ATLANTA, Georgia, Feb. 7 -- Alston and Bird, a law firm, issued the following news release: Alston & Bird client Business First Bancshares Inc., the holding company for b1BANK, has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Pedestal Bancshares Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Pedestal Bank, in a deal valued at about $211 million. Headquartered in Baton Rouge, LA, Business First Bancshares has about 350 employees across 26 branches in Louisiana and Texas and oversees about $2.3 billion in  more

MEMPHIS, Tennessee, Feb. 4 -- Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell and Berkowitz, a law firm, issued the following news release: Baker Donelson is pleased to announce that Noah Kressler has been selected as a member of the 2019 Silicon Bayou 100, which recognizes the most active and influential people in tech and entrepreneurship in Louisiana. Mr. Kressler has a nationwide practice and regularly represents many of Louisiana's leading companies, including some of the most prominent emerging compa  more

PINEVILLE, Louisiana, Feb. 5 -- Cleco, a regulated utility company, issued the following news release: Cleco employees and mascot, Hot Spot, opened car doors, greeted students, and gave high fives and hugs at Mary Goff Elementary School in Pineville, La. in support of "Together Tuesdays." The Rapides Parish School Board implemented "Together Tuesdays" to offer innovative and creative ways for employers and the community to become more involved with their local schools. The parish-wide program   more

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, Feb. 5 -- Entergy issued the following news release: Entergy's Louisiana customers can receive free tax preparation and have a chance to win money at Entergy's Super Tax Day events held Saturdays in February. Super Tax Day is Entergy's kickoff event to the tax preparation season. Qualified customers who agree to save part of their total refund at Super Tax Day events will have an opportunity to win up to $50 in cash through a scratch-off card promotion and will be enter  more

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, Feb. 7 -- Entergy issued the following news release: It's Carnival time y'all! As beads and other items go flying through the air, Entergy encourages you to stay alert! While you might be tempted to go for beads or other throws you may have missed, stay away from the ones near power lines, which can carry thousands of volts of electricity. The electricity wants to take the easiest path to the ground and will look for shortcuts wherever it can. Even the smallest amount o  more

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, Feb. 4 -- Gov. John Bel Edwards, D-Louisiana, issued the following news on Feb. 3: Standing on the shore of a remote island in Louisiana's Barataria Basin, Gov. John Bel Edwards declared the newly-restored Queen Bess Island, home of the Brown Pelican, officially reopened for nesting. The traditional nesting season for pelicans and other colonial water birds begins in mid-to-late February. "I think they'll like what we've done with the place," said Gov. Edwards, touring   more

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, Feb. 8 -- Gov. John Bel Edwards, D-Louisiana, issued the following news: The State of Louisiana will invest more than $99 million in new money in every level of education under the budget proposal presented Friday by Governor John Bel Edwards' administration at the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget. Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne presented the proposed FY21 operating budget Friday. The administration's budget is based on increased state general fund  more

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, Feb. 8 -- Gov. John Bel Edwards, D-Louisiana, issued the following news: Gov. John Bel Edwards and Allpax Products LLC executive Eric Hanrahan announced the company will build an 80,000-square-foot headquarters and manufacturing center in St. Tammany Parish, replacing existing facilities where the food and pharmaceutical equipment maker has operated for more than two decades. For the project, Allpax will make a $7 million capital investment, retain 55 existing jobs, and  more

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, Feb. 7 -- Gov. John Bel Edwards, D-Louisiana, issued the following news: Gov. John Bel Edwards and Scariano Wholesale Foods CEO Jay Scariano III announced a $10 million expansion of the wholesale food distribution facility near Hammond, Louisiana. The project will improve transportation, access and logistics at the site while creating 20 new direct jobs with an average annual salary of $42,000, plus benefits. Louisiana Economic Development estimates the expansion will re  more

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, Feb. 6 -- Gov. John Bel Edwards, D-Louisiana, issued the following news: Gov. John Bel Edwards has approved the deployment of more than 20 State Fire Marshal deputies and personnel to assist Puerto Rico in its recovery efforts following recent earthquakes there. This comes at the request of Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez Garced. "We have our fair share of natural disasters in Louisiana, and because of our experience with destruction and devastation, our first respon  more

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, Feb. 6 -- The Louisiana State University Ag Center issued the following news release: Qinglin Wu, a researcher in the LSU AgCenter School of Renewable Natural Resources, has been named to the Gordon D. Cain Endowed Chair of Agriculture. The chair was created in 1988 to be dedicated to a discipline related to agriculture in memory of G.D. Cain on behalf of his children and in memory of Ola and Ruth Cain on behalf of their children. Wu, who holds the Roy O. Martin Sr. En  more

