February 2, 2018

Tom Cotton touted as future presidential nominee; poll sees popularity slip in Arkansas

Year One of the Donald Trump presidency has been good for Arkansas' junior senator, writes Peter Spiliakos of The National Review.

In a piece Monday titled "Tom Cotton, Lindsey Graham and the Future of the GOP," Spiliakos wrote: "Tom Cotton has strengthened his chances of being the Republican presidential nominee someday. He was the most effective Trump surrogate and has earned the 'fighter' reputation that [U.S. Sen. Ted] Cruz wanted so desperately."

A survey by Morning Consult, on the other hand, suggested that Cotton's popularity in Arkansas has eroded slightly.

Questioned between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, 49 percent of Arkansans approved of the Dardanelle Republican, 32 percent disapproved and 19 percent were either undecided or wouldn't share their views.

Read more: http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2018/jan/28/tom-cotton-touted-future-presidential-nominee-poll/?f=news-politics

February 2, 2018

Arkansas senator who pleaded guilty in fraud case submits resignation, cites pride in work

State Sen. Jake Files, R-Fort Smith, on Tuesday submitted his resignation, effective Feb. 9.

Files tendered his resignation from his Senate District 8 seat a day after he pleaded guilty in federal court to felony charges of wire fraud, money laundering and bank fraud for pocketing state money he obtained for a Fort Smith softball complex and for pledging a forklift he didn't own as a collateral on a bank loan.

"It has been a privilege to represent Senate District 8 in the Arkansas Senate and to serve the citizens of Arkansas in the Arkansas General Assembly," Files wrote in a one-paragraph letter to Gov. Asa Hutchinson. The governor's spokesman, J.R. Davis, said the letter was received late Tuesday afternoon.

"I am proud of the work we have done together during my tenure," Files said in his letter to the governor, who has served as the state's chief executive since 2015.

Read more: http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2018/jan/31/files-submits-notice-cites-pride-in-wor/?f=news-politics

February 2, 2018

Groups' aid for Arkansas governor, attorney general trips tops $100,000

Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Attorney General Leslie Rutledge each received more than $50,000 from outside groups for trip expenses last year, according to financial disclosure reports filed Wednesday.

Wednesday was the deadline for certain officials to file the reports.

The bulk of the two Republicans' reported food, lodging and travel expenses were paid by various governors and attorneys general associations for national meeting attendance. Rutledge and Hutchinson serve in leadership roles on the Republican Attorneys General Association and Republican Governors Association.

Hutchinson, for instance, received expense reimbursements for attending meetings of the Republican Governors Association and National Governors Association. The Rogers Republican chairs standing committees for both groups.

Read more: http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2018/feb/01/groups-aid-for-governor-ag-trips-tops-1-1/?f=news-politics

February 2, 2018

Plea to restore Planned Parenthood funding in Arkansas on hold

A recently renewed request for a court order to temporarily restore Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood services in Arkansas was placed on hold Thursday while disagreements on how to proceed are worked out.

On Jan. 19, attorneys for the health care provider asked U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker to again consider granting a preliminary injunction to block the cutoff of Medicaid funds.

Baker granted a preliminary injunction in 2015 for three unnamed women who sued over the announced cutoff, and extended the injunction in 2016 to make it apply to all Medicaid patients in Arkansas. But her decision was overturned by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the injunction was vacated Nov. 20.

Planned Parenthood had earlier planned to allow Medicaid patients to continue receiving services, in the hope that the provider would eventually be reimbursed, but the Jan. 19 filing indicated that services are no longer being provided for Medicaid patients.

Read more: http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2018/feb/02/planned-parenthood-funding-plea-on-hold-1/

February 2, 2018

Arkansas company ordered to pay $250K for subjecting employee to racially hostile work environment

Jeffrey Sand Co. of Pine Bluff has been ordered to pay $250,000 in punitive damages for subjecting a black former employee to a racially hostile work environment.

The company dredges sand from the Arkansas River and has offices in North Little Rock and Conway. It was sued in 2016 by a former employee, Adrian Bryant, who worked for the company twice, including a five-year stint that ended when he was fired in February 2013.

Through attorney Austin Porter Jr. of Little Rock, Bryant contended in a two-day federal jury trial that he was regularly harassed by a white foreman, Jerry Skaggs, beginning in 2010. Bryant said Skaggs called him several derogatory names on a daily basis and refused his requests to stop.

The lawsuit said Bryant complained to the plant manager, Kenny Bolton, and to the company’s vice president, Joe Wickliffe, who referred the matter to Bolton but also directed Bolton to send another foreman to the Cora dredge, where Bryant worked, to investigate.

Read more: http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2018/feb/02/harassed-worker-awarded-damages/

February 2, 2018

Dancers, Bourbon St. workers protest strip club closures

Dancers, Bourbon Street workers and their supporters took to the streets of the French Quarter on Thursday evening (Feb. 1) to demonstrate against what they say is the unfair shutdown of eight Bourbon Street strip clubs.

