LOUISIANA

“Helis Oil’s proposed drilling and fracking project near Mandeville has picked up the support of the Northshore Business Council, an organization made up of business leaders in St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington parishes. The organization twice issued news releases since late July touting its general support of the oil and gas industry and the economic benefits it provides to the local area and state, but didn’t specifically say that it was backing Helis’ project.” – NOLA.com

“New Orleans is alive and thriving. Or so it seems. Nearly a decade has passed since Hurricane Katrina flooded the city and displaced more than 400,000 New Orleanians. Billions of federal dollars have poured in to rebuild the Big Easy, along with thousands of volunteers and immigrant day laborers. Now the city boasts several Forbes top rankings, such as #1 Brainpower City and Fastest Growing City Since the Recession.” – National Journal

“The organizers of the effort to incorporate the city of St. George said Monday morning they’ve turned more than 18,000 petition signatures into the East Baton Rouge Parish Registrar of Voter’s office.” – NOLA.com

“Stage 1 of Obama Crisis Management: Don’t worry, I got this.” – Bobby Jindal/Instapundit

“State Sen. Dan Claitor’s parents remain hospitalized after a Saturday afternoon automobile accident on Airline Highway near Siegen.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“Not too long ago if you had to bet whether a liberal Democrat favored legalized pot, especially for medical purposes, the smart bet was ‘yes.’ But with Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., you’d lose that bet.” – James Varney/NOLA.com

“Vance McAllister dives into the annual Teddy’s Bearfest street fair, caressing baby cheeks and hugging old ladies — the rare Republican showing and receiving affection in a crowd of African-Americans.” – POLITICO

“How the state took the money involves a sleight-of-hand budget trick at which most accountants would shudder. Heck, even Bernie Madoff would shudder.” – John Kennedy/NOLA.com

“A Baton Rouge state judge on Monday threw out a woman’s lawsuit that claimed now former LSU Alumni Association chief Charlie Roberts gave her a job at the association so she could continue a sexual relationship with him and then paid her about $3,000 a month after she resigned to keep the relationship a secret.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“Former President Bill Clinton will be in Baton Rouge on Monday, Oct. 20 to support Sen. Mary Landrieu’s re-election campaign.” – WAFB

NATIONAL

“President Barack Obama made a rare appearance on the campaign trail on Sunday with a rally to support the Democratic candidate for governor in Maryland, but early departures of crowd members while he spoke underscored his continuing unpopularity.” – Reuters

“While U.S. warplanes strike at the militants of the so-called Islamic State in both Syria and Iraq, truckloads of U.S. and Western aid has been flowing into territory controlled by the jihadists, assisting them to build their terror-inspiring ‘caliphate.'” – Daily Beast

“Barack Obama isn’t running merely the worst American presidency since James Buchanan’s, but the worst imaginable presidency in this day and age. And every single Senate Democrat is thoroughly complicit in Obama’s horrendous record.” – Quin Hillyer/National Review

“In a stunning interview, Senate minority leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) took the side of Barack Obama over that of most of his caucus on the subject of managing Ebola, ignoring both the administration’s ineptitude and basic principles of epidemiology.” – RedState

“Overnight, the American-led coalition executed six new airstrikes on ISIS positions around Kobani following an airdrop of weapons and supplies for the town’s Kurdish defenders. While administration officials were wary of declaring that there had been a shift in strategic momentum in Kobani, sources on the ground confirmed last week that ISIS fighters have been pushed back and the city is in less danger of falling to the Islamic State than it was at the beginning of the month.” – Hot Air

“France’s Socialist government today pledged to toughen up its anti face-covering law after a veiled Muslim woman was ejected from a major Paris opera house.” – Daily Mail UK

“Ron Klain, whom I have known for over 20 years, is the right choice at the right time to bring order, management, discipline, media and political communications skills to helping the American people understand what is happening and not happening and why. My guess is Klain’s approach will be, to reframe the familiar expression, ‘it’s about communicating, stupid’; and/or ‘it’s about winning trust, stupid.'” – Lanny Davis/The Hill

“New Ebola czar Ron Klain was not in attendance at a White House meeting of the Ebola response team on Saturday night, the second powwow he’s missed since the appointment was announced on Friday.” – Daily Caller

“Klain was also a central player in the president’s Solyndra fraud, which soaked taxpayers for over half a billion dollars for the benefit of Obama cronies.” – Andrew McCarthy/National Review

“The Afghan villager who rescued a Navy SEAL and became the inspiration for the Hollywood film Lone Survivor is now on the run from the Taliban.” – Daily Mail UK