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Top LSU administrator resigns amid campus leadership turmoil

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lailluminator.com – Piper Hutchinson – 2025-02-20 18:40:00

Top LSU administrator resigns amid campus leadership turmoil

by Piper Hutchinson, Louisiana Illuminator
February 20, 2025

One of LSU’s top leaders resigned from the university Wednesday, according to a letter of resignation that suggests she was instructed to step down. 

“I hereby tender my resignation as Executive Vice President for Finance and Chief Administrative Officer for Louisiana State University in accordance with our discussion,” Kim Lewis wrote in her letter to President William Tate. The Illuminator obtained the letter through a public records request. 

Read the letter below.

Kimberly Lewis (LSU photo)

Lewis is the second top-ranking LSU administrator to resign in recent weeks. Last month, the university’s top attorney, Winston DeCuir, resigned, though he will take a visiting professorship at the LSU Law Center. 

DeCuir and Lewis, both Black attorneys, leave their jobs amid increasing politicization of the university. 

Lewis previously served as revenue secretary under Gov. John Bel Edwards, a moderate Democrat, and worked for previous Democratic governors. 

At times, she has butted heads with LSU Board of Supervisors members aligned with Gov. Jeff Landry. At an October board executive committee meeting, Lewis exchanged terse words with Lee Mallett, a political donor who gave tens of thousands of dollars to Landry’s election efforts. 

DeCuir did not respond to a request for comment asking if politics played a part in his resignation. Lewis likewise has not responded to a call requesting comment. 

Landry, thanks to a new law he pushed, has more power over higher education than previous governors and has taken a greater interest in LSU. 

In recent weeks, he has publicly called on LSU to take action against a law professor who profanely criticized him in the classroom. LSU removed Ken Levy from the classroom pending an investigation, though Levy is fighting his suspension in court

Landry also called for LSU to punish another law professor who criticized President Donald Trump in the days after the presidential election. In 2021, he called on LSU to punish Bob Mann, a political communications professor, who criticized one of Landry’s deputies in the attorney general’s office who shared vaccine misinformation at an LSU Faculty Senate meeting. 

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Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com.

The post Top LSU administrator resigns amid campus leadership turmoil appeared first on lailluminator.com

News from the South - Louisiana News Feed

New website shows public school officials' spending

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New website shows public school officials' spending

www.youtube.com – WDSU News – 2025-04-24 08:51:23

SUMMARY: A new website launched by Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming provides transparency on public school spending, revealing purchases such as luxury hotel stays and SUVs. While some see it as a step toward accountability, critics argue it may be intrusive. The site displays various expenditures, including a significant dinner at a high-end restaurant just before a school closure due to financial issues. Advocates, including parents, believe the data empowers communities to make informed decisions. However, there is controversy over the inclusion of staff salaries, with some feeling it invades privacy, though others, including teacher organizations, support the initiative.

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New website shows public school official’s spending

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Morning Forecast – Thursday, April 24th

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Morning Forecast - Thursday, April 24th

www.youtube.com – KTVE – 2025-04-24 08:27:04

SUMMARY: On April 24th, meteorologist Sammy Petraco reported ongoing scattered showers in Arkansas, with isolated rain in southeastern regions. Rainfall over the past 24 hours varied, with some areas receiving up to three inches while others saw minimal accumulation. Current temperatures are in the mid to upper 60s, with a humid environment expected throughout the week. Cloud cover persists, limiting sun exposure, and upper-level disturbances will continue to create scattered precipitation. Rain is likely tonight into Friday, with a cold front expected on Saturday potentially offering a brief reprieve. Daytime highs will be in the low to mid 80s.

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Today, more showers and storms expected in a scattered fashion in the afternoon and evening hours. If the past days haven’t already shown it, but it’s hard to pinpoint where the rain will happen, but the chance for rain is there. Clouds continue over the region with highs ranging from the upper 70s to low 80s, depending on shower and storm activity. Severe weather stays limited with winds out of the south 5-10 mph

Tonight, staying relatively the same as previous nights. Showers and storms may linger into the night before fizzling out to the east/ northeast. Skies stay broken to overcast with lows staying pretty muggy in the mid to upper 60s. Winds are light and variable

An unsettled pattern continues as rain chances are likely to end this week. That said, they will probably occur in a scattered to isolated fashion. Some of the storms that do develop may be a bit noisy and produce heavy rainfall. There is the potential to see a break in the rain early next week before the unsettled pattern continues after that. Temperatures reside in the lower to upper 80s with overnight lows falling only in the 60s. Keep the rain gear handy

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Taxes on vapes and smokeless tobacco advance through committee | Louisiana

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Taxes on vapes and smokeless tobacco advance through committee | Louisiana

www.thecentersquare.com – By Nolan McKendry | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-24 07:00:00

(The Center Square) — The Louisiana House is weighing two bills by Rep. Ken Brass, D-Ascension, that would significantly increase taxes on vaping and smokeless tobacco products, aiming to curb youth use and fund cessation efforts..

House Bill 517, which has passed committee and is now headed to the House floor, would replace the state’s current tax on vaping products — 0.15 cents per milliliter of nicotine liquid — with a 33% tax on the invoice price of those products, starting Jan. 1, 2026. Retailers and wholesalers would be required to submit an inventory of their stock by Feb. 1, 2026, based on their holdings at the end of 2025.

Another bill by Brass would raise the excise tax on smokeless tobacco from 20% to 33% of the invoice price and dedicate 20% of the proceeds to a newly created Youth Cessation and Prevention Fund. That money would be divided among cancer research centers and the state Department of Health for evidence-based anti-tobacco programs. 

Brass told the House Ways and Means Committee that the rising use of vaping among children makes the issue urgent.

“Nearly one in five middle school students are currently vaping,” Brass said. “That’s a dramatic increase from just a few years ago — back in 2015, only 4.8% of middle schoolers vaped. Now it’s 18.4%. Among high school students, it’s jumped to over 30%.”

He warned that early nicotine use can have lifelong consequences.

“Most youth try tobacco between ages 12 and 13,” Brass said. “That early exposure has lasting effects — increased risk of depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. This is not just a school issue — it’s a statewide public health and economic issue. Smoking costs Louisiana billions in health care and productivity losses.”

But some Republicans questioned the strategy of using taxes as a deterrent.

“What I’m hearing is we have all these people breaking rules, and we’re going to fix it by making it more expensive,” said Rep. Roger Wilder, R-Livingston. “If you’re vaping in school, that’s already against school rules and the law for anyone under 21. Are schools even serious about enforcement?”

Wilder argued that without stronger action at the school or criminal justice level, the tax might not be an effective deterrent.

“Do we have a bill in education or criminal justice to actually address this where it’s happening—on the ground, in schools?” he asked. “I agree with the intent. I’m just not sure it’s going to be a real deterrent.”

Rep. Jay Galle, R-St. Tammany, echoed those concerns.

“Addictions are rarely deterred by an increase in price,” Galle said. “I understand this is a sin tax, but again, price alone rarely changes behavior.”

Brass defended the tax increases as one part of a larger effort to reduce nicotine use and shift the economic burden away from the state.

If the bills are signed into law, the vape tax increase would take effect Jan. 1, 2026, and the smokeless tobacco tax increase would begin July 1, 2025. 

The post Taxes on vapes and smokeless tobacco advance through committee | Louisiana appeared first on www.thecentersquare.com

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