Hard times: The Board of Regents today voted to let Southern University at Shreveport raise tuition by 10% this fall, a move being made by nearly every other public college in Louisiana. The board previously had refused to approve the increase because officials claimed the SU System’s Shreveport campus fell short of the performance standards required under the GRAD Act, a 2010 law authorizing the tuition increases. Southern appealed the determination for its two-year community college, saying it had improperly reported its data but had met the standards. The Shreveport Times has the full story here.
Do Re Mi: New Orleans native and Grammy-winning jazz singer Harry Connick Jr. will host and perform in a new television show that pays tribute to the music of Louisiana and the industries that have shaped its culture and history. The one-hour show, a Louisiana Public Broadcasting special set to air in December, will be available to PBS affiliates nationwide next year. Many of Louisiana’s most famous musicians—including Tim McGraw, Irma Thomas, Zachary Richard, Better Than Ezra, Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Guy—will be featured. The show was announced today. Learn more about it here.
The unwelcome guest: Last week, Nevada authorized the commercial trapping of crawfish in Lake Tahoe after a local sportsman and scientist persuaded state authorities it would be good business. Not only that, but the men say it will improve the famed, though vulnerable, water clarity of one of America’s greatest natural treasures. The New York Times reports the newly approved harvest will be the first commercial fishing allowed in the lake since the 1930s. Though it’s an invasive species in the lake, the crawfish population has swelled in recent years to an estimated 280 million and is contributing to a decline in the lake’s clarity. Read the full feature here.
