The Times (Shreveport)
A SECOND CHANCE FOR CHESTNUTS
The American chestnut tree was once the giant of the forest in the eastern United States – taking root in early American life and lore before being nearly wiped out by a blight. Now, scientists say they’ve found a way to resurrect the storied species....
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Lafayette chef to represent state in national cook-off
Lafayette chef Kris Allen will represent Louisiana at the 22nd annual Great American Seafood Cook-Off on July 25 in New Orleans after winning the title of 2026 King of Louisiana Seafood. Allen, executive chef of Pamplona Tapas Bar and Restaurant and...
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50 Cent makes cryptic post about Shreveport projects
What is the future of downtown Shreveport? On Monday, July 13, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson posted on Instagram a picture of downtown Shreveport with the caption, “I only make deals that make sense I’m gonna have to pull back on The Red River.” This post...
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Data names five best college campuses in LA
When deciding on where to go for college, it’s important to consider campus quality, as students spend much of their time on-campus during their education. In order to help potential students find the college with the best campus, Niche releases...
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Buc-ee’s construction is booming on first Louisiana travel center
Construction is booming on Bucee’s first Louisiana travel center in Ruston with walls up, a roof on, fuel tanks buried and interior streets being poured. “It’s incredible,” Ruston Mayor Ronny Walker said this week in an interview with USA Today...
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Pink feathered Floridian refugees still around
Flamingos have become a constant sighting at Raccoon Island. Have they made a permanent residence? Biologists say the flamboyance of Floridian refugees were blown in by Hurricane Idalia in August of 2023. The storm displaced many flamingos,...
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NEW HEIGHTS
A Lafayette man has made Louisiana mountaineering history by becoming the first known resident of the state to stand atop the highest natural point in all 50 U.S. states. Dr. Linus Wilson, a professor of finance at the University of Louisiana at...
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TN student expelled after reporting threat
She heard the gunshots first, then saw people running. In the chaos, she caught a glimpse of the shooter dead on the floor of the school cafeteria. In shock, Lilith Pipkin got onto the bus with the rest of her eighth-grade class that was wrapping up a...
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Drone show to highlight Red River Balloon Rally
The Delta Utilities Red River Balloon Rally is returning to Bossier City this weekend. “For that past decade, the balloon rally has brought families together, welcomed visitors from across the region and showcased the very best of our community,”...
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Program gives struggling artists $1,000 a month
Though artificial intelligence is making it easier than ever to produce images, music and text, the technology is also making it harder for the people who have traditionally produced this work to earn a living. A photographer who once was commissioned...
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How music built a Thibodaux Fire Station
When a Thibodaux fire department had to raise money in a hurry to build a fire station, they turned to the legendary pianist Fats Domino. The Thibodaux Fire Protection Station 2 had a problem in 1974. It had bought a new fire truck, but as it was...
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Louisiana-made ‘Pointe Noire’ is now streaming
After a successful run at film festivals and theaters in Louisiana and Canada this past January, award-winning Louisiana filmmaker Pat Mire’s latest feature film, “Pointe Noire,” is now available to audiences across the U.S. and Canada on multiple...
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‘It’s more than branding’
Big news came out out of Bossier City on Wednesday, July 1. Bossier City shared its new rebranding with the public during an unveiling celebration Wednesday, July 1, at the Louisiana Boardwalk. “It’s more than branding,” Mayor Tommy Chandler said....
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Davis hopes to pull off an upset
Democrat Jamie Davis knows few people give him a chance to beat Republican Julia Letlow in Louisiana’s Nov. 3 U.S. Senate election, but he gives himself a puncher’s chance, channeling perhaps the greatest boxing upset of all time. “Was Mike Tyson the...
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Some drugmakers balk at Medicaid pilot
NEW YORK – President Donald Trump has promised to make U.S. prescription drug prices the cheapest in the world, but a closely watched Medicaid pilot program could expose the limits of the buy-in among midsized and smaller pharmaceutical companies. The...
