Sunday Brunch

By Greg LaRose | Editor-in-Chief

On this day in history in 1929, the Lateran Treaty took effect. It created Vatican City, the world’s smallest nation with a total area of 0.17 miles.

By Julie O’Donoghue

The Louisiana Legislature included a new round of double-digit pay increases for seven of Gov. Jeff Landry’s 14 cabinet secretaries in the state budget. The pay hikes come at an awkward time as the new budget doesn’t include stipends that public school teachers and support staff workers have received the past three years

By Wes Muller

The right to a jury trial is ingrained in the U.S. Constitution. The Louisiana Constitution goes a step further, guaranteeing a defendant’s right to a jury trial and the right to waive a jury trial that many other states don’t offer. The author of the new state law said it will bring Louisiana in line with those other states.

By Piper Hutchinson

Public universities in Louisiana are walking away from the 2026 legislative session with more authority to increase tuition and fees as well as the ability to punish those responsible for aggressive hazing incidents.  These and other notable changes are in store for higher education in the state. 

The Louisiana Supreme Court has ruled in support of a new state law that eliminates one of Orleans Parish’s two clerk of court positions, blocking the wrongfully convicted man who was elected to the post from taking office.

A compromise over who can help disabled veterans obtain the benefits they’re owed collapsed on the final day of the 2026 legislative session. The law sought to legalize unaccredited claims consultants who help veterans file disability claims in exchange for a portion of their benefits.

Louisiana wildlife regulators have approved a new plan for how to handle a fatal disease that’s spread to the state’s deer population, following the lead of state lawmakers who rolled back restrictions on how they manage the malady.

Several states have enacted or considered laws this year to increase reporting and oversight of child neglect and abuse. Some of the new laws came after high-profile deaths or abuse cases, with lawmakers citing warning signs such as repeated visits from child services or complaints about unsafe family dynamics. The issue often draws support — even unanimously — across party lines.

Black midwives in the South, a region rife with racial disparities in maternal health access and maternal mortality, are leading lawsuits over state regulations that they say limit their ability to provide care.

The federal government released new guidance on how states should roll out the Medicaid work requirements that will affect healthcare coverage for millions of Americans. The new details come as states are staring down the Jan. 1, 2027, deadline to put the requirements in place and have requested more clarity from the feds on how they’re supposed to implement them.

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