Getting squeezed: Looking for someone to ticket? Louisiana legislators are telling officials to steer clear of neighborhood children selling lemonade. The Associated Press reports Louisiana’s state senators came down squarely on the side of the local lemonade stand Wednesday, voting 37-0 for a bill that would exempt minors engaging in sales of less than $500 a year from having to pay an occupational license tax. Sen. Gary Smith, D-Norco, says he introduced the proposal after municipal officials have written tickets to children for not having an occupational license to sell the lemonade. Senators were stunned with the news. Sen. Norby Chabert, R-Houma, simply asked Smith: “Are you serious?” Chabert then urged local officials to use more common sense. Smith’s bill goes next to the House for consideration.
Less than expected: A super PAC supporting state Treasurer John Kennedy in Louisiana’s U.S. Senate race has missed the fundraising mark it expected to reach. The Associated Press reports the Make Louisiana Proud PAC had previously announced that it expected to have more than $2.3 million in the bank to bolster Kennedy’s candidacy for the fundraising quarter that ended in March. But when the fundraising report was filed with the Federal Election Commission last week, it only showed about $337,000 cash on hand. Jason Redmond, executive director of the PAC, says when he announced the much larger figure, he “incorrectly anticipated that a large contribution” would be included in the filing. Kennedy, who sits on a hefty state campaign account, has been expected to donate some of that money to the super PAC ahead of the November election.
Flashing lights: The railroad crossing at Choctaw and North Foster drives in north Baton Rouge ranks tied for eighth in the entire country over the last 10 years for the number of incidents at the crossing with 13. None of the those incidents resulted in injuries or fatalities, the lone bright spot among the 15 crossings spotlighted by the Federal Railroad Administration within the U.S. Department of Transportation. The list is topped by two crossings in Phoenix with 24 and 21 incidents, respectively, and includes a crossing in Evergreen, Alabama, that has been the site of five fatalities. FRA Administrator Sarah Feinberg sent the list with a letter to DOT secretaries across the country to try to push for more safety regulations at crossings. The crossing at Choctaw and North Foster was not among the six closed and nine earmarked for safety upgrades by state and federal officials at a press conference in February.
