A bill is moving closer to final legislative passage that would ensure that all TOPS students receive at least part of their scholarship, in the event the legislature cannot fully fund the program. Halen Doughty has more…
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The price of oil hit 50-dollars a barrel for the first time since October. Emelie Gunn on what this means for the industry….
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The bill to ensure that all TOPS students get at least part of their scholarship award moves closer to final legislative passage. The legislation would go into effect if the legislature is not able to fully fund the popular scholarship program. Currently, 51-thousand students receive TOPS. Hammond Representative Chris Broadwater says without this bill 13-thousand students could lose their scholarships because of funding issues, which would be bad for the state’s economy…
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Broadwater says this bill is needed to make sure that all TOPS students have the opportunity to go to college. He says this could keep more Louisiana students in the state.
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Under current law, if TOPS is underfunded, students with the lowest GPA and ACT scores would be dropped from the program. Broadwater says a better route is if lawmakers decreased the amount of each award, instead of taking the entire award away from some students.
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The measure passed the House and now heads back to the Senate so changes made to the bill can be approved.
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Earlier this morning the price of oil rose above 50 dollars a barrel for the first time since October. Executive Director at LSU’s Center for Energy Studies David Dismukes says this marks an important milestone and it might put an end to the job losses in this industry.
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Crude oil was below 30 dollars a barrel earlier this year. Dismukes says the real challenge is to see if the increase is sustainable. He says the biggest catalyst for the uptick has been the recent fires in Canada.
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Even with this increase, crude oil is still down 66-percent from the record high in July of 2008 where oil closed at $145 a barrel. Dismukes says with the higher prices, there’s less pressure for oil companies to make production caps or cuts. He says with oil trading at 50-dollars a barrel, it’ll be interesting to see if there will be an uptick in production…
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A Senate-approved bill that would allow patients to see physical therapists without a doctor’s referral also has the support of the House as it nears final passage. West Monroe Representative Frank Hoffman opposes the legislation. He says patients should see a doctor before seeing physical therapists, because doctors have more medial training.
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Under the current law, patients must get a diagnosis from a doctor before seeing a PT. Hoffman says if physical therapists missed something in a patient’s diagnosis, they could seriously hurt that person, even paralyze them.
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Ville Platte Representative Harvey LeBas is the House sponsor of the bill. He says Louisiana is one of only 7 states with this kind of law. He says because of this, PT grads are leaving Louisiana.
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LeBas says physical therapists have the necessary training to see patients and take care of them.
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The measure passed in the lower chamber on a 65-33 vote and heads back to the Senate for concurrence on House language.
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A report from the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums finds that the Baton Rouge Zoo is not at fault for the deaths of two giraffes who died in March. Zoo director Phil Frost says he requested an audit by the association because the giraffe deaths that occurred during a severe thunderstorm were very unusual.
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Frost says he’s proud the report shows zoo staff were professional and kept a cool head even with the circumstances. He says the Baton Rouge Zoo wanted to be professional and open during this situation because the public has a connection with these animals.
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18 animals have died in the last year at the Baton Rouge Zoo. Frost says they’re working on getting more giraffes to the zoo but it could take a while because it’s not an easy process…
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