Louisiana’s colleges and universities are taking home millions for construction and other budget needs. It’s perhaps the last such funding boost before the loss of state tax revenue could slash a quarter of a billion dollars from their operations in the 2026-27 academic year.
The state budget for fiscal year 2024-25, which started Monday, includes approximately $589 million in immediate construction for higher education and around $93 million for research, campus security and other special projects.
Unless state lawmakers make sweeping constitutional changes, higher education and public health care are likely to face drastic cuts once a 0.45% portion of the state sales tax expires June 30, 2025.
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Building boon
The state construction budget, detailed in House Bill 2, provides allocations for each state university system, including an investment in the planning process for a new LSU library at its main campus. Overall, it includes less immediate money for campuses than the previous year, and it lays out promised funds for upcoming years.
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Projects in the LSU System are slated to receive about $186 million this year. In addition to planning a new library — more money will be delivered when construction is underway — around $65 million has been allocated for a new science building, and another $51 million was set aside for renovations at the medical education building laboratory at LSU Health Sciences Shreveport.
The Southern University System will receive about $67 million. The largest portion, $22 million, will be used for a new science, technology, engineering and math complex at the main campus in Baton Rouge.
The University of Louisiana System is slated to receive around $136 million. That includes $16 million to renovate the health science complex at the University of Louisiana Monroe and $14 million to replace a major academic building at Northwestern State University.
The Louisiana Community and Technical College System will receive around $34 million. Its biggest project is $21 million for a new building and campus development at Baton Rouge Community College
Search through a complete list of projects receiving funding this year in the state construction plan in this interactive chart.
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Extra cash
Each system is slated to receive a little extra cash for special projects, research and campus improvements.
LSU will receive $6 million for graduate assistantships, a continuation of an investment made last year to increase the minimum stipend for degree-seeking graduate assistants. The LSU AgCenter will receive $4 million to modernize equipment and an additional $2 million for research and extension-related projects.
In the University of Louisiana System, Grambling State University will receive $250,000 for new uniforms for its World Famed Tiger Marching Band, Nicholls State University will receive $125,000 for campus police equipment and the University of Louisiana Monroe will receive $4 million for its pharmacy school.
The Southern University System will receive $3 million for accreditation-related expenses at Southern University New Orleans, $1 million for crime prevention in Baton Rouge and $250,000 for the workforce development center at Southern University Shreveport.
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Search through a complete list of projects receiving funding this year in the state construction plan in this interactive chart.
A Pentecostal pastor in Louisiana charged with sexually molesting a teenage girl in his church has been convicted of indecent behavior with a juvenile – but was acquitted of the more serious crime of statutory rape.
Milton Otto Martin III, 58, faces up to seven years in prison and must register as a sex offender after a three-day trial in Chalmette, Louisiana, resulted in a guilty verdict against him on Thursday. His sentencing hearing is tentatively set for 15 January in the latest high-profile instance of religious abuse in the New Orleans area.
Authorities who investigated Martin, the pastor of Chalmette’s First Pentecostal Church, spoke with several alleged molestation victims of his. But the jury in his case heard from just two of them, and the charges on which he was tried pertained to only one.
That victim’s attorneys – John Denenea, Richard Trahant and Soren Gisleson – lauded their client for testifying against Martin even as members of the institution’s congregation showed up in large numbers to support him throughout the trial.
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“That was the most courageous thing I’ve ever seen a young woman do,” the lawyers remarked in a statement, with Denenea saying it was the first time in his career he and a client of his needed deputies to escort them out the courthouse. “She not only made sure he was accountable for his crimes – she has also protected many other young women from this convicted predator.”
Neither Martin’s attorney, Jeff Hufft, nor his church immediately responded to requests for comment.
The documents containing Martin’s criminal charges alleged that he committed felony carnal knowledge, Louisiana’s formal name for statutory rape, by engaging in oral sex with Denenea’s client when she was 16 in about 2011. The indecent behavior was inflicted on her when she was between the ages of 15 and 17, the charging documents maintained.
