All the right notes: The Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra’s premiere last season, “Jazz Concerto for Piano and Orchestra,” has been awarded an American Prize in Musical Composition. The work, written by Gregory Yasinitsky and accompanied by pianist Willis Delony, came from a commission from Delony in partnership with BRSO. The Concerto debuted last January and has subsequently been performed around the country and abroad.
Viewer discretion advised: Pornographic films won’t be eligible for Louisiana’s film tax credit program, under a bill heading to the governor’s desk. As The Associated Press reports, supporters of the measure say the state Department of Economic Development currently doesn’t issue the tax credits to projects involving pornography. The legislation by Rep. Mark Abraham, R-Lake Charles, will codify that into law. The Senate gave final passage to the measure today with a 31-0 vote. It previously had been approved by lawmakers in the House with a 97-0 vote. If signed, the new law would take effect July 1.
Here’s the plan: President Donald Trump’s long-awaited plan to bring down drug prices, unveiled today, will mostly spare the pharmaceutical industry he previously accused of “getting away with murder” and instead focus on increasing private competition and requiring more openness about costs. In Rose Garden remarks at the White House, Trump called his plan the “most sweeping action in history to lower the price of prescription drugs for the American people.” But it does not include his campaign pledge to use the massive buying power of the government’s Medicare program to directly negotiate lower prices for seniors. The Associated Press has the full story.