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Planned Parenthood to open clinic in New Orleans
Planned Parenthood Great Plains, a network of regional Planned Parenthood clinics, has announced plans to restart care and service in Louisiana. Statewide telehealth services for Planned Parenthood will be accessible later this summer and a clinic...
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A cut above
There are lots of reasons why Haynesville’s David Franklin is a cut above the average guy, but the fact that he doesn’t tolerate profanity on the football field sets him apart from many of his fellow professionals. There are some coaches who give lip...
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LA’s America 250 concert features fair
Louisiana’s chairman of the America 250 Commission said he expects a crowd of more than 10,000 people to celebrate the Fourth of July on Saturday during the state’s free signature event in the capital city of Baton Rouge. “We began to conceptualize...
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Opelousas killing opened civil rights law debate
This is the second of a two-part series. OPELOUSAS – In October 1951, John Lester Mitchell, a World War II veteran and a founder of the local NAACP chapter, went with two other men to sign up to vote. No African American had succeeded in registering...
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New visitor center opens at Shreveport Regional Airport
As airplanes touched down 100 yards away, dignitaries from the Shreveport-Bossier area gathered around the newly installed interactive visitor center in front of the Shreveport Regional Airport baggage claim. “This is a reminder that every visitor...
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‘This is an absolute dream come true’
Newly crowned Miss Louisiana 2026, Shelby Bordelon says she plans to use her crown to promote impaired driving prevention as her community service initiative across the state, turning a personal tragedy into action. h Bordelon lost her lifelong friend...
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End of TPS to leave immigrant families in limbo
COLUMBUS, OH – Haitian community leaders and immigrant advocates in Springfield, Ohio, say they fear families will be left in limbo after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 25 that the Trump administration can move forward with ending Temporary...
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Cattle rancher builds audience on TikTok
Macy Rushing remembers her brother encouraging her to create social media posts about her daily life as a cattle rancher in Louisiana’s East Feliciana Parish. “I told him, ‘There is nothing interesting about my day,’” said Rushing, who works with her...
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Drop in oil, gas leases impacts parish budgets across state
Louisiana revenues from oil and gas leases on locally administered public lands fell sharply in the latest fiscal year, reducing funding available for public schools, infrastructure projects and levee districts from Mooringsport to Port Sulphur. Total...
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‘I’m doing what I love’
Laura Hebert said no matter how many challenges she faces on her Vermilion Parish farm, she can’t imagine a better life for herself, her wife, Amber, and the couple’s young son. “I think that we do what we do — it’s not for the money,” Hebert said....
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Miss Louisiana Port City wins Miss Louisiana 2026
A new Miss Louisiana was crowned Saturday night, earning a chance to represent the state at the Miss America competition this August in Florida. Miss Louisiana Port City Shelby Bordelon was crowned Miss Louisiana 2026 and will represent the state at...
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Soldier killed in dispute over bus seat in Alexandria in 1944
This is the first of a two-part series. ALEXANDRIA — “Don’t kill me, I’ll get off,” exclaimed Private Edward Green, a U.S. Army soldier, to bus driver Odell Lachney on March 13, 1944. It was the third public bus that Green, who had lived in New York...
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‘When is it going to be here?’
As doors opened, more than 100 people filed into the Shreveport Convention Center on Wednesday, June 17. This excitement in downtown Shreveport was because of an evening with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson — “All Roads Lead to Shreveport.” Doors opened at...
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Scenic trips to celebrate AMERICA’S BIRTHDAY
America is turning 250, but some of its greatest treasures don’t sit behind museum glass. h The awe-inspiring scenes that take your breath away and remind you of the beauty of our nation are hidden along winding roads, tucked into mountain valleys,...
