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Louisiana governor poised to sign stringent transgender bathroom bill

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Louisiana governor poised to sign stringent transgender bathroom bill

The Louisiana House and Senate became the latest state legislature to pass a bill aimed at transgender restroom policies, as it approved HB 608 on Friday and sent it to Republican Gov. Jeff Landry’s desk.

The bill, dubbed the “Women’s Safety and Protection Act,” aimed to codify the meanings of “sex,” “male” and “female” in state law, while mandating what sponsors described as protection of women who may be targeted by biological males who elect to use female facilities, including restrooms, prisons and dormitories.

“The legislature finds and declares that physical differences between men and women, however, are enduring, the two sexes are not fungible; a community made up exclusively of one [sex] is different from a community composed of both,” an excerpt of the bill’s text read.

Proponents also wrote that the U.S. Supreme Court recognized through U.S. v. Virginia that there are inherent differences between men and women, and that they remain “cause for celebration, but not for denigration of the members of either sex.” The bill also cites the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

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While Landry’s office did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment, while serving as the state’s attorney general in 2016, Landry pushed back hard against then-President Obama’s scholastic bathroom-related Title IX interpretation.

“Let me be perfectly clear. President Obama and his appointees do not have legal authority to require our children to share locker rooms and bathrooms with children of the opposite sex,” Landry said at the time, WBRZ reported.

Before the bill hit the House floor in Baton Rouge in April, LGBTQ+ advocates criticized it as one of the most restrictive draft policies in the U.S., while claiming it could increase the vulnerability of the transgender community.

Around the same time, Louisiana’s top state education official instructed schools in the Pelican State to ignore Biden administration changes to federal Title IX protections on the gender identity front, according to The Hill.

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Louisiana Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley wrote in a letter to school officials that the federal adjustment conflicts with established state law instructing student-athletes to compete on teams determined by their biological sex.

Brumley and Landry launched a lawsuit against the Biden administration on that front in late April. 

During a press conference, Landry said he wished he could identify as legendary NBA center Shaquille O’Neal in order to try out for Louisiana State University’s basketball team but would be “laughed off the court,” according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

On April 11, the bill originally passed the State House 80-17 after being drafted by State Rep. Roger Wilder III of Denham Springs.

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The likelihood of the bill becoming law illustrates the major shift felt in Louisiana as, in January, the Republican Landry succeeded former Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat who vetoed three related bills in 2023. 

Among the bills Bel Edwards had vetoed included a “pronoun restriction bill,” transgender surgery restrictions, and a version of a policy forwarded in Florida by Gov. Ron DeSantis that critics dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” legislation. 

Bel Edwards had been the only Democratic governor in the heavily-Republican Deep South, with the next closest geographically being North Carolina’s Roy Cooper.

In a veto message at the time, Bel Edwards called the trio of GOP-led bills harmful to “a very small minority, who happen to be comprised of the most vulnerable, fragile, children in our state.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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High school teacher arrested in alleged sex case involving student

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High school teacher arrested in alleged sex case involving student

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A Georgia high school teacher was arrested Wednesday after allegations of inappropriate contact between a teacher and a minor student surfaced at Lee County High School.

Danielle Weaver, 29, of Leesburg, is charged with child molestation and improper sexual contact by an employee, agent or foster parent, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI).

Lee County High School requested the Leesburg Police Department investigate the allegations on Feb. 3, and the GBI was called to assist the following day.

Danielle Weaver, 29, of Leesburg, Ga., is charged with child molestation and improper sexual contact by an employee. (Lee County Sheriff’s Office)

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Investigators identified Weaver as the “subject,” and identified the victim as a student under 18 years old at Lee County High School, according to officials.

GBI agents continued the investigation along with the Leesburg Police Department, and arrest warrants were obtained for Weaver on Tuesday.

A Google Maps street view photo of Lee County High School in Leesburg, Ga. (Google Maps)

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Weaver turned herself in to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday, and was later released on bond, according to a report from WALB News.

