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May 23, 2013 10:38 AM
BATON ROUGE - State emergency officials scheduled a demonstration today of a new emergency alert system which uses FM radios to let the public know about disasters.
The Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness said the state recently finished installing the ALERT FM system in all 64...
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May 6, 2013 5:44 PM
BATON ROUGE - A video obtained by News 2 shows two teen girls fighting while the rest of the students watched, and the bus driver did nothing.
The parents of one of the girls is outraged and said in an email, "I am furious and concerned that our children...
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April 25, 2013 11:22 AM
NEW ORLEANS - A New Orleans-based government watchdog group says the school system in New Orleans has significantly improved its financial operations in the years since Hurricane Katrina shut down the city's public education system for months. But the Bureau of Governmental Research report issued Thursday also found flaws in...
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April 22, 2013 6:10 PM
BATON ROUGE- The public transit czar has quit; Brian Marshall resigned from the Capital Area Transit System (CATS) Monday.
Marshall alerted board members that he would be leaving immediately in a 426-word letter. Marshall called the system neglected, but that there have been positive changes.
Marshall said the...
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April 22, 2013 5:26 PM
BATON ROUGE- The CEO of the Capital Area Transit System (CATS) quit Monday.
Brian Marshall resigned after being at the helm during recent controversial decisions, including a parish-wide tax that increased property rates to fund the struggling system.
Marshall also was in charge when CATS asked the city...
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April 19, 2013 10:08 AM
ST. FRANCISVILLE - A $3.8 million project to provide sewer service to a rural area of West Feliciana Parish is nearing completion after a struggle of more than 10 years. Contractors and parish employees tested the sewage treatment portion of the project on Thursday.
The new system will serve...
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April 3, 2013 1:22 PM
BATON ROUGE - The East Baton Rouge School System announced big changes for four schools in the district today.
Lee High, Belfair, Delmont and Mayfair schools will all see significant updates according to the school system's plans.
The school system will turn Lee High into a dedicated magnet...
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March 13, 2013 5:43 PM
PORT ALLEN - West Baton Rouge School leaders have no record of who's driving the buses within the parish, leaving many parents concerned.
Superintendent David Corona said if he wanted or needed those records, they could be made available to him.
"I'm comfortable the organization we contract with...
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March 8, 2013 5:19 PM
NEW ROADS - The city of New Roads is sounding a code red.
"It's a way to communicate," Mayor Robert Myer said. His office is pushing an alert system that calls residents home and cell phones and sends text messages, instead of the old system that only called land...
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February 26, 2013 4:20 PM
BATON ROUGE - The head of Baton Rouge General's hospital system, Bill Holman, announced today he's retiring from the network.
Holman, 66, spent 48 years in the health care industry, including more than 12 with General Health System. During that time the system received numerous awards and recognitions, and...
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February 13, 2013 10:26 PM
BATON ROUGE- The red light camera violation system will remain through 2013.
Wednesday night, Metro Council members decided to keep the program going at least until the end of December.
The cameras snap pictures of drivers who run red lights and mail violations.
In five years, 171,000...
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February 4, 2013 2:12 PM
NEW ORLEANS- NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says the Superdome had a backup power system that was about to be used during the Super Bowl electrical outage but it wasn't needed because power started coming back at that time. Goodell says Monday that the backup system was ready, but Entergy New...
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February 1, 2013 6:51 AM
BATON ROUGE - The parish bus system's governing board began a series of meetings Thursday to discuss how to move the system forward following a recent report that recommended replacing CATS' top managers with contracted employees from a transit management firm. The Advocate reports some members of the Capital Area...
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January 24, 2013 10:20 AM
BATON ROUGE - A Baton Rouge judge is hearing arguments in a lawsuit challenging Gov. Bobby Jindal's 401(k)-style retirement plan for future rank-and-file state workers. The Retired State Employees Association of Louisiana claims the law is unconstitutional because it didn't get a two-thirds vote in the state House of Representatives....