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New Orleans has the most Miss Louisiana winners
New Orleans has produced more Miss Louisiana winners than any other city in the state, even though the city’s last titleholder was more than 50 years ago. The pageant began as Miss New Orleans in 1922, when Maude Allison Price became Louisiana’s first...
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World Atlas ranks LA’s best downtowns
Louisiana downtowns are full of historic charm, as old storefronts with iron balconies line brick main streets. Modernity is present, too, with many downtowns hosting contemporary restaurants and trendy boutiques. These places make for a relaxing...
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U.S.-Iran peace deal could offer price relief
One thing is certain after the United States and Iran agreed to a framework deal to end the monthslong war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz: The cost-ofliving crisis just got a bit less bad. But how much less, and how long it lasts, are still open...
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Louisiana’s free America 250 concert
Louisiana is presenting its own America 250 free concert July 4 in downtown Baton Rouge with a lineup of signature homegrown artists featuring Grammy winner Wayne Toups and a fireworks show. Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser and the Louisiana America 250...
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‘Strengthens Louisiana’s position in the timber industry’
C&C Forest Products is investing $21 million to rebuild its Coushatta sawmill and triple its workforce there following a 2025 fire at the Red River Parish facility, Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan B. Bourgeois announced June 11. The...
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SBC again pushes ban on women pastors
With new wind in its sails, a campaign to enshrine a ban on women pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention passed the first of two necessary hurdles. The nation’s largest Protestant denomination affirmed a proposal at the 2026 SBC annual meeting in...
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Artemis III expected to be ‘more complex’
Within the next year, four astronauts are due to venture to space on NASA’s next mission under its Artemis moon program. Those astronauts, revealed June 9 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, include three from NASA and one Italian who will become the...
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Better Than Ezra joins Red River Revel 50 lineup
Fifty years of fun! The Red River Revel announced this milestone year’s theme, music lineup and food lineup during a news conference Tuesday afternoon at The Supper Club in downtown Shreveport. The 50th Red River Revel theme is “Reflections.” “It’s...
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Israel, Iran halt retaliatory attacks
Iran on June 8 announced a suspension of military operations against Israel after the two countries traded strikes for the first time since April, threatening a fragile ceasefire and diplomatic efforts to end the monthslong war. The unified command of...
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Shreveport unveils new rose-themed water tower
Fashioned with a red rose on his suit, the Mayor of Shreveport unveiled the newly rehabilitated elevated water tower in West Shreveport. Decorated with Shreveport red roses, this tower sits on the cusp of Shreveport and the Texas state line. “This...
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AI weather forecasting one piece of a puzzle
WEST PALM BEACH, FL – Machine learning blustered into the limelight of hurricane forecasting in June 2025 when the National Hurricane Center began using artificial intelligence models, including Google’s pioneering DeepMind. By the end of the season...
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Forecast for D-Day changed history
To go or not to go? June 2026 marks 82 years since Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s chief meteorologist, Group Capt. James Martin Stagg, made one of the most important weather forecasts of all time. Defying his colleagues, he advised the general to...
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BC saves Mike Wood Pool after public outcry
As children gleefully screamed, sliding down the yellow and green water slides at Mike Wood Pool, Bossier City officials held a news conference under the covered pool deck. On Tuesday, June 2, Bossier City Parks & Recreation and Rock Solid Athletic...
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AI partners could upend human relationships
When the movie “Her” debuted in 2013, its plot felt like science fiction. The protagonist, Theodore, is a jaded man with no vigor for life. He comes alive after talking daily with his artificial intelligence chatbot, Samantha, with whom he eventually...
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Trump names Pulte to replace Gabbard
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump named Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as the new acting director of national intelligence, tapping a trusted ally with no previous experience in an intelligence role to replace Tulsi...
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Trump seeking ‘DronePort’ for ballroom
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump unveiled yet another purported justification for his controversial plan to build a massive new ballroom and bunker under the East Wing of the White House he demolished: a rooftop “DronePort” that he says is needed to...
