Helping hand: The U.S. Department of Education has awarded LSU a $1.35 million, five-year grant through the Ronald E. McNair Research Scholars Program to promote doctoral studies for first-generation college students, as well as those of financial need and students from ethnic groups underrepresented in graduate school. The grant was awarded to LSU University College, which administers the McNair scholarship program. The funds will provide an additional five years of funding for the program, which has been providing support to LSU students for more than 20 years. Complete details are available from LSU here.
Meet the new boss: After conducting a national search for a new executive director, the Louisiana Democratic Party says it has decided to tap one of its own for the job: Stephen Handwerk of Lafayette. The party says Handwerk brings over 20 years of experience on national, state and local levels to the job. He is co-chair of the National Stonewall Democrats and a member of the Lafayette Parish Democratic Executive Committee. Along with the selection of Handwerk, the party also announced today the promotion of longtime LDP staffer Michelle Brister to deputy executive director.
Go! A groundbreaking ceremony for the Green Light Plan’s Sullivan Road project will be held Thursday, Sept. 27, at 10 a.m. in the project right-of-way area near First Baptist Church of Central, 9676 Sullivan Road. The $11.3 million project will expand Sullivan Road from the existing two-lane, undivided roadway to a four-lane roadway with a raised median, from the Central Thruway to Wax Road. The work is expected to take 30 months. Baton Rouge-based J.B. James Construction is the general contractor.
