Baton Rouge news

• Legislature, Edwards still far apart on Louisiana budget solution

  17-02-2016 23:50
  
  The governor says tax increases will be necessary to keep the lights on at universities and colleges, but House Republicans want to see more cuts proposed.
  
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• What LSU WR coach Dameyune Craig said Wednesday

  17-02-2016 23:44
  
  Calls Les Miles "best college football coach in the nation."
  
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• LSU running backs job a no-brainer for Jabbar Juluke

  17-02-2016 23:36
  
  Former St. Augustine Purple Knight has his dream job.
  
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• Dameyune Craig: LSU was an opportunity 'I had to explore' | Video

  17-02-2016 22:37
  
  Newly-hired LSU wide receivers coach Dameyune Craig talks to the media Wednesday.
  
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• Jabbar Juluke: Cried 'tears of joy' when LSU offer came | Video

  17-02-2016 22:12
  
  LSU running backs coach Jabbar Juluke talks to the media about joining the LSU staff.
  
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• Louisiana tax refunds won't be delayed with budget crisis, official says

  17-02-2016 20:51
  
  Louisiana residents expecting a tax refund from the state this spring should not be worried about having the money seized or delayed to deal with the state's budget crisis, a top state official said Wednesday (Feb.17).  "We're not holding refunds,"...
  
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• Foster care worker who says she had to get things done 'no matter what' turns herself in

  17-02-2016 20:03
  
  BATON ROUGE -  A state foster care caseworker who alluded to being told to lie about visiting children in the state's care to meet outrageous goals set by the Department of Children and Family Services turned herself in to police.In an arrest warrant, Kimberly Lee said she created false reports about home visits to children and their foster families in an effort "to getting things done no matter what." Lee told investigators she was told to use buzz words to handle her work load and pre
  
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• Louisiana Senate makes move to attract SEC baseball tournament

  17-02-2016 19:39
  
  The Louisiana Senate unanimously passed a bill Wednesday (Feb. 17) that is meant to make it easier to attract the Southeastern Conference baseball tournament to the state.  Sen. Danny Martiny, R-Kenner, sponsored Senate Bill 1 to allow a special pool of...
  
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• Maybe corporate sponsorships and bake sales can solve Louisiana's budget problem: JR Ball

  17-02-2016 19:37
  
  So what's a state to do when faced with a financial shortfall of some $3 billion over the next 17 months and no one can agree on a solution? Gov. John Bel Edwards prefers raising a pile of new revenue and...
  
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• Sin tax likely to increase

  17-02-2016 19:00
  
  BATON ROUGE- Smokers and drinkers could soon pay more for their vices. A number of tax increases were debated at the state capitol Wednesday.These "sin" taxes are on Governor Edwards wish list for tackling the states budget deficit. The increases could come as soon as April.The proposed increases are:-22¢ for a pack of cigarettes
  -25¢ for a liter of liquor
  -22¢ for a bottle of wine
  -6¢ for a 6-pack of beerIf the cigarette tax passes, the state total will be $1
  
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• Live updates from LSU's Jabbar Juluke, Dameyune Craig introductory press conference Wednesday, 2 p.m.

  17-02-2016 19:00
  
  Tigers round out coaching staff.
  
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• Racial divide of Baton Rouge highlighted when meeting takes controversial turn

  17-02-2016 17:56
  
  BATON ROUGE - A discussion about plans to develop a medical corridor along Perkins Road near Bluebonnet ballooned into a discussion about race and inequality Wednesday afternoon. The zoning commission of the metro council was set to talk about the proposal when an emotional - and often loud - conversation started over the lack of medical services in north Baton Rouge and what some said were white, wealthy business leaders promoting development in an area of town that has fewer African Americans.
  
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• NAACP opposes creation of Essen health care corridor

  17-02-2016 17:15
  
  BATON ROUGE - The NAACP is opposing the creation of an official health district in South Baton Rouge.The local chapter of the organization says tax dollars should be invested in other areas of East Baton Rouge Parish instead. The proposed official health district would span the area of Essen, Bluebonnet, Perkins and I-10 where health care services have gravitated over the years.The NAACP sent a letter out Wednesday morning ahead of a Metro Council meeting saying they're not allowing the establis
  
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• Off-duty foreman testifies about BP explosion

