LOUISIANA

“State inventory records list thousands of items worth millions of dollars as ‘unlocated.’ Missing.” – WAFB

“The East Baton Rouge Parish Registrar of Voters is about halfway through the process of verifying signatures on city of St. George incorporation petitions, and so far only an estimated 3% of signatures have been thrown out because they’re invalid.” – Baton Rouge Business Report

“With Sasol delaying its $14 billion gas-to-liquids plant near Lake Charles during an oil price slump, area petrochemical executives say the lower prices of oil and gas, which were driven widely by decreased global demand for crude oil, pose no immediate threat to other pending projects in the state.” – NOLA.com

“In speaking to lawmakers over the last couple of years, I’ve heard a common refrain from both House and Senate members, Republicans and Democrats: Just wait until Gov. Bobby Jindal leaves office.” – Stephanie Grace/Baton Rouge Advocate

“Upset and disappointed, that’s how residents are reacting to the Shreveport and Caddo Parish Metropolitan Planning Commission’s decision to shut down this little free library in Shreveport’s Highland neighborhood.” – KSLA

“Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, is urging the GOP-led Senate to quickly confirm Loretta Lynch as attorney general.” – NOLA.com

“Converting Louisiana back to a closed primary election system has been an issue that has been on and off the political radar over the past year. But a group of high-ranking Republicans hope to keep it on and quietly are touring the state to build support. Sources tell LaPolitics that the state’s Republican National Committeeman Ross Little is working with other members of the GOP central committee to gauge support of lawmakers and donors.” – Baton Rouge Business Report

“A proposal to add a restaurant at the Magnolia Mansion hotel on Prytania Street drew such vehement opposition from Garden District-area neighbors on Tuesday afternoon that the City Planning Commission overruled their own staffers to recommend against the project.” – Uptown Messenger

“Lawyers on both sides of a same-sex marriage case have urged Louisiana’s Supreme Court to rule on the matter even though the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to do so by June.” – Lake Charles American Press

“The ride-share service, Uber, launches in Lafayette Friday afternoon with Lafayette City-Parish President Joey Durel as ‘rider zero.’ The service will be available to the public starting at 1 p.m.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

NATIONAL

“I think the Republican Party really could wind up with a brokered convention – that is, a race where no candidate receives a majority of the delegates by the end of voting. In fact, it might well be the most likely outcome, if only because no particular outcome is particularly probable…” – Sean Trende/RealClear Politics

“It is nice to see Michelle Obama sticking up for women’s rights in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The First Lady, accompanying her husband on a condolence call at the Saud’s for the lately departed King Abdullah, wore a decidedly unorthodox outfit, by the standards of the Wahhabi religious branch of Islam which prevails in the kingdom and, with regard to ordinary residents, is enforced with some rigor. Your average Saudi woman could set herself up for a legal whipping if she went outside dressed like Mrs. Obama.” – American Spectator

“As the longest-standing resident Huck critic at NRO, I might be an unlikely one to rush to Mike Huckabee’s defense. But I see nothing inherently wrong with anything Huckabee said about ‘frequent F-bombs’ and ‘gratuitous’ profanity at work — and, contra the wonderful Katherine Timpf, I don’t think he said anything demeaning toward women. In fact, some of us down South see it as an indication of respect for women — which I will explain momentarily. (I do agree with Timpf that it’s probably not the sort of conversation we want to dominate a presidential campaign, but I think it’s a perfectly reasonable cultural comment for a radio host to make.)” – Quin Hillyer/National Review

“The House of Representatives’ senior ranking Democrat, Nancy Pelosi, said on Wednesday she was concerned that if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to the U.S. Congress in March, it may result in negative ramifications for the ongoing nuclear talks with Iran.” – Breitbart

“Johnson revealed to The Sun that he feels that the want to be jihadists are losers and have a low self esteem.” – Washington Free Beacon

“It is well known in legal circles that Eric Holder’s Justice Department has become so politicized, so unprincipled, and so ethically shoddy that Loretta Lynch, President Obama’s appointee to replace Holder, had to assure senators at her confirmation hearing that she was not Eric Holder.” – John Fund/National Review

“Members of the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday passed a bill that would impose sanctions on Iran if a comprehensive agreement to roll back its nuclear program is not reached by June 30.” – The Hill

“Is it ‘racially polarizing‘ to publicly applaud people who achieve the American Dream? If you’re a liberal critic of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s recent Iowa Freedom Summit speech, the answer might be yes.” – The Federalist

“The key to conservative victory in presidential election years — when the genius of the Constitution kicks in and the contest becomes not the popular vote but the electoral vote (which is why the Left can’t wait to get rid of it) — lies in keeping the masses of Leftist votes confined to the big cities in the blue states, where they have largely congregated in order to take advantage of generous welfare benefits. As much as it pains the Left to learn this, the Constitution was not written with the spurious notion of ‘one man, one vote’ in mind (that’s the House of Representatives, more or less, especially since this court decision). At the Senate and presidential levels, however, the states still rule.” – Michael Walsh/PJ Media

“The world said goodbye to another talented TV actor on Thursday afternoon, as Terry Carter of the original Battlestar Galactica series was killed in a most untimely manner when he was allegedly struck by a car and run over by Death Row Records mogul Suge Knight. Carter was 86 years old. ” – Cinema Blend