 BY DEANNA B. NARVESON | Staff writer The highly contested topic of how much the leader of Louisiana's newest city should be paid took center stage Tuesday evening. Opposition erupted from members of the public who were unhappy about salaries proposed for the City of St. George's mayor, city council and police chief at the St. George council meeting Tuesday night. The debate went on for hours, and as a result the council decided to reduce the wages. At the original $175,000 rate, the mayoral salary would total the same amount as former East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome's annual pay as chief officer of the parish. However, the 86,000 residents in St. George make up less than 20% of the parish's population. Read the full story from City Hall reporter Patrick Sloan-Turner.
Bye-bye Belle: The Belle of Baton Rouge sailed away from its dock Tuesday morning, marking a milestone in the $141 million redevelopment of the downtown casino. The riverboat will go to a Terrebonne Parish scrapyard, where Louisiana Scrap Metal Recycling will dismantle the vessel. More than 97% of the riverboat will be recycled. The Queen Casino & Entertainment, which operates the Belle, is moving the gambling operations into a permanent home in the casino atrium onshore and reopening the adjacent hotel that has been closed since the start of the COVID pandemic because of roof damage. Read the full story from Business Editor Timothy Boone.
He researched New Orleans shootings before ramming Bourbon Street: The Army veteran who killed 14 and injured dozens more on Bourbon Street on New Year’s Day searched online for information about several New Orleans shootings and a car attack in Germany 10 days earlier, federal authorities said Tuesday. Read the full story. | 