  17-02-2016 17:02
  
  NEW ORLEANS - A drilling foreman who had gone off-duty several hours earlier said he was called from his bed shortly before the Deepwater Horizon blew wild on April 20, 2010.The rig erupted in flames, killing 11 men. Once the fire was out, the well spewed oil for nearly three months, blackening seashores in four states.But Miles Randal "Randy" Ezell did not testify about any of that. He was the first prosecution witness to testify as BP rig supervisor Robert Kaluza went on trial Wednesday on a m
  
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• NSU student creates GoFundMe page to help state close budget deficit

  17-02-2016 17:00
  
  NATCHITOCHES - A college student at Northwestern State University has devised a creative way to help the state in its efforts to resolve the current Louisiana budget shortfall.Eric Boleyn's effort to pitch in to solving the state's conundrum comes in the form of a GoFundMe page, which offers a donation platform for his campaign that he's dubbed "Help Louisiana, need 900+Million."As of 11 a.m. Wednesday, Boleyn's page had garnered just a bit more than $300 in donations.The legislature's special s
  
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• French Quarter Festival reveals 2016 lineup

  17-02-2016 16:43
  
  NEW ORLEANS - Considered to be the largest showcase of Louisiana music in the world, the free French Quarter Festival is bringing several first-time artists to this year's lineup that spans musical genres from Zydeco to blues to rock and soul.Organizers released the schedule Wednesday for the April 7-10 event held in the city's famous historic neighborhood. It includes debuts by rock band Cowboy Mouth, blues musician Sonny Landreth and soul singer Jean Knight, who's known for her classic hit, "M
  
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• Confederate-themed state flag divides Mississippi lawmakers

  17-02-2016 16:18
  
  JACKSON, Miss. - In Mississippi, the last state to display the Confederate battle emblem on its flag, some lawmakers want the divisive symbol removed, others want to punish public institutions that refuse to fly the banner and a state House leader suggests having two separate but equal flags: one with the rebel cross and one without.Confederate symbols have been under scrutiny across the South since last June, when nine black worshippers were massacred at a church in Charleston, South Carolina.S
  
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• BRPD officer pleads not guilty to felony charges, victim speaks out

  17-02-2016 16:10
  
  BATON ROUGE - A Baton Rouge police officer pleaded not guilty to felony assault charges in court, Wednesday.Lt. Charles Eddleman is accused of grabbing a man from behind, and slamming his head into the concrete floor until the victim passed out, according to the probable cause document.Today, the victim spoke out for the first time since the attack. Eloy Anzaldua claims it was unprovoked, and said he is lucky to be alive."It's overwhelming to think that a police officer would do what he did," An
  
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• IS faces budget crunch, cutting perks and trimming salaries

  17-02-2016 16:02
  
  BEIRUT - Faced with a cash shortage in its so-called caliphate, the Islamic State group has slashed salaries across the region, asked Raqqa residents to pay utility bills in black market American dollars, and is now releasing detainees for a price of $500 a person.The extremists who once bragged about minting their own currency are having a hard time meeting expenses, thanks to coalition airstrikes and other measures that have eroded millions from their finances since last fall. Having built up
  
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• 5 arrested in Assumption after alleged drug deal

  17-02-2016 15:40
  
  BERTRANDVILLE - Deputies say five men were arrested Tuesday after narcotics agents stopped two vehicles suspected of being involved in a drug deal.20-year-old Quan Lewis, 21-year-old Michael Lewis and 19-year-old Myron Lewis were arrested at the scene. Both Quan Lewis and Michael Lewis had outstanding warrants for their arrest.Agents with the Assumption Parish Sheriff's Office said when they were trying to stop one of the cars, the driver got out of the vehicle as it was still rolling and fled o
  
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• Execution delayed for man convicted in woman's 1997 killing

  17-02-2016 15:35
  
  NEW ORLEANS - The Louisiana Supreme Court has delayed the planned execution of a man convicted of beating and stabbing a 71-year-old woman to death while robbing her home in 1997.The court agreed Wednesday to indefinitely postpone the March 14 execution date that a state judge had set for Daniel Blank.Blank's attorney, Gary Clements, says it was "totally premature" to schedule the execution because his client hasn't exhausted his appeal options in state court.The state corrections department sai
  
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• Biden touts stimulus spending on trip to Mississippi valley

  17-02-2016 15:33
  
  NEW ORLEANS  - Vice President Joe Biden says the nation is on the verge of resurgence thanks to the White House's decision to buttress the sagging American economy seven years ago with stimulus spending.During a stop Wednesday to tout the importance of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Biden toured the Port of New Orleans. He visited a new crane system, paid for with stimulus dollars, aimed at speeding up and expanding the port's capacity to load containers from ships onto tra
  
