The LSU Vet School is receiving viral fame after equipping a turtle with wheels. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
Cut 1 (30) “I’m Kevin Barnhart”
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A Natchez, Mississippi school teacher was brutally robbed and murdered just across the state line while visiting family in Louisiana. Matt Doyle reports two suspects are in jail
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Personal income growth was up four-percent in the first quarter of the year, outpacing the national average according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The governor’s office says the income growth rate was even higher than Texas. Economic Development Secretary Don Pierson says its evidence the state is headed in the right direction.
The four percent increase means Louisianans personal income grew by more than two-billion-dollars.
The news comes on the heels of an announcement by Coast Professional call center in West Monroe adding 146 jobs. Pierson says good paying jobs will be created through the 750,000-dollar expansion…
Pierson says the state’s FastStart workforce program will guide recruitment…
Coast Professional will renovate a former Sears Hometown store to accomodate the new workforce.
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Video of a box turtle missing his rear legs has gone viral after getting a new set of wheels courtesy of some clever LSU veterinarians. LSU Vet School spokesperson Ginger Guttner says medically, Pedro the turtle was fine, but zoological medicine intern Dr. Kelly Rockwell was up for the challenge of improving his mobility.
Guttner says using a Lego car kit, the vet school team came up with the best way to attach the new wheels.
Cut 7 (10) “…snaps into that.”
Guttner says the story has since spread like wildfire, gaining Pedro and the vet school plenty of media attention.
Cut 8 (08) “…resonated with people.”
Pedro’s family had adopted the turtle when he was missing only one leg, but following an escape from his enclosure and being on the lam for a bit, when he returned, he didn’t have either of his hind legs.
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2,300 of the state’s best teachers have begun specialized training aimed at preparing them to be mentors to new educators and struggling students.
Assistant Superintendent Hannah Dietsch says the program will give experienced educators the tools to be able to better prepare their rookie peers for those first, challenging years in the classroom.
881 of the teachers are training to take on the classroom role of “Mentor Teachers”, who directly coach new educators, and 752 are training to become “Content Leaders”, who deliver professional development.
Dietsch says this is the first year they’re offering training for interested educators who would like to specialize in academic interventions for low performing students who may come from at-risk backgrounds.
Dietsch says encouraging experienced teachers to reach out and help develop aspiring educators who are still seeking their certification will ensure more of those teaching candidates make it through the process.
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Two men are behind bars for allegedly robbing and murdering a Natchez, Mississippi school teacher and then burying his body under garbage in an abandoned Ferriday food plant. Concordia Parish Chief Deputy David Hedrick says the victim, Fred McCray Jr., apparently met the suspects who said they needed a ride.
Hedrick says they do not believe McCray was targeted.
48-year-old Jimmy Lewis of Ferriday and Cedric Tennessee are facing first-degree murder charges. Hedrick says there’s probably no way McCray could have known these two were planning the brutal crime…
McCray was visiting family across just across the state line after wrapping up his first year as an educator at Morgantown Middle School in Natchez, where he was named one of the district’s top ten teachers. Hedrick says McCray was a person who was going places…
McCray was also working on his Doctorate.