News for Thursday 031413

By Dave Graichen

Two legislative budget committees meet together today, to hear the first details of Governor Jindal's proposed tax reforms. The basic plan is to  eliminate income taxes, while raising some sales taxes and enacting  taxes where none existed before.  The House Ways & Means Committee and the Senate Revenue & Fiscal Committee  will get some much-anticipated information on how the Governor proposes

to eliminate income taxes, while staying "revenue neutral". Mr. Jindal  says today's meeting is the first step in a lengthy process.

The Coast Guard says a burning oil pipeline in Bayou Perot, that was struck by a barge  and tugboat, may keep burning another day or more before the oil inside  burns  itself  out.  The  collision  is under

investigation. Four members of the tugboat crew were injured.

Authorities in New Iberia are investigating the stabbing  death of a 34 year-old woman. She was stabbed repeatedly and allegedly  by  her 13  year  old  step-son.  The  woman's  body and was discovered by a

family friend. The teen was arrested without incident.

Barksdale Air Force Base reports that defense  cuts brought about by the  federal  budget  sequestration  mean  the annual  Defenders  of Liberty Air show has been cancelled. The show  was scheduled for the

first weekend in May. The cancellation of the air  show could result in  the  loss  of  some  $5-million  in  economic  impact  for   the Shreveport-Bossier area.

Although Gov. Bobby Jindal has rejected the idea, legislators said Wednesday they want more information about Medicaid expansion and what its impact would be on Louisiana. Sen. Committee Chairman Dan Morrish said after the meeting, the people of the state need to know we are making the right decision. The new federal health care law would expand Medicaid, the state-federal insurance program for the poor and some elderly, to include people who make too much money to qualify for government insurance but too little to buy private policies

A legislator from New Orleans has pre-filed a bill that would not  subject those who are booked with possessing marijuana to the mandatory  minimum sentences. Rep. Austin Badon says people who are busted with a  small amount of pot should not be taken away from their jobs and

families and have their lives destroyed.

Lafayette Congressman Charles Boustany introduces federal legislation  aimed at assuring certain welfare benefits aren't used to by illegal  drugs. Boustany says working people have to stay clean to keep a job,  and eligibility for welfare benefits should be no different. Boustany's House Resolution 1069 would affect recipients of any public  assistance via the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

(TANF) program. He says recipients  who test positive for drugs would have benefits suspended--with

provisions to provide for their dependent children.

The  state  Department of Natural Resources has granted the first of three permits  needed  for  two new salt caverns under Lake Peigneur (pen-YUR) in Iberia Parish and  many  local  residents are not happy

about  it.  They  say   these  two new salt caverns  could  cause  a sinkhole, water contamination, or  explosions.  But  DNR  says  this permit deals strictly with dredging, not drilling.

Governor Jindal met today with Texas Brine, owners of the salt  dome underneath  the  Assumption  Parish  Sinkhole. The Governor says the company will begin the process of offering  property  buyouts to the hundreds  of  residents  who've been evacuated  since  last August.

Bobby Jindal's appointees on the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries  Commission are upset the governor keeps taking money away from the  artificial reef fund to fill holes in the budget. Jindal and lawmakers have taken 45-million dollars out of the reef fund  since 2010 and the governor is proposing to divert 21-more million dollars from this fund to stave off cuts to higher education.

Sports.

This afternoon marks the start of L-S-U's spring football practice. Head  coach Les Miles says this year's team is quite different from last  year's team, after losing several key players to graduation or the N-F-L

Draft. However, Miles says spring practice gives all players, both new  and veteran, a great opportunity to improve...

The  younger  brother  of former L-S-U quarterback Jordan Jefferson, Rickey Jefferson, is in  trouble  with the law. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's  office  says  L-S-U  signee  Rickey  Jefferson  allegedly

attacked  a sheriff's deputy as the  deputy  was  arresting  one  of Jefferson's friends on February 2nd along a Mardi Gras parade route. L-S-U head  coach  Les  Miles  said he cannot comment on the ongoing

situation without having all of the facts.