The latest: Gov. John Bel Edwards will speak at a Monday lunch meeting hosted by the Committee of 100, Council for a Better Louisiana, Public Affairs Research Council and the Louisiana Budget Project. The Democratic governor will provide an update his meeting with business leaders and outline the proposals he offered this week to the legislative leadership to avoid the upcoming fiscal cliff. Edwards will speak at 12:30 p.m. at the Lod Cook Alumni Center on the LSU campus.
Caps and tassels: LSU recognized 1,591 graduates at the university’s 294th commencement exercises today. The university’s fall graduating class included 1,295 bachelor’s degrees; 211 master’s and professional degrees or certificates; and 85 doctoral degrees. LSU says graduates represented 49 parishes, 36 states and 41 foreign countries. The youngest graduate was 20, while the oldest was 65. The graduating class was made up of 51.6% women and 48.4% men. Among the graduates were 22 LSU employees who received degrees. See a full list of graduates.
End of an era: Twenty years after ushering in a new era of communicating, AOL Instant Messenger is officially dead, USA Today reports. Oath, the new entity formed under Verizon combining AOL and Yahoo, revealed in October it would discontinue AIM today. The end of AIM comes as a host of platforms like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp have surfaced. AIM, which tapped into new digital technologies and ignited a cultural shift, was a staple on personal computers since first launching in 1997. Read more.
