 BY VICKI FERSTEL | Staff writer The Legislature approved Gov. Jeff Landry's tax swap on Friday. But come March 29, we the people will be be voting on a complicated constitutional amendment with even more fiscal changes. The swap approved Friday, in a nutshell, reduces income taxes, abolishes the corporate franchise tax, raises the sales tax and keeps tax credits used by film productions and developers of historic buildings. The proposed amendment would: replace a one-time $2,000 pay increase for teachers last year with a permanent $2,000 pay raise; remove most property tax exemptions from the constitution; cap annual spending and make it harder to create more tax breaks; and double the standard deduction for seniors on their income taxes. Wait, there's more! Click here for staff writer Tyler Bridges' report.
Ya gotta have heart! LSU coach Brian Kelly, in an effort to restore his team’s confidence, reminded the Tigers they had a lead in the second half of three of their four losses. And even though they could not play for a championship anymore, they still needed to finish. The message appeared to resonate before LSU's 24-17 win Saturday over Vanderbilt, snapping a three-game losing streak. Staff writer Wilson Alexander takes us behind-the-scenes of the players' change of heart.
Meta, Facebook's parent company, is planning a massive $5 billion artificial intelligence data center in north Louisiana. If approved, the data center could provide hundreds of jobs. But the center would require three new natural gas power plants and could possibly use a third of Entergy’s power in Louisiana. Now, staff writers Julia Guilbeau and Josie Abugov take a deep dive into the world of AI data centers. | 
