Baton Rouge bound: Baton Rouge Community College has hired Loretta Ovueraye-Adoghe as the new dean of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM. She comes to BRCC from Miami Dade College in Florida, where she served as the academic department chair for biology, health, wellness, and funeral services education. Ovueraye holds a doctoral degree in education, a master’s degree in environmental science and a bachelor’s degree in microbiology. Her professional career over the last 18 years has included working in higher education as a full-time administrator and adjunct faculty. She will begin her jobs at BRCC on Nov. 9.
Judgement day: Most open legislative seats on the Louisiana ballot will be decided after Saturday’s primary election and will not require a runoff, according to an analysis by LaPolitics Weekly’s Jeremy Alford. “After Oct. 24, 77% of Legislature will be decided,” Alford tells The Shreveport Times. “We’ll probably have somewhere in the neighborhood of two dozen races state on the November runoff ballot statewide.” Dismal voter turnout is expected to have a significant impact on the outcome of many races. Plus, no one is really paying attention this election season, Alford says. Local political observer Jeff Sadow echos Alford’s assessments. Read the full story.
Necessary adjustments: A downturn in the oil economy has altered the Louisiana Gulf Coast Oil Exposition 2015—scheduled to take place over three days in Lafayette next week—but has not diminished it, The Advertiser reports. That’s because since as early as January, LAGCOE’s staff and volunteers have been preparing for a show that would be held during tough times for the energy business. “We could see the writing on the wall,” says LAGCOE executive director Angela Cring. Organizers altered the focus of some facets of the show to make it more immediately relevant for operating in an unfavorable economy. Read the full story.
