Moving on: State Sen. Troy Brown reluctantly resigned on Thursday, opting to give up his elected seat rather than face a likely expulsion by colleagues who described him as unfit for the Senate. The Associated Press reports Brown’s resignation is effective immediately and comes a day after senators moved ahead with historic expulsion proceedings. Brown says he believes an impartial and fair hearing before his peers would not transpire. He also says he was leaving the Senate “rather than cause further enormous expenditure of limited taxpayer resources and further division among my colleagues in a process which is already predetermined.” Brown twice pleaded no contest twice over the past year to misdemeanor charges involving abuse against women. He served jail time last month. Read the full story.
In the classroom: Dow and the engineering firm CH2M have partnered with the Smithsonian Science Education Center to bring the Smithsonian STEM Education Forum to Baton Rouge on Saturday. According to a news release, the forum provides 50 local teachers the training to incorporate engineering into their classrooms to advance science, technology, engineering and math education, also known as STEM. The forum will feature experts from the Smithsonian Science Education Center, a unit of the Smithsonian Institution, Dow and CH2M volunteers and two Louisiana Tech professors. Dow STEM Ambassador volunteers and CH2M employee volunteers also will provide continued support to teachers in their classrooms. Read the full announcement.
New ownership: Covey Park Energy has acquired some $465 million worth of assets in north Louisiana’s Haynesville shale area from Chesapeake Energy. The Advertiser reports the company confirmed the sale through a news release issued on Wednesday. The transaction had been tentatively revealed by Chesapeake two months ago. Covey Park says through a spokesman the deal was financed with equity investments from investor Denham Capital and other partners. Wells Fargo was Covey Park’s financial adviser, the company says. The deal is the second confirmed for Covey Park in the Haynesville Shale since November. Read the full story.
