By Greg LaRose | Editor-in-Chief
We’ve got a full recap of the results from the U.S. Senate party runoff elections at our homepage. Keep scrolling for a look at the week that was.
Federal courts earlier this month stopped Jeffery Lee’s scheduled execution by nitrogen gas in Alabama, a decision that could reverberate through the country. (Alabama Department of Corrections)
By Ralph Chapoco
Two federal court rulings earlier this month that barred Alabama from carrying out nitrogen gas executions could echo beyond the state, say experts. The man behind the legislation to authorize the method’s use in Louisiana said officials here will have to look at other ways to fulfill the death penalty if nitrogen hypoxia is ultimately ruled unconstitutional.
By Greg LaRose
Gov. Jeff Landry has received the number of votes he needs from state lawmakers for his plan to provide pay stipends to public school teachers and support workers next school year. But he still has another obstacle to overcome: A lawsuit has challenged whether he can take $168 million from K-12 school operations to cover the cost of the stipends. A judge’s temporary restraining order prevents the Landry administration from moving forward at least until a hearing in the case Monday.
By Greg LaRose
Projects planned for New Orleans and groups that serve Black communities throughout the state saw some of the biggest cuts from Gov. Jeff Landry’s veto pen, based on a review of his line-item revisions to the state spending plan. The governor has framed the reductions as fulfilling his promise to ensure the best use of public money, but lawmakers who had state spending pulled from their districts see Landry’s vetoes as retribution for voting against legislation he supported.
MORE LOUISIANA NEWS
Entergy Louisiana CEO Phillip May, right, accepts a copy of an executive order Gov. Jeff Landry signed Thursday, June 25, 2026. (Greg LaRose/LAI)
Gov. Jeff Landry says an executive order he signed will protect Louisiana’s household utility customers from covering the costs of power-hungry data centers, but he also made the case for the state continuing to lay out the red carpet for the massive developments.
After the Trump administration’s Medicaid cuts led its two Louisiana clinics to close last fall, Planned Parenthood intends to open a clinic in New Orleans later this year. The leader of the regional organization behind these plans said she’s prepared for any obstacles conservative officials might place in its path, including litigation if necessary.
An attempt to bolster regulation and research for one of Louisiana’s most popular offshore sport fish species has been deep-sixed. Gov. Jeff Landry vetoed a bill that would designate the Atlantic tarpon as a saltwater game fish in Louisiana, against the wishes of wildlife advocates.
IN NATIONAL NEWS
Roundup weed killing products are on the shelf at a home improvement store in Chicago. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
State courts cannot find liability for labeling shortcomings in pesticides and similar products because such products are covered by federal law, the U.S. Supreme Court said in a decision backing agricultural giant Monsanto. The justices, in a 7-2 decision, threw out a $1.25 million verdict a court awarded to a man who said long-term use of the weedkiller Roundup caused him to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
More states are enacting laws that give greater power to political appointees in higher education while weakening tenure protections and faculty sway over curriculum and university leadership. Supporters of such measures frame them as efforts to hold taxpayer-funded public colleges and universities accountable at a time when many Americans are questioning the value of increasingly expensive college degrees.
A new study found that, since the decision overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022, miscarriage management has shifted away from medical intervention toward more of a “wait-and-see” approach in states where abortion bans took effect. Anti-abortion groups blame doctors and abortion-rights advocates for creating confusion around the medical exceptions in abortion bans, insisting it is clear what is a medically indicated abortion and what is purely elective.
COMMENTARY
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