Louisiana
LED honors top growth companies, Xavier recognized for educational avertising
Louisiana Economic Development recently honored 10 companies as Louisiana Growth Leaders at its 2024 Spotlight Louisiana event.
The 10 companies honored were:
brandRUSSO, of Lafayette; Jaci Russo, co-founder.
Core Boiler & Mechanical Services, of Prairieville; Paola Alvarado, president.
Envoc, of Baton Rouge; Calvin Fabre, president and founder.
Finding Solace, of West Monroe; Lyla Corkern, owner and CEO.
Foret Contracting Group, of Thibodaux; Benton Foret, co-founder.
Gulf Wind Technology, of Avondale; James Martin, CEO.
M S Benbow and Associates Professional Engineering Corp., of Metairie; Leo Holzenthal Jr., president and CEO.
Martin Specialty Coatings, of Shreveport; Tim Keeley, CEO.
Restech Information Services, of Metairie; Vince Gremillion, founder and president.
Urban South Brewery, of New Orleans; Jacob Landry, founder and CEO.
The Growth Leader Legend award was presented to Tides Medical, a Lafayette-based biotechnology company that uses donated human placentas to manufacture advanced regenerative skin substitutes.
Louisiana Growth Leaders are selected by a statewide panel of economic development professionals who evaluate businesses in the LED Growth Network for community involvement and business success. The criteria include growth, strategy, innovation, philanthropy and leadership.
—
Lauren Lee and Allison Ryan, of First Guaranty Bank, have completed the American Bankers Association’s Bank Marketing School.
The two-week program prepares bank marketing professionals to become marketing leaders.
—
Eric Lane, owner of Gerry Lane Enterprises in Baton Rouge, has been named the 2024 Louisiana Dealer of the Year by the Louisiana Automobile Dealers Association.
The award recognizes one standout Louisiana automobile dealer for their business success and impact in the community.
Lane’s dealerships have received numerous awards over the years including the top Chevrolet dealer for retail sales in Louisiana in 2022 and 2023, the top retail dealer for General Motors in Baton Rouge for 37 years and the General Motors Mark of Excellence Award from 2020 to 2024.
—
Fallon Gerald Tullier, of Visit Baton Rouge, and Ian Wallis, of Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou Tourism, have made Destinations International’s 2024 30 Under 30 list.
The program recognizes talented young people in the tourism organization industry.
Tullier is the research and technology manager for the Baton Rouge convention and visitor’s bureau. She started working for the agency as a marketing intern in 2018, then became a full-time research specialist in 2020. She earned a bachelor’s in marketing from LSU.
Wallis is sales and marketing manager for the Lafourche Parish tourism organization. He has been with the organization since 2021. He earned a bachelor’s in tourism and travel management and a master’s in business administration, with a hospitality concentration, both from Johnson & Wales University.
—
Baton Rouge Community College, Louisiana Department of Education, LSU Health New Orleans and Xavier University of Louisiana all won honors at the 2023 Educational Advertising Awards.
BRCC and its partner agency, Feigley Communications, earned a gold award for television advertising-single for their fall 2023 TV commercial. The school won a silver award in the special video category for its 25th anniversary video.
The state department of education along with its partner, MESH, nabbed a silver in the integrated marketing campaign for “Work Worth Doing” campaign.
LSU Health and Crucial Content took home a gold award in the special event campaign for its 90th anniversary table book and digital publication.
Xavier and Ruffalo Noel Levitz earned a silver in the total recruitment package category for their student search and enrollment campaign.
More than 1,000 colleges, universities and educational agencies submitted entries in the annual awards program.
—
Sarah Barlow, provost and vice chancellor for workforce and student development at Baton Rouge Community College, was selected for the 2024-25 Aspen Rising Presidents Fellowship.
Barlow was one of 40 people selected for a fellowship, which aims to prepare the next generation of presidents to lead community colleges.
The fellows, selected through a competitive process, will work closely with highly accomplished community college presidents and thought leaders over 10 months.
Barlow joined the faculty of BRCC in August 2010 as an assistant English professor. She became chair of the English and Humanities Department in 2013, then joined the student services team in 2018.
She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from the University of Toledo and a doctorate in English from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Louisiana
Federal appeals court upholds Texas’ Ten Commandments law. What does it mean for Louisiana?
A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a Texas law requiring public schools to post the Ten Commandments, just weeks after the same court allowed a similar Louisiana law to take effect.
A majority of judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Texas’ law, which is nearly identical to Louisiana’s, is constitutional and does not violate students’ religious freedom. In February, the court lifted an injunction on Louisiana’s law, which cleared schools to put up the posters, but the judges said it was too early to rule on that law’s constitutionality.
Tuesday’s ruling could bode well for Louisiana’s law if it eventually returns to the 5th Circuit, considered the country’s most conservative federal court of appeals.
In their majority opinion, the judges rejected the argument that posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms would pressure students to honor the biblical mandates or adopt particular beliefs.
“To plaintiffs, merely exposing children to religious language is enough to make the displays engines of coercive indoctrination. We disagree,” the majority wrote about the Texas law, known as S.B. 10. A minority of the court’s active judges dissented.
