By Greg LaRose | Editor-in-Chief
So what’s the big deal about regulating artificial intelligence at the state level in Louisiana? Senior Reporter Julie O’Donoghue dives into both sides of the debate in the latest episode of “The Light Switch.“ Listen now.
Fireboats pour water on the flames of the Deepwater Horizon drilling structure on April 21, 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico. Eleven crew members on the rig died in the offshore drilling disaster that coated the Gulf Coast with oil from the resulting underwater leak. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)
By Elise Plunk
Environmental groups are suing the Trump administration over its approval of the first British Petroleum drilling project in the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon disaster 16 years ago this week. The suit alleges BP failed to prove it has the capacity to drill safely within the Kaskida project’s location, which the plaintiffs say will be in riskier waters and drill deeper underground than the Deepwater Horizon.
See related commentary below
Kim Hunter Reed, Louisiana’s commissioner of higher education. (Photo courtesy of the Louisiana Board of Regents)
By Piper Hutchinson
The Louisiana Legislature is deciding whether to reduce, redefine or abolish the state’s higher education oversight board as multiple state universities struggle through budget crises and the federal government probes minority student completion goals.
Calvin Duncan is sworn in as Clerk of Criminal Court at Orleans Parish Criminal District Court on April 21, 2026. (Photo by Christiana Botic/Verite News)
By Robert Stewart, Verite
Calvin Duncan, who won the Orleans Parish Criminal Court clerk race in November, was sworn into office on Tuesday on the courthouse steps. Duncan is set to assume office on May 4, unless the Louisiana Legislature and Republican Gov. Jeff Landry eliminate the position altogether.
By Jonathan Shorman
A dozen Republican state attorneys general are moving to defend President Donald Trump’s executive order on mail ballots from legal challenges mounted by Democrats. The GOP officials, including Louisiana’s Liz Murrill, argued in multiple court filings Monday and Tuesday in response to Democratic lawsuits that the March 31 order provides states with “optional resources” to help secure their elections and doesn’t endanger voting rights.
COMMENTARY
By Charles Sutcliffe
For more than a decade, Louisiana used funds from the BP oil spill settlement to build barrier islands, marshes, oyster reefs and recreational projects, all while engineering and design work progressed on the largest and most important projects of all — sediment diversions. Then, Gov. Jeff Landry took office in 2024, and that progress was not only halted but reversed.
D.C. DIGEST
Congress struggles with ethics investigations questions | States Newsroom
Democrats see Trump’s Fed chair nominee as ‘sock puppet’ | States Newsroom
NEWS FROM THE STATES
Abortion ban proposal punishing women heads toward roadblock | SC Daily Gazette
Wanted: Good homes for 15 desert tortoises up for adoption | UT News Dispatch
Thanks for reading Morning Look. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.