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January 8, 2013 1:36 PM
CENTENNIAL, Colo. - An elaborate booby trap system allegedly set up to pull police away from the Colorado theater shooting included improvised napalm and thermite, which burns so hot that water can't put out the blaze. FBI bomb technician Garrett Gumbinner described the system Tuesday at a hearing in which...
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December 18, 2012 10:34 AM
BATON ROUGE - Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon says his department's new online system will make it easier for Louisiana residents to shop for the best insurance rates in their cities. You can't get quotes for your house and car. The auto insurance guide compares quotes for a 2004, 2007 or...
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December 7, 2012 4:31 PM
BATON ROUGE - LSU's governing board has re-approved its plans to merge the jobs of university system president and flagship campus chancellor. The Board of Supervisors unanimously backed the idea Friday in its second vote on the issue. The latest vote was designed to address concerns from the attorney general's...
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December 4, 2012 3:46 PM
BATON ROUGE - Authorities in Louisiana said today they've busted a counterfeit check ring which victimized hundreds of people, and was apparently run using financial data stolen from the LSU Hospital System.
Law enforcement agencies arrested seven people so far for being connected to the ring, and said they're...
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November 29, 2012 6:18 PM
BATON ROUGE- Problems like escapes and fights at Louisiana juvenile justice facilities have made headlines in recent years.
However, a consultant from a state considered the model from youth reform says that is no reason to give up.
Former Missouri Youth Services Director Mark Steward said today reform...
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November 26, 2012 10:57 AM
GRAND ISLE - Three months after Hurricane Isaac, Grand Isle is still waiting for repairs to the island's levee system. But Grand Isle Mayor David Camardelle tells The Courier he's been told by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that the repairs won't begin until June when tourists typically flock...
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November 15, 2012 3:51 PM
NEW ORLEANS - A state appeal court says that the Jefferson Parish Public School System illegally cut teachers' pay by imposing an unpaid day of leave for every teacher in the district. The Jefferson Federation of Teachers sued the school board after it ordered the furlough. District Judge Steve Windhorst...
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November 15, 2012 11:40 AM
BATON ROUGE - The attorney general's office says it has "serious concerns" that LSU's governing board may have violated the open meetings law with its October vote to merge the positions of system president and chancellor of the flagship campus. The Board of Supervisors announced Thursday that it will revote...
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November 9, 2012 2:55 PM
NEW ORLEANS - Sandra K. Woodley is the next president of the University of Louisiana system. The system announced Woodley's appointment Friday in a news release. Woodley succeeds Randy Moffett, who retired in September. Woodley takes over on January 1.
She is leaving her job as vice chancellor for...
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November 5, 2012 10:48 AM
HOUMA - Terrebonne residents can expect major improvements to their water system to begin soon. The parish's Waterworks District received $20 million last week from a state bond sale to begin working on the overhaul. Al Badeaux, president of the parish water board, says the money comes from the sale...
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November 1, 2012 4:52 PM
BATON ROUGE - A vice chancellor at the University of Texas System is being considered to run the University of Louisiana System. Sandra Woodley, vice chancellor for strategic initiatives at the Texas college system, has been invited to interview for the job on Nov. 9, the UL System board of...
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October 26, 2012 10:17 PM
BATON ROUGE(AP) - The LSU Board of Supervisors has approved the merger of the positions of president of the LSU System and chancellor of the Baton Rouge campus into a single position. Friday's unanimous vote created the new position, "President of LSU." Board chairman Hank Danos says the vote is...
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September 6, 2012 2:25 PM
NEW ORLEANS - If a remnant of Hurricane Isaac becomes a tropical system in the Gulf of Mexico - which forecasters say could happen - it would be a rare event. In 2005, a remnant from a tropical depression that dissipated near Puerto Rico eventually became part of a new...
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September 5, 2012 2:55 PM
BATON ROUGE- Another top leader of LSU's health care system is being replaced, as the Jindal administration pushes the university-run network of hospitals and clinics to change its approach to providing services. Roxane Townsend will no longer lead the LSU Health Care Services Division, which runs seven of the 10...
