The Ascension Parish school system has been dealing with the population growth in the parish by building new schools and renovating older campuses. In the 2007-08 school year, enrollment at the school system was 18,807, according to data provided by the school system. Five years later, the district has grown to 20,659 … Continue reading →

Southern University “whether by intent or design” is being dismantled. At least that’s the way Southern’s System President Ronald Mason Jr. sees it. Mason, of course, acknowledges that all of Louisiana’s public universities are hurting. The Legislature has cut $360 million from higher education in the past four years. And if the House Republicans manage to … Continue reading →

Over the past three or so years, the 15th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Lafayette allowed at least 60 people to fast-track their DWI arrests from conviction to sentencing in as little as a month, court documents show — an irony considering the office has been questioned in the past for allowing other people to sit … Continue reading →

Neither Lafayette Parish School Board members nor the community should be too surprised by the initiatives in Pat Cooper’s proposed district turnaround plan. After all, the new superintendent of schools has pitched them before, during his interviews for the job. Five board members liked what they heard and selected … Continue reading →

The Baton Rouge Tea Party, usually visible and vocal on political issues, has been uncharacteristically quiet for the past few months after a shake-up in its leadership. On Jan. 25, Tea Party President Mike Thibodeaux, Vice President Rebecca Favre Lipe and Secretary Karen Daniel resigned, temporarily leaving Treasurer Mark Holmes as … Continue reading →

Fifteen years after Todd Wessinger was condemned to die for killing two employees at the now-closed Calendar’s Restaurant on Perkins Road, his latest attorneys say they have evidence “which tells a dramatically different story than that presented at trial.’’ Wessinger, 44, of Baton Rouge, faults his trial attorneys’ penalty phase preparation for … Continue reading →

Career Compass has quietly amassed a notable track record as it finishes its sixth year of existence. The nonprofit group helps teenagers apply to post-secondary institutions. Now, the organization has evidence that many of the teens are staying once they get into post-secondary programs. The group started in 2006 when … Continue reading →

For the first time, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will look at the Mississippi River with an eye toward how the agency can provide services for navigation, flood control and now for coastal restoration. On April 10, about 40 people, mostly representatives of contractors or environmental groups, attended the first … Continue reading →

Here is the introduction to a story written in this newspaper in 1995: “Work has yet to start on a long-awaited comprehensive plan for Lafayette Parish’s future development and growth, but officials say an effort is under way to start the planning process.” And here’s an excerpt from a story earlier this … Continue reading →

The results of the March 24 municipal elections in Baker guarantee that, for the first time in the city’s history, the City Council will have a majority of black members. The April 21 runoffs, in turn, will decide whether the council’s black majority is 5-0, 3-2 or 4-1. The … Continue reading →

Marshall Bernard misses his son. Bernard last saw him a few days before March 9, when 22-year-old Gunner Williamson was found unconscious in a ditch on the side of Bob Pettit Boulevard in Tigerland. Bernard said his son was about to move back home to Pride. He never … Continue reading →

Nearly every employee of Ascension Parish public schools — from classroom teachers to central office supervisors — is expected to devote a few hours each month to professional development. Known as “professional learning communities,” or PLCs, these sessions allow the employees, on a regular basis, to talk shop and to share … Continue reading →

At first, Sarah Jordan wasn’t sure she wanted to spend her winter break traveling to Africa to take part in a project to purify contaminated drinking water. But Jordan, a 20-year-old St. Francisville native studying health science at Clemson University, changed her mind and spent three weeks in Ghana, from Dec. 27 … Continue reading →

The recent escape of two Lafayette Parish Correctional Center inmates, one of whom was being held on a first-degree murder charge, should prompt changes within the jail. The system of checks and balances set up to ensure security within the jail broke down during the early morning hours of March 10, when … Continue reading →

Recent responses to perceived threats of violence against schools in the Florida Parishes illustrate both effective partnering between the school officials and the difficulties of policing students’ online communication. In Livingston Parish, two teens were arrested Sunday after one texted another saying he intended to “shoot up” Springfield High School. The other … Continue reading →

