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• E. Feliciana school board panel votes for layoffs

  October 11, 2012 8:47 AM

  CLINTON, La. (AP) - The East Feliciana School Board's Finance Committee has voted to support laying off enough school employees to offset a looming deficit resulting from a drop in enrollment. The recommendation to begin the layoffs effective Oct. 31 goes to the full board for consideration at a special... more »

• St. Landry panel recommends financial emergency

  July 3, 2012 7:53 AM

  OPELOUSAS, La. (AP) - The St. Landry Parish School Board Finance Committee has unanimously recommended the district declare a financial emergency called an exigency for a second straight year. The Advocate reports that recommendation came Monday after an accounting firm hired by the Louisiana Department of Education said the district... more »

• Panel may contribute to complex revamp

  May 28, 2012 6:15 AM

  NATCHITOCHES, La. (AP) - The Natchitoches Parish Tourist Commission wants more information before contributing to the renovation of the softball complex at Northwestern State University. The Natchitoches Times reports university athletic director Greg Burke is seeking a commitment to help pay for a portion of the project, which has a... more »

• Panel to send home-rule plan to police jury

  May 15, 2012 9:05 AM

  ST. FRANCISVILLE, La. (AP) - The West Feliciana Parish Home Rule Charter Commission has adopted the final draft of its proposed new plan of parish government. The Advocate reports the commission voted Monday to send it to the police jury, which by state law has to present the plan to... more »

• Jindal retirement revamp gets Senate panel backing

  April 17, 2012 10:12 AM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - It was a battle of legal opinions as the Senate Retirement Committee combed through Gov. Bobby Jindal's proposals to push back the retirement age for about 50,000 rank-and-file state workers and public college employees and to charge them more for their pensions. Without objection... more »

• East Baton Rouge panel studies school-wide sweeps

  April 6, 2012 10:57 AM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - East Baton Rouge Parish school administrators are considering regular school-wide sweeps where all students would be searched for guns and other weapons at randomly selected schools. The Advocate reports the idea was floated Thursday at the first meeting of a special task force on student... more »

• School panel votes to renew teacher cuts

  April 4, 2012 10:39 AM

  AMITE, La. (AP) - The Tangipahoa Parish School Board Finance Committee has voted to renew for the 2012-13 fiscal year cuts to teacher benefits set to expire June 30. Tuesday's vote means that school system administrators can include the cuts in projections for the 2012-13 fiscal year, which begins July... more »

• Panel is latest battleground in bar noise dispute

  April 3, 2012 9:25 AM

  NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A long-brewing battle over the volume of music blasting out of French Quarter bars is going before New Orleans City Council members. A council committee on Tuesday was set to review a proposed ordinance governing the placement of loudspeakers in Quarter businesses. It's the latest attempt... more »

• Senate panel Oks Jindal education bills

  March 30, 2012 9:13 AM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Complex legislation that paves the way to more easily create public charter schools and establishes a statewide private school voucher system - key parts of the governor's education package - was unanimously approved by a state Senate committee on Thursday. The measure also curbs local... more »

• Panel backs land sale to hospital

  March 28, 2012 9:44 AM

  ST. FRANCISVILLE, La. (AP) - A West Feliciana Parish Police Jury committee has voted to recommend that the jury sell the West Feliciana Parish Hospital a 14-acre tract of land at its fair market value for a proposed new hospital. The Advocate reports the move came after the panel heard... more »

• East Feliciana panel considers lower fine

  March 19, 2012 10:42 AM

  CLINTON, La. (AP) - The East Feliciana Parish Police Jury is considering a revision in its address-sign ordinance to lower the fine for not installing the required signs. The Advocate reports the police jury is scheduled to vote on the ordinance Tuesday. The ordinance, similar to others across the country,... more »

• Panel indicts suspect in rape of elderly woman

  March 2, 2012 8:43 AM

  LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) - A man accused of raping a 94-year-old DeQuincy woman has been indicted by a Calcasieu Parish grand jury. DeQuincy police detective Tom Threet says 48-year-old Gabe McKeel Jr. allegedly entered the woman's house shortly before 11 p.m. on Jan. 28 armed with a knife. Threet... more »