Carrying signs like "Touching my boobs is not prostitution" and "No new Bourbon Street," hundreds of people joined the protest that followed a meandering route that included stops in Jackson's Square, outside the shuttered Rick's Cabaret and ending at the pocket park at Conti Street and South Peters. Along the way, the crowd chanted, "my body my choice" and shouted into bullhorns.

It was the second time this week that demonstrations have erupted in the wake of closures. Dancers interrupted a news conference on Wednesday held to celebrate the reopening of Bourbon Street after months of construction.

Lyn Archer, a founder of a newly organized group of dancers called Bourbon Alliance of Responsible Entertainers, pushed a cart full of bottled water she was selling for $1 each. On two huge water jugs she had labeled the water for sale as "stripper tears" and shouted her answers into a bullhorn when a reporter asked her about turnout.

Read more: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/02/dancers_march_french_quarter.html

February 2, 2018

CNN anchor Don Lemon's sister identified as Denham Springs woman who died in accidental drowning

A Denham Springs woman who died in what officials said appeared to be an accidental drowning was the sister of CNN anchor and Baton Rouge-area native Don Lemon, according to a network spokeswoman.

L’Tanya "Leisa" Lemon Grimes, 58, died Wednesday after she fell into a neighborhood pond off Avoyelles Avenue in the Livingston Trace subdivision, near Juban Road and south of Interstate 12. Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Lori Steele said that it appeared that Grimes tripped into the water while fishing in the pond.

Grimes is Lemon's older sister, CNN spokeswoman Christal Jones confirmed to The Advocate in a statement from the family.

"The Lemon/Grimes family would like to thank everyone for their condolences and prayers at this time," the statement said. "Our family has suffered the tragic loss of L’Tanya 'Leisa' Lemon Grimes and we are leaning on each other for strength at this time. We appreciate privacy as we grieve the loss of our loved one."

Read more: http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/communities/livingston_tangipahoa/article_19e1c54a-076d-11e8-8350-3fe5d2a23fb1.html

February 2, 2018

'You sure you want to compare?' New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu lets Alabama know where #RealMardiG

'You sure you want to compare?' New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu lets Alabama know where #RealMardiGras is

Mobile, Ala., may have started the fight over who can claim the original Mardi Gras celebration in America, but New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu made it clear Thursday where the real Mardi Gras happens.

Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson sent the first shot Wednesday with a tweet directed at Landrieu showcasing a billboard outside of New Orleans placed by Alabama's state tourism agency reading "You are 114 miles from America's Original Mardi Gras."

https://twitter.com/MayorStimpson/status/958798083512586240

Stimpson also told Landrieu that Mobile would "love to show you how it's done!" when it comes to celebrating Mardi Gras.

Landrieu waited until Thursday to reply, firing off a quick three-jab combo that let Mobile know it can (maybe) claim the original Mardi Gras, but New Orleans has perfected it.

Read more: http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/article_29210500-07c4-11e8-a583-173841d91b4f.html

February 2, 2018

Gov. John Bel Edwards is highest-ranked Democratic governor in new national poll

Mid-way through his first term, Gov. John Bel Edwards remains favorable among more than half of the state's voting population, according to findings of a new national poll released this week.

Morning Consult, a media and technology company that regularly ranks governors based on polling in all 50 states, found in its latest survey that Edwards is tied for the 14th most favorable ranking with Georgia's Republican Gov. Nathan Deal.

Fifty-six percent of respondents rated Edwards favorably, while 27 percent had an unfavorable view of the first-term governor. Eighteen percent were undecided.

The latest favorability poll comes just over two years since Edwards, the only governor in the Deep South who is a Democrat, took the oath of office in January 2016. He is the most favorably ranked Democrat in the latest survey's findings.

Read more: http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/article_ba7f90da-0764-11e8-a7e3-e34bde0eb221.html

February 2, 2018

Gov. John Bel Edwards reports $5M in campaign war chest for 2019 re-election bid

With a possibly bitter re-election bid ahead of him, Gov. John Bel Edwards has more than $5 million in his campaign coffers nearly two years out from the October 2019 election, his latest annual campaign finance report shows.

Edwards, a Democrat who announced his plans to seek a second term shortly after taking office in January 2016, has more than $5 million in the bank after having raised nearly $2.2 million in 2017 and spending about $310,230.

He started the year with more than $3.17 million after his first full year in office.

"I am so optimistic about our state's future and where we stand at the halfway point of this administration, and I am humbled that the people of Louisiana have given my family this incredible opportunity," Edwards said in a statement on his fundraising efforts.

Read more: http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/article_69e378e0-0781-11e8-b4cb-8304502a1a1b.html