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• 3 groups weigh in against vouchers

  March 15, 2013 6:58 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - Three organizations opposed to Louisiana's private school tuition voucher program are weighing in on the issue ahead of state Supreme Court arguments next week. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, The Interfaith Alliance Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union said Friday they filed a... more »

• LHSAA football playoff split debated at the capitol Play Video

  March 5, 2013 5:54 PM

  BATON ROUGE- Members of a joint legislative committee got answers about a plan to split the high school football playoffs between public and private schools. Principals from the 389 schools within the Louisiana High School Athletic Association were allowed to vote. 291 of those schools have football programs. Supporters... more »

• Lawmakers tackle LHSAA football playoff changes

  March 5, 2013 10:54 AM

  BATON ROUGE - Lawmakers are looking into the Louisiana High School Athletic Association's decision to separate public school football playoffs from those held by other schools, including magnet and charter schools. A special joint Senate-House committee is reviewing the league's decision to scrap a system that has been in... more »

• Football playoffs face legislative scrutiny

  March 4, 2013 8:21 AM

  BATON ROUGE - The Legislature is looking into the Louisiana High School Athletic Association's decision to separate public school football playoffs from those held by other schools - including magnet and charter schools. A special joint Senate-House committee will review the league's decision to scrap a system that has been... more »

• Governor Jindal at center of email debate

  December 10, 2012 5:34 PM

  BATON ROUGE- Top officials in the Jindal administration used personal emails to talk about budget cuts, according to a recent Associated Press report. It is the same type issue being debated around the country. Personal emails can make it more difficult to track information under public records laws. ... more »

• Private hospital operator to lease LSU hospital

  December 10, 2012 2:53 PM

  BATON ROUGE- The nonprofit corporation that runs two private hospitals in New Orleans is taking over the operations of the city's LSU hospital and the new $1 billion public hospital set to open in two years. Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein and LSU hospital chief Frank Opelka announced the... more »

• To the moon? Firm hopes to sell $1.5 billion trips

  December 6, 2012 12:20 PM

  WASHINGTON - A team of former NASA executives is launching a private venture to send people to the moon. The newly formed business is looking for countries willing to pay $1.5 billion for a two-person trip to the moon, either for research or national prestige. NASA's last trip to the... more »

• Planned January layoffs delayed at LSU hospitals

  December 5, 2012 10:24 AM

  BATON ROUGE - Nearly all 1,500 state employee layoffs scheduled for January at LSU hospitals across south Louisiana have been put on hold. The delay comes as university leaders continue negotiating with private hospitals to take over some public hospital operations. The Advocate reports that LSU hospitals leader Frank Opelka... more »

• Private memorials for "Dallas" star Larry Hagman

  November 26, 2012 2:55 PM

  DALLAS - "Dallas" actor Larry Hagman will be remembered this week during private, invitation-only services in Dallas and Los Angeles. The television actor known for starring as slick oilman J.R. Ewing on "Dallas" and Major Tony Nelson on "I Dream of Jeannie" died Friday of complications from cancer. He... more »

• State may skip private school certification rule

  November 19, 2012 10:17 AM

  BATON ROUGE - Under Louisiana's Constitution, any nonpublic school getting state money must be certified as providing a curriculum at least equal to those required for public schools. But The News-Star reports that it's questionable whether that's true of the 377 schools with such approval, which gives their diplomas the... more »

• Lawmakers back Jindal health outsourcing contract Play Video

  November 9, 2012 10:59 AM

  BATON ROUGE - After a shake-up on the House budget committee, Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration has gotten approval from lawmakers to outsource a state employee health insurance plan. The Senate Finance Committee backed the contract between the Office of Group Benefits and Blue Cross/Blue Shield in a 10-3 vote Friday,... more »

• Virginia company chosen for debt collection work

  November 8, 2012 5:06 PM

  BATON ROUGE - Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration has chosen a private company to help devise a strategy for improving collection of millions of dollars in unpaid debts owed to state agencies. Jindal's top budget adviser, Commissioner of Administration Kristy Nichols, announced Thursday that CGI Technologies and Solutions Inc. will do... more »

• LSU seeking agreements with private health firms

  October 11, 2012 4:05 PM

  BATON ROUGE - A week after $152 million in cuts were levied across the LSU public hospitals, Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein says no new formal arrangements have yet been reached with private hospitals to pick up the care. But he and LSU hospitals chief Frank Opelka said Thursday... more »

• Private college costs up again but at slower rate

  October 4, 2012 2:49 PM

  WASHINGTON - Tuition at private colleges and universities is up by 3.9 percent from last year. But while that rate is well above overall inflation, it's the smallest increase in at least four decades. And the increase is much smaller than the price hikes that have been seen at... more »

• Voucher schools include some teaching creationism

  July 30, 2012 1:58 PM

  BATON ROUGE - Taxpayer dollars in Louisiana's new voucher program will be paying to send children to schools that teach creationism and question evolution, challenging the lessons central to public school science classrooms. Several religious schools that will be educating taxpayer-subsidized students tout their creationist views. Some schools question whether... more »

• Some La. voucher schools to face performance score

  July 23, 2012 4:53 PM

  BATON ROUGE - Some private schools who participate in Louisiana's statewide voucher program will face performance scores similar to public schools, under planned accountability standards. The scoring and penalties for low-performing schools will apply to schools with sizable numbers of voucher students, estimated to be a quarter of the schools... more »