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, Feb. 7 [TNSgrants] -- Louisiana State University issued the following news release: Alyssa Johnson and Adam Bohnert, assistant professors in the LSU Department of Biological Sciences and experts in cell and molecular biology, have discovered a new class of lysosomes that they refer to as "tubular lysosomes." This breakthrough could lead to medical therapies and treatments to slow--or even reverse--aging and disease in humans and animals. The researchers recently received  more

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, Feb. 5 -- Louisiana State University Shreveport campus issued the following news: LSU Shreveport has been recognized as 2nd in the nation for the Quickest Masters Degree by College Values Online. This recognition joins previous acknowledgements for outstanding programs in Entrepreneurship, Project Management, Finance, Human Resource Management, and Hospitality. College Values Online organized the rankings by the fastest timeline for a degree. Ties were broken by options  more

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, Feb. 8 -- The Louisiana State University Ag Center issued the following news release: Nursery growers and landscapers can learn more about boxwood dieback disease at a training on April 28 at the Young Hollow Nursery in Forest Hill. The meeting is co-sponsored by the LSU AgCenter and the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. followed by the program from 9 until noon. Young Hollow Nursery is located at 60 Tom Gunter Road i  more

JEANERETTE, Louisiana, Feb. 6 -- The Louisiana State University Ag Center issued the following news release: This winter's mild weather could be setting up the next sugarcane crop for diseases, an LSU AgCenter plant pathologist warned at a meeting on Jan. 30 for cane growers in Iberia, St. Mary and Vermilion parishes. Jeff Hoy, also resident coordinator of the AgCenter Sugar Research Station at St. Gabriel, said the freeze in November probably was not severe enough to control brown rust diseas  more

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, Feb. 8 -- The Louisiana State University Ag Center issued the following news release: Large patch disease (formerly called brown patch) is the starting to show up in Louisiana lawns. LSU AgCenter plant doctor Raj Singh said this fungus is the most common disease of lawns in Louisiana. The disease can occur on all warm-season turfgrasses but is particularly prevalent on St. Augustine grass. "Symptoms appear as yellow, circular or irregular-shaped patches of disease tha  more

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, Feb. 8 -- Loyola University issued the following news release on Feb. 6: * * * - Apply now to get started as a member of the next-generation cybersecurity workforce * * * As municipalities and governments around the nation cope with the fallout of cyberattacks and ransomware, Loyola University New Orleans announces a new undergraduate degree in cybersecurity, a specialization of Loyola's Computer Science degree. The program, which officially launches in fall 2020, add  more

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, Feb. 6 -- McGlinchey Stafford, a law firm, issued the following news release: McGlinchey Stafford proudly announces that attorney Candace Ford (Baton Rouge) is the recipient of the 2020 Judge Joseph Keogh Memorial Award. Candace was presented with the award during the Baton Rouge Bar Association's (BRBA) 2020 Installation Ceremony and Reception on January 8, 2020. The award is presented annually to an outstanding young lawyer who is a member of the Young Lawyers Section  more

THIBODAUX, Louisiana, Feb. 8 -- Nicholls State University issued the following news release: Nicholls State University has been named one of the 30 best small colleges for students with autism spectrum disorder by Applied Behavior Analysis Programs Guide. To qualify, schools must have enrollments below 10,000 and a program specific to the needs of students on the autism spectrum. Schools must also exhibit friendliness toward those students and provide financial support. What separates Nicholl  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 -- The Republican Governors Association issued the following news release: In a stunning development that has Louisiana teachers "shocked" and "floored," Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards abruptly reversed course on a promised teacher pay raise when he unveiled his budget proposal. After "campaigning on raising pay for public school teachers," Edwards - reelection in hand - abandoned his pledge to the shock and anger of advocates like the Louisiana Federation of Teachers.   more

HAMMOND, Louisiana, Feb. 5 -- Southeastern Louisiana University issued the following news release: Southeastern Louisiana University's Sustainability Center has been awarded the Innovation Champion Award by the Louisiana Chapter of U.S. Green Building Council. The university received the award for its innovative hybrid geothermal residence halls. The two new state-of-the-art residence halls, Ascension and Twelve Oaks, are cooling and heating using energy from the ground. Sustainability Manage  more

HAMMOND, Louisiana, Feb. 7 -- Southeastern Louisiana University issued the following news release: Award-winning novelist and Southeastern Louisiana University Assistant Professor of Creative Writing David Armand has been named the University of Louisiana System's Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year. Armand was recognized recently at the UL System's For Our Future Conference in Monroe. "The Universities of Louisiana Outstanding Faculty Award is intended to recognize faculty with a commitmen  more