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Ads for GLP-1 drugs flooding the internet
If you watched the Super Bowl in 2026, you likely saw Serena Williams share her weight-loss journey on GLP-1 medications in a commercial. Like millions of others around the country, if you’ve ever considered taking one of these drugs, you probably went...
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Endorsement edge
Louisiana U.S. Senate candidate Congresswoman Julia Letlow begins virtually every campaign ad, news release and social media post touting her endorsement by President Donald Trump. State Sen. Blake Miguez, who is running for a U.S. House seat, also...
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NASA shares plans for a Moon base
Fleets of landers, rovers and drones will head to the moon in the months and years ahead before humans even step foot on the lunar surface for the first time in more than 50 years. So says NASA, which is already working toward sending vehicles and...
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‘It’s a big deal’
Shreveport soon will officially be known as the Stuffed Shrimp Capital of Louisiana, a city that traces the origins of the delicacy to the historic Freeman & Harris Cafe, which was one of the oldest Black-owned restaurants before it closed permanently...
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Senate committee cuts LA GATOR, education funding
BATON ROUGE — After a 30-minute meeting with no debate, a Senate committee voted 9-0 to advance the state budget Thursday, removing the $43.5 million expansion of the school voucher program that had been included in the House and governor’s...
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Louisiana ranks as one of the least safe states
When it comes to determining where you want to live, or evaluating where you already live, how safe you feel is one of the most important factors. While you can take measures to ensure your personal safety, public safety can largely depend on how a...
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Fashion Forward show spotlights student work at Artbreak
The lights were low and the spotlight on as the Caddo Career & Technology Center’s Fashion Forward student fashion show kicked off to a large crowd at this year’s Artbreak. In all, 13 collections and seven single designs made it down the runway. “I...
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U.S. adds Atlanta airport for Ebola screening, CDC says
Americans coming back from Congo, Uganda or South Sudan now have a second entry point for returning to the United States, with the CDC on May 23 expanding its enhanced Ebola screening to include Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International...
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Senator tells next move after recent loss
Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy lost the Republican Primary election on May 16 to Trump-backed candidate Julia Letlow and MAGA-aligned State Treasurer John Fleming. Cassidy told reporters during a conference call on May 19, following his loss on...
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Education offers many inmates ‘second chances’
OREGON, WI – Visitors aren’t normally allowed on Mondays at Oakhill Correctional Institution, but May 18 was an exception. Instead of routine and monotony at this minimum-security prison, there was pride and joy. Instead of prison cafeteria food,...
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Mudbug Madness fest returns to Shreveport
Are you ready for some bugs, beer, bands and contests? Well, this Memorial Day weekend Mudbug Madness will be taking over Festival Plaza in downtown Shreveport. This three-day festival will be full of crawfish, food, live music and plenty of cold...
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Red Mass opens with names of children killed in shooting
“My friends... before we speak of law...before we speak of justice... before we honor the noble vocation that gathers us here today...we must begin with names...” And so the Rev. Matthew Tyler Long dramatically begin his homily with those names of...
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Trump delays planned strikes against Iran
President Donald Trump said he delayed strikes on Iran planned for May 19 following progress on a possible deal to end the war, though Tehran’s latest proposal appears little changed from an earlier deal that the president rejected as “garbage.” “It’s...
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Louisiana ousts Bill Cassidy from Senate; Julia Letlow leads primary
Louisiana voters ousted incumbent Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy on May 16, choosing Trump-backed Congresswoman Julia Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming for a head-to-head runoff in the GOP party primary. Letlow led the way with 45% of the vote...
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National Guard troops return to Washington
Louisiana National Guard soldiers have returned to Washington, D.C., on a second deployment as part of President Trump's continued crackdown on crime in the nation's capital. Trump declared a crime emergency in Washington nine months ago to trigger...
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What is the fate of New Orleans?