Forty years ago, a teacher’s preparation for the classroom included only a half-day of teaching. Now, aspiring educators have at least 180 hours of field experience — observing, assisting and teaching — before they begin their full semester of student teaching, said David Beard, director of teacher clinical experiences at the University … Continue reading →

U.S. District Judge James Brady recently declared condemned Baton Rouge police officer-killer Kevan Brumfield mentally retarded and ineligible for execution, even though Brumfield was not diagnosed as mentally retarded during 10 years of school. The East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney’s Office has argued that Brumfield’s lack of a prior … Continue reading →

So far, there are four candidates in the mayor-president election who have officially announced. You’ve likely heard of two of them: front-runners Mayor-President Kip Holden and three-term Councilman Mike Walker. The other two, you might not have heard of yet. Jim Mayer and Gordon Mese are two businessmen who are not typical politicians, … Continue reading →

From the beginning, John Dilworth never professed to be a miracle worker. “When I came here, I said over and over again that I can’t do this alone, that I’m not Superman, and I’m not,” the outgoing East Baton Rouge Parish school superintendent said Thursday . “Have I made mistakes? Absolutely.” Continue reading →

A little more than 23 years ago, a young (relatively speaking) reporter for The Advocate, on his third or fourth day on the job, walked into the West Feliciana Parish Police Jury’s meeting room, which happened to be the living room of an old house on the courthouse square in St. Francisville. Sizing up … Continue reading →

Missy Hahn teaches second grade at Belle Rose Elementary in Assumption Parish. Last year, she taught the same group of students as first-graders, and next year, she’ll teach them in third grade. Rather than take on a new class at the same grade level each year, the veteran teacher, along with the rest of her colleagues … Continue reading →

W hen Eunice police Detective Ron Whaley takes the stand Tuesday, he’ll likely do so with butterflies in his stomach. That’s because the last time the detective took the stand — during a Jan. 26 evidentiary hearing for Quinten Ceasar, one of two men accused in the January 2006 killing of an … Continue reading →

When Superintendent Bill Spear leaves the Livingston Parish school system in February of next year, his successor will inherit a school district widely admired and consistently ranked in the top 10 in the state. Newcomers to Livingston Parish — where the population grew nearly 40 percent in 2000-2010, according to U.S. Census figures … Continue reading →

While much of the state’s attention is focused on Team Jindal’s project to “reform” public education, at least two school districts in the Baton Rouge area are trying to find the money or right combination of spending cuts to maintain and improve their stellar state rankings. In today’s economic climate, that’s a challenge that has … Continue reading →

As it has tried to settle on its next superintendent, the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board has not only asked questions, but answered a few from the candidates themselves. On Wednesday, after two days of interviews, the School Board narrowed the field from six candidates to one, Samuel King, superintendent in Rockdale County, Ga. Continue reading →

Pat Cooper, the new Lafayette Parish school system superintendent, said he plans over the next few weeks to spend time in meetings with employees, parents, students, business and civic leaders, and community groups to hear what folks think can be done to help the district’s students. Before the School Board began its search for a superintendent, … Continue reading →

Bentley Kennedy-Stone, a 17-year-old McKinley High School senior, is a few steps away from earning the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest achievement rank in Boy Scouts of America. One of those final steps is a service project that must benefit an organization other than Boy Scouts, such as a church or school, … Continue reading →

It could be an interesting 2012 for Lafayette City-Parish President Joey Durel, considering that two council members who have often opposed him were elected chairman and vice-chairman at the City-Parish Council’s first meeting this year. And then there is the uncomfortable situation of Durel having to work alongside a new council member he actively campaigned … Continue reading →

A bouquet of fake flowers adorned the front door of Sylviane Lozada’s Baton Rouge home Tuesday morning. The plastic petals and leaves rubbed against the tape East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s deputies had placed on the door more than five months ago when they started looking for the missing Brusly High School teacher. … Continue reading →

Lafayette Utilities System wants control of your air conditioning. The city-owned utility will not force control on its customers, but LUS Director Terry Huval said there are plans to seek willing participants for what would likely be a rarely used tool to stave off rolling blackouts. Air conditioners use a lot of electricity, and the … Continue reading →

