A bar in Monroe attempts to open against the Governor’s orders and is shut down just 25 minutes into service. Matt Doyle spoke with the owner of the Junkyard bar…

Cut 1 (30) “I’m Matt Doyle”

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An LSU economist predicts it will take at least two years to recover 90 percent of the jobs lost to the COVID Recession. Matt Doyle has the story.

Cut 2 (30) “…I’m Matt Doyle” 

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The Louisiana Community and Technical College System launches the Reboot Your Career program designed to help those who may be unemployed due to the pandemic get training for a high-wage, high-demand gig. Kevin Barnhart has the story.

Cut 3 (30)  “…I’m Kevin Barnhart.”  

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The Junkyard Bar in Monroe planned to open yesterday against the Governor’s orders but was shut down just 25 minutes into service.

Owner Lane Clark says with bills pilling up he had no choice but to try to open, but when he did ATF arrived and told him he could either surrender his liquor license or be arrested if he served another beer…

Cut 4 (06)“ …fighting” 

Clark is asking other bar owners to follow his lead saying suspensions of licenses don’t mean much if you can’t open anyway.

Clark had publicized his reopening beforehand and opened the doors at 3 PM Tuesday only to have ATF arrive at 3:25.

Cut 5 (10)  “…came in.”

A hearing has been set for September 30^th in Baton Rouge.

Clark says it’s not right that bars seem to be just about the only business not allowed to operate right now. He also says it’s not fair that many restaurants have gotten into the bar business…

Cut 6 (04) “…drinking”

Edwards has defended his decision to keep bars shuttered, pointing to guidance and requests from the White House Coronavirus Task Force that the state do so due to the still high prevalence of the virus. Edwards and the Task Force say bars lead to lax judgment and promote social behaviors that can create super spreading events.

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The Louisiana Economic Outlook estimates by 2022 Louisiana will have recovered only 90 percent of the jobs lost in the COVID Recession.

LSU Economist Dr. Loren Scott says by the end of this year Louisiana will have lost 105,000 jobs to the pandemic economic collapse, and our recovery will be less of a V and more of a Nike Swoosh…

Cut 7 (07) “…back up”

72,600 of those jobs will return by the end of 2021, but only 94,100 of the jobs will have returned by 2022, leaving 11,500 jobs lost across the state.

What’s driving much of this slow recovery? Scott says a lot of it boils down to their projection that oil prices will only rise to 49 dollars a barrel by 2022, doing real damage in oil-dependent regions…

Cut 8 (10) “…2023.”

The Lake Charles, Baton Rouge, and Hammond regions are all projected to regain all of the jobs they lost by 2022, but the Shreveport-Bossier region, due to reliance on casinos, is only expected to get 70 percent of their 10,600 lost jobs back.

The report was conducted before Hurricane Laura devastated southwest Louisiana, but Scott anticipates the region will see higher than expected growth due to all of the wind damage caused by the storm.

Cut 9 (08) “…everything”

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Two Kenner men are under arrest and a third suspect wanted for the rape of a juvenile under the age of 13.  Kenner Police Commander of Criminal Investigations Michael Cunningham says the three suspects were home alone with the victim when they began making sexual advances to the child, offering money for sex.  The victim then locked herself in her room.

Cut 10 (11) “…sexually assaulted her.”

The two arrested have been identified as brothers Raul and Wilmer Paz-Perez, both 35, and 31-year-old Elder Paz-Perez is still on the loose.

Cunningham says the suspect that is on the run was in a relationship with the mother of the victim.

Cut 11 (07) “…a second investigation.”

Cunningham asks that anyone with information on the whereabouts of Elder Paz-Perez contact law enforcement or Crime Stoppers.

Cut 12 (09) “…track him down.”

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The Louisiana Community and Technical College System launches a program designed to help those who may be unemployed due to the pandemic. LCTCS President Monty Sullivan says the Reboot Your Career program aims to train no less than 5000 individuals in the 2021 fiscal year.

Cut 13 (07) “…of their families.”

Training focuses on skillsets for in-demand jobs such as industrial technology, healthcare, transportation and logistics, manufacturing, and information technology.

Sullivan the training programs for certifications are much quicker than trying to get a degree, with durations between 8 and 12 weeks.

Cut 14 (07) “…go to work.”

The program comes with reduced tuition and no application fees. Sullivan says the funding comes from the federal CARES Act.

Cut 15 (11) “…in Louisiana’s people.”

More info can be found online at LCTCS.edu/reboot.

