Under the governor’s budget proposal for next fiscal year unveiled Thursday, TOPS is funded at its current level: 70%. The Board of Regents is meeting today to discuss possible changes that could be made to the program to make it more sustainable. Higher Ed Commissioner Joe Rallo says one option would be requiring students to take 30 credit hours a semester rather than 24…:
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If approved by the legislature, the changes to the program would impact the incoming class of 2018.

The U.S. Justice Department and attorneys in New Orleans and Lafayette announced Thursday that an oil company will have to pay $9.5 million dollars in penalties over allegations of falsely reporting safety inspections and violating the Clean Water Act in the Gulf of Mexico. Wood Group will pay $7 million for the false reports, and $1.8 million for discharging oil into the gulf in a November 2012 explosion that killed three people.

It’s Carnival time, and cities and towns across the state will be celebrating Mardi Gras over the next four days. Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser says Fat Tuesday parties throughout Louisiana have really grown over the last few years…:
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More than a million people get down in The Big Easy for Mardi Gras with the biggest parades, Endymion and Bacchus, rolling on Saturday and Sunday nights.

Grambling State University is one step closer to reinstating their undergraduate nursing program. It closed in December of 2015, and the school has been working to get a new program instated. Grambling President Rick Gallot says they have the support of the UL-System Board, but the work is far from over…:
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He says once approved they can hire a program director and move forward.