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JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming (AP) — With inflation nearly defeated and the job market cooling, the Federal Reserve is prepared to start cutting its key interest rate from its current 23-year high, Chair Jerome Powell said Friday. Powell did not say when rate cuts would begin or how large they might be, but the Fed is widely expected to announce a modest quarter-point cut in its benchmark rate when it meets in mid-September. “The time has come for policy to adjust,” Powell said in his keynote speech at the Fed’s annual economic conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Powell emphasized that inflation, after the worst price spike in four decades inflicted pain on millions of households, appears largely under control.

LAKE CHARLES — Area residents who have been affected by suicide are invited to participate in a walk to raise awareness for suicide prevention.

— Louisiana's unemployment rate has dropped since March but remains higher than most of its neighbors.

—Juvenile justice in Louisiana lacks the funding needed to properly support the increasing number of youth offenders.

Only one remains on ballot

NEW YORK (AP) — A U.S. government report expected to stir debate concluded that fluoride in drinking water at twice the recommended limit is linked with lower IQ in children.

To love others, you must first love yourself. This starts with accepting yourself, faults and all, and gently nourishing and taking care of yourself.