News

Minimum wage hike, equal pay bills fail in La. Senate

BATON ROUGE (AP) — Louisiana won’t be joining 29 other states in paying a minimum wage higher than the federally-set rate, as Gov. John Bel Edwards saw one of his signature legislative efforts fail for a third year in a row.

The Senate on Tuesday refused to hike the rate from the $7.25-per-hour federal level to $8 per hour in 2019 and $8.50 a year later.

Seventeen senators voted for the bill by New Orleans Sen. Troy Carter, a Democrat. Twenty-one senators opposed it.

Local man charged with felony theft

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Jeff Davis Parish Sheriff’s detectives arrested a man Tuesday afternoon on one count of access device fraud and one count of theft between $5,000 and $25,000, a felony.

Chief Deputy Chris Ivey said detectives received ta complaint from the victim in the case in February and determined by transaction records that the offenses occurred between September 2016 and February 2018.

Trump: Good chance NKorean leader will do ‘what’s right’

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday there’s “a good chance” that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will “do what is right for his people and for humanity” and make moves toward peace.

In a pair of morning tweets, Trump says he received a message from Chinese President Xi Jinping that a meeting Xi had with Kim this week “went very well.”

Trump says that according to Xi, the North Korean leader “looks forward” to meeting the American president. The White House has said Trump plans to meet Kim by May amid nuclear tensions between the two nations.

Female candidates stress gender, motherhood

ATLANTA (AP) — Women running for governor in Wisconsin and Maryland breastfeed their infants in their campaign videos. Another in Georgia tells voters that “the folks who have held the office of governor don’t look like me.”

The record number of women expected to run for office this year are already breaking barriers, upending traditional campaigning by emphasizing their gender as they introduce themselves to an electorate they hope is eager for change.

Egypt votes on final day, with all eyes on turnout

CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian authorities have warned people to vote or risk paying a fine, as they look to boost turnout in a lackluster election that is virtually guaranteed to hand President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi a second four-year term.

El-Sissi faces only a token opponent in the vote, which resembles the referendums held by autocrats for decades before the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011 briefly raised hopes of democratic change.

Hamas prepares for mass rallies along Gaza-Israel border

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Gaza’s embattled Hamas rulers are imploring people to march along the border with Israel in the coming weeks in a risky gambit meant to shore up their shaky rule, but with potentially deadly consequences.

Beginning Friday, Hamas hopes it can mobilize large crowds to set up tent camps near the border. It plans a series of demonstrations culminating with a march to the border fence on May 15, the anniversary of Israel’s establishment, known to Palestinians as “the Nakba,” or catastrophe.

Sheriff: Drivers yield to school buses

Officers aggressively enforcing traffic laws

Jeff Davis Parish Sheriff Ivy Woods is asking drivers to adhere to traffic laws when driving near school buses.

Four separate instances of drivers committing traffic violations near school buses have occurred in the past two weeks, Jeff Davis Parish Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Chris Ivey said.

Two of the incidents occurred in the Lacassine area, while another two took place in and near Jennings.

Budget, summer event top Welsh meeting agenda

WELSH – At a special budget meeting held here Tuesday, the board of aldermen discussed allocating money to purchase new equipment and hosting a new summer event.

The meeting was the town’s second special budget meeting. The meetings have been designed for the board to discuss possible spending in the upcoming fiscal year before finalizing the budget scheduled to take effect July 1.

Love of Learning

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The Jeff Davis Title I Parent Center completed its family literary reading program at Jennings Elementary School. The program, Prime Time Family Reading Time, targets children aged 6-10 and their parents in an effort to foster a lifelong love of learning through reading.

Roof repairs on Strand Theatre completed

Residents and employees associated with Strand Theatre need not worry any longer about leaks.

Repairs on the roof, the planning process for which began in September of last year, have been completed.

Lin Fake, Jennings city project coordinator, said he and other employees realized this issue needed to be seriously addressed when they had to cancel the second performance of a play in September due to the stage getting damaged.