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This investigation is active and ongoing, according to the GBI.

The incident allegedly happened at a high school in Georgia. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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Once complete, the case file will be given to the Southwestern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.

Leesburg is located in South Georgia, and is about an hour and a half north of Tallahassee, Florida.

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Lee County High School’s communications team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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Federal court clears way for Ten Commandments to be displayed in Louisiana public school classrooms

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Federal court clears way for Ten Commandments to be displayed in Louisiana public school classrooms

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A federal appeals court cleared the way Friday for a Louisiana law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms, lifting a lower court block and reigniting debate over religion in public education.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit voted 12-6 to lift a block first imposed in 2024, finding it was too early to determine the constitutionality of the law. Critics argue the requirement violates the separation of church and state, while supporters say the Ten Commandments are historical and foundational to U.S. law.

The court said in the majority opinion that it was unclear how schools would display the poster-sized materials, noting that the law allows additional content, like the Mayflower Compact or the Declaration of Independence, to appear alongside the Ten Commandments.

The majority wrote that there were not enough facts to “permit judicial judgment rather than speculation” when evaluating potential First Amendment concerns.

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A federal appeals court on Friday lifted a lower court block on Louisiana’s Ten Commandments classroom law, bringing the measure closer to taking effect. (John Bazemore/AP)

In a concurring opinion, Circuit Judge James Ho, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, wrote that the law was constitutional and “consistent with our founding traditions.”

“It is fully consistent with the Constitution, and what’s more, it reinforces our Founders’ firm belief that the children of America should be educated about the religious foundations and traditions of our country,” Ho said, adding that the law “affirms our Nation’s highest and most noble traditions.”

Circuit Judge James L. Dennis, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, wrote in a dissenting opinion that displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms would amount to “exposing children to government‑endorsed religion in a setting of compulsory attendance.”

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A federal appeals court ruling on Feb. 20 allows Louisiana’s Ten Commandments classroom mandate to proceed for now. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)

“That is precisely the kind of establishment the Framers anticipated and sought to prevent,” he added.

The ACLU of Louisiana and other groups representing the plaintiffs said they would pursue additional legal challenges to block the law.

“Today’s ruling is extremely disappointing and would unnecessarily force Louisiana’s public school families into a game of constitutional whack-a-mole in every school district,” the groups wrote in a joint-statement. “Longstanding judicial precedent makes clear that our clients need not submit to the very harms they are seeking to prevent before taking legal action to protect their rights.”

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Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry praised the appeals court decision on Feb. 20 allowing the Ten Commandments classroom law to move forward. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, file)

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry on Friday praised the court’s decision, writing on Facebook, “Common sense is making a comeback!”

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill issued a statement following the ruling, saying schools “should follow the law.”

“Don’t kill or steal shouldn’t be controversial. My office has issued clear guidance to our public schools on how to comply with the law, and we have created multiple examples of posters demonstrating how it can be applied constitutionally,” she said.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said schools should follow the Ten Commandments display law after a federal appeals court lifted a lower court block on Feb. 20. (Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

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Joseph Davis, an attorney representing Louisiana in the case, celebrated the court’s decision.

“If the ACLU had its way, every trace of religion would be scrubbed from the fabric of our public life,” he said in a statement. “That position is at odds with our nation’s traditions and our Constitution. We’re glad the Fifth Circuit has allowed Louisiana to display the Ten Commandments in its public school classrooms.”

Friday’s ruling came after the full court agreed to reconsider the case, months after a three-judge panel ruled the Louisiana law unconstitutional.

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A similar law in Arkansas faces a federal court challenge, while Texas implemented its own Ten Commandments classroom requirement last year.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Guy Fieri once had ‘nothing else to sign’ on the beach but postcards; now, he’s built a food TV empire

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Guy Fieri once had ‘nothing else to sign’ on the beach but postcards; now, he’s built a food TV empire

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Twenty years ago, a contestant named Guy Fieri on the second season of what was then “The Next Food Network Star” showed up at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival with little more than spiked hair and ambition.