Even though Tuesday’s ruling only addressed the Texas case, defenders of Louisiana’s legislation celebrated it as a victory. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said the 5th Circuit’s argument in upholding Texas’ law was identical to the one Louisiana made in defense of its law.
“Our law clearly was always constitutional,” she posted on X, “and I am grateful that the Fifth Circuit has now definitively agreed with us.”
Louisiana’s Republican-controlled Legislature passed the law in 2024, which requires all public K-12 schools and colleges to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom. A group of parents quickly challenged the law in court, and a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction that stopped the state from enforcing the law.
In February, the 5th Circuit reversed the lower court’s decision, saying it had been premature to block the law before it took effect. The judges said they could not rule on the law’s constitutionality before seeing how it played out in schools.
But in the case of Texas’ law, which that state’s Republican-led Legislature passed in 2025, the court did rule on the merits.
Rejecting arguments made by attorneys for the Texas families who challenged the law, the 5th Circuit majority said that requiring public schools to post the Ten Commandments does not amount to the government endorsing a particular religion, which the U.S. Constitution forbids. The law also does not impose religious beliefs on students, the judges wrote.
“As noted, S.B. 10 authorizes no religious instruction and gives teachers no license to contradict children’s religious beliefs (or their parents’),” the majority opinion says. “No child is made to recite the Commandments, believe them, or affirm their divine origin.”
The Texas families were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Texas, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, with the law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP serving as pro bono counsel. The same groups, including Louisiana’s ACLU chapter, represented the Louisiana families.
In a statement Tuesday, the organizations said they are “extremely disappointed” by the 5th Circuit’s ruling, adding that they expect to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The First Amendment safeguards the separation of church and state, and the freedom of families to choose how, when and if to provide their children with religious instruction,” the groups said. “This decision tramples those rights.”
Nearly all major industries in Louisiana added jobs over the past year, signaling momentum for a stronger future, according to a recent report from Leaders for a Better Louisiana.
The organizat…
Already an INSIDER? Sign in.
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) — Police say a man shot and killed eight children, including seven of his own, following a domestic dispute in Shreveport.
The incident took place early Sunday morning, April 19, on West 79th Street in the Cedar Grove neighborhood. According to the Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office, the victims included three boys and five girls, aged between three and 11-years-old. Seven of the children were siblings, while one was a cousin. Two adult females were also injured, including one who was shot at a home located in the 500 block of Harrison Street.
One of the adults was inside the home on West 79th Street when the children were killed. She managed to escape through a window with two of the children and reached the roof. The woman jumped down with one of the children. Unfortunately, the other child did not manage to escape. Police later found his body on the roof with a gunshot wound. The surviving child was taken to the hospital with a broken leg.
The children were identified by their mothers as Jayla (age 3), Shayla (age 5), Kayla (age 6), Layla (age 7), Markaydon (age 10), Sariahh (age 11), Khedarrion (age 6), and Braylon (age 5).
Authorities say the suspect and father of the victims, Shamar Elkins, was the only person who fired shots that led to the juveniles’ deaths.
Authorities noted that Elkins stole a vehicle near West 79th Street after he shot the victims. He was pursued by patrol officers into Bossier Parish, where they discharged their weapons and fatally shot him on Brompton Lane. Louisiana State Police will take over the investigation involving the officers.
Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux expressed his thoughts on the matter, saying, “We have a hurting community. We have hurting families. We have hurting police officers, coroner’s personnel, fire department, sheriff people, and this affects the entire community. We all mourn with these families. I ask, it’s a Sunday morning. I ask all of you who are, who are listening, who might be able to. Pray at your services this morning for not just this family, for all the victims, for the victims who are at the hospital, and for the Cedar Grove community and for the community at large.”
Attorney General Liz Murrill also commented on the tragic shooting, stating, “Multiple law enforcement agencies are investigating this tragic situation. We do not yet know all the details, but I am deeply saddened by the senseless loss of life. I’m praying for the victims and their family members in the wake of this devastating violence.”
According to the Director of Strategy and Communications, Mary Nash-Wood, two of the children attended Summer Grove, and at least four attended Linwood Charter School.
The police have not determined a motive. More updates will be provided as the information becomes available.
You can now stream KTAL 6 and KMSS 33 News live, plus original content 24/7 on your smart TV with KTAL Now, our brand-new app! No antenna, cable, or satellite needed—watch for free, anytime. Just download it on your Roku, Apple TV, or Fire TV and start streaming.
-
Sports8 minutes agoSun Valley Poly High’s Fabian Bravo shows flashes of Koufax dominance
-
World20 minutes agoMoldovan oligarch sentenced to 19 years in prison over $1bn fraud
-
New York2 hours agoTrump’s Immigration Crackdown Pervades Long Island Suburbs
-
Detroit, MI3 hours agoChris Simms projects Detroit Lions first-round NFL draft pick
-
San Francisco, CA3 hours agoSan Francisco sets $3.4B price tag for public takeover of PG&E
-
Dallas, TX3 hours agoGame Day Guide: Stars at Wild | Dallas Stars
-
Miami, FL3 hours agoMay a steadying presence as Cards hold off Marlins in Miami
-
Boston, MA3 hours agoTyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe flex in Boston: Takeaways from Celtics-76ers Game 2