By KELLY P. KISSEL | Metro editor While a plurality of East Baton Rouge residents are Black, the parish's Metro Council wants a White-majority board. Interest groups say the move to keep a 7-5 split between majority-White and majority-Black districts will invite a lawsuit. Similar actions taken by the Legislature and the school board have resulted in other court fights. A Bogalusa rancher is on the horns of a dilemma, quite literally. Jason Smith sells beef directly to customers, and the local sheriff says he owes about $40,000 in sales taxes and penalties. Smith is relying on a state law that says Louisiana farmers can sell many products tax-free. If the sheriff wins, it could sink Smith's farm, and any farm would have to raise prices for consumers to make enough to cover the taxes. Today's one of those rare and weird days when both of the high schools I attended here are in the news. A Woodlawn quarterback says he'll play collegiately at LSU, and we take a look back at when Elvis played at Baton Rouge High. (No, despite what you may have heard, I'm not old enough to have been there. Close, but no.) |