Governor John Bel Edwards pledges more money for higher education. Edwards increased funding for public colleges by 47-million for this fiscal year, but the Board of Regents is requesting a 156-million-dollar boost for the upcoming budget. UL System President Jim Henderson says the increase would entice high quality faculty and more money is needed to ensure that TOPS students will have their tuition paid for throughout a four-year college career…
A report by the D.C. based Environmental Integrity Project shows the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality saw its budget cut by 35 percent between 2008 and 18. DEQ Secretary Chuck Brown notes the department does not get money from the state general fund, but their staffing levels, and how much they can charge in fees are determined by the state.
It’s Championship Saturday in college football. The 2nd ranked LSU Tigers are hoping for a big win today over Georgia in the SEC title game so they can get the number one seed in the college football playoffs. That game kickoffs at three this afternoon.
Over in North Carolina, U-L Lafayette will play for the Sun Belt title as they’ll face Appalachian State at 11 AM. The Cajuns have never defeated App State in seven previous meetings. The Mountaineers won all of those games by an average of 21 points.
And in Lorman, Mississippi, Southern faces Alcorn State in the SWAC title game. The Braves beat the Jags in last year’s conference championship game. In the F-C-S playoffs, Nicholls is at North Dakota State, The Bison are two-time defending champs and Southeastern Louisiana is at Montana.
And in the pros the Saints play the 49s in the Dome on Sunday kickoff is at noon.