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August 22, 2012 9:47 AM
BATON ROUGE - The University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors has approved a $762 million budget that represents a $38 million cut from last year's sum.
The nine-campus UL System is Louisiana's biggest state-run network of higher education.
The budget for the fiscal year that started July...
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August 14, 2012 2:49 PM
BATON ROUGE - A report by Louisiana State University on the current status of the juvenile justice system has concluded multiple parishes have seen a decline in the number of youths detained over the past five years. A study from the Institute for Public Health and Justice reported Tuesday some...
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August 14, 2012 10:45 AM
BATON ROUGE - The Office of Juvenile Justice is reorganizing its offices across the state into a new regional management system.
Deputy Secretary Dr. Mary Livers said today the state will be divided into three regions, each headed by a regional manager.
Tonight at 6, News 2's Mike...
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July 30, 2012 10:52 AM
LONDON - Today has brought the first big test of London's transit system during the summer Olympics -- since it's the first working day since the games started over the weekend. Prime Minister David Cameron says the system is coping well. Drivers faced the worst problems during this morning's rush...
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July 25, 2012 8:06 AM
NEW ORLEANS - A consortium set up after the 2010 BP spill to develop methods for containing deep-sea spills is conducting a test of its state-of-the-art equipment with federal regulators looking on.
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said the drill began Tuesday morning.
The Houston-based Marine...
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July 20, 2012 7:36 AM
BATON ROUGE - School board members in East Baton Rouge Parish spent much of the night debating, but could not come to an agreement over changes to employee health insurance.
Members voted against shifting retiree's insurance coverage to Medicare.
The shift would have saved the system around $8.7...
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July 9, 2012 4:28 PM
BATON ROUGE - The president of the University of Louisiana System has announced his retirement. Randy Moffett, who's been in the job for four years, said Monday that he will leave the position in the fall to spend more time with his family. Moffett's retirement comes after a tenure marked...
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June 27, 2012 4:09 PM
MIAMI - A Florida medical examiner says only marijuana was found in the system of a Florida man shot while chewing another man's face. The Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner's released the toxicology results Tuesday on 31-year-old Rudy Eugene. Lab results found marijuana in his system, but not any other street...
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June 22, 2012 10:29 PM
It is a very warm and humid start to this Saturday. We have mostly sunny skies with temperatures in the 70s.
We will be unseasonably hot and humid this afternoon with mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies as an area of high pressure builds over the Deep South. A...
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June 6, 2012 6:59 AM
BATON ROUGE - The final version of the budget bills adjusting spending plans for this year and next year contained cuts for Louisiana colleges.
Reductions are 2.6 percent across the board this year. They will be divided based on the higher education funding formula next year.
The Board...
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May 18, 2012 5:48 PM
BATON ROUGE- $100 million in budget cuts to the LSU system may not happen.
State senators say they don't like the financial hit on higher education and health care planned in next year's state budget. LSU System Interim President William Jenkins says that's good news for the Baton Rouge...
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May 10, 2012 10:28 AM
BATON ROUGE - School systems have about a week to decide if they will allow students from failing schools into their "A" and "B" schools.
It's a tricky situation, because money is a factor most systems are worried about.
Some in our area have decided against allowing students,...
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April 27, 2012 3:04 PM
BATON ROUGE - The LSU System Board of Supervisors voted this afternoon to fire President John Lombardi.
The vote was 12-4 in favor of removing Lombardi. The board named former system president Bill Jenkins as interim president as they begin a national search for Lombardi's replacement.
Lombardi was...
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March 8, 2012 10:20 PM
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February 10, 2012 7:09 AM
ZACHARY - The Zachary Community School Board has approved a reorganization of the central office and the transfer of some school administrators as it prepares to meet new national standards in education. Superintendent Warren Drake recommended splitting a central office instructional division to help the district get ready for new...
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January 18, 2012 10:27 PM
BATON ROUGE- Baton Rouge Police Chief Dewayne White says the city-parish crime camera system is ineffective, as is, but he's trying to change that.
