, the country of origin for many of the enslaved people who worked there.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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