LOUISIANA

“Penn State defensive coordinator Bob Shoop is no longer a candidate for the same job at LSU and the interest from the Tigers got him a raise to $1 million per year, according to a Foxsports.com report.” – NOLA.com

“Shoop was not offered the job during the meeting with Miles on Wednesday, but he was not ruled out, two sources closes to the coach told The Advocate. Shoop was pressured by Penn State coach James Franklin during this week-long dance with the Tigers, multiple sources say.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“A Carroll Junior High teacher’s aide is hospitalized Wednesday afternoon after it appears he attempted to break up a fight between neighborhood teenagers late Tuesday. The entire incident, including the blow that sent David Payne to University Health – Shreveport with head injuries, was captured on raw video and later posted online.” – Monroe News Star

“Mayor-President Kip Holden’s administration unveiled details Wednesday of a $335 million tax proposal to pay for public safety and capital improvements, which he wants voters to decide on in May. This marks Holden’s fourth attempt at persuading voters to approve higher taxes to pay for expensive and sweeping infrastructure improvements for the parish.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“Gov. Bobby Jindal announced the appointments of four new members to the Louisiana Board of Regents, which oversees the state’s higher education institutions, Wednesday (Jan. 7).” – NOLA.com

“Almost everyone in Louisiana’s civil service workforce received job performance ratings high enough to make them eligible for a 4 percent pay raise, according to a newly released report. Ninety-six percent of the 37,736 classified civil servants evaluated were rated “exceptional” or “successful” — the ratings needed to be eligible for pay raises.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“The Brettners’ daughter was conceived by artificial insemination, and Lauren gave birth in 2013. The couple were married in New York in 2012, but the Louisiana Registrar will not issue a birth certificate that lists two parents of the same sex. Louisiana law also bars Jackie from adopting a child born to Lauren, as a male stepfather might do for his wife’s child.” – NOLA.com

“Minden Mayor Tommy Davis has issued a statement regarding recent public concerns over the disposal plan for 15 million pounds of improperly stored propellant currently at Camp Minden.” – WAFB

“Gov. Bobby Jindal will travel to Europe this weekend for a 10-day economic development mission, a trip that also could bolster the Republican’s international relations credentials as he considers a possible presidential campaign.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“Who has the best king cake though? That question can only be answered through exhaustive field research!” – KPEL

NATIONAL

“What’s being done to plan for Boehner’s succession — in 2017 or some other time — by a conservative?” – Scott McKay/The American Spectator

“The events in Paris bring forcefully home the need for an armed citizenry as Islamic attacks on the West proliferate. That a trio of gunmen could just pull up to the door, leave the car in the middle of the street, murder a dozen people, head-cap a wounded cop, then hop into their vehicle and roar away unobstructed and unconfronted by any armed resistance — even from les flics themselves — is stupefying. But such seems to have been the case.” – Michael Walsh/PJ Media

“I’ve never claimed theological expertise in any religion. However, the terror attack on Charlie Hebdo reveals the deep insecurity and faithlessness of zealots who boast of being the world’s most pious. How pathetic is a god who needs a bumbling cloud of flies to defend him? How weak is one’s faith that he doesn’t trust this allegedly omnipotent deity to avenge himself?” – Jon Gabriel/Ricochet

“A fighter for the Islamic State militant group praised Wednesday’s attack on a French satirical magazine that killed at least 12 people, telling Reuters the raid was revenge for insults against Islam.” – NY Post

“A dozen people may have been murdered by Islamic terrorists in Paris Wednesday morning, but The New York Times can’t help but note the real tragedy behind the shooting: the growth of Islamophobia.” – Daily Caller

“Rather than seeking the office, Gohmert was asked by some of his colleagues to run so those who were deciding on whom to vote for Speaker could not say they did not have someone else to vote for. It wasn’t an office that Gohmert had campaigned for over the course of years; his run was designed to provide an alternative.” – The Hill

“In a mock interview with her grandson, Barbara Boxer announces that she won’t run for reelection in 2016:” – Weekly Standard

“It appears an unlikely coalition of the censorious is forming across religious boundaries. Choudary found an improbable ally in Bill Donohue, the president of the Catholic League, who expressed solidarity with those who believe those who were murdered in Paris on Wednesday had it coming.” – Hot Air

“Nigeria’s militant Islamists have carried out a second attack on the key north-eastern town of Baga, an official has told the BBC. Boko Haram fighters burnt down almost the entire town on Wednesday, after over-running a military base on Saturday, Musa Alhaji Bukar said.” – BBC

“Mr. Inhofe didn’t say he supports raising the gas tax, and he refutes referring to it as such. ‘It’s not a tax,’ Mr. Inhofe said. ‘It’s a user fee.'” – WSJ