BY MATTHEW ALBRIGHT | Staff writer As Louisiana deals with deep turmoil in its youth prisons, state officials plan to move some teens to the grounds of the state's infamous Angola State Penitentiary. The idea has caused fierce backlash from many parts of the juvenile justice system. Now a lawsuit is trying to stop the move. Here's what it argues. Kratom is supposed to be a simple herbal supplement that gives an energy boost and pain relief. But governments around the country have started banning it after stories of addiction and even overdoses. Kratom sellers and users say the issue is a lack of regulation; they say it's perfectly safe by itself, but some shady distributors are lacing it with opioids, even fentanyl. Here's how the issue has now come to the Baton Rouge region. When the Comite and Amite rivers flood, it puts hundreds of thousands of people at risk. But the rivers run through multiple parishes, and those parishes haven't always been very good about cooperating with each other. This week, East Baton Rouge, Ascension and Livingston said they were teaming up on multi-million-dollar efforts to clean up the rivers, helping them flow better to make flooding less likely. Here's what it means for our area. |