Taking heat: A Louisiana House of Representatives candidate for Bossier Parish’s District 8 seat responded Monday after state politics blog The Hayride posted a story with a photo showing him in blackface. As the USA Today Network of Louisiana reports, The Hayride this morning posted a photo of Robbie Gatti, a physical therapist and ordained minister running to replace U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson in the statehouse, dressed as professional golfer Tiger Woods, with his face painted black. “I’m sad that my opponents have taken a good night at church and turned it into negative, political mud, but I’m confident the voters of Bossier will not fall for their desperate attacks,” he says. Gatti, a military officer and the brother of State Sen. Ryan Gatti, explains in a statement that the photo was taken 15 years ago during a fall festival at his church and that all the volunteers were told to dress as famous people. Read the full story.
Crisis mode: Accounting and consulting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers is scrambling to repair its reputation after an Oscars flub Sunday night engulfed the company in crisis, threatening to undermine the auditing firm’s awards monitor reputation as social media users heap scorn upon the company. USA Today reports the company apologized this morning after presenters incorrectly announced La La Land as the Best Picture winner, only to later crown Moonlight the champion. PricewaterhouseCoopers, often popularly referred to as PwC, is responsible for tabulating the results and monitoring the awards distribution. For a company of accountants who pride themselves on their commitment to accuracy, an event that typically burnishes their credibility quickly devolved into a global crisis, as the mistake was seen by millions. Read the full story.
Soaring: OPEC’s Nov. 30 output agreement to cut production by 1.2 million barrels a day may have put a floor under the oil price, but has also awakened U.S. shale, Bloomberg reports. Exploration and production companies have added 77 rigs this year to Feb. 24, according to the latest figures from Baker Hughes, while U.S shale production is forecast to reach about 4.87 million barrels a day in March, according to the Energy Information Administration’s latest Drilling Productivity Report. That’s the highest since May 2016. Read the full story.
