Ashley Westerman

Gov. Bobby Jindal has remained steadfast thus far in his opposition to expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act saying it’s too expensive and that Medicaid is an outdated, inflexible program. 

Not expanding Medicaid it will have a direct effect on low-to-moderate income New Orleanians.

Gov. Bobby Jindal’s proposed $24.7 billion state budget for the next fiscal year seemingly leaves the state Department of Health and Hospitals relatively unscathed.

Governor Bobby Jindal wants to eliminate the state income tax and make up for the lost revenue by increasing state sales taxes. He is seeking money to run a media campaign in support of his proposal.

But Louisianians are not likely to be asked to vote on the tax reforms until late 2014. So why lobby support from the general public now?  

WRKF’s Ashley Westerman put that question to LSU professor and director of the Manship School’s Public Policy Research Lab Kirby Goidel.

Super Bowl XLVIIgenerated a major boost for Baton Rouge tourism. That’s according to Smith Travel Research, which tracks hotel occupancy nationwide, and capital city tourism officials are pleased with the numbers.

The 85th Academy Awards are this coming Sunday, and Louisiana is very well represented in terms of movies filmed in the Bayou State as well as actors with roots here.

Beasts of the Southern Wild, which was shot in the Terrebonne Parish town of Montegut, has been nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay Adaptation.

At 9, Houma native Quvenzhané Wallis is the youngest nominee ever for Best Actress for her lead role in the film. In the film, Wallis plays Hushpuppy - a rambunctious child who must overcome a great deal of adversity when her world falls apart.

At the end of January, the Louisiana High School Athletic Association voted to separate high school football playoffs into two divisions: one for select admission schools – such as private and parochial schools – and another for non-select public schools. 

Baton Rouge Catholic High School Head Football Coach Dale Weiner is a graduate of Baton Rouge High and has been coaching high school football in Louisiana for 38 years. Although most of his career has been spent at private and parochial schools, he was an assistant coach for two years at a public school.

Weiner said he never conceived the association would take a step like this.

“This kind of came out of left field for me and so, you know, I was a little shocked at the outcome and am disappointed in it," said Weiner.

Weiner says the move essentially changes what LHSAA is all about.

Almost $83 million in cuts to healthcare programs and services went into effect Friday to shore up a mid-year deficit in the state budget. These are separate from a previous round of cuts made in July.

The latest round of reductions includes cuts to services for at-risk children and low-income moms, as well as a one percent drop in the rate paid to hospitals and physicians for non-primary Medicaid services. 

Preliminary data from the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation shows Super Bowl XLVII brought an estimated 150,000 visitors to New Orleans, and is expected to rake in an estimated $432 million for the city’s economy.

Just about 80 miles up the road here in the capital city, tourism spill-over from the Super Bowl-boom gave Baton Rouge a bit of an economic bump as well.

Visit Baton Rouge President and CEO Paul Arrigo says Baton Rouge started planning for Super Bowl 2013 in 2009, when New Orleans was initially chosen for the site.

At the start of the Louisiana Smart Growth Summit in November, keynote speaker Mitchell J. Silver – who works for the Department of City Planning in Raleigh, North Carolina – gave his audience some constructive criticism:

“Baton Rouge, you’re not keeping your young people. They're leaving," said Silver.

As privatization moves forward, the LSU hospital system is focused on partnering with health care providers already operating in the communities where LSU facilities are.