Not a bad payday: A legislative committee has approved a $275,000 annual salary for John White, the state’s new superintendent of education. The contract authorized today by the Joint Legislative Budget Committee includes a provision for 6% annual pay increases for White if he receives a positive evaluation, including meeting certain objective goals. However, White says he is willing to forgo those raises if the state is unable to give state employees’ raises at the same time. And committee members approved the contract with the condition that language later be added to prohibit White’s raises if state employees don’t also get pay increases.
Week to week: First-time claims for unemployment insurance in Louisiana for the week ending Jan. 14 decreased from the previous week’s total. The state labor department figures released today show the initial claims decreased to 3,969 from the previous week’s total of 4,372. The figure was lower than it was for the comparable week a year earlier, when there were 4,999 initial claims. The four-week moving average, which is a less volatile measure of claims, increased to 3,708 from the previous week’s total of 3,707. Continued unemployment claims filed for the week ending Jan. 14 totaled 44,351, a decrease from 44,904 the previous week. The four-week moving average for such claims increased to 43,896 from 43,419.
Not laughing anymore: The Alabama fan accused of simulating a sex act on an unconscious LSU fan after the BCS championship game left jail in a disguise today after bonding out. Brian Downing avoided cameras by wearing a hooded sweatshirt that covered his face, dark glasses and sagging jeans, according to New Orleans TV station WDSU. New Orleans Police arrested Downing Thursday night on suspicion of sexual battery and obscenity in connection with the assault, which was videotaped and posted on the Internet. NOPD sex crimes detectives met Downing at his attorney’s office in New Orleans before arresting him. Downing appeared in Orleans Parish Magistrate Court earlier this morning, and his bond was set at $10,000. The Times-Picayune has the full story here.