Next to his office desk, Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro Jr. keeps three large boxes containing the investigative file from a probe into the deaths of at least 34 patients at a flooded New Orleans hospital after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The state 1st Circuit Court of Appeal in Baton Rouge recently … Continue reading →

Born from hard economic times, the federal stimulus-funded Qualified School Construction Bond program has provided the Ascension Parish School System the opportunity to stretch its dollars — and school officials are taking full advantage of that opportunity. But that opportunity requires some creative budgeting, a process still in the works, said Chad Lynch, who oversees … Continue reading →

With Christmas coming up, most people in south Louisiana are busy buying presents, attending parties and making plans to spend time with family. Planting trees is probably not on the top of their things-to-do lists. Which is a shame. Because there’s a timely reason this season to start thinking about roots, branches and foliage. Continue reading →

When Tangipahoa Parish Superintendent of Schools Mark Kolwe was granted a two-year contract extension on Dec. 6, the School Board’s 6-3 vote was a mere formality. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t controversial. Kolwe, who has spent his entire 38-year career in the Tangipahoa Parish School System, has had a tumultuous four-year tenure as the parish … Continue reading →

To hear Ascension Parish officials say it, the most recent Baton Rouge Loop tour through the parish was just a function of the engineers finishing their contracts. The southern loop, we have been told, is just a vestigial wing that the evolution in planning for the toll-funded beltway has deemed not to be fruitful. But … Continue reading →

Maybe it is just a coincidence, but the only West Feliciana Parish police jurors left standing after the recent elections are the two who voted against a $30,000 raise in December 2009 for former Parish Manager Ambrose Sims. The raise generated quite a bit of controversy at the time, and the … Continue reading →

I n October, Lafayette Parish voters rejected a tax to fund $561 million for new schools. The 23-mill property tax increase would have funded the first phase of the Lafayette Parish school district’s $1 billion facilities master plan. The failed proposition included a 2-mill maintenance tax. The proposition received only 13,264 votes, or 31 percent, … Continue reading →

A citizen-led committee, although not yet finished working, has already sketched out some far-reaching ideas about how to change the East Baton Rouge Parish school system. The committee, which began meeting in May, has yet to sign off on a final draft. That final work will form the basis of a new … Continue reading →

Local bars and restaurants last month started serving the Tin Roof Brewing Co.’s new blonde ale using the name of Blonde Ale. Why the lifeless name? Because the LSU Board of Supervisors has not signed off on or even considered yet what was supposed to be the LSU-licensed Bandit Blonde Ale. Chalk it … Continue reading →

Woe it is in this holiday season to be a Democrat. The party supposedly in power sees a Congress snarled in disputes over a Democratic president’s initiatives. Millions are out of work, and long-term unemployment is the surest driver of discontent. No president has ever been re-elected with these levels of joblessness. The pre-election winter is … Continue reading →

Addis Mayor Carroll Bourgeois says the fire subdistrict that serves his town should be getting more money. The amount of revenue each of West Baton Rouge Parish’s six fire subdistricts takes in every year is decided by a formula parish government created in 1991 using a weighted average taking into … Continue reading →

Medicare’s $1.3 billion in daily expenditures help the nation’s elderly, blind and disabled cope with medical bills. But those dollars also are a big target for white-collar criminals, notes Bill Root, assistant special agent in charge of Louisiana investigations for the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Continue reading →

Gov. Bobby Jindal scored a big win in elections for Louisiana’s top school board, but most of his key education plans will rise or fall in the Legislature. Jindal is all but certain to have achieved his key goal — lining up enough allies on the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education … Continue reading →

The Capital Area Transit System is in a unique and awkward position when it comes to balancing its budget during difficult years. The troubled bus system — like many agencies that operate from public funds — has experienced funding cuts that have left a deficit in its budget. CATS is legally required to … Continue reading →

The Rev. Donald Hunter has chosen to take on a mountain of a mission in Baton Rouge — tackling juvenile crime and dropout rates among black youth by evaluating their families’ structures. Of the 4,024 juveniles prosecuted in East Baton Rouge Parish Juvenile Court in 2010, some 92 percent were … Continue reading →