A Senate bill that will likely result in future TOPS students having to pay a portion of their tuition clears the House Education Committee despite Governor Jindal’s opposition. Eric Gill reports…
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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announces results of a study which shows the Deepwater Horizon oil spill contributed to a high number of dolphin deaths in the Gulf of Mexico. Michelle Southern reports…:
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Legislation that looks to reduce the penalties for those convicted multiple times of marijuana possession makes progress in the state legislature. A Senate committee has approved New Orleans Senator JP Morrell’s bill that would change a second-offense from a felony to a misdemeanor charge. He says third or four offenses would still be felonies, but with lower maximum sentences than current law…
The House has also approved its own legislation that will reduces penalties for multiple marijuana offenders. But Morrell’s measure also allows an offender to have their record expunged, if they are not convicted for another marijuana violation within two years of their first offense
CUT 4 (10) “first offense only”
Morrell says his measure will save the state 16-million dollars over five years, because fewer people will be locked up. He says district attorneys and sheriffs support his legislation, because there’s still significant penalties for those convicted three or more times…
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A Senate bill that will likely result in future TOPS students having to pay a portion of their tuition clears the House Education Committee. The governor’s office opposes Mandeville Senator Jack Donahue’s legislation. Stafford Palmieri, Jindal’s Assistant Chief of Staff, says Louisiana has made the promise that TOPS students will have their tuition fully paid…
Under Donahue’s bill, the TOPS award will match 2016-17 tuition levels but the award will not automatically go up when tuition rises. Donahue says TOPS is unsustainable in its current form and this baseline will ensure its survival…
The measure will now be debated on the House floor. Palmieri admits that the cost of the TOPS program has increased every year since 2008, but says this is a good investment in the state’s higher education system…
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Donahue says controls need to be put in place to regulate the costs of TOPS so the program can endure for future generations of students. He doesn’t think passage of this bill will damage the program…
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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announces results of a study which shows the Deepwater Horizon oil spill contributed to a high number of dolphin deaths in the Gulf of Mexico. Dr. Kathleen Colegrove is the study’s lead veterinary pathologist…:
Colegrove says one in three dolphins found dead in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama had a thin adrenal gland cortex which leads to adrenal insufficiency. She says when just looking at dolphins from Barataria Bay, one of the most heavily oiled coastal areas, half of them had the otherwise rare adrenal lesion…:
NOAA says these studies point to the presence of petroleum hydrocarbons as being the most significant cause of the illnesses and deaths plaguing the Gulf’s dolphin population. Colegrove says dolphins dying after the spill had distinct problems not present in stranded dophins from areas outside the northern Gulf. She says another problem they found in the spill areas in stranded dolphins was lung disease…:
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The Louisiana Black Bear population has reached a point in its recovery that the federal government recommends the removal of the animal from the threatened species list. Governor Bobby Jindal says it took over 20-years of collaborative research and recovery efforts to get to this point….
Jindal says the state has spent more than 900-thousand dollars to help restoration of the black bear population. Deputy Director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Steve Guertin, is glad efforts to save the iconic “Teddy Bear” have paid off…
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It will likely take a year before the bear is delisted, as federal officials must gather public input on the recommendation. Once that process is completed, it could open the door for regulated hunting of the black bear. But state department of Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Robert Barham says that’s not happening anytime soon…