Metro Council will be considering next week whether to extend the current contract for maintenance on the technology, temporarily, until members can review other potential...
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December 28, 2011 10:08 PM
BATON ROUGE- The East Baton Rouge Parish Department of Public Works is hoping to rework its community service hotline to be more efficient and quick.
The 311 service line has been open since 2005 for people to call in complaints about sewage, drainage, streets and trash. But city leaders...
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December 20, 2011 7:33 AM
BATON ROUGE - The East Baton Rouge Parish school system is eliminating its first-come first-serve registration for prekindergarten and replacing it with a lottery system.
From Jan. 23 to Jan. 27, parents with 3-year-old and 4-year-old children will be able to apply for one of almost 2,000 slots in...
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December 9, 2011 4:12 AM
BATON ROUGE - The University of Louisiana System's governing board is expected Friday to select a new president for the University of New Orleans.
The remaining two finalists scheduled for interviews are Peter J. Fos and Michael A. Wartell.
Fos is a professor and program director of health...
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November 30, 2011 10:57 AM
BATON ROUGE - The frequently cash-strapped bus system for East Baton Rouge Parish does not anticipate finding a revenue source to fill its projected $2.1 million budget gap next year.
Capital Area Transit System board member Jared Loftus told the East Baton Rouge Metro Council Tuesday night they will...
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November 15, 2011 10:05 PM
BATON ROUGE- The red light camera system in East Baton Rouge Parish is a cash cow, claiming millions from your pockets.
The city-parish says safer roads are where it really cashes in, but millions of dollars have come to the city-parish from the program.
East Baton Rouge Parish...
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November 9, 2011 4:51 PM
WASHINGTON - It was only a test, but it didn't go so well.
Discrepancies were reported across the country during the first-ever test of the Emergency Alert System today.
Some television and radio stations did not air the test at all. Some who aired it stayed with the...
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September 1, 2011 1:59 PM
BATON ROUGE - Governor Bobby Jindal held a Unified Command Group (UCG) meeting today to get an update on the tropical system in the Gulf of Mexico.
Governor Jindal emphasized that state agencies are prepared to assist coastal parishes should the system develop further and he also encouraged Louisianians...
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June 28, 2011 5:59 PM
ASCENSION - After a two-year delay, the Department of Transportation and Development will pick a company to widen Highway 73 from two to three lanes between Interstate 10 and Airline Highway.
The total cost of the project is $15-million to $20-million of state money. The project hit a snag...
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May 5, 2011 9:30 AM
BATON ROUGE- A court has ruled in favor of the East Baton Rouge Parish School System in a reverse discrimination trial.
Gary Burnett, the former head football coach at Glen Oaks High School, claims he was fired because he's white and the principal, who is black, made racially-charged comments...
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April 21, 2011 6:35 PM
BATON ROUGE - The testimony in a reverse racial discrimination wrapped up late Thursday afternoon. Closing arguments will be held on April 29, 2011 followed by Judge Wilson Fields decision on May 5, 2011.
Five East Baton Rouge Parish School System witnesses took the stand including a former human...
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February 28, 2011 4:26 PM
BATON ROUGE - The University of Louisiana System released a list today of 138 programs recommended for termination at the eight colleges that make up the system.
Those recommendations came from 200 academic programs flagged by the state Board of Regents for having low completion rates. Of those recommended...
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February 15, 2011 6:12 PM
LIVINGSTON - The Livingston Parish School System is under a financial emergency, Superintendent Bill Spear said.
The system faces a $10 million shortfall, and over 70 jobs could be lost. The past few years, school systems have been able to avoid layoffs through attrition, but the lack of state...
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February 8, 2011 4:39 PM
BATON ROUGE - Federal officials have agreed to let Louisiana return to an open primary system for congressional elections. Secretary of State Tom Schedler said Tuesday that the U.S. Justice Department signed off on the change, which begins with the 2012 election cycle. The open primary system allows all candidates,...
