Session 2013
9:27 am
Mon April 8, 2013

Capitol Access: 2013 Session Preview

Lawmakers from across the state convene Monday to kick-off the 2013 legislative session. It’s an odd-numbered year, so officials are tackling mostly fiscal matters – including Governor Bobby Jindal’s proposal to eliminate the income tax. He wants to make up the revenue by increasing the sales tax by 2.25 percent. The proposal has already met a litany of criticism.

Bob Mann – a political analyst and communications director for former Governor Kathleen Blanco – thinks the bill has slim chances. “It looks as if it’s not going to make it out of committee – at least not in its current form," Mann said.

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Melody wakes up very early in the morning to produce regional content for Morning Edition. She began at VPR as a part-time production assistant and was promoted to full-time in 2007. She has also served as a news and editorial assistant for The Burlington Free Press. After graduating from Skidmore College, she spent a year in France working as a high school teaching assistant. Melody grew up on a dairy farm in Addison County. She spends her free time gardening, cooking, and being outside as much as possible.

Credit Chris Miceli

Capitol Access

Your on-ramp for news and insight from the state capitol.

Bayou Garden
6:55 am
Sat April 6, 2013

Proper Watering Key for Container Gardening

Credit Gardening in a Minute
Container gardening enhances an outdoor living space.

Growing plants in containers allows us to grow them in places where there isn't soil like on our porches, decks or patios.


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The Jim Engster Show
4:35 pm
Fri April 5, 2013

MONDAY: Filmmakers Cleve Bailey and Phillip Smith

Jim talks with filmmakers Cleve Bailey and Phillip Smith about their new film "Inclusion Illusion: One Baton Rouge"

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As music director Steve Brown curates and selects the classics you hear during our daytime music programing. 

As a musician, Steve serves as a conductor of the Blacksburg Community Band and is Choir Director for his church. He has also written the book, music, lyrics and orchestrations for musicals ("The Prisoner Of Zenda" and "Road To Paradise"). The Roanoke Symphony will premiere his âââââââ

Credit Doby Photography / NPR

Bruce Auster is NPR's National Security Editor. He's headed the unit since it was established in 2008. Auster directs NPR's coverage of international security issues from Washington – including stories involving the U.S. military, the National Security Council, and the intelligence community. As National Security editor Auster, co-ordinates coverage across NPR News desks and beats. He works closely with the Foreign Desk, Digital Media, and with reporters, editors, and producers on the National Desk.

Before taking on that role, Auster was the Senior Supervising Editor of NPR's Morning Edition for five years. In that role, he defined the editorial agenda for the show, identifying subjects and specific stories Morning Edition should be covering and then helping bring those stories to the air. Auster worked with Morning Edition hosts Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne to bring listeners interviews with leading political, international, and cultural figures.

Before joining NPR, Auster spent sixteen years as a reporter and editor at US News and World Report. He was the magazine's Pentagon correspondent for five years, covering stories from the first Gulf War to the early years of the Clinton administration. Later he did a stint covering national security and the intelligence community. Auster also served as US News's White House correspondent for two years, covering the Clinton White House and the 1996 presidential campaign. He made the jump from reporting to editing at the magazine: He was deputy national and foreign editor and later became deputy investigations editor. In that position, Auster helped direct the magazine's award-winning reporting. The investigative team broke many big stories – the subjects included Pentagon weapons scandals; billion-dollar waste in student loan programs, and the Bush administration's flawed intelligence before the Iraq war.

The Jim Engster Show
11:05 am
Thu April 4, 2013

FRIDAY: State Representative Katrina Jackson, DIG Magazine's Chris Brooks

State Representative Katrina Jackson (D-Monroe) talks with Jim about issues and proposed legislation coming in the 2013 Legislative session, which starts Monday at noon.

A visit with Chris Brooks, of DIG Magazine, to chat about the upcoming Baton Rouge Blues Festival and other local hot topics.


State Budget 2013
5:39 pm
Wed April 3, 2013

Appropriations Questions DOE Surplus

Credit Louisiana House of Representatives
House Appropriations Chairman Jim Fannin and Vice-Chair Simone Champagne hear testimony from Department of Education officials as they continue sifting through the state's proposed budget.

 While departments across the state are seeing steep cuts, the Department of Education has been getting more than it needs, according to accusations Wednesday in a House Appropriations Committee meeting.

Committee chairman Jim Fannin noted: year after year, the department has been allocated more money than it spent. In fiscal year 2012 the department's actual expenditures were $400 million dollars less than its $5.6 billion dollar operating budget.

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The Jim Engster Show
10:28 am
Wed April 3, 2013

THURSDAY: LSU Reveille Editor Andrea Gallo, Conservative Commentator Sherif Girgis

Andrea Gallo, editor of LSU's Reveille student newspaper, talks with Jim about the paper's lawsuit against the university for the secrecy in the recent search for a new chancellor-president.

Conservative commentator Sherif Girgis discusses the U.S. Supreme Court's recent hearing of arguments for and against same-sex marriage.


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