• BRIEFING BOOK
TOP OF THE NEWS

• Jindal heads to Florida to pad campaign chest
BATON ROUGE -- He is three years away from facing the voters, and he ended 2007 with almost $800,000 in his campaign account. But Gov. Bobby Jindal apparently is leaving little to chance.

• SHEPHERD PLEADS GUILTY, RESIGNS
Four days before his federal trial was to begin, state Sen. Derrick Shepherd pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy to commit money laundering, a sharp turnaround for the defiant public official who had accused the government of indicting him in retaliation for his refusal to disclose wrongdoing by other elected officials.

• Evacuation shelter plans upgraded
BATON ROUGE -- Should Louisiana have another mandatory evacuation before the 2008 hurricane season ends Nov. 30, the state would continue to use some of the shelter facilities that were widely criticized during the evacuation for Hurricane Gustav. But the conditions and staffing would be vastly improved.

• As the economy tanks, taking gas prices with it, the one upside is that drivers are getting some relief at the pumps
The $146.19 that Dexter Strange paid Wednesday to fill up his pickup and the extra fuel tanks for his boat seemed like a bargain after months of gasoline-price anxiety.

• As the economy tanks, taking gas prices with it, the one upside is that drivers are getting some relief at the pumps
The $146.19 that Dexter Strange paid Wednesday to fill up his pickup and the extra fuel tanks for his boat seemed like a bargain after months of gasoline-price anxiety.

• Kennedy flip-flops on bill for farmers
BATON ROUGE -- One month before Election Day is typically not the best time for a Louisiana political candidate to lash out against legislation designed to help the state's hurricane-stricken farmers.

• Landrieu launches statewide TV ad
BATON ROUGE -- U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., launched a new statewide television ad Wednesday against Republican state Treasurer John Kennedy, saying that she can work with both parties to forge "solutions that work" for Louisiana's problems.

• New Board of Ethics members meet today
BATON ROUGE -- The newly composed state Board of Ethics will meet today for the first time since June after the rushed replacement of nearly all its 11 members. The session will focus on member training, and no ethics cases or opinions will be considered.

• No free lunch for Scalise, Harlan says
How much did it cost taxpayers to fly Vice President Dick Cheney to Louisiana on Monday to campaign for U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson?

• Official: Cottages will be done on time
BATON ROUGE -- A top Louisiana Recovery Authority official promised lawmakers Tuesday that the state will be able to build the planned 500 Louisiana cottages by the September 2009 deadline set for the federal hurricane recovery housing program that started in 2006.

• Slidell authority stymies state auditor
BATON ROUGE -- Legislative Auditor Steve Theriot told a panel of lawmakers Tuesday that he has been having trouble getting an audit from the Slidell Housing Authority for 2006-07 because it cannot find key records.

• Appointment rounds out ethics board
BATON ROUGE -- A Lafayette lawyer Monday was the final appointee named to the 11-member state Board of Ethics, selected over a priest from Lake Charles in a runoff for the slot.

• LaBruzzo stripped of post on House health committee
BATON ROUGE -- Rep. John LaBruzzo, R-Metairie, who created a furor last month with his proposal to pay the poor to be sterilized, was removed Monday from his position as vice chairman of the House Health and Welfare Committee.

• Senate candidates square off on energy, Iraq war, bailout
BATON ROUGE -- Democrat Mary Landrieu and Republican John Kennedy tussled over taxes, energy policy, the war in Iraq and the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama as they met Monday for their first debate in a U.S. Senate campaign that thus far has been fought mostly on the airwaves and the Internet.

• Citizens increases rates by average of 14%
BATON ROUGE -- The board of directors of the state-run homeowners insurance program Monday narrowly approved an average 14 percent rate increase that policyholders would begin paying early next year.

• Schwegmann, Skrmetta face off
BATON ROUGE -- Saturday's primary narrowed the field to two candidates in the Public Service Commission 1st District race, which will be decided in a Nov. 4 runoff expected to turn out a larger and potentially different set of voters.

• BRIEFING BOOK
TOP OF THE NEWS

• State will bide its time with Superdome debt
BATON ROUGE -- The state agreed Friday to hold on to $226 million in Superdome debt for up to 14 months while it waits for the nation's turbulent financial markets to calm down.

