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Government & Politics
Local Obamacare advocates push to sign up thousands before deadline | The New Orleans Advocate – Only a “handful of people” signed up for Obamacare at a recent event that encouraged the uninsured to register before the March 31 deadline.
RSC Chairman: ‘We’re Not Done’ Until Obamacare Alternative Hits House Floor | Roll Call
House GOP leadership intends to put forward a formal framework for repealing and replacing Obamacare, but has so far stopped short of promising to turn that framework into actual legislative text.
Should leaders decline to take that next step, it won’t sit well with Republican Study Committee Chairman Steve Scalise.
“I feel good about where we are right now,” the Louisiana Republican told CQ Roll Call in a phone interview on Monday, “but we’re not done until we get a bill on the floor.
Unintended consequences | Gambit – Gambit editors argue that legislation imposing new requirements on abortion providers has less to do with making abortion safer and more to do with advancing a pro-life agenda.
Edwin Edwards and his farcical campaign for Congress: Robert Mann | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – Columnist Robert Mann says former governor and convicted felon Edwin Edwards has the right to run for Congress and “make a fool of himself.” However, Edwards “cannot run for office and truthfully tell us he really cares about Louisiana.”
Environment
Garret Graves forgoes coastal position to run for Congress | LaCoastPost – Coastal scientist Len Bahr presents a mostly critical evaluation of Graves’ tenure as state coastal chief.
Did EPA’s Fake Spy Shut Down Real Power Plants? | Wall Street Journal
In his ongoing investigation of fake EPA spy John Beale, Sen. David Vitter (R., La.) is increasingly focused on Beale’s role in leading a 1997 rewrite of federal rules on air quality.
Wal-Mart pushes plan to reduce fertilizer | USA TODAY
Retail giant Wal-Mart could hold a key to reducing water pollution while making agriculture production more efficient in a program that conservationists and agricultural groups are touting as a “win-win.”
Schools
Jindal criticizes Common Core tests | The Advocate – Gov. Bobby Jindal says he won’t support “one-size-fits-all” testing.
Audit reveals problems with student records | The Advocate
The state is ordering a comprehensive review of the records of recent East Baton Rouge Parish public high school graduates after a limited audit, completed last week, found that some students earned grades or credits that differed from those the school system reported to the state.
Netflix’s Reed Hastings has a big idea: Kill elected school boards | The Washington Post – Hastings is the latest charter school advocate to highlight New Orleans as a model for other areas of the country. (Via Jeffrey Bostick at Library Chronicles.)
Land Use
Sold-out condos at former LaSalle school show strength of New Orleans luxury housing market, Wall Street Journal says | Uptown Messenger – Prices for the Uptown condominiums reached $3 million.
Criminal Justice
City, Gusman expected to resume court battle this week | The Advocate
The question of who must pay for the overhaul [of Orleans Parish Prison] could rekindle a standoff between Gusman and Mayor Mitch Landrieu, whose administration resisted the consent decree because of its anticipated price tag.
Owen Courreges: Should fines for minor offenses be ten times higher? | Uptown Messenger – Mayor Mitch Landrieu has pushed the New Orleans Municipal Court to increase bonds for gun cases and make them cash-only.
BEAM: Human Trafficking Really Is A Problem In Louisiana | The Hayride –Columnist Jim Beam argues that sex trafficking merited the attention it received in Gov. Bobby Jindal’s address to the Legislature.