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BATON ROUGE – Louisiana House and Senate leaders, state administrators and economic experts will explore the realities of legislating during a pandemic on Wednesday, July 1, at 3 p.m.
Hosted in partnership with the LSU Office of the President, this event is the final installment of the Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs Communications & COVID-19 virtual series and will be livestreamed on the LSU Manship School’s YouTube channel.
Following an eight-week suspension of the 2020 Regular Session, the Louisiana Legis-lature reconvened on May 4 with only four weeks to address the state’s critical needs in light of the coronavirus outbreak. Upon sine die, the Legislature immediately gaveled into a thirty-day special session to continue tackling the state’s $30 billion operating budget, which was dealt a $900 million shortfall as a result of the economic fallout caused by the pandemic. As members faced the challenges that have accompanied legislating during a public health crisis, how and what did they prioritize? “Legislating in the Time of COVID-19” will recap the approach of both legislative and state government leaders in tackling a variety of high-priority bills relating to the state’s budget, CARES Act funding, education and healthcare.
“This event underscores the need for public health emergency preparedness among state leaders, particularly lawmakers, whose responsibilities continue during times of quarantine, epidemic and other global crises,” said LSU Interim President Tom Gall-igan. “Understanding the mechanisms and resources related to state legislature operations, while prioritizing global health concerns, is critical, and we’re proud to host this important discussion at LSU.”
The complete list of panelists features:
—Sarah Procopio – Rising senior, LSU Manship School of Mass Communication; Director & Founder, LA Youth Platform; Moderator
— Greg Albrecht – Chief Economist, Louisiana Legislative Fiscal Office
—Rep. Larry Bagley – Louisiana House of Representatives, District 7; Chairman, Health and Welfare Committee
—Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne – Louisiana Division of Admin-istration
—Sen. Cleo Fields – Louisiana Senate, District 14; Chairman, Education Committee
—Deputy Comm-issioner of Admi-nistration Barbara Goodson – Louisiana Division of Admi-nistration
—Rep. Tanner Magee – Speaker Pro Tempore, Louisiana House of Representatives, Dist-rict 53
—Sen. Mack “Bodi” White – Louisiana Senate, District 6; Chairman, Finance Committee
— Rep. Jerome “Zee” Zeringue – Louisiana House of Representatives, District 52; Chairman, Appropriations Committee
“The Manship School and the Reilly Center are well poised to facilitate such an important conversation among state legislators and public officials,” said LSU Manship School Dean Martin Johnson. “This discussion on our state’s approach to legislating amid a global health pandemic is a prime example of our commitment to generating intentional, thoughtful programming, research and discourse on government and public affairs.”
Registration for “Legislating in the Time of COVID-19” can be found at Eventbrite: Communications & COVID-19. Registrants will receive a Zoom meeting link and information on how to join. The event will be livestreamed and recorded on the Manship School’s YouTube channel.
The Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs is partnership-driven, action-oriented and dedicated to exploring contemporary issues at the intersection of mass communication and public life. Its interdisciplinary approach draws together experts from diverse fields to advance research and dialogue.
The intent is to inspire our communities to think deeply, take action, develop solutions and broaden knowledge. Underlying the Center’s endeavors is to strengthen and advance the Manship School’s national and state leadership in media and politics.
LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication ranks among the strongest collegiate communication programs in the country, with its robust emphasis on media and public affairs. It offers undergraduate degrees in public relations, journalism, political communication, digital advertising and pre-law, along with four graduate degree programs: master of mass communication, Ph.D. in media and public affairs, certificate of strategic communication and dual MMC/law degree.

The following are the radio dispatch logs from the Morgan City Police Department. To report unlawful or suspicious activity, call the police department at 985-380-4605.
Thursday, June 25
6:34 a.m. 1600 block of North Second Street; Theft.
9:35 a.m. 7200 block of La. 182; Fire.
11:27 a.m. 1200 block of Victor II Boulevard; Accident.
11:40 a.m. 900 block of Cherry Street; Disturbance.
12:34 p.m. 6400 block of La. 182; Accident.
12:53 p.m. Federal Avenue and Levee Road; Complaint.
1:25 p.m. 6200 block of La. 182; Theft.
2:15 p.m. 1200 block of Clothilde Street; Alarm.
2:15 p.m. 300 block of Egle Street; Fire.
6:24 p.m. Louisiana Alley area; Frequent patrol.
6:38 p.m. 1200 block of Clothilde Street; 911 hang up.
6:43 p.m. 800 block of Brashear Avenue; Complaint.
7:48 p.m. 300 block of Egle Street; Animal complaint.
8:24 p.m. 400 block of Halsey Street; Warrant.
9:37 p.m. 7700 block of La. 182; Alarm.
11:06 p.m. 6400 block of La. 182; Alarm.
Friday, June 26
12:34 a.m. 2000 block of Allison Street; Disturbance.
3:29 a.m. 100 block of David Drive; Stand by.
3:54 a.m. 300 block of Garber Street; Medical emergency.