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• GOP senator 1st to say Obama should offer Scalia replacement

  17-02-2016 15:03
  
  WASHINGTON - Nevada Sen. Dean Heller has become the first Republican senator to break with his party's leader and say President Barack Obama should nominate a replacement for the late Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court.Heller said Wednesday that Nevadans "should have a voice" in selecting a new justice.Just hours after Scalia's death Saturday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Obama should not name a nominee and leave that for whoever is elected president in November. Numerous GOP sen
  
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• The heat goes on: Earth sets 9th straight monthly record

  17-02-2016 15:00
  
  WASHINGTON - The January figures are in, and Earth's string of hottest-months-on-record has now reached nine in a row. But NASA said January stood out: The temperature was above normal by the highest margin of any month on record.NASA said January 2016 was 2.03 degrees (1.13 degrees Celsius) above normal.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which calculates temperatures differently, said January's average global temperature was a record 55.5 degrees Fahrenheit (13 degrees Celsius
  
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• Muslim man sues Oklahoma gun range for refusing him service

  17-02-2016 14:54
  
  OKLAHOMA CITY - A U.S. Army reservist from Tulsa who was asked to leave a gun range in eastern Oklahoma after identifying himself as a Muslim is suing the owners in federal court, pushing back against what he says is a rise in anti-Islamic sentiment across the country.Attorneys for Raja'ee Fatihah filed the lawsuit Wednesday in U.S. District Court against the owners of Save Yourself Survival and Tactical Gun Range in the small town of Oktaha.A sign on the business declared the range a "Muslim-fr
  
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• Supreme Court may face extended period with 8 justices

  17-02-2016 14:52
  
  WASHINGTON - Is eight enough?The Supreme Court has managed to function effectively at less than its full nine-member strength for two extended periods in the past 50 years. The question now is whether the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in the middle of the court term and a polarizing presidential campaign will make it harder for the justices to get their work done.Scalia's colleagues will mourn their longtime friend and fellow justice this week before resuming their work on a lineup of cases fr
  
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• House lawmakers begin talking specific tax hikes

  17-02-2016 14:47
  
  BATON ROUGE - Lawmakers in the House have started sifting through Gov. John Bel Edwards' tax proposals for the special legislative session.The Ways and Means Committee started hearings Wednesday on individual tax bills, but took no votes.Committee Chairman Neil Abramson, a New Orleans Democrat, says lawmakers want to discuss all the tax proposals and get the financial analysis of each before making decisions.He expected the first tax votes later this week or early next week.Among the pr
  
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• White House disputes Apple's position on iPhone hack request

  17-02-2016 14:25
  
  WASHINGTON - Although the CEO of Apple says an order from a federal magistrate could threaten the security of millions of iPhones, the White House doesn't see it that way.The magistrate ordered Apple to help the FBI hack into an iPhone that had been used by one of the shooters who carried out the massacre in San Bernardino, California last year.But Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company will resist. He says the administration is trying to get Apple to build a "backdoor" that would bypass digital lo
  
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• Florida couple wins share of $1.6B Powerball

  17-02-2016 14:21
  
  TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A Florida couple has cashed in the second of three winning tickets from last month's $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot.Seventy-year-old Maureen Smith and 55-year-old David Kaltschmidt will take the lump sum payment of about $327.8 million.Kaltschmidt said at a news conference Wednesday that they didn't inform family members until last week that they won.The winning ticket was purchased at a Publix grocery store in Melbourne Beach. The other two winning tickets for the Jan. 13 dr
  
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• The TOPS tale: How one man's pet project became a Louisiana sacred cow

  17-02-2016 14:00
  
  Popular scholarship program, threatened by budget cuts, started in 1988 on the whim of a visionary oilman.
  
