Stalled: Louisiana will remain the only state in the nation requiring retail florists to pass a licensing exam. The Senate agriculture committee voted 6-1 today against a House-passed bill that would have ended the requirement, stalling the measure. Rep. Julie Emerson, a Carencro Republican, proposed to end florist licensing as part of a broader deregulation effort aimed at shrinking professional licensing requirements. Emerson says some requirements can keep people from using their skills to earn a living and build businesses. But opponents raised safety and public welfare concerns. Read more.
Invasion: Invasive, noxious Cuban tree frogs that eat smaller frogs and grow as big as a human fist have established a population in New Orleans, and officials say they could soon pose a threat to native frogs across the Mississippi River. The U.S. Geological Survey says frogs caught at the Audubon Zoo and at a nearby riverfront park are the first established population of Cuban treefrogs on the U.S. mainland outside Florida, where they’ve been multiplying at least since the 1950s. The captured frogs probably arrived on palm trees from Florida that were planted at the zoo in 2016. Read more.
Matchmaker: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg today unveiled a new dating feature that will match users on the social media site with people they aren’t already friends with, CNBC reports. Facebook users will have to opt-in to build a dating profile, which friends won’t be able to see. Zuckerberg says the feature will be for building real, long-term relationships and not just hook-ups. The dating feature is likely to be a free service, challenging services like Match-owned Tinder which has been rolling out premium, paid features, says Jefferies analyst Brent Thill. Read more.
