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• NFL reminds teams of anti-discrimination policy

  April 29, 2013 10:42 AM

  NEW YORK - The NFL has distributed a document to its teams reiterating its anti-discrimination policy on sexual orientation. A memo sent Monday by Commissioner Roger Goodell to ownership, front-office personnel and coaches says: "Please ensure that this document is made available to all players and staff." It includes a... more »

• Attorney: Mayor broke policy to fire Chief Play Video

  February 8, 2013 6:09 PM

  BATON ROUGE - Three days after the East Baton Rouge Mayor's Office abruptly fired the city's police chief, his attorney said the Mayor may not have followed policy when making the decision. Jill Craft, who represents Dewayne White, told News 2 the State Examiner's officer confirmed with her that... more »

• Farmers Insurance pulling out of state

  February 8, 2013 6:18 AM

  BATON ROUGE - State insurance regulators say Farmers Insurance Exchange, which has around 23,000 homeowner and 7,000 auto policies in Louisiana, is dropping those lines of business. Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said Thursday that the company cited substantial losses as a major reason for pulling out of the state's homeowner's... more »

• Obama to promote his agenda to House Democrats

  February 7, 2013 2:50 AM

  WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is promoting his second-term agenda to House Democrats, eager to keep them unified as a bulwark against a Republican majority on issues ranging from the economy to immigration to guns. Obama is meeting with Democratic lawmakers Thursday during their retreat in Lansdowne, Va., one day... more »

• Boy Scouts board meets amid talk of policy on gays

  February 6, 2013 7:12 AM

  IRVING, Texas - The Boy Scouts of America's policy excluding gay members and leaders could be up for a vote as soon as Wednesday, when the organization's national executive board meets behind closed doors under intense pressure from several sides. BSA announced last week it was considering allowing troops to... more »

• Obama speech sets stage for looming policy fights

  January 21, 2013 6:44 AM

  WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has prepared a second inaugural address that broadly lays out his vision for the country's future while leaving the details of the policy fights over taxes, guns, immigration and other divisive issues for another day. White House aides say the president will not make a... more »

• Biden to meet with gun-safety, victims groups

  January 9, 2013 7:27 AM

  WASHINGTON - Vice President Joe Biden will meet at the White House today with victims groups and gun-safety organizations, as the administration seeks to spur action on gun legislation. Biden is holding a series of meetings this week aimed at building consensus around proposals to curb gun violence after... more »

• Group gives LA high marks for education changes

  January 7, 2013 9:53 PM

  BATON ROUGE- Sweeping changes to the education system in Louisiana received accolades from a group that tracks education policies. A report by StudentsFirst ranked Louisiana the best in the nation for "putting students first." "The state has adopted meaningful educator evaluations, and it requires districts to base all... more »

• Fiscal talks under way, Obama heads to SE Asia

  November 16, 2012 2:52 PM

  WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is about to head off to Southeast Asia to showcase a foreign policy achievement in Myanmar and reinforce the U.S. role as a counterweight to China. The four-day trip beginning Saturday will provide a brief break from dicey fiscal negotiations and a national security sex... more »

• Republicans keep up focus on foreign policy

  October 1, 2012 3:12 PM

  DENVER - As the two presidential candidates focus on preparing for Wednesday night's debate in Denver, Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan is keeping up the GOP attacks on President Barack Obama's foreign policy. Ryan told conservative radio host Laura Ingraham that the Obama administration has been inconsistent on... more »

• Iberville school board gets tougher on violence

  August 15, 2012 9:00 AM

  PLAQUEMINE - The Iberville Parish School Board has revised the district's Zero Tolerance Violence Prevention Program. The changes will impose stiffer penalties on students who get involved in fights on school grounds. The original zero tolerance policy, adopted in 1996, required students caught fighting on campus to attend... more »

• White House: Obama opposes Boy Scouts' ban on gays

  August 8, 2012 5:25 PM

  NEW YORK - The White House says President Barack Obama, who is honorary president of the Boy Scouts of America, opposes the youth organization's policy of excluding gays as members and adult leaders. The Boy Scouts say they respect Obama's opinion and believe that "good people" can disagree on the... more »

• Report: School to change pregnancy policy after criticism

  August 7, 2012 2:30 PM

  DELHI, La. - A private charter school in northeast Louisiana says it plans to change a policy about pregnancy testing for students the ACLU called discriminatory and illegal. The policy at the Delhi Charter School in Richland Parish states if a teacher suspects a student is pregnant the school... more »

• Romney gives Obama failing grade on economy

  August 2, 2012 3:10 PM

  GOLDEN, Colo. - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is giving President Barack Obama's economic policies a failing grade. And he's promising to create 12 million jobs in his first four years in office. Romney told a Denver-area rally Thursday that his Democratic opponent has disappointed the nation. He shared a... more »

• Romney back in Boston after 3-nation foreign tour

  July 31, 2012 4:58 PM

  WASHINGTON - Mitt Romney is back home in Boston. A spokesman says the Republican presidential candidate's plane has landed in the Massachusetts capital. Romney concluded a seven-day overseas tour on Tuesday after a speech in Poland. His earlier stops were in Britain and Israel. The three-nation trip was Romney's first... more »

• New Obama policy will spare some from deportation

  June 15, 2012 1:46 PM

  WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama says his plan to stop deporting younger illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children will make the system "more fair, more efficient and more just." The president says it "makes no sense to expel talented young people" who are essentially Americans. He says... more »