• Food stamp disaster relief ends
BATON ROUGE -- The Disaster Food Stamp Program ended this week with considerably less attention than its widely panned opening almost a month ago, when long lines and general disorder following Hurricane Gustav helped cost the state Social Services secretary her job.

• RESCUE BILL SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED
WASHINGTON -- Amid fears of a cascading economic crisis, the House of Representatives passed a historic $700 billion bailout package Friday in hopes of restoring order and confidence in the nation's financial system.

• LSU board stuck on chairman
BATON ROUGE -- With no changes Thursday in an 8-8 deadlock that first emerged in August, the Louisiana State University System Board of Supervisors delayed until at least December another vote on the body's future chairman.

• Many in La. yet to file for checks
WASHINGTON -- More than 77,000 Louisiana recipients of Social Security and veterans benefits haven't filed the paperwork to qualify for federal stimulus checks.

• Many yet to file for checks
WASHINGTON -- More than 77,000 Louisiana recipients of Social Security and veterans benefits haven't filed the paperwork to qualify for federal stimulus checks.

• Medicaid overhaul races clock
BATON ROUGE -- Despite a monthlong delay due to two hurricanes, Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration still believes there is time to strike a deal with the Bush administration to overhaul the state's Medicaid program, a top state health official said Thursday.

• Senate panel opposes raising Citizens rates
BATON ROUGE -- A Senate panel urged Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon on Thursday to reject any rate increase for the state-run insurer of last resort, the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., as a way to help hurricane victims get back on their feet.

• Attack ads heat up Senate race
BATON ROUGE -- The televised war of words in the U.S. Senate race between Democrat Mary Landrieu and Republican John Kennedy escalated this week with the release of two tough new ads seeking to tie each candidate to corruption and mismanagement.

• Drama persists on LSU board
BATON ROUGE -- After five weeks of behind-the-scenes wrangling, the Louisiana State University System Board of Supervisors remains split over two candidates vying to be chairman-elect, one of them with the backing of Gov. Bobby Jindal.

• Legislators vow to attack high hurricane deductibles
BATON ROUGE -- Members of the House Insurance Committee promised Wednesday that changes in laws dealing with high hurricane-related policy deductibles will be addressed by lawmakers at the April legislative session, but no consensus plan has emerged.

• Recovery cottages have yet to go up
BATON ROUGE -- Public officials say they have made progress on an alternative housing program in the seven months since Gov. Bobby Jindal stripped the project from the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency and gave it to the Louisiana Recovery Authority.

• Donations are not flying in 1st District PSC race
BATON ROUGE -- The four candidates running for the 1st District Public Service Commission seat in the Saturday primary have raised few contributions to fuel their campaigns, leaving the monetary edge to those who can spend their own cash or obtain loans in the low-profile race.

• LA Swift bus fares going up
BATON ROUGE -- Riders who take the LA Swift bus service from Baton Rouge to New Orleans and back will have to dig a little deeper for fares beginning next week, state officials said Tuesday.

• Jim Brown gets attorney's license back
Former Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Brown can practice law again after the state Supreme Court last week unanimously approved his application to lift a 7-year-old suspension of his attorney's license.

• Kennedy ad draws Landrieu complaint
BATON ROUGE -- Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu's campaign has filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission against Republican challenger John Kennedy, alleging that her Nov. 4 opponent violated federal law in his latest television advertisement.

• Storm damage causes some polls to relocate
BATON ROUGE -- Damage from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike has forced the relocation of 10 precincts for Saturday's election, including two polling sites in Orleans and Jefferson parishes:

• Upside of high oil prices: State gains from royalties
BATON ROUGE -- Higher-than-anticipated oil prices swelled Louisiana's expected budget surplus from the 2007-08 fiscal year by $175 million, state economists said Monday.

• Voter turnout of nearly 40% predicted in Saturday election
BATON ROUGE -- Voter turnout for Saturday's congressional, judicial and Public Service Commission races should hover between 35 percent and 40 percent, based on turnout during the weeklong early voting period that ended Saturday, Secretary of State Jay Dardenne said Monday.