LOUISIANA

“Two years after the defeat of the independent school district, the organizers of an effort to incorporate the city of St. George in not just the southeastern part of East Baton Rouge Parish but the entire unincorporated area to the south of Baton Rouge proper deposited the final batch of signatures on a petition with some 18,000 names on it. That number, corresponding to 25 percent of the registered voters in what would become St. George per state law, will if it holds up through the verification process trigger an election in which the local electorate could create a new city of 107,000 people.” – Scott McKay/American Spectator

“I wanted to try to build something special here at LSU,” Winstead said. “It’s been 10 years of a lot of these guys working hard. We fail over and over, and we try to learn.” – GolfWeek

“Citing Louisiana’s continuing budget woes, senators refused Thursday to boost funding for Louisiana’s public schools by $85 million for the upcoming school year, rejecting a nearly $3.7 billion proposed financing formula.
The House had given unanimous support to the plan last week, but the Senate Education Committee rejected the legislation without objection.” – Lake Charles American Press

“Gov. Bobby Jindal is traveling to northwest Louisiana to get a firsthand look at the rising waters of the Red River. The governor will be in Caddo and Bossier parishes Friday.” – NOLA.com

“The anti-St. George group Better Together said Thursday it believes the Registrar of Voters Office was off by as many as 239 signatures in validating the initial 18,000 signatures submitted on a petition to create a new city.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“The Legislature has approved a bill that will bar public and charter schools for suspending or expelling elementary school students for violating school uniform rules.” – WWL-TV

“Algiers’ bid for independence from New Orleans was trying to address blight, crime and poor infrastructure on a more localized level, according to its sponsor, state Rep. Jeff Arnold, D-Algiers.” – NOLA.com

“A U.S. military investigation blamed two Louisiana National Guard pilots for a March helicopter crash that killed 11 service members, the Guard said Thursday.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“Earlier this week, Rep. Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge, who contends recreational fishers are being shortchanged with only 10-day red snapper fishing seasons in the Gulf, withdraw an amendment that would have transferred authority to set the seasons from a federal agency to a new consortium of five Gulf states, including Louisiana. He did so because his amendment was likely to be defeated, given opposition from leaders of the House Natural Resources Committee.” – NOLA.com

“Fans still damp from last weekend’s rain-soaked regional in Alex Box Stadium can take heart: The forecast for Saturday through Monday call for only a slight chance of rain. In fact, the only thing Tiger and Ragin’ Cajun faithful should be sopping up is sweat.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

NATIONAL

“We’ve gone from saying women ‘belong in the kitchen’ to saying they’re ‘separate but equal’ to ‘exactly the same’ to ‘badass’ to ‘invincible.’ Now nature is a liar. Can’t do as many pull-ups as a man? So what, you’re a Marine. Can’t lift a body from a fire? Who cares, you’re in the FDNY. You’re Superwoman! You can race motocross! Reality be damned! And danger doesn’t exist. Just the other day a woman was mauled to death by a lion while ‘on a volunteer mission to protect wildlife in South Africa.’ Remember Kayla Jean Mueller, who died in an air strike after volunteering in Syria? Before she left on her mission she stated, ‘I will not let this suffering be normal.’ Who did she think she was, George S. Patton?” – Gavin McInnes/Taki’s Magazine

“At a moment when many on the left are desperately trying to conjure up enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton’s bid to become the first woman president, others on the left want to turn the word ‘woman’ into a term of exclusion and oppression.” – Jonah Goldberg/National Review

“We’re all suckers. That’s what dawned on me suddenly the other night. I’d just filed a column on how some social conservative writers are responding to Caitlyn Jenner’s coming out as a woman on the cover of Vanity Fair. I hadn’t given in to the sanctimony that’s characterized so much of the commentary about Jenner and her transgender struggles, but I did try to explain why many liberals are inclined to refrain from judgment and even to celebrate this watershed moment in American culture. And then it hit me: Like everyone who’s talked, written, posted, and tweeted about this event, I’ve been taken in by a publicity stunt.” – The Week

“The thug, criminal, gang wannabe population in NYC has clearly noticed that these days urban police are more likely to get in trouble for mistakes made while enforcing law than for shirking the tough calls. It was predictable that when the violence stats started rising, innocent black citizens living among thugs and gang members in low income neighborhoods, would be the primary victims. ‘Stop and frisk’ was a Giuliani/Bratton innovation that sought to prevent crime – especially crimes involving young black men with guns killing other young black men and any innocent bystanders. It worked. Murder rates dropped in the solution-elusive category of ‘black on black’ crime. But de Blasio, who has a biracial son, is more concerned with the insult felt by innocent black boys and men whom the police frisked, than the actual injuries to those who are caught in the crossfire.” – Lisa Schiffrin/New York Observer

“Although you will miss the lush analytical context of the full case made in my smash new book, Adios, America: The Left’s Plan to Turn Our Country Into a Third World Hellhole, here are some more startling facts from my book that the anti-American crowd doesn’t want you to know:” – Ann Coulter

“National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists have found a solution to the 15-year ‘pause’ in global warming: They ‘adjusted’ the hiatus in warming out of the temperature record. New climate data by NOAA scientists doubles the warming trend since the late 1990s by adjusting pre-hiatus temperatures downward and inflating temperatures in more recent years.” – Daily Caller

“On April 21, Carol Browne from Berlin Township, NJ, applied for a license to own a handgun, which she wanted to protect herself from a former boyfriend against whom she had a restraining order. On June 3—while still waiting for the state to give her permission to own a gun—Browne’s former boyfriend, Michael Eitel, allegedly stabbed her to death in her own driveway.” – Breitbart

“Domestic-terrorism expert J. M. Berger had an interesting piece for Foreign Policy this week in which he lays out the serious flaws with the work of the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the problems with monitoring domestic terrorism in general. He explains:” – National Review

“This assessment seems closer to the mark. If Perry shines in debates and on talk shows, his reversal of form will become a story in the campaign. Even, if he simply holds his own, his difficulties in 2012 will be largely overlooked.” – Power Line

“The New York Times Friday report that Republican Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and his wife Jeanette have been cited 17 times for traffic violations was written after the citations were pulled by liberal opposition research firm American Bridge, according to Miami-Dade County court records. Records show that each of the citations mentioned by the New York Times were pulled in person by American Bridge operatives on May 26, 2015.” – Washington Free Beacon