PINEVILLE, Louisiana, July 14 -- Cleco, a regulated electricity utility company, issued the following news release: To help customers facing financial challenges related to COVID-19, Cleco temporarily suspended service disconnects and late fees beginning March 13 through Aug. 31. "We recently received direction from our state regulatory agency, the Louisiana Public Service Commission, informing us that disconnects and assessments of late fees can resume after July 16, and payment plans for pa more PR

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, July 15 -- The Louisiana Democratic Party issued the following news release: After an election with record-high Democratic early turnout, results show Vice President Biden winning Louisiana's Democratic Presidential Primary. In total, nearly 63,000 more Democrats than Republicans cast their ballot in the primary and Biden received over 16,000 more votes than Trump. "Congratulations to Vice President Biden on his decisive victory in Louisiana," Sen. Karen Carter Peterson more PR

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, July 15 -- The Louisiana Democratic Party issued the following statement: Ahead of Mike Pence's arrival in Baton Rouge on Tuesday, Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, Chair of the Louisiana Democratic Party, released the following statement: "In January, Donald Trump told us the pandemic was 'totally under control' and promised that it would be 'just fine.' "But instead of doing his job, he ignored his own advisors, picked petty fights on Twitter, and failed to contain the vir more PR

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, July 17 -- Gov. John Bel Edwards, D-Louisiana, issued the following news: Governor John Bel Edwards announced the launch of what will be at least a $24 million emergency rental assistance program for renters experiencing financial hardship as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Administered and funded by the Louisiana Housing Corporation (LHC) in partnership with the State of Louisiana Office of Community Development (OCD), the Louisiana Emergency Rental Assistance Pr more PR

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, July 16 -- Gov. John Bel Edwards, D-Louisiana, issued the following statement on July 15 after Louisiana surpasses one million COVID-19 tests: "Today, Louisiana surpassed a major testing milestone having now conducted more than one million COVID-19 tests since March. We are a small state and this level of testing would not be possible without federal partners, state agencies and local governments working together with our health care providers. "While we know there are  more PR

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, July 16 -- Gov. John Bel Edwards, D-Louisiana, issued the following statement on the A.G. Jeff Landry's opinion on his proclamation to protect the people of Louisiana from the spread of COVID-19, which has killed 3,351 Louisianans and infected a total of 84,131: "If ever there were a time to put politics aside to govern, it is now when we are in the middle of a public health crisis that affects all Louisianans regardless of their beliefs or political affiliation. "I wis more PR

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, July 16 -- Louisiana State University issued the following news release: LSU Marketing Professor Judith Anne Garretson Folse recently co-authored an article with Texas A&M Mays Business School Dean Eli Jones, Baylor University Assistant Professor of Marketing Stephanie Mangus, and Texas A&M Professor of Marketing Shrihari Sridhar that was accepted for publication by Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. "The Interplay Between Business and Personal Trust on Relati more PR

THIBODAUX, Louisiana, July 16 -- Nicholls State University issued the following news release: Nicholls State University is excited to announce a $400,000 donation from BHP Petroleum to help add more dorm rooms in preparation for the Fall semester. The $1 million project will renovate 68 rooms across the 2nd and 3rd floors of North and South Babington Halls. This will aid Nicholls in creating living spaces that align with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. Over the long- more PR

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, July 17 -- Gov. John Bel Edwards, D-Louisiana, issued the following news: Gov. John Bel Edwards announced that he has signed the following bills into law from the 2020 Special Legislative Session: ACT 12--HB 70 Extends Enterprise Zone Program incentives to essential critical infrastructure workers by authorizing the payment of a one-time hazard pay rebate. ACT 13--SB 4 Extends the sunset of the research and development tax credit. ACT 14--SB 5 Provides relative to pro more PR

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, July 10 -- The Louisiana Democratic Party issued the following news release on July 9: In 2012, the Louisiana Democratic Party took a tremendous leap forward by electing Sen. Karen Carter Peterson as the first woman to chair the Louisiana Democratic Party. Now, after serving in the role for eight years, Sen. Peterson is announcing she will pass the torch to the next wave of leaders and focus her efforts on increasing voter access in her role as Democratic National Commit more PR

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, July 16 -- The Louisiana Democratic Party issued the following news release: Wednesday, Stephen Handwerk announced he is departing the Louisiana Democratic Party as Executive Director at the end of August. After eight and a half years, Handwerk is currently the longest-serving Executive Director of a Democratic state party in the country and Louisiana's longest-serving Executive Director. While Handwerk originally planned to depart in early 2020, the needs of the party, more PR

AUSTIN, Texas, July 15 -- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued the following news release: Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a letter brief with the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit addressing the impact of a recent decision from the United States Supreme Court that held unconstitutional a Louisiana law requiring abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. The Fifth Circuit is currently considering a challenge to a Texas law requiring the humane  more PR

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, July 16 -- Tulane University issued the following news release: Tulane University researchers are part of a team of scientists who have developed a hybrid solar energy converter that generates electricity and steam with high efficiency and low cost. The work led by Matthew Escarra, associate professor of physics and engineering physics at Tulane, and Daniel Codd, associate professor of mechanical engineering at the University of San Diego, is the culmination of a U.S. D more PR

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, July 14 -- Tulane University issued the following news release: Tulane University has joined universities around the country in filing an amicus brief in support of Harvard and MIT's lawsuit that seeks to prevent the government from refusing visas for international students to attend U.S. universities where classes will be delivered entirely online this fall. The new policy was announced last week by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homelan more PR

LAWRENCE, Kansas, July 16 -- The University of Kansas issued the following news: While serving for six years in the U.S. Army, Michael Hill trained at Fort Benning and Fort Gordon in Georgia and Fort Polk in Louisiana. "For all that the Army does to try to educate soldiers and build 'esprit de corps,' I never was stationed at or visited a post where anyone discussed who the post was actually named after," said Hill, a former Army paratrooper and a doctoral student in history at the University  more PR