To the Editor: I live in rural Louisiana. My bank isn’t a skyscraper — it’s a building on the main square that knows my name. And right now, Washington is quietly making decisions that could put that bank, and hundreds like it across this state, in serious trouble. Here’s the basic issue. Congress recently passed […]

Yesterday, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a decisive ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, affirming a that our congressional maps must not be drawn based on race. Louisiana Freedom Caucus Chairwoman Beryl Amedée issued the following statement: “By finding Louisiana’s congressional map unconstitutional on the grounds of racial gerrymandering, the U.S. Supreme Court has restored […]

We all share the same goal when it comes to health care: ensuring patients can access the medicines they need at prices they can afford. Louisiana Senate Bill 401 reflects a sincere effort to address that challenge. At the same time, I encourage lawmakers to consider the full picture of what drives out-of-pocket costs at […]

Every April 26, World Intellectual Property Day reminds us that behind every world‑changing medical breakthrough is an idea worth protecting. For those of us on the front lines of cancer care, few issues are more consequential than strong intellectual property (IP) protections. The therapies transforming cancer from a diagnosis of despair into one of hope […]

Cancer has a way of dividing your life into before and after. I learned that when a routine procedure led doctors to discover something far more serious. What was supposed to be a straightforward surgery revealed a suspicious lump. A biopsy confirmed the unthinkable: stage 4 cancer. By the time it was found, the disease […]

Dear Editor, Independent pharmacies are a lifeline for many Louisiana families, especially in the rural parts of our state. But lately, these pharmacies are being pushed to the edge by abusive practices from pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). These middlemen decide reimbursement rates and control who gets included in pharmacy networks, and they’ve made it almost […]

Editor, Pelican Post Online; Your website has chosen to repeatedly reprint a Facebook post written by the former City of Gonzales Chief Administrative Officer, Scott Byrd, which clearly implies illegality regarding checks written to Liberty Fence during the short term that I was interim Mayor of the City of Gonzales. Both the Pelican Post and Mr. Byrd […]

NOTE: This piece was first published on June 21, 2019> If we learned nothing else at Thursday’s Council meeting, it was determined how much it cost to engineer a splash pad in Ascension Parish.  If you’re part of the taxpaying public… $49,900 That’s a different question than; what’s it cost to be given the no-bid […]