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January 27, 2011 5:26 PM
BATON ROUGE – The Southern University System has hired a search firm to help find the next chancellor for their Baton Rouge campus. School officials contracted DHR to assist their search committee pick a new head for the school by June 30. Representatives will start meeting with the committee and...
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January 26, 2011 11:25 AM
BATON ROUGE - The state's health chief says Louisiana must change its health care system for the poor by tying the money that supports it to improving the health of its patients. Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein said that the state's Medicaid rolls have grown 12 percent...
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January 20, 2011 11:34 AM
BATON ROUGE – Louisiana’s criminal justice system is going to get a thorough examination by the Pew Center to help make it work more efficiently, and keep prisoners from re-offending. Governor Bobby Jindal announced today that the Pew Center will research the state’s prisons and sentencing policies, and then help...
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January 18, 2011 4:23 PM
BATON ROUGE – Governor Bobby Jindal is asking the state Board of Regents to conduct a study considering merging the University of New Orleans and Southern Univeristy at New Orleans. The Board of Regents will report its findings by March 1. SUNO and UNO, if merged, would become a single...
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January 14, 2011 11:37 AM
BATON ROUGE – A student government president, budding marine biologist and advocate for preventing violence have been chosen to be the 2011 Students of the Year for the East Baton Rouge Parish School System. The system-wide winners were chosen from the 74 individual schools’ Students of the Year based on...
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January 13, 2011 10:31 PM
BATON ROUGE- Many have spoken in support of former Governor Edwin Edwards on the day of his release from federal prison. But for every supporter, there are people who say Edwards got what he deserved.
The man who tried to prosecute Edwards twice tells News 2 the justice system...
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January 11, 2011 5:40 PM
BATON ROUGE - A new mass transit advocacy group hopes to "raise awareness" in order to the increase the number of bus riders in the capital area.
NxGen Mass Transit formed from local business and community leaders. Through public forums and social media, the groups plans to get the...
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December 20, 2010 5:44 PM
BATON ROUGE- After the Capital Area Transit System's recent announcement of a $1.2 million budget shortfall for 2011, many bus riders are livid with the system's plan to balance the books.
Monday, CATS detailed the ways they will keep the company out of the red. The plan calls to...
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December 14, 2010 5:52 PM
BATON ROUGE – Maintenance crews are on a midnight run to Mississippi so that Brookstown Elementary School can hold classes tomorrow, according to school officials. Chris Trahan with EBR Schools said the electrical system at Brookstown broke down today, leaving the school without power or heat. Parents were contacted and...
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December 2, 2010 7:06 PM
BATON ROUGE – A suggestion from LSU System President John Lombardi to separate the Ag Center from the rest of the university has some higher education officials nodding, and some farmers shaking their heads. Lombardi told the state Board of Regents yesterday that while the ag centers provide a lot...
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December 1, 2010 11:58 AM
BATON ROUGE – State education leaders have proposed a series of tuition increases and changes to the Louisiana Board of Regents that they claim could greatly soften the blow of expected budget cuts next year. LSU President Dr. John Lombardi and other higher education leaders called the measures “strategic revenue...
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November 27, 2010 10:16 AM
BATON ROUGE - LSU and Auburn University researchers say a new approach to growing oysters - in mesh bags strung between posts - could boost harvests and create jobs. The "long-line system" is used to grow oysters commercially in Australia and now it is being used at the Fisheries Research...
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November 18, 2010 3:36 PM
BATON ROUGE - State health secretary Bruce Greenstein says it will be the end of 2011 before the state starts a new health care delivery system for the poor. The Advocate reports that Greenstein said Wednesday the Jindal administration is not backing off the proposed "coordinated care" plan, which would...
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October 29, 2010 11:57 AM
ST. HELENA PARISH - Inspectors from the State Fire Marshal's Office are back at St. Helena Central High School, this time checking a new fire alarm system.
Inspectors expected a fully installed system, but found that electricians are only partially finished with the work.
After the a full...
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October 22, 2010 2:19 PM
The Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System has chosen the system's vice president for business and finance as ULM's next president. System spokeswoman Jackie Tisdell says the board voted Friday for Nick Bruno. He will replace James Cofer, who left the University of Louisiana at Monroe at...