Nicholls State University has named former Colonel football player and coach Jonathan Terrell (BA ‘98) as its director of athletics.
Terrell is the first black athletic director in Nicholls history and has more than two decades of proven sales and coaching success.
“I am grateful to Dr. Clune and the committee for giving me the opportunity to work at a place that I love,” Terrell said. “I am honored to be able to lead this department and continue the climb. Whether it’s in the classroom, on the field of play or in the community, we will be one team with one goal in mind, winning.”
A press conference introducing Terrell as athletic director will be at 11 a.m. on Monday, June 29.
“An athletic director doesn’t win a single game,” said Nicholls President Dr. Jay Clune. “You need someone of superior judgment to put the right team of coaches in place to be successful. Jonathan Terrell has that judgment. Going into the search, I was looking for someone of unquestionable integrity and character who could raise money. I couldn’t be happier with our selection.”
Terrell takes over an athletic department in the midst of historic success both athletically and academically:
--This spring, the Colonel athletic programs combined for a school-record 3.31 GPA and 10th year in a row of successful NCAA Academic Progress Rate scores.
--The Nicholls Football program has won back-to-back Southland Conference Cham-pionships and participated in the NCAA Playoffs three years in a row.
--The Nicholls Softball team won the 2018 regular-season conference championship and played in back-to-back Southland Conference Tournament finals.
--The Nicholls men’s basketball team won the 2017-2018 regular-season conference championship.
--The Nicholls women’s basketball team won the 2018 Southland Conference Tournament and participated in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in history. In 2019, the team was invited to the Women’s Basketball Invitational postseason tournament.
“Jonathan Terrell set himself apart early in the process because of his love and passion for Nicholls. He is the right person to keep the momentum we have going and built upon it, “ Lindsay McKaskle, interim athletic director and chair of the search committee said. “I want to thank Dr. Clune for his trust in me to serve as interim athletic director and as chair of the search committee. I also want to thank the members of the committee for their time and commitment to the process. I am excited about the future with JT at the helm.”
Terrell played quarterback and wide receiver for the Colonels from 1993-96 when head football coach Tim Rebowe was still an assistant coach for the Colonels, and worked with the program as a student assistant during the 1997-1998 seasons. After six years in the high school coaching ranks – including five at Vandebilt Catholic High School – Terrell returned to Nicholls to coach quarterbacks during the 2004 season for coach Darryl Daye.
Since leaving the coaching ranks, Terrell has excelled as a leader, fundraiser, sales professional and brand manager. He spent 2005-2010 in sales with Sanofi-Aventis before joining Lifescan as a senior territory business manager. In 2012, he joined Novo Nordisk as a territory manager and grew revenue in the territory by 30 percent in his first year. The following year he joined Zoll Medical Lifevest as a senior territory manager. He was named regional manager of the year three times from 2015-2017, and the top territory manager out of 550 in 2017.
Since 2005, he has also put his networking and strategic management skills to work for the Colonel Athletic Department. As president of The First Down Club, he grew membership by more than 150 percent and raised revenue from $8,000 to more than $100,000. He co-founded the Huddle Up Club in 2015 and has served as president for the last five years. He raised more than $60,000 for the football program through fundraising events. He also saved the athletic department $30,000 through volunteer efforts, including cleaning up Guidry Stadium. The program is now the largest sport-specific booster club in Nicholls history.
Terrell is also deeply involved in the community, serving on the board of Hi-5, an after school development program in Thibodaux, and serves on various committees for First United Methodist Church in Thibodaux.
Colonel Pride is abundant through the Terrell family. His wife, Taryn (BA ‘99), daughter Katelyn (BA ‘19) and son-in-law Darius Coleman (BA ‘18) are Nicholls alum. Katelyn is also an admissions counselor in the Office of Enrollment Services. Twin daughters Meagan, a psychology major, and Makena, a business major, are currently sophomores at Nicholls. Maegan, and nephew, Tyrease Terrell, are student-athletes, playing soccer and basketball, respectively, for the Colonels. His youngest son, Jacob, is a die-hard Colonel fan.
For more information on Nicholls Athletics, visit GeauxColonels.com.

Danos has been awarded a contract with Shell Exploration and Production Co., a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, to provide a production workforce across Shell production assets in the Gulf of Mexico, including Appomattox, Auger, Enchilada, Salsa, Mars, Ursa, Olympus, Perdido and Stones.
The three-year contract began on May 1 and will employ 144 Danos personnel in a variety of positions including: crane operations, control room and process operators, electricians, electronic technicians, instrument technicians, logistics and onsite supervisors.
“Danos and Shell have partnered since 1971, and we are proud to continue that relationship,” said owner Eric Danos. “With a 73-year history, Danos has lived through many industry cycles. In today’s market, we understand the need to find innovative ways to provide services to our customers, and this contract is an example of that.”
A family-owned company, Danos was founded in 1947. The company has eight office locations throughout Louisiana and Texas and has operations across the shale plays of the Eagle Ford, Delaware Basin, Marcellus/Utica, Permian Basin and Gulf of Mexico.