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• Higher education leaders say they're not using scare tactics

  17-02-2016 13:42
  
  BATON ROUGE - Higher education leaders are pushing back at suggestions they are inflating the implications of budget cuts on their campuses.Commissioner of Higher Education Joe Rallo told the House Appropriations Committee that public colleges face cuts of at least $70 million before the state budget year ends June 30.And that's under the best-case scenario, if lawmakers gathered in a special legislative session agree to the tax hikes proposed by Gov. John Bel Edwards.If taxes aren't increased,
  
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• Federal agency awards $10M to upgrade, close rail crossings

  17-02-2016 13:34
  
  BATON ROUGE - The Federal Railroad Administration has awarded nearly $10 million in grants to upgrade or close dozens of railroad crossings in eight states, including a $1.1 million grant to Louisiana.
  FRA Administrator Sarah Feinberg visited Baton Rouge on Wednesday to announce the federal grants, which are funded by the Safe Transportation of Energy Products by Rail Program.
  Louisiana's grant will pay for closing six crossings and upgrading nine others along a 6-mile stretch of Baton Rouge rai
  
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• City's top cop, captain on leave pending investigation into how department handled call

  17-02-2016 13:14
  
  DENHAM SPRINGS - The police chief and a department captain were placed on leave, WBRZ learned Wednesday.The city attorney said Chief Scott Jones and Captain Steve Kistler are on paid leave while an internal investigation unfolds. The investigation is over how the response to a domestic violence call was handled. Stephanie Bond Hulett wrote investigators will see if policies and procedures were properly followed.The city did not elaborate on what domestic violence call is at the center of the inq
  
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• BRAF to release mental health plan Monday; effort to keep people out of jail

  17-02-2016 13:14
  
  BATON ROUGE - In less than a week, the Baton Rouge Area Foundation said it will share plans for a proposed substance abuse and mental health treatment center in the city.Community and government leaders have said there is a mental health crisis in Baton Rouge for some time. Facilities have closed - including the state-run Earl K Long Hospital in the northern area of the city - leading many people to be "warehoused" in jail because there is no other place to go."We have to make a decision on whet
  
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• Early voting begins on Saturday

  17-02-2016 13:11
  
  BATON ROUGE - Early voting for the Mar. 5 Louisiana Presidential Preference Primary begins this Saturday and runs through Saturday, Feb. 27.The polls will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily on all days excluding Sunday, Feb. 21.The PPP allows Louisiana electors of each political party in the state to express their preference for a person to be the nominee for president of the United States. The Secretary of State’s Office says the Democratic Party and the Republican Party will also
  
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• Repeat felony drug offenders arrested at end of high-speed chase

  17-02-2016 13:05
  
  BATON ROUGE - Police arrested a pair of repeat felony drug offenders at the end of a high-speed chase through residential Baton Rouge neighborhoods Tuesday afternoon.23-year-old Deaundre Williams was booked into the parish prison on charges of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession with intent to distribute oxycodone, possession of alprazolam, possession of firearm in presence of a controlled dangerous substance, aggravated obstruction of a highway, hit-and-run, no seatbelt and
  
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• Baker couple arrested for beating daughter, threatening assistant principal

  17-02-2016 12:36
  
  BAKER - Police say they arrested a Baker woman after she threatened to attack the assistant principal of Baker Middle School when she was summoned to the school to discuss her daughter’s suspension. Her live-in boyfriend was also arrested for domestic abuse after officers learned the couple had beaten the woman’s 13-year-old daughter.30-year-old Andrea Monique Jackson, of Baker, was booked on two counts of simple assault. 38-year-old Johnell Wallace, of Baker, was booked on c
  
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• BRPD: Woman found shot dead inside abandoned house

  17-02-2016 11:54
  
  BATON ROUGE - Police report a woman was found shot to death inside of an abandoned residence on Pawtucket Street in Baton Rouge early Tuesday evening.41-year-old Selena Hansel was located inside the house located at 4021 Pawtucket Street around 3:53 p.m., according to BRPD. Information about Hansel was limited with police only reporting that the woman does not have a known address on file.Police described the residence as a "squatter's type place," indicating that the abandoned property could fr
  
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• Feds find explosives, trenches, guns at Oregon preserve

  17-02-2016 11:24
  
  PORTLAND, Ore. - Federal prosecutors say investigators combing through an Oregon wildlife refuge occupied for nearly six weeks by an armed group discovered firearms, explosives and trenches dug near artifacts.Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ethan Knight and Geoffrey Barrow also said in a court filing Tuesday that the FBI is concerned vehicles at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge might be booby-trapped.Prosecutors say the occupiers appear to have dug two trenches near "sensitive artifacts." The refuge co
  
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• Variety of factors prevent some workers from working longer

