Almost 200 years ago, word spread up and down the Mississippi of a horrible disaster.
Almost 200 years ago, word spread up and down the Mississippi of a horrible disaster.
Bare majorities of the House of Representatives and Senate gathered at the Capitol in Baton Rouge Tuesday for just one day in order to beat the March 31 deadline to file legislation for state lawmakers to entertain in this year’s regular session. The Legislature had shut down the session in …
When lawmakers returned to the Capitol Tuesday to reconvene before Ince again temporarily adjourning, Senate President Page Cortez of Lafayette told his colleagues that the regular session had taken on a “fluid nature.” He said fiscal estimates have “become more difficult” and urged senators…
Up and down the Mississippi, the weather turned dangerously frigid.
In October 1804, the Mississippi River and her tributaries were rapidly falling.
The bottom of the Mississippi is a graveyard.
It’s the case that has developed a life of its own.
As many of us already know from “Schoolhouse Rock!” and hopefully civics courses, bills are important to the legislative process because they have the opportunity to become state law. Then there are resolutions, which largely serve as the throat-clearing vehicles of the Louisiana Legislature.
In the years before he became President, Andrew Jackson came to Natchez several times, and once while in town defied the orders of his commander, General James Wilkinson.
While tort reform is expected to dominate the headlines in the regular legislative session that begins next week, it isn’t the only hot topic the Legislature will entertain.
Much has been made in the mainstream media about the supermajority Republicans hold in the Louisiana Senate and the near supermajority they enjoy in the House — possibly at the cost of having a broader conversation regarding the priorities of their Democratic counterparts.
(Sixth and final in a series)
With the 2020 regular legislative session just over the horizon, the Louisiana Association of Business & Industry seems singularly focused on convincing state lawmakers to approve far-reaching tort reform legislation.
(Fifth in Series)
EDITOR’S NOTE: This column was first published the week of Feb. 11, 2019. It is worth revisiting in light of the flap over Gov. John Bel Edwards not including a teacher pay raise in his proposed budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year, which begins July 1.
House Speaker Clay Schexnayder is quite the gearhead, having worked as a certified mechanic before managing and then eventually owning his own garage in Ascension Parish. If you ask Schexnayder, a Republican, about it, he’ll likely start his story where most should — in the beginning.
(Fourth in a Series)
The Republican leadership in the Legislature and Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards are at odds over how much money the state will have at its disposal to spend in the fiscal year that begins July 1.
From 1992 to 2007, during the administrations of former Govs. Edwin Edwards, Mike Foster and Kathleen Blanco, the politics behind the state budget process often played out in quiet corners of the Capitol. The horse-trading was pragmatic at times, due to everyone — the administration, House a…
(Third in a series)
Twelve years ago in Gov. Bobby Jindal’s first year in office, the newly elected governor called a special session for lawmakers to entertain a package of reform bills to improve ethics in state government.
Lately it seems as if everyone in Capitoland will have something to prove when the Louisiana Legislature convenes its first regular session of the term on March 9. Then again, folks who spend or make money on the mechanics of Baton Rouge’s tallest-in-the-nation Capitol building almost always…
(Second in a series)
Fifth District Congressman Ralph Abraham has a big decision to make.
(First in a series)
One of the first documents relating to private ownership of property in Natchez country was signed in London in 1767 by a 29-year-old King who ruled the most powerful nation in the world.
During the winter of 1790 in the days of Spanish rule, a small flotilla of flatboats with 100 settlers from Pennsylvania on board arrived in Natchez.
Monday, Jan. 13 will be a big day in Louisiana.
Someone around the state Capitol should invest in name tags, because they would certainly make a killing during the new term that begins next week.
The river journey down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers during a record cold winter in 1806-07 was one of the most difficult experiences in the life of 26-year-old Peggy Dow,
River journeys during the 17th and 18th centuries were picturesque and hazardous.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Sam Hanna Sr.’s Christmas column is reprinted below in his memory. He published the column each year for many years prior to Christmas. Hanna was owner and publisher of the Concordia Sentinel, The Franklin Sun and The Ouachita Citizen when he died in January 2006.
The birth of Christ more than 2,000 years ago will always be one of the greatest stories ever told, one of great hope in a world that needs hope more than ever.
(Part 2 of 2)
Editor’s Note: This column by Sam Hanna Jr. was first published the week of Dec. 25, 2017. It is timely today in light qualifying for the Monroe mayor’s race scheduled for Jan. 8-Jan. 10.
That didn’t take long.
(Part 1 of 2)
We’ve all read the same statistics, and we’re all well aware that Louisiana more often than not ranks dead last in just about every ranking that purports to grade states on economic activity and quality of life.
If you’re a longtime reader or an occasional follower of Louisiana politics, then you’re likely aware that the state House has an upcoming election for speaker in January. In fact, you probably became aware of the 2020 internal leadership election back in 2016, when the current speaker was elected.
More than 200 years ago, an Ohio teen and future preacher landed in a flatboat below the bluff at Natchez during a trip to New Orleans.
Unbeknownst to the average citizen, there’s some serious politicking still going on Louisiana, some two weeks after voters had their say in the general election.
Some folks are still sitting around trying to figure out how Gov. John Bel Edwards won a second term and shut down a challenge from Baton Rouge businessman Eddie Rispone. Others are still wondering why the GOP secured a supermajority in the Senate but not in the House.
Editor’s Note: This column was first published the week of Nov. 18, 2013. It was edited to reflect the passage of time.
How did Gov. John Bel Edwards win this year’s top race in Louisiana? Unlike previous cycles, which were soaked in twists and turns and mired by complex themes and players, Edwards pulled it off in a rather rudimentary A-to-B fashion.
On a Sunday in early July in 1790, word of the sinking of a flatboat during a thunderstorm at a place known as White Cliffs reached Natchez, then a Spanish possession.
On Monday, February 27, 1764, the Loftus Expedition departed New Orleans. The party was primarily made up of the British Army's 22nd Regiment. Some of these men would later fight against the Americans during the revolution.
By the time the final whistle is blown in LSU’s grudge match at Ole Miss Saturday night we should have a pretty good idea who was elected governor, assuming there is no overtime.
There were 40,000 tickets requested for last week’s rally led by President Donald Trump, and just 10,000 seats in the Monroe Civic Center.
Can President Donald Trump elect Eddie Rispone governor?
River journeys during the flatboat era tested the mettle of every man, woman and child onboard.
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