LOUISIANA

“Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has amassed more than $9 million to support his long-shot run for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, campaign aides said Wednesday. Most of that money — more than $8.6 million — has been raised by funding groups outside his official campaign committee.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“Gov. Bobby Jindal on Tuesday announced he’s directed the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals to investigate Planned Parenthood activities in the state after a video surfaced that claims the organization is selling fetal body parts.” – NOLA.com

“We need to bring in people who are going to develop the riverfront for its beauty, not as a place to dump chemicals or to clean off barges or to pollute the environment,” Delgado said. ” It would be more fitting for an area that’s right next to a neighborhood.” – WBRZ

“A customer shot an alleged robber following a holdup at a New Orleans East gas station. The shooting happened around 5 a.m. Wednesday at a Shell station, located near the intersection of Chef Menteur Highway and Downman Road.” – Fox 8 Live

“Goldman Sachs Bank reportedly has its sights set on acquiring roughly 40 acres along Nicholson Road that is owned by Lafayette oilman and developer Mike Moreno, who is being sued by the bank for defaulting on a $52 million loan he took out in October 2013, Acadiana Business reports.” – Baton Rouge Business Report

“The remaining balance the state has promised to the Miss Universe Organization for holding the Miss USA pageant in Baton Rouge is likely to go at least partially unpaid. Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, who oversees the Office of Tourism, said that a ‘subjective value judgment’ will be made in the next week to determine what number will be on the final check.” – NOLA.com

“The East Baton Rouge Metro Council is expected to take action on a major grant that could improve transportation in a popular area of Baton Rouge. The council will also discuss BP settlement money.” – WAFB

“In House District 69, left vacant by former Rep. Eric Ponti, attorney James Bullman has picked up two high-profile endorsements. They come courtesy of former Congressmen Charlie Melancon and Don Cazayoux, who is also a former U.S. attorney. The nods could help Bullman, the lone Democrat in the race so far, boost his fundraising. But the district still remains a major challenge for anyone who is not a Republican. Voters in the district, for instance, overwhelmingly supported U.S. Sen David Vitter’s 2010 re-election, by 67%, when he faced Melancon, who received 27%.” – Baton Rouge Business Report

“If Mother Nature were to wave a wand and eliminate the freshwater characteristics of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands, the state’s favorite estuarine species of fish would cease to exist. Larval and juvenile speckled trout need low-salinity water to survive. Salt for them is as beneficial as it is to the average slug. Ironically, however, their forebears need salinity to even create those youngsters. As even armchair trout biologists know, spawns that occur in water that’s too fresh result in eggs that sink and are covered by silt or gobbled by predators.” – NOLA.com

“First off, let’s rename the city New Orleans! Since the city was named after the Duke of Orleans, who had numerous affairs, rumors of murder and incestuous relations with his daughter… He also won the family farting contest and could fart ‘like a flute,’ but to be fair that could be viewed as a positive… But I am most certain that he was probably an elitist and a racist. The name has got to go.” – Sally Asher

NATIONAL

“In America, it’s illegal to donate money to a candidate without first reporting it to the government. Even then, if you give more than is permissible you might end up in jail. In this country, you can’t add trans fats to your foods or smoke cigarettes in your own bar. Here, Little Sisters of the Poor can’t tell the state they’d rather not buy condoms and bakers can’t tell a couple they’d rather not participate in their wedding. But it’s completely legal to kill an unborn baby for convenience and then sell its parts for cash.” – The Federalist

“Were any of Iran’s hostile activities bargained away in this negotiation? Has Iran’s diplomatic posture vis-à-vis the United States changed as a result of this deal? If so, it would be nice to see evidence. Instead, we’ve only seen continued ‘Death To America!’ street theater courtesy of the Iranian government.” – Scott McKay/American Spectator

“Instead of stopping Iran from going nuclear, Obama has become the Ayatollah’s economic errand boy, committed by the deal to pressure municipal funds in California and New York to reinvest in Iran.” – Daniel Greenfield/Front Page Mag

“The agreement signed today ends the economic-sanctions regime, permits the Iranians to hide much of their nuclear activities, lacks enforcement in case of Iranian deceit, and expires in slightly more than a decade. Two problems particularly stand out: The Iranian path to nuclear weapons has been eased and legitimated; Tehran will receive a ‘signing bonus’ of some $150 billion that greatly increases its abilities to aggress in the Middle East and beyond.” – Daniel Pipes/National Review

“Now that the long-feared leap of faith with terrorist Iran has arrived, a tragic fact is exposed: The Iranian deceptiveness we can count on is already matched by our president’s own deceitful announcement.” – Investor’s Business Daily

“Watch below and you’ll find Rhodes, one of Obama’s right-hand men on natsec, shrugging off Erin Burnett’s concern about the lack of ‘anytime, anywhere’ inspections in the new Iran deal. We never sought those, he says. Oh?” – Hot Air

“…Today’s agreement is the culmination of a sustained strategy of pressure and engagement executed over many years. As secretary of State, I logged tens of thousands of miles and twisted a lot of arms to build a global coalition to impose the most crippling sanctions in history. That unprecedented pressure delivered a blow to Iran’s economy and gave us leverage at the negotiating table, starting in Oman in 2012. I know from experience what it took to build a global effort to get this done; I know what it will take to rally our partners to enforce it.” – PJ Media

“His name is Abdelhakim Belhadj and he is the current head of ISIS terrorist forces in Libya. Some are suggesting Belhadj was put in power there by the Obama State Department during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State and that Belhadj was in fact a major player in the events that led to the death of American Ambassador, Chris Stevens and three other Americans during the tragedy known as the Benghazi Massacre.” – DC Whispers

“Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) and real-estate mogul Donald Trump — each running for the Republican presidential nomination as anti-establishment outsiders — are cultivating an already chummy relationship at this early stage of the 2016 race and will huddle Wednesday in New York.” – Washington Post

“The former longtime mayor of Harrisburg, Pa., was arrested Tuesday and charged with nearly 500 criminal counts, in part stemming from allegations he illegally used hundreds of thousands of dollars from city agencies to purchase historical items, the Harrisburg Patriot-News reported. Stephen R. Reed, 65, whose term as Democratic mayor of Pennsylvania’s capital city spanned nearly three decades, was arraigned on 499 counts stemming from 17 criminal charges before Magisterial District Judge William Wenner.” – Fox News