  17-02-2016 11:21
  
  YPSILANTI, Mich. - Increasing numbers of Americans are expecting to work well past the traditional retirement age, and in some cases they are dismissing the idea of retirement altogether.But health and a variety of other factors often get in the way of those expectations.The University of Michigan's Health and Retirement Study finds that more than one-third of the people surveyed didn't reach the retirement age they set when they were 58.Economists say health often is the main factor why people
  
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• GOP candidates in high-stakes chess match in South Carolina

  17-02-2016 11:18
  
  CHARLESTON, S.C. - Jeb Bush, John Kasich and Marco Rubio are locked in a high-stakes political chess match in South Carolina, strategically moving money and other campaign resources around in a bid to pull ahead in the Republican primary race - or at least keep their campaigns afloat if they don't.The maneuvering comes as some Republican leaders fear Donald Trump or Ted Cruz will begin piling up the delegates needed to secure the nomination before one of the more traditional candidates can coale
  
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• $1.1M grant to increase safety at railroad crossings in Baton Rouge

  17-02-2016 09:49
  
  BATON ROUGE- Some big changes are coming to the railroad structure around Baton Rouge. The Federal Railroad Administration awarded a $1.1 million grant to the state to implement new safety procedures along six miles of tracks in the city.
  The changes will affect the Kansas City Southern tracks from North Street to Louise. Six of the railroads will be closed and nine will be upgraded to have lights, gates and other improvements.
  U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx says the safety improveme
  
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• Wednesday traffic problems continue on I-10 E at College Drive

  17-02-2016 08:21
  
  BATON ROUGE- The traffic headache is continuing for drivers in Baton Rouge. Less than an hour after I-10 West on the Mississippi River Bridge re-opened, traffic officials shut down two lanes of I-10 East at College Drive due to an accident. According to DOTD, the two center lanes re-opened just after 8 a.m. The left lane opened less than an hour later, leaving just the right exit lane blocked. Heavy delays still remain. Congestion from this accident is reaching beyond LA 415 on
  
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• Superdome listed on National Register of Historic Places

  17-02-2016 07:44
  
  NEW ORLEANS- The Louisiana Superdome has been named to the National Register of Historic Places despite an objection by the state, which owns the stadiums.
      
  The 76,000-seat home of the Saints was launched in August 1975.
      
  Amanda Keith, a Tulane University student in the Master of Preservation Studies program in spring 2015, presented the nomination to the Louisiana National Register Review Committee on Dec. 3. The committee agreed to
  
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• February 17, 2016 Morning News Pop

  17-02-2016 07:15
  
  Here are today's top stories:La. Senate discussing two proposals to help re-balance the budgetNAACP warns BREC about fight over any plans to move zoo Circle K and BRAVE to hold 'Gas for Guns' exchange Seasonable to warm Updates all day, every day:FACEBOOK | TWITTERPermalink| Comments
  
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• Apple resisting magistrate order to share iPhone information

  17-02-2016 05:17
  
  WASHINGTON- Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook says his company will resist a federal magistrate's order to hack its own users in connection with the investigation of the San Bernardino, California shootings.
      
  In a statement posted early Wednesday on the company's website, Cook argued that such a move would undermine encryption by creating a backdoor that could potentially be used on other future devices.
      
  Cook's letter was a direct and ferociou
  
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• Shell getting underway with $717M expansion at its Geismar plant

  17-02-2016 03:50
  
  GEISMAR- Shell Chemical LP is starting a $717 million expansion at its plant in Geismar.    
  Shell officials and Gov. John Bel Edwards say it will create 1,500 construction jobs and add 20 permanent jobs when it opens in 2018. Salaries for the permanent jobs average $104,000 a year.
      
  About 650 people already work at the plant.
      
  Officials say the expansion will make the 800-acre complex the world's largest pr
  
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• LIGO Livingston staff praised for role in first observation of gravitational waves

  17-02-2016 03:14
  
  The director of the National Science Foundation, which had underwritten the multimillion dollar project to prove a part of Einstein's theory of relativity, visited with staff members in Livingston on Tuesday (Feb. 16).
  
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• LIGO Livingston staff praised for finding gravitational waves

  17-02-2016 03:14
  
  Kudos from head of National Science Foundation, which had underwritten project to prove Einstein's theory of relativity
  
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• NSF Director France Cordova talks to LIGO researchers

  17-02-2016 02:45
  
  National Science Foundation Director France Cordova congratulates scientists and technicians at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory, LIGO, in Livingston, on Tuesday, following the observatory's detection of gravitational waves created by the merging of two black holes a million light-years away from Earth.
  
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