The University of New Orleans and Northwestern State plan to cover the TOPS shortfall for recipients next semester. Emelie Gunn has more…
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The critically injured East Baton Rouge Parish deputy shot in a July ambush has been moved to a state-of-the-art rehab hospital in Texas. Michelle Southern reports…:
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An infant is in critical condition and a mother is facing charges following an accidental shooting in a vehicle. Baton Rouge Police Cpl. L’Jean McKneely says 23-year-old Crystal Kinchen of Baton Rouge left two small children unattended in a parked car with a handgun.
McKneely says Kinchen called 911, as she drove the child to the hospital. He says detectives arrived at the hospital shortly after.
McKneely says the mother has been charged with second degree cruelty to a juvenile for leaving the children alone in the car. He says the infant is being treated for the gunshot wound.
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The University of New Orleans and Northwestern State say they will use other financial resources to cover the 60-percent of tuition TOPS students will be required to pay for next semester. NSU President Jim Henderson says the scholarship program promised to pay 100% of a recipients’ tuition and they intend to keep the promise for their students.
Henderson, who will become the U-L System President in January, says about 21-hundred students at NSU are on TOPS, which gives them more flexibility for payment options. He says they’ve identified some resources from donors to cover the tuition cost but they’re still looking for a statewide solution.
Henderson says for TOPS students to drop out of school or incur additional debt is not an option they will consider. He says many universities are doing what they can to lessen the damage on students.
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An Orleans Parish criminal court judge rules that the jury in the Cardell Hayes murder trial will be sequestered. Hayes is accused of killing former-Saints player Will Smith after a car accident on April 9th. Legal analyst Chick Foret says there will be a lot of media coverage of the trial, and the judge wants to prevent any potential bias.
Judge Camille Buras has ruled the jury will not have any contact with the outside world for the duration of the trial, which is set to begin December 5th. Foret says this will likely change the makeup of the jury, because the jurors will have to be people who don’t have anywhere to be.
Foret says it’s not often we see juries sequestered, but he expects this to be one of the most publicized cases in the history of Orleans parish. He says he’s not surprised by the judge’s decision.
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There has been lots of talk on social media about the name change of the Triple-A Minor League baseball team, The New Orleans Zephyrs to the Baby Cakes. General Manager Cookie Rojas says they took ideas from fans and focus groups to come up with a new nickname to liven up baseball in the Crescent City. He says the moment he heard the name, he knew this was it.
Rojas also adds the King Cake with the baby inside helped them develop the new name. He says they wanted to keep the traditional colors of dark blue and gold but add a little spin.
Rojas says the reaction has been both positive and negative on social media. But he says he wants people to be passionate about minor league baseball.
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