Beware: Gov. John Bel Edwards’ Office of Community Development is warning residents of emails and telephone calls claiming that flood-impacted families have been approved for grants. These messages are often scams to obtain recipients’ personal information, the office says in a news release. Every homeowner participating in the Restore Louisiana Homeowner Assistance Program will be contacted through phone calls, texts and email messages. When contacted by phone, the Restore Louisiana staff will confirm who they are by referring to a homeowner’s survey account number, and the state says you should compare this number to your survey account number before giving out any personal information. Residents who are unsure of the authenticity of a phone call or email are encouraged to contact the Restore Louisiana program at taskforce@restore.la.gov or the call center at (866) 735-2001.
In the academy: The honors are piling up for LSU Department of Physics & Astronomy Professor Gabriela González. The National Academy of Sciences announced on Tuesday that González has been elected as a member to the academy. She is one of the 84 new members elected to the academy this year. González is an an experimental physicist with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, or LIGO, which last year detected gravitational waves predicted by Albert Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. González’s also has been recognized as one of the “Ten People Who Mattered” by the scientific journal Nature and is a recipient of the 2017 National Academy of Sciences Award for Scientific Discovery. LSU has more details.
At the bottom: Although Louisiana already ranked last in per-student funding by the Southern Region Education Board, The News Star reports the latest data show the state has dug the hole deeper. Last year, Louisiana was $56 million behind Florida when it comes to spending per college student. Now it trails the Sunshine State by three times that amount—$183 million. Louisiana spends $12,125 per student in its public colleges and universities, about $1,500 less than Florida does. SREB compares Louisiana to 15 peer states. Read the full story.
