In the bank: The state collected $519,939 in revenue from the February lease sale held by the Louisiana Mineral and Energy Board at its meeting last week in Baton Rouge. To date, total lease sales during the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, are at $4.9 million, the board says in a news release. Last fiscal year, the board collected $14 million through lease sales, which it says generated more than $432.9 million in royalties for the state. The board says 18 leases were sold at this month’s sale, covering 2,379 acres. The leases are located in Beauregard, Jefferson, LaSalle, Plaquemines, St. Mary, Terrebonne and Washington parishes.
In the classroom: USA Today reports an investigation by the news network has uncovered fundamental defects in the teacher screening systems used to ensure the safety of children in schools in almost every state. The patchwork system of laws and regulations, combined with inconsistent execution and flawed information sharing between states and school districts, fails to keep teachers with. Louisiana received an F grade in the audit of state procedures and practices. By leaving the background checks in the hands of local school districts, rather than conducting comprehensive work and criminal history checks at the state level before issuing a license, the report says Louisiana is falling short. Read the full story.
In the courtroom: A trial for a former BP rig supervisor is scheduled to begin today on a misdemeanor charge connected to pollution from the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The Associated Press reports Robert Kaluza once faced much more serious charges: manslaughter counts connected to the deaths of 11 workers who died when the rig exploded. But federal prosecutors backed off the most serious charges late last year. Today’s trial is for a single charge of violating the Clean Water Act. Another rig supervisor, Donald Vidrine, pleaded guilty to the same charge last year after manslaughter charges were dropped. Read the full story.