• US concerned about blind Chinese activist's family

  May 10, 2012 1:37 PM

  WASHINGTON - The U.S. says it's concerned about reports of reprisals against the family of a blind Chinese activist who escaped house arrest last month. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland says U.S. and Chinese officials have spoken about the "concerning" reports. Washington seeks more information from Beijing. After fleeing, Chen... more »

• First vote looms on Obama birth control policy

  March 1, 2012 4:08 AM

  WASHINGTON - The Senate is debating Republican legislation aimed at taking a bite out of President Barack Obama's health care law. The measure, sponsored by Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, would allow insurers and employers to opt out of any requirements to which they object on moral or religious grounds. That... more »

• Catholics still questioning birth control policy Play Video

  February 10, 2012 5:44 PM

  BATON ROUGE- After changing a controversial policy mandating religious organizations offer birth control to it's employees through insurance, the Obama administration is still getting concern from Catholics. The President announced today that companies would not have to offer contraceptives to employees if it was against their beliefs, and instead... more »

• Border Patrol to toughen policy

  January 17, 2012 6:10 AM

  SAN DIEGO (AP) - The U.S. Border Patrol is overhauling its approach on migrants caught illegally crossing the 1,954-mile border that the United States shares with Mexico. Years of growth and new technology are enabling the federal agency to do more than send border-crossers back to Mexico after fingerprinting them,... more »

• Fed takes No new Action on Economy

  December 13, 2011 7:23 PM

  The Federal Reserve says the economy is up moderately as hiring and consumer spending improved so its holding off on new steps to jump start it. Most economists expected Fed policy makers used their final meeting of the year to fine-tune a strategy for communicating changes in interest rates. The... more »

• LSU's Mathieu says he's been humbled by suspension

  November 14, 2011 4:59 PM

  BATON ROUGE - LSU star cornerback Tyrann Mathieu says his recent one-game suspension for violating the team's drug policy has given him a new appreciation for the responsibility he has to his teammates. Mathieu, who on Monday spoke for the first time since his suspension for No. 1 LSU's... more »

• LSU athletes drug tested more than NCAA requires

  October 20, 2011 6:59 PM

  BATON ROUGE - In light of numerous unconfirmed reports of LSU football player allegedly testing positive for synthetic marijuana, turns out, the athletic department's substance abuse policy tests for more than the NCAA requires. The NCAA forces universities to randomly test each athlete at least once a year, then... more »

• EBR coroner has new drug policy

  July 17, 2011 12:28 PM

  BATON ROUGE- The East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner's Office has a new policy requiring its personnel to keep track of drugs found at death scenes. The policy comes after police found such drugs inside the home of coroner's office employee Raymond Levie, who was shot to death June 24... more »

• Pointe Coupee board addresses school dress

  November 19, 2010 6:24 AM

  NEW ROADS - The Pointe Coupee School Board has amended its existing policies to address students wearing sagging pants and the use of corporal punishment. The amended corporal punishment policy says that students and parents must be informed of the policy at the beginning of each school year. Superintendent Linda... more »

• Judge orders 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' injunction

  October 12, 2010 2:40 PM

  A federal judge has issued a worldwide injunction stopping enforcement of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, ending the military's 17-year-old ban on openly gay troops. U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips' landmark ruling Tuesday was widely cheered by gay rights organizations that credited her with getting accomplished what President Obama... more »

• Melancon hits Vitter on fiscal policy

  September 20, 2010 2:46 PM

  Democratic Senate candidate Charlie Melancon is blasting Republican Senator David Vitter on fiscal policy and Vitter's votes for several Bush-era spending measures. Melancon says Vitter hasn't always been such a fiscal watchdog. He says Vitter repeatedly voted for deficit spending when former President George W. Bush was in... more »

• Central snips student drug testing temporarily

  September 13, 2010 9:40 PM

  Student drug testing is on hold in the Central School District. It comes after controversy over changing the testing method from urine to hair samples. Board members said questions about the kind of testing revealed several issues with the policy altogether. They said the move to snip it out of... more »

• BESE eyes new graduation policy

  August 19, 2010 6:07 AM

  Louisiana educators are about to draw up uniform policies statewide for students who plan to graduate from high school in less than four years. The issue stems from a new state law designed to make it easier for public school students on an accelerated track to finish high school in... more »

• NO mayor creates new policy for taking cars home

  July 16, 2010 5:16 AM

  Mayor Mitch Landrieu has revised the city's policy on allowing employees to take them home. Only employees whose job assignment and responsibilities that are beneficial to the city and require them to respond to onsite city-related incidences on a 24-hour basis will be issued a city vehicle. Under the revised... more »

• Travel policy to be reviewed in Iberia

  February 4, 2010 7:16 AM

  The Iberia Parish Council has voted to appoint a special committee to review its travel policy. Questions about past travel policy abuse have prompted creation of the committee. The council has two conventions scheduled for late February and March. Vehicle use and general expenses will be among the topics reviewed. more »

• Gates to announce senior-level review on gay ban

  February 2, 2010 5:50 AM

  Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expected to announce a yearlong study on allowing gays to openly serve in the military. President Barack Obama called on Congress to repeal the 1993 law, but Democrats have said they want more guidance on how a major upheaval can be avoided if the "don't... more »