“Of course, serving as state rep’s been a great honor for me, and I certainly intend to run for re-election next year, but I’ve got deep roots in the 5th Congressional District, and it is an intriguing opportunity,” Firment said.

Firment says he believes he would be a very effective U.S. Representative.

“I think I’ve got a track record as a proven conservative, and somebody who will stand up and fight for what’s right and serving for the right reasons; to represent the people, and would certainly bring that same philosophy to Congress,” Firment explained.

Firment says as vast as the newly drawn 5th District is, voters need a representative who can serve the interests of the entire district, regardless of which part of the district he or she is from.

“It’s a district that runs from Bastrop to Bogalusa. And the idea that a particular geographic region needs to hold a seat, it just doesn’t make sense to me,” Firment noted.

Michael Echols is planning on continuing his campaign for the 5th District. Firment says he hopes to make a decision in the next couple weeks. Qualifying runs from August 5th through the 7th.

“Power generation, grid modification and data center construction; these jobs are going to be one of the most stable and in-demand careers over the next decade,” Doukas said.

The academy requires no prior experience and provides tuition, airfare and lodging. Applicants will receive their job training placement and location upon acceptance. Doukas says they will also receive a guaranteed job placement upon graduation from the four to five-week program.

“And so we’re thrilled to be able to marry the two with the Baton Rouge training facility so close to one of our largest, or our largest data center, and definitely down the road,” Doukas noted.

Louisiana joins Texas, Indiana and Ohio as the four states to host pilot locations. Meta has already begun construction on a $27 billion data center in Richland Parish. Doukas says Meta’s partnership with the Associated Builders and Contractors Baton Rouge training facility and its investment in Louisiana make it a perfect location.

“Education is critical. Training is critical. You need a place to practice those skills. You need a place to do those skills, and you need a job to be able to do so,” Doukas explained.

“Those are the trucks, vehicles, delivery vans, plumber vehicles, HVAC; anything that’s owned by a company and moves on wheels; that’s a commercial vehicle. Those rates are still going up,” Temple explained.

Temple says one legislative proposal that could help bring down commercial auto rates is a General Damage Cap bill. He says a person’s medical bills and the cost to repair a damage vehicle would still be covered, but a person involved in a car wreck could not recover damages that are not quantifiable.

“The pain and suffering, if you will, the inconvenience that people get awarded these big numbers. It would put a cap on that,” Temple said.

Temple says 17 other states have a General Damage Cap law, including Mississippi.

Temple says there were several bills in the recently completed legislative session that could have helped bring down commercial auto insurance rates, but they didn’t pass. Including a measure by Shreveport Representative Michael Melerine that said expert witnesses brought in to testify in a trial can only receive a fee for payment.

“Because there are expert witnesses out there, we’re told, that actually, they get a contingent. They could actually make money if the trial goes their way. So it potentially skews what they might have to say,” Temple noted.

The House approved that bill, but it was never heard in the Senate

Early Sunday morning, Louisiana State Police pulled over Victor Rivas, 40, of Montz, on suspicion of DWI along I-310.

However, Rivas was having none of it.

“He ended up jumping off of the elevated portion of I-310 into the swamp,” says LSP Trooper Kyle Wagner. “We (along with St. Charles Parish deputies) eventually located him just walking on a side of Highway 61, where he attempted to evade us again.”

Once again, Rivas’ method of evading law enforcement was to jump into a swamp; but this time, he pressed his luck a little too far.

He ended up face to face with an alligator; and as usual in these encounters, the advantage goes to the alligator, especially in the alligator’s natural habitat.

“He entered the swamp; and while he was swimming across the canal, he was attacked by an alligator,” says Trooper Wagner.

Rivas was lucky not to become the alligator’s late night snack.

“Luckily, he was able to fend off the alligator, and he continued his attempt to evade law enforcement,” says Wagner, “but we eventually were able to bring him in with the help of a drone.”

Victor Rivas, 40. Credit: St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office

Rivas is charged with DWI and resisting an officer.

Additional warrants were obtained for hit and run and careless operation in connection with the earlier crash in Jefferson Parish that led to the traffic stop.

Wagner says before jail, Rivas had to be taken to a hospital to be treated for his bout with the alligator.

“It was obvious that he had been involved in an encounter with an alligator,” Wagner says. “He did have some injuries on both his arms.”

As evidenced by its Facebook page, the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office promoted the alligator, who it identified as Al E. Gator, to the rank of deputy for his heroism.

No word on a potential commendation for the alligator from LSP.

“He’s been exclusively a wide receiver for the first three years,” said Edwards. “He got a little bit of cornerback this past year towards the end of the season due to injury. They might have threw at him ten, 11 times, and he had three interceptions. So once we got that on film, he was just a real natural at catching the ball being a receiver, so he picked up on it real well and kind of took off from there.”

When Davis was in sixth grade, Edwards said his junior high coach told him he would change the Northwest program one day. Edwards has been the Raiders’ head coach for thirteen years and is an Opelousas native, and he couldn’t remember another Power Four commit from the school.

