Remembrances continue to pour in for legendary LSU baseball coach Skip Bertman, who passed away Friday morning at the age of 88. Andrew Greenstein reports.
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Louisiana Community and Technical Colleges president Richard Nelson has a plan to expand opportunities for students seeking an associate’s degree to meet Louisiana’s growing workforce needs. Jeanne Burns has the story…
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Entergy Vice President of Business Operations Laura Beauchamp says Meta’s Richland Parish investment will be felt across the Bayou state. Kace Kieschnick has more.
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Skip Bertman is being remembered as a man who was much more than a championship baseball coach. The former LSU head baseball coach and athletic director passed away early Friday morning at the age of 88. Ryan Theriot, who won a College World Series title while playing for Bertman in 2000, says the hard work that Bertman did in building the LSU baseball program basically from nothing rubbed off on the entire Baton Rouge community.
Cut 4 (09) “…baseball for us.”
Theriot says Bertman’s influence on him went far beyond the baseball field, including his eight-year Major League career that included two World Series titles.
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Dan Canevari, who served on Bertman’s coaching staff at LSU, says Bertman was an incredible influence on so many people, whether they were baseball players or not.
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Before joining Bertman’s staff, Canevari played for Bertman at the University of Miami when Bertman was the pitching coach. Canevari says Bertman was much more than a coach; he was a mentor.
Cut 7 (10) “…a better worker.”
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Louisiana Community and Technical and College System President Richard Nelson has laid out a plan designed to meet Louisiana’s growing workforce needs. Nelson says one of the initiatives is to provide more transparency to prospective students on the types of jobs they can get with an associate’s degree by visiting their website…
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There are about 125-thousand students attending their 12 schools. Nelson has identified several ways they can boost enrollment and that’s by providing students with strong advising, childcare, transportation and ways to reduce student debt…
Cut 9 (11) “…close all these gaps.”
In the last academic year, LCTC awarded nearly 53-thousand credentials to 41-thousand completers with nearly 20-thousand graduates entering high-demand occupations. Nelson, who has been on the job for the less than a year, says one of his priorities is to align programs with Louisiana’s workforce needs…
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The average student who attends one of Louisiana’s 12 community and technical colleges is 26. They hope to lower that age, which would result in more adults in their 20s joining the workforce and receiving a good pay check.
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Entergy Vice President of Business Operations Laura Beauchamp says Meta’s Richland Parish data center will help fund improvements to the Entergy power grid across the state. She says the investment is already being felt locally.
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ULM’s construction management enrollment has increased 37-percent.
To power the data center, Entergy is building 10 new power plants funded by Meta. Six will be near the Richland Parish facility while four will be built in St. Charles and Pointe Coupee Parishes. Beauchamp says the project could actually save customers billions of dollars over the next 20 years.
Cut 12 (12) “…because of Meta.”
Beauchamp says Louisiana construction job opportunities are nearing their peak with massive projects across the state. She says nearly all of Entergy’s work is done by Louisiana contractors, and they’ve asked Meta to make that a priority as well.
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Ten years after median barriers trapped flood waters on I-12, stranding drivers for hours, DOTD will soon begin work to retrofit those barriers. Brooke Goodrich with DOTD says the 6.4-million-dollar project will involve modifying sections of the existing concrete barrier system.
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Goodrich says work will begin late next month at the Amite River, which serves as the line between East Baton Rouge Parish and Livingston Parish, and it will extend throughout Livingston Parish.
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Goodrich says with I-12 carrying about 90-thousand vehicles per day, work will not be done during daytime hours.
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The project is funded in part by a 21-million-dollar settlement for the faulty design. Work is expected to be completed by late 2027.
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LSU defensive coordinator says he chose to join Lane Kiffin’s LSU coaching staff to win a national championship. True freshmen defensive linemen Lamar Brown, Deuce Geralds and Richard Anderson will look to help achieve that goal. Baker says he hasn’t been around a more talented trio of freshmen.
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The Tigers could see two new starting safeties in Baker’s secondary. Boise State transfer Ty Benefield will take over for AJ Haulcy and redshirt freshman Jhase Thomas is challenging Tamarcus Cooley for his starting spot. Baker says the group was a concern heading into camp, but they have grown a lot.
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The Saints lost their preseason opener to Jacksonville on Saturday 24-20, but 27-year-old Zach Wilson made a case that he should be the backup quarterback to Tyler Shough. The former number two pick, who is entering his sixth season and has played in 38 games, threw for 145 yards and a touchdown…
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Meanwhile, Shough’s primary backup, Spencer Rattler, threw for only 42 yards, was sacked twice and lost a fumble.
Preseason games are for the undrafted rookies to make an impression, and that’s what defensive end Michael Heldman did. The former Central Michigan standout had six tackles, three tackles for a loss, and two sacks. Heldman says he was excited for Saturday’s game after struggling in a joint practice on Thursday against the Jaguars…
Cut 20 (17) “…super cool.”
The Saints leave for California today. They will have a joint practice with the Cowboys in Oxnard tomorrow and another joint practice with the Rams on Thursday. New Orleans will finish the week playing the Rams in a preseason game on Saturday.