• Accrediting panel investigates SU actions

  January 23, 2012 10:55 AM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Allegations of nepotism and improper micromanaging by members of the Southern University Board of Supervisors are under investigation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on College. According to correspondence obtained through a public records request by The Advocate (http://bit.ly/wbcvbN ), a Nov.... more »

• Panel considers state employee evaluation revamp

  November 3, 2011 6:30 AM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - State employees may face a new job evaluation system. The Civil Service Commission voted 6-0 Wednesday to move ahead with a revamp of the evaluations, without linking it to a new pay raise schedule. The Times-Picayune reports the commission's vote clears the way for its... more »

• Lafourche panel to hear '95 death case

  September 22, 2011 9:26 AM

  THIBODAUX, La. (AP) - Prosecutors are taking evidence about a stabbing death that happened 16 years ago to a Lafourche Parish grand jury. Thirty-three-year-old Sonny Guidry was arrested last month in the death of 73-year-old Enola Boudreaux. The woman was found stabbed to death in her home in Cut Off... more »

• House Panel Votes for Boost in State Worker Costs

  May 20, 2011 7:44 AM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The divisive idea to merge Southern University at New Orleans with the University of New Orleans has turned into a modest plan to switch UNO to a different college system. UNO would be placed in the University of Louisiana System that focuses on regional campuses... more »

• House Panel Weighing Boost in State Worker Costs

  May 19, 2011 6:56 AM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Lawmakers are considering a Jindal administration proposal to raise retirement costs for state workers, which would eat into paychecks that have been frozen at the governor's request for several years. The House Retirement Committee is scheduled to discuss the proposal Thursday. The bill would cost... more »

• Lafayette panel meets on proposed charter changes

  December 7, 2010 9:37 AM

  LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) - More than five months into their tenure, the Lafayette Charter Commission is inching toward coming up with proposed changes to city-parish government. Since early November, The Advertiser reports the nine-member commission has decided to lean toward a proposed model that would keep public services consolidated but... more »

• Spill panel says management culture to blame

  November 9, 2010 9:40 PM

  WASHINGTON (AP) - It wasn't just the botched technical decisions. BP and other companies' management, communication and overconfidence in dealing with risk led to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, investigators for the presidential commission said Tuesday. The commission's chief engineer, Richard Sears, outlined seven managerial findings, including muddled lines... more »

• Spill panel: No evidence of saving $ over safety

  November 8, 2010 10:22 PM

  WASHINGTON (AP) - The BP oil rig explosion and spill wasn't about anyone purposely trading money for safety, investigators on a special presidential commission said Monday. Instead it was more about seemingly acceptable risks adding up to disaster. Investigators at the commission's hearing outlined more than a dozen decisions that... more »

• Panel to hear results of its probe into Gulf spill

  November 8, 2010 7:53 AM

  WASHINGTON (AP) - The independent investigators looking into the causes of the massive Gulf oil spill will lay out their initial findings as a two-day hearing gets under way Monday. Representatives of the three companies most involved in the April incident will be on hand as well. The seven-member commission... more »

• EPA names director for Oil Spill Restoration Panel

  October 26, 2010 10:24 AM

  NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A Florida native and consultant on environmental and land issues has been given the job of executive director for a panel set up to handle ecosystem restoration from the BP oil spill. John Hankinson Jr. will handle the daily affairs of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration... more »

• Panel: Government Thwarted Worst-Case Scenario on Spill

  October 6, 2010 11:55 AM

  WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House blocked efforts by federal scientists to tell the public just how bad the Gulf oil spill could have been. That finding comes from a panel appointed by President Barack Obama to investigate the worst offshore oil spill in history. In documents released Wednesday, the... more »

• Panel Accused Transocean of Thwarting Their Effort to get Documents and Witnesses

  October 5, 2010 3:36 PM

  METAIRIE, La. (AP) - Members of a federal panel investigating the cause of the Gulf of Mexico rig explosion and oil spill and how to improve safety and oversight accused rig owner 2010-10-05 on Tuesday of thwarting their efforts to get to critical documents and a witness. The co-chair of... more »

