 BY MATTHEW ALBRIGHT | Staff writer Baton Rouge is getting tough on drag racing and late night car antics. Whether it's people gunning it down Burbank or doing donuts in front of the River Center, the parish just approved tougher penalties for stunt driving. It was a newsworthy night at the Metro Council, in fact. The city-parish approved a pay raise for employees, particularly police and first responders, and approved a new voting map — one that could lead to a legal challenge.
There has been a lot of handwringing about what the transfer portal has done to college football. But for new LSU head coach Brian Kelly, it was a tool to fill serious gaps he identified in the team's roster. This story looks at how Kelly and his staff used the transfer portal to build the team that will take the field this season.
The story of Charlene Richard, the 12-year-old girl who used a leukemia diagnosis to dedicate her life to God, has inspired Catholics far outside of Louisiana. She's been called "The Little Cajun Saint," and is on a short list for actual, formal sainthood. Here's how her tomb and home church in a tiny Louisiana town have become places of pilgrimage. | 
