Higher earnings: LSU ranks No. 3 among Louisiana public and private universities for median mid-career salaries of graduates with bachelor’s degrees, according to a new report from Payscale.com, an online benefits and salary compensation company. The website released its 2016-2017 College Salary Report on Tuesday. LSU graduates with bachelor’s degrees earn a median mid-career salary of $82,800, while Louisiana Tech University graduates took the top spot in the ranking, with average mid-career salaries of $88,000. Tulane University is ranked No. 2, with graduates earning an average mid-career salary of $87,800. PayScale.com defines mid-career graduates as being employed full-time and having at least 10 years of experience in their career or field, and who hold no higher than a bachelor’s degree. The report includes nearly 1,000 schools. Read the full announcement.
Back and forth: A supplier of cookie dough that Blue Bell Creameries blamed for a possible listeria contamination of some of its ice cream says that its product tested negative for the pathogen before it was sent to the Texas-based company. The Associated Press reports that Blue Bell on Wednesday recalled select flavors of ice cream distributed across the South and made at its Sylacauga, Alabama, plant after finding chocolate chip cookie dough from a third-party supplier—Iowa-based Aspen Hills Inc.—may have been contaminated with listeria. No illnesses have been reported from the latest recall. Aspen Hills says its cookie dough product tested negative for listeria before it was shipped to Blue Bell, and that the “positive listeria results were obtained by Blue Bell only after our product had been in their control for almost two months.” Blue Bell says it stands by its test results. Read the full story.
Gaining support: The U.S. auto industry is getting strong backing from Republicans in Congress as the industry petitions for an easing of fuel economy rules automakers say they cannot meet with low gasoline prices. Bloomberg reports leaders on the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday echoed industry calls for relief on fuel-economy regulations, citing concerns that cheap gas will make it less likely consumers will buy hybrids and electric cars, while making pickup trucks and SUVs more attractive. The auto industry and President Barack Obama agreed in 2012 to double fuel economy standards from 2012 to 2025, with a projected $200 billion cost to the industry that would be made up in fuel savings to car buyers. However, fuel prices have plunged since then, and consumers have returned to buying less efficient sport utility vehicles and trucks. Read the full story.