• US Investigative Panel meets for 5th Time on Spill

  October 4, 2010 5:46 AM

  METAIRIE, La. (AP) - Federal investigators will be looking for key information about pressure tests, decision making and BP's safety culture when the next round of hearings begins Monday to determine the cause of the Gulf of Mexico rig explosion and oil spill. The weeklong hearings near New Orleans will... more »

• Panel Probes Decisions Made After Gulf Spill

  September 27, 2010 6:48 AM

  WASHINGTON (AP) - A panel that President Barack Obama appointed to investigate the Gulf oil spill will begin Monday to scrutinize how his administration reacted to the disaster. The two-day meeting of the presidential oil spill commission will look at the controversial use of chemical dispersants, a moratorium on deep-water... more »

• Senate panel wraps up impeachment hearings

  September 22, 2010 9:52 AM

  WASHINGTON (AP) - A Senate impeachment panel wrapped up hearings Tuesday on corruption charges facing a Louisiana judge who could become just the eighth federal judge to be removed from the bench. Sen. Claire McCaskill, the chairman of the committee, said she expects to send the evidence against Judge G.... more »

• Economic Panel says Recession Ended

  September 20, 2010 10:53 AM

  WASHINGTON -It's official: The longest recession the country has endured since World War II ended in June 2009, according to a group that dates the beginning and end of recessions. The National Bureau of Economic Research, a panel of academic economists based in Cambridge, Mass., says the recession lasted 18... more »

• House Panel Recommends 3 for Further Investigation

  August 31, 2010 6:11 PM

  WASHINGTON (AP) - House investigators have recommended that three lawmakers be further investigated to determine whether political contributions were improperly linked to votes on a huge financial overhaul bill. The independent House Office of Congressional Ethics recommended that the member-run House ethics committee pursue potential rules violations by Republicans John... more »

• Jindal presses panel on drilling moratorium

  August 30, 2010 9:51 PM

  NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Gov. Bobby Jindal again sought an end to President Barack Obama's moratorium on deepwater oil drilling as he met Monday with two members of the president's commission investigating the BP oil spill: former Florida Sen. Bob Graham and National Geographic Society executive Terry Garcia. He got... more »

• Panel to Hear Marinello Appeal this Week

  August 29, 2010 6:54 PM

  NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The appeal of a former radio and television personality serving a life sentence for the murder of his estranged wife will be heard by a three-judge panel this week. The Times-Picayune reports that arguments in Vince Marinello's appeal will be heardI Wesday before 3rd Circuit Court... more »

• Oil Spill Panel Hears About Halliburton Warning

  August 24, 2010 8:58 PM

  HOUSTON (AP) - Federal investigators probing the blowout that led to the Gulf oil spill grilled a Halliburton official Tuesday about concerns the petroleum services firm raised over the potential for a severe gas flow problem if a BP plan was used. Halliburton and BP were at odds over a... more »

• Teaching Hospital Panel Meetings May Be Closed To Public

  August 6, 2010 1:13 PM

  NEW ORLEANS, La. (AP) - The chairman for the governing board of the planned, publicly funded $1.2 billion state teaching hospital in New Orleans said he isn't certain whether future meetings of the panel will be open to the public. Chairman Robert Yarborough said Thursday that the full board for... more »

• Gulf Oil Spill Panel Started Its Work Today

  July 12, 2010 3:07 PM

  NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The presidential panel that is supposed to find the cause of the Gulf oil spill started its work Monday with a hearing focused more on the response and the impact. Amid interruptions by protesters, the National Oil Spill Commission heard more from oil executives, experts and... more »

• Bill Would Give Subpoena Power to Panel Investigating Oil Spill

  June 22, 2010 12:23 PM

  WASHINGTON (AP) - House Democratic leaders plan to pass a bill this week that would give subpoena power to the panel investigating the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said House leaders plan to vote on the bill as early as Wednesday and... more »

• Obama to Meet Oil Spill Panel Chairmen Today

  June 1, 2010 9:39 AM

  WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama plans to hold his first meeting with the co-chairmen of an independent commission investigating the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Obama was to meet Tuesday with Bob Graham, a former Florida governor and U.S. senator, and William K. Reilly, a former... more »