Edwards said, “He definitely raised the play of everybody else. That’s one thing we noticed when these schools started coming around— the level of everyone else. They think they have a chance now. We have a few more kids that are built and look like Markez, and they caught the attention of some guys. So they’re working hard, and it’s just been an overall plus for the program.” ]]> https://louisianaradionetwork.com/2026/06/08/northwest-high-three-star-commits-to-lsu/feed/ 0 https://louisianaradionetwork.com/2026/06/08/46827/ https://louisianaradionetwork.com/2026/06/08/46827/#respond Mon, 08 Jun 2026 18:14:26 +0000 Joe Gallinaro 2026-06-09T02:28:57+00:00 https://d2076.cms.socastsrm.com/?p=46827 <a href='https://www.flickr.com/photos/53133240@N00/25126425340/' target='_blank' rel="noopener noreferrer">liz west</a> / <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/' target='_blank' class='pac-pickapic-CC' rel="noopener noreferrer">CC</a> If you need some extra cash this summer or this fall, why not volunteer to be a poll commissioner? The Secretary of State’s Office needs poll commissioners for the June 27th runoff election and the November 3rd general election. Secretary Nancy Landry says poll workers are essential in keeping elections running smoothly in the state.

“It’s a long day of work, but it’s worth it. It’s very rewarding work. It’s a way to give back to your community and to help us have great elections here in Louisiana,” Landry said.

Landry says poll commissioners can earn up to $200 a day, and commissioners in charge can earn up to $350 a day.

“If you do the November election, that’s right before Christmas; it’s a great way to make some extra money. It’s a wonderful way to give back to your community, meet your neighbors and do your civic duty in your community,” Landry explained.

Landry says there are some requirements in order to be a poll commissioner.

“You have to be a registered voter in Louisiana. You have to attend a training course, and you have to be at least 17 years old and a high school senior. But if your 17 and a high school senior, you can do it even if you’re not registered to vote yet,” Landry noted.

More information is on the Secretary of State’s website: www.la.sos.gov.

“And I know I hit it pretty well; but I was running hard, trying to get to second and thought it was a double until I saw it inch over that wall in right, and our first base coach Daniel Tomlin jumped higher than I’ve ever seen him,” Morris recalled.

The walk-off home run is still the only one in a College World Series Championship game. Morris was batting ninth in the lineup after returning from a wrist surgery just over two weeks before the NCAA tournament. Morris hadn’t hit a home run all season, but he says he told coach Skip Bertman something was different that day.

“I guess it was just meant to be that day. I vividly recall telling him, in batting practice before the game, ‘This is as close to 100% as I’ve been all year,'” Morris noted.

LSU trailed 7-3 in the game before tying it in the eighth. The Hurricanes took back the lead in the top of the ninth and were three outs away from a national title. Down again, with wind blowing in and Miami All-American closer Robbie Morrison on the mound, things were looking bleak for the Tigers, but Morris says he never wavered.

“After the top of the ninth, whenever Miami went ahead, I just, somehow; I didn’t definitely think it was me, but I felt like somehow, some way, we were going to find, get a way to win that game. I just felt like we were a team of destiny,” Morris said.

The walk-off capped off an 8-0 postseason run to a College World Series title.

“There definitely was not notification fast enough, and that’s why we needed this,” Landry explained.

While it was not an inadvertent release, Landry was prompted to author the bill by last year’s jailbreak at the Orleans Parish Jail, in which the public wasn’t notified until about ten hours after ten inmates broke free. Landry wanted to be sure whatever was in her bill was something that would be able to be adhered to.

“I worked pretty closely with the Sheriff’s Association on this, to make sure the protocol is something that they were able to do and that adequately addressed the situation,” Landry said.

For instance, Landry offered an amendment to narrow the scope of her bill, limiting the notification requirement to the inadvertent release of an inmate charged with or convicted of a violent crime.

“If someone’s just there on a check hiding charge, maybe we don’t need to call in the calvary. But if we have someone who is sitting there awaiting murder charges, we need to make sure the public knows right away,” Landry said.

Landry’s bill sailed through the legislature without a dissenting vote at any stage.

“The CWD management zones are utilizing boundaries 15 miles or more from a positive, compared to the 25 miles or more that were used prior,” Bordelon said.

Three of the zones are located in northeast Louisiana, and a fourth zone covers most of Concordia and Avoyelles parishes.

There have been at least 55 confirmed cases of CWD since first detected in Louisiana in 2022. It’s a 100%t fatal, neurodegenerative disease. Bordelon says that’s why the export of deer carcasses outside of the CWD Management Zone is prohibited.

“Deer carcasses may still harbor the infectious material, and if parts from those deer carcasses are disposed of in the environment, they have the potential to cause further infection in new areas,” Bordelon explained.

One of the issues that lawmakers had with the CWD zones was that baiting restrictions penalized hunters and local businesses that rely on deer feed. Bordelon says the new CWC regulations allow from September 1^st to March 31^st, 2027, in the four CWD management zones.

“Baiting, in future years though, will be determined by the prevalence rate and the fact that hunters will need to reach their surveillance goal,” Bordelon noted.

The Louisiana Wildlife Federation opposed easing the baiting restrictions over concerns that bait piles lead to deer congregating, which increases the transmission of the fatal disease.

“A third of kids in this state are in households where the household head is not employed full-time year-round,” Falgoust noted.

Louisiana also ranked low in health and in family and community. Louisiana’s best individual ranking was in education, where it ranked 35th. Falgoust says it’s a testament to the investments the state is making in early childhood education.

“If you get them on the right track early, it will be much easier for schools to do their jobs, when they’re in kindergarten and first grade,” Falgoust explained.

Falgoust says there is a positive to come out of this report – when compared to last year, Louisiana made one of the biggest improvements in the country.

“Louisiana, despite being ranked 48th overall, is improving more than any other state except for South Carolina,” Falgoust said.