Going up: River Parishes Community College today unveiled a rendering of a planned 81,000-square-foot academic programming and administrative facility that will serve as the first phase of a new campus development in Gonzales. The Sorrento, La.-based community college will break ground on the facility on Thursday, March 21, and anticipates completion in the spring of 2014. The campus will be located in the Edenborne Development off La. 44. Check out a rendering of the first-phase facility here; and get more details on the new campus from RPCC here.
In the pipeline: Lockheed Martin announced plans today to spend $3 million at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to manufacture cryogenic tanks for liquefied natural gas. The LNG tanks, which initially will be used for ship propulsion, are part of Lockheed Martin’s increased emphasis on converting defense technology to commercial applications. The project, which will begin with the installation of equipment in December, is expected to create 166 new direct jobs and 236 indirect jobs. More details on today’s announcement can be found here.
Left wanting more: A nonpartisan watchdog group is urging Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration for more analysis about expanding Louisiana’s Medicaid program to cover more uninsured adults. In a report released today, PAR says there has been too little research to back up Jindal’s refusal of billions of dollars in federal health care money. Jindal opposes the Medicaid expansion allowed under the federal Affordable Care Act, calling it inappropriate growth of the government-run health program. Check out the complete PAR report here.
