Ads by Fight Not Fear, the campaign to consolidate law enforcement in Baton Rouge, were on heavy rotation during the weeks leading up to the November election for mayor-president and metro council members.
One of the state laws going into effect Jan. 1 provides tax rebates for donations to organizations that will pay private and parochial school tuition for students from low and moderate-income families wanting to escape under-performing public schools. The rebates come into play barely a month after a state judge ruled a similar voucher program couldn’t be paid for through the formula for funding public schools.
Louisianians will also be able to check boxes on their tax forms to designate resources to fighting fraud in the state’s food stamp program.
Surface coating and specialty products giant PPG Industries declared a force majeure Thursday for vinyl chloride monomer made at its Lake Charles facility.
Shareholders of the construction and engineering company The Shaw Group voted Friday to sell the company to Netherlands-based infrastructure giant CB&I.
Baton Rouge’s only Fortune 500 Company said in a statement that 99-percent of its shareholders voted in favor of the deal worth a little over $3-billion-dollars.
Baton Rouge Area Chamber CEO Adam Knapp said CB&I sees Baton Rouge as a center for engineering talent.
In Louisiana and across the country church bells were rung at 9:30 a.m. this morning in memory of the women and children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT a week ago.
When the federal government reduced its funding of Medicaid in Louisiana, the LSU charity hospital system took the brunt of the $152 million in cuts. LSU’s medical students, for whom the charity hospitals are a training ground, have been caught in the tumult.
Louisiana Federation of Teachers president Steve Monaghan (far left) speaking with reporters outside the state courthouse in Baton Rouge, Dec. 18, 2012.
A state judge has upheld legislation tying teachers’ pay and tenure to their performance in the classroom. Gov. Bobby Jindal pushed for the changes as part of his education overhaul.
Judge Michael Caldwell tossed out provisions of the same act that removed authority over hiring and firing decisions from local school boards, and required state reviews of district superintendent contracts.
Last spring at the capitol, thousands of public school teachers rallied against the bill that would tie their pay and tenure to performance through an evaluation system, which was rolled out at the start of this school year.
A state judge says he will rule Tuesday on whether Act 1 was passed in violation of Louisiana’s constitution.
