Jason Saul

A Loyola university student was sexually assaulted in a campus parking garage by an acquaintance this past Friday, the university announced that evening in an e-mail sent by the campus police department.

The woman was assaulted at approximately 4:12 a.m. on Jan. 15 in the stairwell of the Freret St. garage, according to the university's statement. Loyola says the victim has identified her attacker, and the New Orleans Police Department is handling the investigation.

Loyola has released a series of safety tips to the campus community:

Safety Tips:

This article has been updated.

A natural gas well in the Gulf of Mexico, located approximately 50 miles east of Venice, is releasing gas uncontrolled and has been partially evacuated, according to the well's operator and a report today in Fuel Fix, an energy news website operated in part by the Houston Chronicle.

The New Orleans Hornets put on an impressive performance Wednesday night, crushing the visiting Portland Trail Blazers 99-63.

New Orleans lead by as much as 39 late into the fourth quarter, and dominated in the paint, outscoring the Blazers down low by a 52-26 margin.

Star guard Eric Gordon was scratched from the starting lineup at the last minute due to a sprained hand, but New Orleans hardly needed him. Every Hornets player who dressed put up points tonight, including five players in the double-digits.

Bobby Jindal, once one of the most popular governors in the country, has seen his approval ratings slide over the past two-and-a-half years to just 37 percent, according to a report released today by the Public Policy Polling organization.

The Orpheus parade will start 30 minutes earlier today, following Proteus, the New Orleans Police Department announced today. The 5:30 p.m. start is 30 minutes earlier than normal, and due to expected inclement weather.

Orpheus will make a hard right onto the riverbound side of Canal Street, turn onto Tchoupitoulas and take a left onto Henderson to the disband area.

The New Orleans Police Department is asking for the public's help in finding a 15-year-old boy who is missing from New Orleans East.

Carlton Morris, Jr. last spoke with his mother around 7 p.m. Tuesday night, police say. Morris, who suffers from schizophrenic disorders and is in need of his medication, contacted his mother to tell her he didn't have a ride home from school. When his mother told him that she wasn't able to pick him up he became angry and hung up the phone.

His mother has been unable to contact him since.

A man was found by a grass-cutting crew in the Lower 9th Ward around 3 p.m. today with multiple gunshot wounds, the New Orleans Police Department announced in a press release this afternoon.

The crew discovered the victim in a vacant lot at the intersection of Benton and North Miro Streets and immediately notified police, according to the NOPD. The man had been shot several times and was unresponsive when officers arrived, and he was pronounced dead on the scene.