The Senate Education committee approves legislation designed to control the cost of the TOPS scholarship program, despite opposition from Governor Bobby Jindal. Mandeville Senator Jack Donahue’s bill sets a baseline on how much the state will spend on TOPS and it will not automatically increase with the rise in tuition…

cut 15 (10) “raise that”

TOPS is expected to cost the state over 250-million dollars this year and nearly 400-million dollars by fiscal year 2018-19.

Two bills that attempt to address gender inequality when it comes to pay failed to get approval from the House Labor Committee. Natchitoches Representative Kenny Cox says Louisiana has the worst gender pay gap in the nation at 66 percent. But Hammond Representative Chris Broadwater says laws like this would open up floodgates of litigation…

cut 13 (09) “treated unfairly”

The committee voted 9-to-5 against the measures.

St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office Cpl. Burt Hazeltine has been released from the hospital and the sheriff’s office will host a benefit lunch/dinner for him today in Destrehan. Hazeltine was shot last week while directing traffic in a school zone in Paradis. Captain Pat Yoes says they’re holding this fundraiser because Hazeltine has a long road ahead toward recovery…

cut 4 (06) “lessen that burden”

The fundraiser will happen at the Shriner’s Hall in Destrehan from 11AM til 8PM.

A crash in DeSoto Parish has claimed the life of a teenager, according to Mansfield Police. They say four Mansfield High School students were traveling down a roadway near the school when for unknown reasons their vehicle crossed the center line, struck an embankment, overturned, and hit a tree. The deceased has been identified as 16-year-old Reydel Jones. The other three students were transported to an area hospital for non-life threatening injuries. The investigation is ongoing.