“He came to that festival that year and was walking around signing postcards because he had nothing else to sign,” recalled Lee Brian Schrager, founder of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival and its New York City counterpart.

Today, Fieri is one of the most recognizable faces in food on television. But, in 2006, he was just another up-and-comer working a crowd on the sand.

Speaking to “Fox & Friends” from Miami Beach, Florida, Friday morning, Fieri said he wasn’t chasing TV fame.

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“I was doing what I wanted to do,” he told Steve Doocy while walking the beach. “I wanted to be a great dad. I wanted to be a great husband. I wanted to be a chef. I wanted to own my own restaurant. So, I had accomplished the things I wanted in life and never really saw the other side of it.”

South Beach Wine & Food Festival founder Lee Brian Schrager and celebrity chef Guy Fieri pose for a photograph back in 2009. (South Beach Wine & Food Festival)

Two decades later, Fieri still comes back.

“He’s been part of our festival every year since he won ‘Food Network Star,’” Schrager told Fox News Digital.

The knack for spotting and elevating talent is part of the festival’s legacy as it marks its 25th year in Miami Beach.

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Schrager recalled a similar instinct with Giada De Laurentiis. When her agent suggested she might be ready the following year, Schrager pushed back.

“I said, ‘I don’t want her next year. I want her this year so she’ll remember where she got her big start,’” Schrager said.

Giada De Laurentiis, pictured here in 2015, was another celebrity chef who got her start at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. (Manny Hernandez/Getty Images)

Yet the festival doesn’t claim to have created celebrity chefs.

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“We don’t take responsibility for turning anyone into a superstar,” Schrager told Fox News Digital. “We do take some credit for giving them a platform and putting them in front of their fans.”

“Rock stars became chefs and chefs became rock stars.”

Over the past 20 years, the platform has grown alongside the broader transformation of food culture. 

“Rock stars became chefs and chefs became rock stars,” Schrager said.

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What began as a one-day wine event on the campus of Florida International University evolved after Schrager was tasked with reimagining it. His directive was to “make it better — not bigger, but better.”

Schrager had a solution.

The South Beach Wine & Food Festival is where chefs like Fieri “became rock stars,” said Schrager, founder of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival.  (Jason Koerner/Getty Images)

“Move it to the beach, partner with the Food Network, get all their celebrities and make it more than just local,” Schrager said.

Today, the festival draws marquee names from the culinary world as well as from music and entertainment. Among those who showed up for Thursday night’s Burger Bash event were comedian Bert Kreischer and Cloud 23 hot sauce founder Brooklyn Peltz Beckham.

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Chefs don’t get paid for appearances at the festival.

“If it’s somebody new, the first question out of their agent’s mouth is, ‘Oh, what’s the honorarium? What’s the fee?’ I’m like, ‘Zero,’” Schrager said.

Brooklyn Peltz Beckham is among the celebrities to attend the food festival for free. (Scott Roth/Invision/AP)

The model works, Schrager said, because the festival operates as a nonprofit benefiting FIU’s Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management.

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“Everyone’s doing it to support the cause, or they’re doing it because they want to do it,” Schrager said. “It’s not a bad place to be in the middle of winter.”

Schrager, left, appears along with Rachael Ray and Brooklyn Peltz Beckham onstage at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival’s Burger Bash. (Scott Roth/Invision/AP)

The festival has raised more than $50 million for student scholarships.

“To me, that’s why we do it,” Schrager said.

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Along the way, the festival has outlasted many imitators and weathered shifting food trends by staying nimble.

“We listened to the consumers,” Schrager said. 

Fieri, left, and a shirtless Bert Kreischer share a moment onstage at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. (Jason Koerner/Getty Images)

“There was never any ego involved in this festival.”

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He added, “Our goal was never to be the biggest.”

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“It happens that we turned out to be the biggest, but being the best, or at least doing our best, has always been the most important to me.”

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