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LSU Football Coach Ed Orgeron says starting defensive lineman Neil Farrell has returned to the team after announcing in August he would not play because of the coronavirus. Farrell’s grandmother was hospitalized with COVID-19, but tweeted last week that his grandmother is getting better every day and he missed football. Orgeron says it remains to be seen if Farrell will play in the season opener

Cut 16 (09) “…what happens” 

Orgeron says his three starting linebackers are Damone Clark, Jabril Cox and Micah Baskerville. Coach O says Baskerville looks comfortable in Bo Pelini’s defense…

Cut 17  (14) “…helped Michael”  

Orgeron says another player that has made tremendous strides is offensive tackle Dare Rosenthal. He was recruited out of Ferriday High School and started at LSU on defense, but Orgeron says he saw Rosenthal gain confidence last December while working out on the o-line…

Cut 18  (27) “…draft pick”     

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After a historic win on the road at Iowa State, the 19th ranked Ragin Cajuns begin Sun Belt Play this Saturday at Georgia State. After going 2-and-10 in 2018, the Panthers were 7-and-6 last season. U-L Lafayette Coach Billy Napier says G-S-U Coach Shawn Elliot is building a good program…

cut 19 (25) “…coming back”

The Cajuns made a statement last week beating Iowa State on ESPN. This Saturday’s game will be on ESPN 2 and Napier says playing another early Saturday game on national television is good for the program…

cut 20 (14) “…out there”

The LSU Ag Center estimates the agriculture and forestry losses from Hurricane Laura exceeds one-point-six billion dollars. Jeff Palermo has the story…

Cut 1 (29) “…I’m Jeff Palermo”  

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We now have firm dates for when the rest of the power will come back on in Cameron and Calcasieu Parish. Matt Doyle has the story…

cut 2 (30) “I’m Matt Doyle”  

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The LSU AgCenter estimates Hurricane Laura caused 525-million dollars in damage to Louisiana farmers and one-point-one billion dollars to the state’s timber industry. AgCenter economist Kurt Guidry says wind damage to buildings and facilities carried the biggest part of the damage estimate at 403-million dollars.

Cut 3 (11)  “…timber damage”  

In comparison, agricultural losses from Hurricanes Rita and Katrina totaled one-point-five billion dollars. But Guidry says crops were not as affected this year as in 2005…

Cut 4 (12)“ yield loss” 

The state’s rice crop suffered the most with 74-thousand acres affected for an economic impact of 28.5 million dollars. Soybeans, cotton and corn have seen a 10 to 15-percent yield loss. He says sugarcane has yet to be harvested, but right now they are looking at a three-percent yield loss…

Cut 5 (12)  “minimal”

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Entergy Louisiana expects to have power available to the majority of customers in Cameron and Calcasieu Parishes by September 23^rd, with the remaining customers online by September 30^th.

Laura came ashore August 24th and Entergy Louisiana spokesperson Brandon Scardigli says it left an incredible amount of damage in its wake…

Cut 6 (08) “…though”

That’s big news for the tens of thousands of people in southwest Louisiana who still don’t have power.

Cut 7 (10) “progress.”

Across all of Entergy Louisiana’s territory in Louisiana, nearly 403,000 customers have had their power restored after losing it due to Laura.

Scardigli says the Calcasieu Plant and the Lake Charles Power Station are back online, which means…

Cut 8 (06) “…neighborhoods.”

Entergy encourages customers to make sure they have a certified electrician check their homes if they have any storm damage to make sure they can receive power when it becomes available.

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Louisiana will be spared much of any impact from Sally as the Hurricane took an abrupt turn for the Alabama coast before reaching The Boot.

State Climatologist Barry Keim says Sally was always an unpredictable system due to its sluggish two to three-mile an hour pace…

Cut 9 (09) “…further east”

Hurricane Sally is expected to drop up to 30 inches of rain on parts of Alabama and the Florida Panhandle as it creeps onto land early tomorrow morning.

Keim warns just because we dodged Sally doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods. This season has already tied 1933 for the record of the second most named storms at 20 and it’s only halfway over…

Cut 10 (11) “…surveillance”

2005 still holds the record for most named storms at 27, but at our current pace, we should blow right past 30 this year. Keim says we’re heading into unusual territory…

Cut 11 (10) “…alphabet.”

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LSU Football Coach Ed Orgeron said during a zoom press conference with reporters that most of the players on his team have tested positive for the coronavirus. Orgeron did not give an exact number. but he says the players who have been infected will be able to play during the season

Cut 12 (10) “…for games”

Orgeron says there are three or four players who currently have the coronavirus and they are not practicing.

SEC schools perform three tests a week on their student-athletes. A player who tests positive must isolate for at least 10 days and once they recover, they do not have to test again for 90 days. Orgeron says it’s been a process

Cut 13 (07) “very well”

LSU’s first game is a week from Saturday against Mississippi State. He’s hoping that since a majority of the players have tested positive for COVID-19 that they’ll avoid a coronavirus outbreak during the season

Cut 14 (07) “…the game”