Providing support: Chevron and LSU have partnered to create a new, universitywide program that provides programmatic and financial support to students in LSU’s E. J. Ourso College of Business, College of Engineering and College of Science. The Chevron Energy Leaders Scholarship Program works in tandem with the Chevron Leadership Academy. Bill Hunter, Chevron’s university affairs manager, says the two initiatives will help create opportunities for top students to develop leadership skills to excel in the workplace. In other news, Chevron also donated $850,000 to the LSU Foundation to support 34 individual units, student organizations and colleges across campus, including the business and engineering colleges.
On the move: Arizona-based U-Haul has increased its presence in the Baton Rouge market, signing on two retailers as new dealers that will offer the company’s trucks, towing equipment, rental services and more. The company announced today that City Town Market, 7144 Greenwell Springs Road near Denham Road, and City Town Tire Shop, 2595 N. Sherwood Forest Blvd. near South Choctaw Drive, are two of the newest U-Haul locations. Both locations will operate daily, have after-hours drop-off for customers and participate in truck sharing, a U-Haul business practice that allows individuals to access a larger fleet of trucks.
Getting on track: The Southern Rail Commission will hold six meetings in coming days to discuss what’s next in efforts to restore passenger rail service along the Gulf Coast. The Associated Press reports meetings start Tuesday in Jacksonville and Live Oak, Florida. Wednesday meetings are in Marianna, Florida, and Mobile, Alabama. The effort will conclude Thursday with sessions in Gulfport, Mississippi, and New Orleans. The commission urges residents of the states to keep seeking political support for Amtrak rail service between New Orleans and Florida, which ended with 2005’s Hurricane Katrina. A February 2016 inspection tour sparked interest in bringing trains back. Four cities along the route received federal grants to design or rehabilitate stations. Amtrak CEO Wick Moorman says his agency is committed to running trains as soon as funding and host railroad agreements are settled.