• Carencro chief seeks ruling on private duty

  July 23, 2012 9:48 AM

  BATON ROUGE - Carencro Police Chief Carlos Stout wants to know if he and other chiefs can be hired to do private security, just like off-duty police officers. The Louisiana Board of Ethics postponed a decision Friday, opting to continue its analysis until next month's meeting. Board staff... more »

• Missing OLOL laptop puts private information at risk

  May 18, 2012 9:45 AM

  BATON ROUGE - Officials at Our Lady of the Lake warned that some private information might have been compromised by a missing laptop. A spokesperson said more than 17,000 ICU patients' information was stored on the laptop, which was recently discovered missing from a local physician's office. News... more »

• Jindal signs private school tuition tax break

  May 8, 2012 6:53 AM

  BATON ROUGE - Gov. Bobby Jindal has signed into law a bill that creates a new tax break program that will give rebates for donations to voucher programs that allow students to attend private schools. Jindal says it will give children in failing public schools more opportunities to get an... more »

• Private school scholarship rebate passes La. House Play Video

  March 13, 2012 1:35 PM

  BATON ROUGE - The first piece of Gov. Bobby Jindal's education reform package made it out of a House committee today. The House Ways and Means Committee passed HB 969, which would allow the state to give tax rebates to people who make donations for private school tuition scholarships.... more »

• Private charged in Wikileaks says being gay influenced him

  December 18, 2011 11:07 AM

  FORT MEADE, Md- Lawyers for the Army private charged in the biggest leak of classified information in U.S. history say he was influenced by his struggles with being a gay soldier. The military hearing continued Sunday to determine whether Pfc. Bradley Manning will stand trial at a court-martial for allegedly... more »

• Friends of missing teacher want private investigator Play Video

  December 8, 2011 5:50 PM

  BATON ROUGE - It's been five months since local teacher Sylviane Finch Lozada went missing. Now friends are desperate for information about the case, and say they're not getting any answers from the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office. "We're in the process of hiring a private investigator to hopefully... more »

• DHH chooses 5 firms to run managed care networks

  July 25, 2011 2:28 PM

  BATON ROUGE - The state health department has tapped five private companies to run much of Louisiana's Medicaid program in managed care networks. The "coordinated care network" contractors were announced Monday. The insurance-based model will begin in the New Orleans area Jan. 1. Under one option, the networks... more »

• Ed Dept.: Too early to gauge voucher effectiveness

  July 6, 2011 3:36 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - A day after an education advocacy group called attention to the poor performance of some private New Orleans schools that accept state-funded tuition vouchers, the state Department of Education said relatively few students in the voucher program have been tested so far. The group Educate Now!... more »

• Board chair: private financing likely for hospital

  June 4, 2011 1:39 PM

  NEW ORLEANS- Financing for a new medical center in New Orleans is likely to be completed by selling high-yield bonds on the private market, according to the chairman of the board managing the project. University Medical Center Corp. Chairman Bobby Yarborough tells The Times-Picayune that the private financing route... more »

• LSU switching to private campus mail vendor

  January 29, 2011 2:24 PM

  BATON ROUGE- Louisiana State University is switching from the U.S. Postal Service to a private vendor for on-campus mail services in a move that could increase student costs, university officials say. The plan also will shut down the school's copy and mail center. LSU opened the two bids... more »

• Task force seeks cancellation of 2010-11 season

  October 19, 2010 4:27 PM

  A task force of Louisiana oyster harvesters and dealers wants the state to cancel the 2010-2011 season scheduled in public oyster waters east of the Mississippi River. The proposed cancellation would not affect private year-round oyster leases on either side of the river. The Louisiana Oyster Task Force voted overwhelmingly... more »

• 3,200 lower-income coastal housing units at risk

  October 2, 2010 10:19 AM

  For five years, a special program has been encouraging private investors to build and renovate lower-income housing in hurricane hit areas along the Gulf Coast. But 3,200 planned housing units may not be finished unless Congress renews the program before the end of the year. So far, about 20,000 housing... more »

• Federal judge OKs extension in Lafayette sex trial

  August 10, 2010 7:15 AM

  A federal judge has granted a continuance in the scheduled trial of a former private-school counselor accused of a federal sex crime. The order was in response to a joint motion filed by attorneys for Allison Hargrave and the U.S. Attorney's Office seeking additional time to conduct a mental examination... more »

• Public business, private e-mail in Ouachita

  July 26, 2010 4:58 AM

  Many elected officials in Ouachita Parish use private e-mail accounts for public business. Attorneys for the Monroe City Council, Ouachita Parish Police Jury and West Monroe Board of Aldermen say that exempts many of their e-mails from state public records laws. The issue arose when The News-Star asked about e-mails... more »

• Doctor: Accused teacher mentally ill

  July 8, 2010 7:25 AM

  A psychiatrist says a former private-school counselor accused of a federal sex crime, is mentally ill and in need of treatment. Allison Hargrave is accused of using e-mail to entice a 14-year-old girl at Ascension Episcopal School in Lafayette to engage in sexual activity. Dr. Frank Ochberg, an expert in... more »

• LSU closing maternity unit at NO hospital

  June 30, 2010 8:36 AM

  The state of Louisiana is closing its maternity unit at LSU Interim Public Hospital and moving those services to the private Touro Infirmary. State authorities have not decided whether University Medical Center, the $1.2 billion successor to Charity Hospital that is slated to open as early as 2014, will include... more »

• "Baby Bill" changes examined

  October 19, 2009 5:42 PM

  Many Medicaid moms could be better off keeping their private insurance. It would also save the state about $100 million dollars each year. That's what medical experts told members of a streamlining state government panel. They also say someone with private insurance typically has more access to medical specialists.... more »