BY DEANNA B. NARVESON | Staff writer A Louisiana official is under investigation for allegedly getting $780,000 to buy a house and jobs for his children from an organization to which he helped award a contract from the state, documents show. Johnny Adams, an assistant commissioner in the Office of Conservation in the Department of Energy and Natural Resources, is named in a search warrant accusing him of malfeasance in office that says he "used his position to influence" an agreement with the Louisiana Oilfield Restoration Association and later benefited financially. Adams is the husband of East Baton Rouge Metro Council member for District 11, Laurie Adams, who was elected to office in 2020. Read the full story. However, the investigation into Adam's actions raises questions about Louisiana 'orphan' well program. The search warrant for Adams' financial records has revealed that LORA’s liabilities far exceed its assets: as of April, LORA could have been liable for over $160 million, but it only had $5.1 million in the bank. Read more about that here. Elsewhere in the state capital, Gov. Jeff Landry is spent several hours Wednesday trying to get Republican legislators on board with his plan to dramatically rewrite Louisiana’s tax code during a special session he wants to call in November. The Advocate has more details on what exactly Landry's tax plan is. |