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October 20, 2010 3:08 PM
The senior manager of a project to build a more efficient system to contain oil in deep water said that once built and tested, the cap-and-siphon contraption could be deployed and in use within weeks of a future well blowout. Exxon Mobil's Lloyd Guillory said he is confident the never-before-attempted...
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October 18, 2010 9:29 AM
The St. Helena Parish school board will try to appoint a biracial committee to recommend solutions to the problems facing the school system, in addition to the court appointed committee. School Board member Alton Travis, who came up with the idea, says he was mostly concerned about getting something done...
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October 12, 2010 6:02 AM
The East Baton Rouge Parish school system is scaling down plans for construction because of a sharp falloff in sales tax revenue. Superintendent John Dilworth released some initial proposals callin for closing three elementary schools in May, and drastically rewriting construction plans. Dilworth said the ideas are preliminary and may...
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October 5, 2010 6:34 AM
A federal appeals court is the latest setting for a fight over single-sex classrooms between lawyers for a south Louisiana school system and the American Civil Liberties Union. ACLU lawyers filed a federal suit in 2009 against the Vermilion Parish School District on behalf of an unnamed parent whose two...
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September 21, 2010 6:35 AM
Officials say about 700 accounts, representing about 10 percent of all customers in Opelousas, have not been paying for water use, costing the city up to $25,000 a month. An electronic water metering system is finally up and running and the residents are now being required to pay their bills....
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September 20, 2010 6:55 PM
The search continues for two men who pulled a brazen daylight robbery at the Mall of Louisiana yesterday.
Some customers ran out of the mall as others wondered what was going on. News 2’s Michael Shingleton got answers on whether an alert system should have been used to inform...
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September 10, 2010 6:08 PM
Nearly every law enforcement agency in Baton Rouge responded to a standoff yesterday near LSU involving a person of interest in the murders of four people in Calcasieu Parish.
Not only did the LSU Police Department assist in the arrest of 52-year-old Lee Roy Williams, Jr., but they were...
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August 17, 2010 8:48 AM
The newly hired superintendent of the Monroe city school system does not meet the state's criteria for the job. Kathleen Harris was hired by the district in June, but the state education department says she doesn't have enough time spent as a classroom teacher in grades kindergarten through 12 to...
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April 30, 2010 3:20 PM
The Southern University System chose its new president Friday, selecting Ronald Mason Jr., who has been the leader of Jackson State University in Mississippi.
A Southern spokeswoman confirmed that the university system's governing board selected Mason from three finalists.
Mason, 57, a lawyer, has been Jackson State's president...
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March 5, 2010 3:38 PM
Tuition costs at LSU campuses are on track to edge upward next school year.
The LSU Board of Supervisors agreed unanimously Friday to an increase of 5 percent for all of its four-year campuses and 4 percent for its two-year campus in Eunice. The increase still needs approval from...
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November 23, 2009 10:01 AM
Baker City Council will hold a public hearing tomorrow night to discuss funding options for a new water system.
The city is changing the way it charges customers. Instead of charging a flat water rate every month, the city will switch to a meter system.
Customers would be...
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October 14, 2009 6:14 PM
The Baton Rouge Public Works Department wants to expand a GPS tracking system for department owned vehicles.
The monitoring system allows supervisors to know where a truck has been. It can also help with response time when dispatching a crew.
Currently, 19 vehicles in the DPW fleet have...
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October 14, 2009 9:55 AM
The East Baton Rouge Parish Public Works Department is considering an expansion of its GPS tracking system. 16 vehicles currently have the monitoring system which allows supervisors to know exactly where a vehicle is located. Hundreds of other vehicles could be added to the program in the next years. Lafaeytte...
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October 12, 2009 4:38 PM
State leaders are working on ways to come up with a DWI tracking system to crack down on repeat offenders.
It would allow all law enforcement to access one database if a DWI arrest is made.
The Executive Director of the Louisiana District Attorneys Association said, right now,...
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