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 … 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.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 … 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 … 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 … 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 … 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.… 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 … 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 … 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 … 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.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.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 … 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 … 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 … 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 … 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 … 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 … 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 … 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 … 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 … 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 … 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 — … 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.Continue reading →

Some intriguing dynamics were at play during a recent court hearing on condemned killer Henri Broadway’s claim that his former attorneys were deficient at his 1995 capital murder trial in the slaying of Baton Rouge police Cpl. Betty … Continue reading →