Piper Hutchinson
@piperhutch.bsky.social
FOIA freak | Louisiana Illuminator politics & higher ed reporter | Tiger Rag contributor | NAHJ & NLGJA | LSU alum | she/her | Signal piperhutch.28
Deadly bacteria lurks in Louisiana’s coastal waters, health officials warn lailluminator.com/briefs/louis...
Deadly bacteria lurks in Louisiana's coastal waters, health officials warn • Louisiana Illuminator
The Louisiana Department of Health is warning residents to take precautions against a potentially fatal bacterium found in warm coastal waters that has killed five people this year.
lailluminator.com
Scholarships and budget balancing are the main ways athletics programs at Louisiana colleges plan to use their allotments of gambling tax revenue, but the exact use might never be known because the law doesn’t require them to disclose it. #lalege #lagov
How Louisiana colleges will use an infusion of tax money for their sports programs • Louisiana Illuminator
Scholarships and budget balancing are the main ways athletics programs at Louisiana colleges plan to use their allotments of tax revenue
lailluminator.com
Students in Louisiana will soon be able to receive federal grants, once exclusively available to attend four-year schools, to take part in short-term workforce training programs. #lalege #lagov
Workforce Pell Grants are coming to Louisiana, along with strict requirements • Louisiana Illuminator
Students in Louisiana will soon be able to receive federal grants to take part in short-term workforce training programs
lailluminator.com
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill said there will be fallout for New Orleans officials following now-rescinded criminal charges against Murrill. #lalege #lagov
‘It’s not over’: Landry, Murrill tout consequences for New Orleans after AG indictment • Louisiana Illuminator
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill said there will be fallout for New Orleans officials following now-rescinded criminal charges against Murrill. Murrill and Landry said duri...
lailluminator.com
Recycled glass and salt-loving bacteria are helping scientists bring back coastal cypress, @eplunk.bsky.social reports lailluminator.com/2026/07/16/r...
Recycled glass and salt-loving bacteria are helping scientists bring back coastal cypress • Louisiana Illuminator
Tulane University researchers and the recycling facility Glass Half Full are using evolutionary relationships between bacteria, fungi and plants to grow cypress and other plant species in glass sand c...
lailluminator.com
#LSU football head coach Lane Kiffin took his family to Boca Raton using his private airplane travel benefits at a cost of $40,000 to LSU donors, according to LSU Board of Supervisors documents. #lalege #lagov
LSU football coach Lane Kiffin used private plane perk paid for by donors for family vacation • Louisiana Illuminator
LSU football head coach Lane Kiffin took his family to Boca Raton using his private airplane travel benefits at a cost of $40,000 to donors
lailluminator.com
U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, has sent a letter to the Trump administration condemning proposed federal grant rules that would give political appointees the power to decide what scientific research gets funded. #lalege #lagov
Congressman Troy Carter calls out Trump admin for ‘excessive political control’ of federal grants • Louisiana Illuminator
U.S. Rep. Troy Carter has sent a letter to the Trump administration condemning proposed federal grant rules that would give political appointees the power to decide what scientific research gets funde...
lailluminator.com
Louisiana’s colleges and universities will soon have the option of offering a digital student identification card through LA Wallet, a cell phone app that allows Louisiana residents to carry official government documents digitally. #lalege #lagov
Louisiana college student IDs can soon be digitized • Louisiana Illuminator
Louisiana’s colleges and universities will soon have the option of offering a digital student identification card through LA Wallet
lailluminator.com
#LSU President Wade Rousse and Gov. Jeff Landry are co-hosting an event for LSU athletics’ top donors at the governor’s mansion next month on the financial future of the athletic department. #lalege #lagov
Gov. Landry invites LSU sports donors to event on ‘future of college sports’ at governor’s mansion • Louisiana Illuminator
LSU President Wade Rousse and Gov. Jeff Landry are co-hosting an event for LSU athletics’ top donors at the governor’s mansion next month on the financial future of the athletic department.
