LOUISIANA

“A petition drive to get a measure on the ballot to create a new City of St. George has fallen short of the number of names required, a group opposing the incorporation effort is reporting.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“Red River finally lost its mania early today, dropping below the 33-foot major-flood stage. The change occurred between 5 and 6 a.m., according to the National Weather Service in Shreveport.” – Shreveport Times

“A forum featuring the major candidates for Louisiana governor will be held Wednesday (June 17) at the Alario Center in Westwego. The West Bank Governor’s Luncheon is sponsoring the debate, which runs from 8:15 a.m. until 9:30 a.m.” – NOLA.com

“Health care officials are digging through the dollars the Louisiana Legislature coughed up in the final moments of the 2015 session and are finding some relief. ‘We were facing cuts of colossal magnitude, but I’m thrilled that our legislators found a way to preserve funding,’ Lafayette General Health Chief Executive Officer David Callecod said.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“In the real world here in Louisiana, people will be paying higher taxes. And the Student Assessment for a Valuable Education act — cheerily known as SAVE — that the governor claims is a tax credit to offset the increases won’t save anybody anything.” – NOLA.com

“Despite huge state budget problems, public schools emerged with modest gains from the 2015 Louisiana Legislature, including a $36 million hike in state aid approved on the final day of the session. The increase marks just the third such boost since 2008 and generally fulfills what the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education sought in March.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“There are a variety of reasons for someone to opt for an online school rather than a traditional brick and mortar one, such as a disability or the need to travel frequently. For Caitlyn Turnbull, one of 153 graduates of Louisiana Connections Academy who had their graduation recently, the reason was an unexpected pregnancy her sophomore year in high school.” – Lake Charles American Press

“From French influenced chateaux to an old abandoned castle-fort sinking into the sea, Louisiana has some of the most interesting and mysterious castles in the country. One thing you can know for sure if you spot a castle in Louisiana: there’s an interesting story behind it!” – Only In Your State

“Former New Orleans Saints player Darren Sharper has pleaded guilty to rape in a Louisiana drug-and-sexual-assault case, completing a series of pleas in four states that will see him serve at least nine years in prison.” – WDSU

“Today was just really a totally bad game for us,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri, who looked like he lost about 10 psi during the course of Sunday’s misery. “I don’t know how else to describe it. Outside of the first three innings of the way Jared pitched, we really didn’t do anything very well today. It was just a total collapse for us on a big stage. We picked a rough time to not play our best baseball.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

NATIONAL

“It’s hard to get 96 percent of people to agree on anything, but last month’s Wall Street Journal/NBC poll found that 96 percent of those surveyed believe we are in for a summer of racial unrest. In the wake of Ferguson and Baltimore, it’s time for some reflection on how we got here.” – John Fund/National Review

“But facing fallout from the controversy — in which Dolezal is accused of hiding her Caucasian heritage — Dolezal postponed the meeting, according to the Spokane Statesman-Review.” – Washington Post

“Rachel Dolezal stepped down from her position as the president of an NAACP chapter in Washington State on Monday – days after her ethnic identity became a national controversy. ” – Yahoo! News

“Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton declared ‘We have to stop the endless flow of secret, unaccountable money‘ during her campaign announcement on Saturday.” – Breitbart

“Saturday’s event, according according to The New York Times, was organized by a small group of Clinton insiders including Huma Abedin, Clinton’s longtime aide and the vice chair of her campaign and Jim Margolis, who helped orchestrate both inaugurations for President Obama. The result felt borderline dystopian.” – Daily Beast

“Hillary Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri gave a painfully convoluted response Friday to a question about repeating the campaign approach of reintroducing Clinton again Saturday with a speech focusing on her roots.” – Washington Free Beacon

“Hillary Clinton displayed today her tremendous weaknesses as a candidate. All she has going for her is the hope that pushing the right buttons on identity politics and promising new government benefits, Americans will overlook what they don’t like.” – Washington Examiner

“Everything else reflects the West’s immigrationist malaise. This cultural sickness is not limited to America. The Swedish multiculturalist and anti-Western social engineer Mona Sahlin, commenting on the planned Islamization of her land, said in 2001, ‘[T]he Swedes must be integrated into the new Sweden; the old Sweden is never coming back.'” – American Thinker

“In a healthy culture, the authorities would be driven by an indignant populace to seek immediate justice for the tragic death of Kalief Browder. Instead, most of the populace hasn’t even heard his name.” – Steve Deace/Washington Times

“Jurassic World, despite lukewarm-to-warm reviews, pulled off the highest-grossing global opening of all time with a $511.8 million haul this weekend.’This over-performed in a way that I’ve never seen,’ one box office analyst told the AP. ‘It broke the box office sound barrier.’” – The Atlantic