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La. could extend time for juvenile trials
OFF AND RUNNING LSU women coast to victory over Jacksonville in NCAA tournament opener
Some fear kids would languish in jail
BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer
STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON
LSU guard Flau’jae Johnson, center, celebrates with the bench after Bella Hines, right, hit a three-pointer against Jacksonville in the fourth period of Friday’s first-round NCAA tournament game at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Johnson had 20 points and Mikaylah Williams had 18 points and 10 assists as the Tigers cruised to an easy 116-58 win over the Dolphins. Jada Richard scored 17 points and had four steals, and ZaKiyah Johnson added 16 points for the Tigers, who had seven players score at least 10 points. ä COMPLETE COVERAGE IN SPORTS, 1C.
BY EMILY WOODRUFF
Statement outlines goal to help prioritize resources
Staff writer
WEATHER HIGH 82 LOW 62 PAGE 8A
ä See TRIALS, page 5A
BREC official defends plans to sell parks
Trees pushing pollen levels into high range peak of a heavy pollination season, driven largely by Louisiana’s live oaks. “It’s just nature doing what Headed down Interstate 55 near Baton Rouge, Ed- it does,” he said. Pollen levels in south ward Bush drove through a swirling cloud of haze last Louisiana are climbing into the high range this month, weekend. “It looked like a fog,” Bush driven largely by tree pollen said. “Like a greenish-yellow from oak, cedar and other early bloomers. dust storm.” Forecasters currently rate But Bush, a horticulture professor of 39 years with tree pollen in New Orleans the LSU AgCenter, recogä See POLLEN, page 5A nized it for what it was: the
A bill in the Louisiana Legislature would dramatically increase the time officials can keep juveniles in jail before their trials. The proposed changes would overhaul juvenile court procedures by extending the length of time prosecutors have to try juvenile cases, pausing those timelines when defense attorneys file pretrial motions and allowing prosecutors to receive extensions after cases pass their adjudication deadlines. Currently, the Louisiana Children’s Code — a set of rules that governs juvenile court proceedings — is designed to move juveniles through the court system much more quickly than adults, who can sit in jail for years before they are convicted. State Rep. Vincent Cox, R-Gretna, filed House Bill 140 at the behest of the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office, and prosecutors across the state have thrown their support behind it. Proponents argue the court system’s current deadlines do not grant enough time to gather evidence, and that youth already have ample opportunities for release at the beginning of their cases.
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
Live oaks drive Louisiana’s heavy pollination season.
concerning eight parks. In a letter released Friday, Chair Michael Polito said the plans were objective, data-driven and that park sales are planned across many Baton Rouge council disBY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT tricts. “Let me be clear: this effort is Staff writer not new, not political, and not tarThe chair of the BREC Commis- geted,” he wrote. “It is a continusion released a letter outlining the ation of a multi-year, data-driven organization’s plans to sell some initiative — undertaken at the parks across the parish, following ä See BREC, page 4A a heated meeting earlier this week
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