lailluminator.com
LSU has fired its CFO, the administrator in charge of handling Title IX complaints and its former DEI staff in what campus leaders say are cost-reducing layoffs. The layoffs will save LSU about $3.7m, which will go towards research. #lalege #lagov
LSU axes finance leader, former DEI staff • Louisiana Illuminator
LSU has fired its chief financial officer, the administrator in charge of handling Title IX complaints and its former DEI staff
lailluminator.com
Anyone who helps student-athletes negotiate name, image and likeness deals in Louisiana now has to register with the state. The state’s first legal framework for high school NIL will go into effect Aug. 1 #lalege #lagov
NIL agents in Louisiana now have to register; high school rules take effect soon • Louisiana Illuminator
Anyone who helps student-athletes negotiate name, image and likeness deals in Louisiana now has to register with the state.
lailluminator.com
Want to know which higher ed projects got money in the state budget? Here are some highlights: #lalege #lagov -$50m for a STEM complex at Southern -$38m for the new #LSU library -$4m for LA Tech’s conference switch -$3m for LCTCS’ Hyundai Steel training center
How Louisiana colleges will spend millions in the state budget • Louisiana Illuminator
Louisiana’s colleges and universities are bringing home hundreds of millions for construction projects and other priorities in the state budget
lailluminator.com
McNeese State University’s new president is being paid a $300,000 annual salary and will keep his side gig — as a state senator— for the time being. #lalege #lagov
Mike Reese starts as McNeese president, will remain state senator for now • Louisiana Illuminator
McNeese State University’s new president is being paid a $300,000 annual salary and will keep his side gig as a state senator
lailluminator.com
No context Louisiana higher ed quote. Read the story below to find out more ⬇️ #lalege #lagov #laed
Piper Hutchinson@piperhutch.bsky.social · last mo.Two years after becoming president of Northwestern State with the backing of Gov. Jeff Landry and Sen. Alan Seabaugh, Jimmy Genovese says he isn’t able to count on either of his two supporters to advance his plans, including opening a law school #lalege #lagov lailluminator.com/2026/06/30/n...
Two years after becoming president of Northwestern State with the backing of Gov. Jeff Landry and Sen. Alan Seabaugh, Jimmy Genovese says he isn’t able to count on either of his two supporters to advance his plans, including opening a law school #lalege #lagov lailluminator.com/2026/06/30/n...
North Louisiana law school proposal puts university leader at odds with Landry, lawmakers • Louisiana Illuminator
State Sen. Alan Seabaugh takes credit for ousting Northwestern State University’s president in 2024 and, with the backing of Gov. Jeff Landry, replacing him with former Louisiana Supreme Court Justice...
lailluminator.com
Gov. Jeff Landry increased his control of the #LSU Board of Supervisors by quietly appointing two donors to the university oversight board. #lalege #lagov
Gov. Jeff Landry quietly makes new LSU Board appointments • Louisiana Illuminator
Gov. Jeff Landry increased his control of the LSU Board of Supervisors by quietly appointing two donors to the university oversight board.
lailluminator.com
LSU and Hyundai have entered into a decade-long research partnership related to the automaker’s $5.8 billion steel mill being built in Ascension Parish.
LSU unveils research partnership with Hyundai, with $100M investment potential • Louisiana Illuminator
LSU and Hyundai have entered into a decade-long research partnership related to Hyundai's $5.8 billion mill being built in Ascension Parish.
lailluminator.com
The team tasked with hiring the next Southern University System president is close to finishing its work, its chairman said Thursday. Congressman Cleo Fields is rumored to be who they’re eyeing. #lalege #lagov
Finalist choices for Southern president expected soon • Louisiana Illuminator
The team tasked with hiring the next Southern University System president is close to finishing its work, its chairman said Thursday.
lailluminator.com
Whether the University of New Orleans will retain its status as a research university after it rejoins the LSU system is uncertain, LSU System President Wade Rousse said. #lalege #lagov
UNO’s future as a research institution in doubt as it rejoins LSU System • Louisiana Illuminator
Whether the University of New Orleans will retain its status as a research university after it rejoins the LSU system is uncertain
lailluminator.com
2026 Louisiana legislative session: Winners and losers. With @jsodonoghue.bsky.social, @wesmuller.bsky.social and @eplunk.bsky.social #lalege #lagov
2026 Louisiana legislative session: Winners and losers • Louisiana Illuminator
Louisiana lawmakers adjourned their annual lawmaking session Monday after dramatically altering Louisiana’s congressional election map and amid a frantic funding search for teacher pay stipends.
lailluminator.com
Days after most Louisiana university students left campus for the summer, schools across the state began posting the Ten Commandments in vacant classrooms. #lalege #lagov
Ten Commandments go up on college campuses across Louisiana • Louisiana Illuminator
Colleges and universities across the state began posting the Ten Commandments in vacant classrooms this month.
lailluminator.com
Public universities in Louisiana are walking away from the 2026 legislative session with more authority to increase tuition and fees as well as the ability to punish those responsible for aggressive hazing incidents. #lalege #lagov lailluminator.com/2026/06/03/c...
