BATON ROUGE — The House passed a package of budget bills on Thursday, including a proposed $38.6 billion state operating budget with pay raises for K-12 teachers and college faculty. The bill also included more money for infrastructure, though it would not give Gov. John Bel Edwards the full $500 million he has sought to lay the groundwork for a new Mississippi River bridge at Baton Rouge. Republican leaders raised concerns about spending $500 million immediately, especially

During winter months we hear few if any buzzing, bothersome gnats, mosquitoes or other airborne pests. Have no fear ... they are near. From the tree canopy to the tree roots insects and many other invertebrates are in diapause waiting to emerge when days grow long and warm. They do so as adults, as pupae (larvae) or as eggs, sometimes in a completely frozen state. Unseen by us in the winter, there is an abundance of life hidden in our forest. From insect larvae growing in pla

BATON ROUGE — Three vaccine-related bills ran into trouble with lawmakers Tuesday during lengthy debates. State Rep. Larry Bagley, R-Stonewall, had proposed a bill that would make it a misdemeanor crime for government agencies and schools to discriminate against people based on their vaccine status. The bill, House Bill 54, was aimed at blocking requirements for people to be vaccinated to access the premises. Bagley ended up returning the bill to the calendar, which means it

BATON ROUGE — For the first time since 2016, a majority of Louisiana residents believe the state is heading in the wrong direction. A survey released Tuesday by the Reilly Center for Media and Public Affairs, part of LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication, showed that two-thirds of Louisiana residents now believe the state is taking a turn for the worse. The report, the first of a six-part series on the annual Louisiana Survey, paints a negative picture about residents’ v

Two men accused of cutting timber to sell as firewood on property on which they did not have permission; one has been charged with timber theft and the other is being sought for a fire that burned 76 acres of timber in LeBlanc, according to the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF). LDAF fire crews responded to the fire on Gitty Up Lane on March11. The fire, located near a site where someone had been cutting down hardwood trees for firewood, was determined t

Victor Hugo Sonderegger, a native of Winnfield and two-time Louisiana state forester, might have been named for the French playwright who was the champion of the people, but his time in office was more characterized by a man alone at the top. There were accomplishments during the 14 years he served, but a reform movement sounded the end of his career. Sonderegger graduated in 1911 from the Biltmore Forest School at Asheville, North Carolina, which provided one year of practic