North Baton Rouge Sen. Regina Barrow faces Gary Chambers in reelection bid

In 2015, when Regina Barrow ran for the state senate post left vacant by Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome, she won an endorsement from an African American-focused online publication called the Rouge Collection, run by the well-known activist Gary Chambers. But as she runs for reelection this year, Barrow won’t be getting the endorsement from the Rouge Collection. Chambers, a 34-year-old who has ascended from a little-known entrepreneur to a prominent — and provocative — voice on issues like criminal justice, is challenging Barrow, 53, for the seat. Both candidates are…

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LOUISIANA PROSECUTORS USE THE ‘HABITUAL OFFENDER’ STATUTE TO JAIL PEOPLE FOR LIFE. ATTORNEYS FOR LIFERS ARE FIGHTING BACK.

Henri Lyles is challenging his life sentence under a statute that penalizes people for prior convictions. A favorable decision by the state Supreme Court would mean that he and a dozen people sentenced to life could one day be freed. On Jan. 2, 2014, the 11-year-old daughter of Henri Pierre Lyles and Imani Wilson died of juvenile bone cancer. Just over one year later, the couple, who were still grieving the loss and coping with trauma and stress, got into an argument at their home in LaPlace, Louisiana, a town…

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‘We’re doing something right in Louisiana’: More people than ever have health insurance here

The number of Americans across the U.S. without health insurance rose for the first time in a decade, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But in Louisiana, more people are covered than ever before, bucking the national trend. Louisiana’s uninsured rate declined slightly from 8.4% in 2017 to 8% percent in 2018, reflecting 19,000 newly covered residents, according the bureau’s annual report on health insurance coverage released Tuesday. Nationally, the uninsured rate is 8.9%. Louisiana is one of 15 states that saw a drop in the uninsured population last year. In…

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Louisiana State University investigating alleged racial slurs used at football game

“The language and words used in this incident do not reflect who we are as a university,” according to LSU’s dean of students. Sept. 9, 2019, 7:08 PM PDT By David K. Li Louisiana State University is investigating an undergrad who allegedly shouted racial slurs at other students during a recent Tigers football game, officials said Monday. The incident happened on Aug. 31 during LSU’s season opener against Georgia Southern at Tigers Stadium in Baton Rouge, when the young white man repeatedly yelled, without provocation, “Get the f–k out Ching chongs”…

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