Bad habits: Louisiana isn’t making the cut when it comes to tobacco taxes and tobacco prevention funding, according to the American Lung Association’s State of Tobacco Control 2016 report. Released today, the report shows Louisiana receiving an F in both categories, as well as in a third category on access to tobacco cessation services. The state, however, did receive a B for smoke free air laws. The report, in its 14th year, chides U.S. policymakers in Washington, D.C., and throughout the country for failing to make progress on controlling tobacco use. Louisiana is one of eight states that increased its tobacco tax last year. Facing a budget hole, lawmakers voted last year to increase the cigarette tax by 50 cents to 86 cents per pack and levied a tax on electronic smoking devices. See highlights from the report.
Under new management: The Capital Area Agency on Aging District II has a new executive director. Essie Kennerson has been appointed to take over the agency by the CAAA board of directors, agency president Randal McDonald says in a news release. Kennerson, a 1981 Southern University graduate, previously worked as a senior sales manager for WellCare Health Plans for nine years. She also previously owned and operated Kennerson and Associates and was the regional administrator for SUN Microsystems. The CAAA provides services for seniors and persons with adult onset disabilities and their caregivers in 17 area parishes.
Guilty plea: New York real estate heir Robert Durst pleaded guilty in New Orleans today to a weapons charge and agreed to an 85-month prison sentence, a move that could usher in his extradition to California to face murder charges. The Associated Press reports U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt told Durst that he will not make the plea final before he reviews a pre-sentencing report due in two weeks. The charge stems from his arrest in a New Orleans hotel last year by FBI agents who feared he was about to flee to Cuba. Although Durst waived extradition from the start, he will remain in Louisiana at least until after his sentencing. If the judge accepts the sentence, then the Bureau of Prisons decides where Durst will serve it, though Engelhardt can recommend a prison. Read the full story
