“In just four months, the push to create a new city in East Baton Rouge Parish has morphed from a seemingly odd proposal from a group of education advocates to an all-out political fight over the future of the parish.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“Mitch Landrieu, haloed by the light of a television camera, had cause to grin as he wove through an adoring crowd in a downtown hotel ballroom Saturday night, shaking hands and exchanging hugs. He had learned just an hour before that nearly two out of every three voters to cast ballots that day had decided he would remain the mayor of New Orleans.” – NOLA.com

“A study done by the university’s Division of Economic Development has determined that LSU’s nine campuses impact the state by as much as $3.9 billion every year.” – KPEL

“The last Navy warship expected to be built at Avondale has left the shipyard, making its way down the Mississippi River as it heads to Pennsylvania for its March 1 commissioning. The Somerset, the last of three ships named for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, was expected to reach downtown New Orleans about 9:45 a.m., said Charlotte Binnings of the Greater New Orleans Executives Association, which has planned a “line the levees” event to see the ship pass.” – NOLA.com

“Gov. Bobby Jindal’s $25 billion budget proposal for next year has candy for everyone, packed full of tidbits designed to stop years of criticism about cuts and perhaps improve his sagging approval ratings.” – Fox8Live

“Yet this was no post-racial election. No one expected it to be. And no one could ignore the fact that, despite Landrieu’s broad-based appeal, an African-American in New Orleans was substantially less likely than a white neighbor to want him back in office.” – New Orleans Advocate

“Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman will face off against his predecessor, Charles Foti, in a March 15 runoff following today’s election. With 100 percent of the vote in, Gusman fell just below the victory mark with 49 percent of the vote to Foti’s 29 percent. Challenger Ira Thomas took 19 percent and Quentin Brown 3 percent.” – New Orleans Gambit

“Three incumbent members of the New Orleans City Council won re-election Saturday and runoffs will be held in March for two other seats.” – WRNO

“In two days the nation’s most heralded recruit is scheduled to sign a grant-in-aid to play football for the Tigers thereby transforming National Signing Day into something akin to a Purple-and-Gold festival of life event.” – NOLA.com

“Laws with such stiff penalties for non-violent crimes like marijuana possession are part of why our state has such a high incarceration rate. One in 86 adult Louisianians is doing time. That’s almost double the national average. And that comes at a cost. Our state spends about $663 million a year to feed house, secure and provide medical care to some 40,000 inmates. And the more dollars we put into prisons, the less we have for other things like health care, education and roads and bridges.” – Shreveport Times