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Lewis ousted from vice chairmanship over anti-Landry social media post | Louisiana

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www.thecentersquare.com – By Nolan McKendry | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-02-19 14:15:00

(The Center Square) — The Louisiana Public Service Commission voted Wednesday to remove Commissioner Davante Lewis as vice chairman after he called Gov. Jeff Landry an “asshole” in a social media post last week.

The 3-2 vote stripped Lewis of his leadership role and appointed Commissioner Eric Skrmetta as his replacement. 

The commission also approved a request from Entergy Louisiana to bill customers for $182 million in Hurricane Francine storm recovery fees.

The utility estimates it will add between 80 cents and $1.10 per month bills for customers who use 1,000 to 1,500 kilowatt hours of electricity to help pay for repair costs from the 2024 Category 2 storm that made landfall in Terrebone Parish.

The controversy erupted after Landry praised newly confirmed Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a social media post, calling him a “major upgrade” over former Assistant Secretary of Health Rachel Levine.

In response, Lewis criticized Landry’s post, accusing conservatives of promoting “cruelty and chaos” and directly insulting the governor.

Following his removal, Lewis condemned the decision as a “biased, dangerous, & retaliatory clap back on constitutional free speech,” thanking supporters who attended the meeting.

He later doubled down on his criticism, calling the Republican Party “hypocrites” and sharing a text exchange that appeared to show another commissioner using the same insult against him.

Despite his removal as vice chairman, Lewis remains a voting member of the commission. Skrmetta, a Republican, will now serve as vice chairman. The commission did not publicly comment on whether further action against Lewis is being considered.

Several individuals testified before the LPSC in defense of Lewis, arguing that Lewis’ posts were “constitutionally protected.” 

“We are here today because Chairman Mike Francis alleges that he was embarrassed that Devonte Lewis…exercised his first amendment right, a constitutional right to free speech, to criticize Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry,” Alfreda Tillman Bester, general counsel in Louisiana for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said at Wednesday’s meeting. “I’m embarrassed that [Landry] posted a picture on social media of former Health and Human Services Director, Secretary Rachel Levine, a physician, a four star officer in the nation’s uniform services, beside a picture of vaccine denier Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in an apparent juvenile insult.”

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News from the South - Louisiana News Feed

New Orleans City Council presses Cantrell administration on trash pickup dispute

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wgno.com – Rick Gogreve – 2025-04-28 22:38:00

SUMMARY: At a New Orleans City Council meeting, Council President JP Morrell criticized the Cantrell administration for issuing a notice of termination on IV Waste’s emergency cleaning contract. Morrell emphasized that the contract for Henry Consulting, which was to replace IV Waste, was not valid without the council’s signature. Despite praise from residents about IV Waste’s work, the Cantrell administration gave no response when questioned about the termination. Henry Consulting maintains that the dispute with a subcontractor is resolved and that they are prepared to start their contract in August. The City of New Orleans reiterated its commitment to ensuring sanitation services through December.

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Bossier term limits battle set to receive final decision on Saturday | Louisiana

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www.thecentersquare.com – By Emilee Calametti | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-28 15:17:00

(The Center Square) — An ongoing effort to establish retroactive term limits in Bossier City receives the final vote by residents on Saturday. 

Back in September, an ordinance establishing term limits for the Bossier City Council members failed to pass despite citizen concerns. The ordinance called for a special election in December proposing no person who has been elected or appointed to serve for three terms is eligible for reelection.

Residents presented a petition during a September city council meeting with roughly 3,000 signatures. 

Nearly nine months later, the parish will vote on the retroactive term limits. If passed, four council members will be ineligible for reelection — Jeff Free, Jeff Darby, David Montgomery and Don Williams. 

A previous JMC analytics poll reported showed between 50%-70% of citizens in each district would approve city council term limits. 

The Bossier City Term Limits Coalition began the argument over retroactive term limits, while the City Council’sprevious proposed charter is prospective term limits. The council originally wanted their prospective term limits to be on the December ballot last year. However, the Louisiana Bond Commission rejected the proposal. The reasoning behind the rejection was for the council’s omittance of the retroactive term limits supported and petitioned for by citizens.

The Center Square previously reported that if the charter passed in the March election, it wouldn’t hinder the retroactive petition version from being added and voted on in future elections depending on how the courts ruled. 

“If this goes forward as it is and it passes I think it could block any further action because the people of Bossier City will feel like they made their decision through their vote and that would mean that there would only be prospective term limits,” John Fleming, state treasurer and commission chair said previously. 

As the May election approaches this week, citizens will cast another vote for term limits as they did in March. 

While the March election did not address retroactive term limits, both propositions received a majority vote to pass some form of term limits for elected officials in Bossier. 

“We think that we’re going to be successful because we’ve made such a stink of this for the last two years,” David Crockett told The Center Square previously. “We think that some of these city councilmen are going to get beat, and we may get control of the council with good people that are not doing this for self-serving purposes.”

Emilee Ruth Calametti serves as staff reporter for The Center Square covering the Northwestern Louisiana region. She holds her M.A. in English from Georgia State University and soon, an additional M.A. in Journalism from New York University. Emilee has bylines in DIG Magazine, Houstonia Magazine, Bookstr, inRegister, The Click News, and the Virginia Woolf Miscellany. She is a Louisiana native with over seven years of journalism experience.

The post Bossier term limits battle set to receive final decision on Saturday | Louisiana appeared first on www.thecentersquare.com



Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Right

The article focuses on the local political issue of establishing retroactive term limits in Bossier City, presenting the facts with an emphasis on citizen activism and holding elected officials accountable. The language is generally neutral but leans slightly towards supporting government accountability and limited political tenure, which aligns with traditional conservative values favoring term limits and reduced government entrenchment. There is no overt partisan language or ideological framing that would suggest a strong bias, but the framing and source (The Center Square, known for center-right reporting) indicate a center-right perspective.

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FOX 14 Your Morning News: Morehouse May Madness Street Festival to take place on May 3rd

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www.youtube.com – KTVE – 2025-04-28 08:22:18

SUMMARY: The Morehouse May Madness Street Festival will take place on Saturday, May 3rd, from 9 AM to 4 PM in downtown Bastrop, closing off the entire square for the event. The festival features over 18 unique food vendors offering a variety of dishes, classic automobile displays, a kids zone with inflatable play areas and rock painting, a ventriloquist show, music on three stages, a quilt show, local artisan displays, and flower arranging tips. There is also a cutest pet contest with awards. Admission and parking are free. The event is family and pet-friendly, supported by community sponsors like Morehouse General Hospital and the Barn Event Center.

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FOX 14 Your Morning News: Morehouse May Madness Street Festival to take place on May 3rd

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