A civil lawsuit filed against Martin in parallel detailed how he would allegedly bring the victim – one of his congregants – out on four-wheeler rides and sexually abuse her during breaks that they took during the excursions.
The accuser, now about 30, reported Martin to Louisiana state police before he was arrested in March 2023. Other accusers subsequently came forward with similar allegations dating back further. Martin made bail, pleaded not guilty and underwent trial beginning on Tuesday in front of state court judge Darren Roy.
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Denenea said he believed his client’s testimony on Wednesday was pivotal in Martin’s conviction, which was obtained by prosecutors Barry Milligan and Erica Moore of the Louisiana attorney general’s office, according to the agency.
As Denenea put it, it seemed to him Martin’s acquittal stemmed from uncertainty over whether the accuser initially reported being 16 at the time of the alleged carnal knowledge.
State attorney general Liz Murrill said in a statement that it was “great work” my Milligan and Moore “getting justice for this victim”.
“We will never stop fighting to protect the children of Louisiana,” Murrill said.
Martin was remanded without bail to the custody of the local sheriff’s office to await sentencing after the verdict.
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The lawsuit that Denenea’s client filed against Martin was stayed while the criminal case was unresolved. It can now proceed, with the plaintiff accusing the First Pentecostal church of doing nothing to investigate earlier sexual abuse claims against Martin.
The plaintiff also accused the Worldwide Pentecostal Fellowships to which the Chalmette church belonged of failing to properly supervise Martin around children, and her lawsuit demands damages from both institutions.
Martin’s prosecution is unrelated to the clergy molestation scandal that drove the Roman Catholic archdiocese of nearby New Orleans into federal bankruptcy court in 2020 – but the two cases do share a few links.
State police detective Scott Rodrigue investigated Martin after also pursuing the retired New Orleans Catholic priest Lawrence Hecker, a serial child molester who had been shielded by his church superiors for decades. Rodrigue’s investigation led to Hecker’s arrest, conviction and life sentence for child rape – shortly before his death in December 2024.
Furthermore, Denenea, Trahant and Gisleson were also the civil attorneys for the victim in Hecker’s criminal case.
Newlab New Orleans is deepening its energy-tech ambitions with a new partnership alongside JERA, Japan’s largest power generator, to accelerate next-generation carbon capture solutions for heavy industries across Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, The Center Square writes.
The collaboration brings JERA Ventures into Newlab’s public-private innovation hub, where startups gain access to lab space and high-end machinery to commercialize technologies aimed at cutting emissions and improving industrial efficiency.
The move builds momentum as Newlab prepares to open its fifth global hub next fall at the former Naval Support Activity site, adding New Orleans to a network that includes Riyadh and Detroit. JERA’s footprint in Louisiana is already growing—from a joint venture on CF Industries’ planned $4 billion low-carbon ammonia plant to investments in solar generation and Haynesville shale assets—positioning the company as a significant player in the state’s clean-energy transition.
Federal immigration authorities are keeping a tight lid on key details as “Catahoula Crunch” closes its first week in southeast Louisiana, Verite writes.
The operation—one of Department of Homeland Security’s largest recent urban crackdowns—began with raids at home-improvement stores and aims for 5,000 arrests, according to plans previously reviewed by the Associated Press. While DHS publicly highlighted arrests of immigrants with violent criminal records, AP data shows fewer than one-third of the 38 detainees in the first two days had prior convictions.
Meanwhile, advocacy groups report widespread fear in Hispanic communities, with residents avoiding hospitals, schools, workplaces and even grocery stores amid sightings of federal agents.
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Business impacts are already visible: restaurants and Hispanic-serving corridors like Broad Street appear unusually quiet, with staff shortages forcing menu cuts and temporary closures. School absenteeism has doubled in Jefferson Parish, and protests have spread across New Orleans and surrounding suburbs as local leaders demand transparency around federal tactics.
