 BY DOUG GRAHAM | Staff writer Facing an uphill battle in their fight to have clemency granted to every Louisiana prisoner on death row, advocates met Tuesday with Gov. John Bel Edwards on World Day Against the Death Penalty. Clemency supporters insist the state's death penalty system is flawed, with a disproportionate number of minorities and people with documented intellectual disabilities condemned to death row. But a recent settlement has put a damper on the anti-death penalty advocates' efforts.
East Baton Rouge Parish school Superintendent Sito Narcisse is planning a Listen and Learn tour over the next month to allow the public to sound off on pressing issues such as teacher shortages, student safety and problems with bus service. Narcisse is holding the events after a tumultuous start to the 2023-24 school year dominated by an ongoing student transportation crisis. The first in this series of town halls is planned for Monday, Oct. 16, at Glen Oaks High.
Republican House members are scheduled to start voting for speaker Wednesday morning. The GOP majority is split between Steve Scalise of Jefferson, part of House leadership for more than decade, and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, a firebrand conservative from Ohio. But most of Louisiana’s delegation has remained mum on whether they will back their home-state candidate. | 