Changes in store for Louisiana colleges under new state laws • Louisiana Illuminator
Public universities in Louisiana are walking away from the 2026 legislative session with more authority to increase tuition and fees as well as the ability to punish those responsible for aggressive h...
lailluminator.com
Louisiana legislators gave their final approval Friday to a congressional redistricting bill that increases the state’s Republican representation in Congress, but litigation from both sides of the aisle is likely imminent. #lalege #lagov lailluminator.com/2026/05/29/l...
Litigation looms as Louisiana Legislature approves new congressional map • Louisiana Illuminator
Louisiana legislators gave their final approval Friday to a congressional redistricting bill that increases the state’s Republican representation in Congress, but litigation from both sides of the ais...
lailluminator.com
The Louisiana House of Representatives approved a congressional redistricting bill Thursday that increases Republican representation in Congress ahead of this year’s midterm election. #lalege #lagov lailluminator.com/2026/05/28/l...
Louisiana congressional map boosting Republicans nears final passage • Louisiana Illuminator
The Louisiana House of Representatives approved a congressional redistricting bill Thursday that increases Republican representation
lailluminator.com
Louisiana lawmakers have approved a bill that replaces all references to “gender” in state law to “sex.” #lalege #lagov lailluminator.com/2026/05/27/l...
Lawmakers approve removing ‘gender’ from all Louisiana state laws • Louisiana Illuminator
Louisiana lawmakers have approved a bill that replaces all references to “gender” in state law to “sex.”
lailluminator.com
Louisiana legislators are rapidly advancing a bill that would hide from the public how much public money is being paid to college athletes. #lalege #lagov lailluminator.com/2026/05/26/b...
Bill to hide public money paid to college athletes nears final passage • Louisiana Illuminator
Louisiana legislators are rapidly advancing a bill that would hide from the public how much public money is being paid to college athletes. House Bill 608 by Rep. Tehmi Chassion, D-Lafayette, passed ...
lailluminator.com
After hours of testimony in opposition, a Louisiana legislative committee advanced a congressional redistricting plan Thursday evening that adds an additional Republican seat ahead of this year’s midterm elections. #lalege #lagov
Louisiana House committee advances congressional map favoring Republicans • Louisiana Illuminator
After hours of testimony in opposition, a Louisiana legislative committee advanced a congressional redistricting plan Thursday evening that adds an additional Republican seat ahead of this year’s midt...
lailluminator.com
Sen. Bill Cassidy faces backlash with bill to break up Louisiana’s only national forest. Via @tristanbaurick.bsky.social #lalege #lagov lailluminator.com/2026/05/21/c...
Sen. Bill Cassidy faces backlash with bill to break up Louisiana’s only national forest • Louisiana Illuminator
Sen. Bill Cassidy has quietly drafted legislation to transfer about 140,000 acres of the Kisatchie National Forest to Grant Parish.
lailluminator.com
The vote came after mounting pressure from state lawmakers, who noted the police chief cannot legally earn more than the chief of the Louisiana State Police.
New Orleans levee board reduces police chief's salary after outcry over contract
The vote came after mounting pressure from state lawmakers, who noted the police chief cannot legally earn more than the chief of the Louisiana State Police.
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ICYMI: No-party voters (also known as independents) could be excluded from partisan primary elections in the future under a bill that is very close to being passed by the Louisiana Legislature. #lalege #lagov lailluminator.com/2026/05/20/l...
Louisiana Democrats, GOP might get to exclude ‘no-party’ voters from their primary elections • Louisiana Illuminator
The Louisiana Legislature is one vote away from allowing the state Republican and Democratic parties to exclude unaffiliated voters from participating in their primary elections.
lailluminator.com