A recent study published in the Nature Sustainability Journal has concluded that New Orleans has reached a “point of no return” and will be surrounded by the ocean in decades because of the climate crisis. The new paper estimates that the city may be...
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Amputee shares personal experience in ICE custody
NORCROSS, GA – “Hey, everybody. I’m grateful to be here.” Rodney Taylor, a 47-year-old double amputee who was released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody after spending more than 15 months in detention, began his remarks to a crowded...
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DIVINE BEAUTY
The Gothic art period flourished in Europe from the mid-12th to the 16th century, and it is defined by clerical architecture involving intricate stained glass windows, pointed arches, as well as soaring ribbed vaults and flying buttresses. Gothic...
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Summer getaway
Each year, numerous families, groups and solo travelers plan a getaway trip during the summer. While many may lean towards visiting the top trending cities, smaller, lesser known towns can also have everything a traveler is looking for. So if you’re...
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‘WE ARE HERE FOR YOU’
As a gospel choir sang at the front of the Summer Grove Baptist Church sanctuary, mourners ushered down a pathway of open caskets for the viewing of the Eternal Eight. The eight children tragically murdered on April 19 were celebrated during a...
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Top water, amusement parks across Louisiana
As the summer season approaches, many families will be looking for opportunities to beat the heat or for children to have some fun. Water parks can be a great way to cool off while still having some fun, while amusement parks provide all-day...
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New helicopter to fight crime in Shreveport
The City of Shreveport has partnered with a local law enforcement office to provide another step in combating crime within the city limits via the sky. “This is a game changer for law enforcement in our area,” Shreveport Councilman Jim Taliaferro...
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Bossier Arts Council opens new home at Boardwalk
The Louisiana Boardwalk ushered in a new era for the arts in Bossier City on Tuesday, May 5. In a packed storefront, the Bossier Arts Council (BAC) welcomed artists, residents and business owners of Bossier City to its new home in the former Express...
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Fire officials brace for dry July Fourth
America will mark its milestone birthday this summer with a bang – quite a few, actually. Ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary, fireworks retailers and pyrotechnicians said they’re seeing surging demand. From coast to coast, communities are...
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Buc-ee’s Beaver lives American Dream
The first walls on Buc-ee’s travel center in Ruston were raised this week as the freeway phenomenon’s inaugural Louisiana campus begins to take shape. Underground fuel tanks also have been installed, as well as the support beams for the gas pump...
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Water system receives F grade
Shreveport received an F rating on the water system — 45 out of 100 — from the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH). “Our water is safe to drink,” Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux said. “This grade is about infrastructure, not safety.” Arceneaux...
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Bill aims to protect shrimpers, fishermen
The 2026 Farm Bill passed by the U.S. House includes new seafood provisions aimed at giving commercial fishermen and shrimpers greater access to federal agriculture programs. The bill, which now moves to the U.S. Senate, includes an amendment by U.S....
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Cuban Americans wary of U.S. talks
Ninety miles from Florida shores sits Cuba, an island that’s recently become a focus of President Donald Trump, and remains a continual pressure point for Cuban Americans, some of whom told USA TODAY they feel increasingly severed from the country...
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Civil rights leader’s name added to LA highway
A Louisiana highway is set to be renamed in honor of a late civil rights activist and pastor following the passage of a bill recognizing his legacy. A portion of LA-173 between Elder Street and North Holtzman Avenue and Common Street in downtown...
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States fighting DOJ over voter data access
Anthony Nel was surprised when his voter registration was revoked in Texas after he cast an early ballot for the November 2025 election. The Denton County resident was born in South Africa in 1996 and became a U.S. citizen in 2013 when his parents...
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TrumpIRA site offers retirement savings
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on April 30 that will broaden access to retirement savings for workers whose employers don’t offer 401(k)type plans. The order creates a new website, TrumpIRA.gov, that workers can use to enroll in a...
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