By Elise Plunk | Reporter
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Charlotte Cravins holds artwork that she and her husband, Calvin Bell, completed with their son, Landry Bell, now 2, at a children’s museum in Baton Rouge. (Photo courtesy of Charlotte Cravins)
By Anna Claire Vollers
Landry Bell, who turned 2 in January, was born with Down syndrome and has impaired vision, and he relies on services the federal government is required to provide at the community. But that requirement could be pulled if nine states — including Louisiana — are successful in a lawsuit to force the Trump administration to end protections for people who feel their assigned gender doesn’t align with their identify.
Neuty, the famous nutria raised by the Lacoste family in Metairie, poses for a photo with Gov. Jeff Landry and first lady Sharon Landry. (Photo courtesy of Governor’s office)
By Elise Plunk
Wildlife agents might soon have official rules to follow when seizing wild animals raised as pets or rescued injured animals that are against Louisiana law to keep. The goal would be to release more of them back into the wild and, when it’s been a last resort, put fewer to death.
Gov. Jeff Landry addresses the Louisiana Legislature on opening day of legislative session, Monday, April 14, 2025, at the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge. (Hilary Scheinuk/The Advocate-Pool)
By Wesley Muller
Louisiana governors can only serve two consecutive terms, but nothing in state law prevents them from running again after stepping away for a term — see Edwin Edwards. One lawmaker wants to change that, and he’s threaded the legislative needle with a proposal that would ultimately put the question before state voters.
By Julie O’Donoghue
Two years ago, state lawmakers have granted the state public defender, and by extension the governor, more control over the statewide system of public defenders and its budget. Now the same official is back asking the legislature for more guaranteed funding and to weaken the power of the board that oversees his work.
COMMENTARY
By Ned Randolph
After Louisiana officials welcomed hyper-scale data centers with extractive tax rebates and secretive dealings, a bipartisan wave of resistance is brewing to restrict the very artificial technology the facilities were built to create.
D.C. DIGEST
NEWS FROM THE STATES
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