Avoyelles Parish gets hit with two and a half feet of rain in just 12 hours, and the images of the aftermath are surreal. Andrew Greenstein reports.
Cut 1 (34) “…I’m Andrew Greenstein.”
____________________________________________
A Baton Rouge judge issued a temporary restraining order against Governor Landry’s executive order to redirect public school funding to teacher stipends. Kace Kieschnick reports.
Cut 2 (31) “…I’m Kace Kieschnick.”
____________________________________________
It’s being called a “1,000-year flood.” Avoyelles Parish was the heaviest hit by the torrential rains from the remnants of Tropical Storm Arthur, getting two and a half feet of rain dumped on it in less than 12 hours. Joey Frank, the director of the Avoyelles Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, says the scene is mind-boggling.
Cut 3 (07) “…halfway to structures.”
Frank says even though the rain has stopped, it’s still a very active scene which is forcing people from their homes.
Cut 4 (08) “…200 right now.”
Frank says officials haven’t even begun to assess the damage yet, and it could be a while before they’re able to.
Cut 5 (07) “…evaluations of homes.”
Frank says the worst part is since most of Avoyelles Parish is not in a flood zone, most people do not have flood insurance. Governor Landry has already declared a state of emergency in Avoyelles Parish and six other parishes. He will be visiting this afternoon, and Frank says he may seek a federal disaster declaration.
________________________________________
An East Baton Rouge Parish judge granted a temporary restraining order to block Governor Landry’s executive order to reallocate 168-million-dollars in the state’s public school funding formula to provide stipends for teachers. Greg Beuerman, the spokesman for the three plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit against the order, says it’s unconstitutional.
Cut 6 (13) “…ability to do.”
The court will hold a hearing to determine whether the restraining order should stand on June 29th.
The court ruled the executive order’s bypassing of the legislature violated the separation of powers. Beuerman says the order takes away authority from the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Cut 7 (11) “…the wrong venue.”
The executive order does require a two-thirds majority vote from legislators via virtual ballot for approval. Beuerman says while the constitution does provide for remote voting outside of a legislative session, it’s only in extraordinary scenarios.
Cut 8 (09) “…not go forward.”
_____________________________________________________________
The clock is ticking if you haven’t gotten your crawfish fix this season. With summer temperatures rising, crawfish are burrowing, and the season is ending. Laney King, the co-founder of The Crawfish App, says you might find a few stragglers at vendors and restaurants until the Fourth of July in South Louisiana.
Cut 9 (11) “…a great product.”
King says not to worry about the price going up just because there are fewer crawfish available. This year’s leftovers will help produce next year’s crop. King says crawfish are as affordable as they’ve been this season.
Cut 10 (06) “…two-99 a pound.”
King says you can always find foreign seafood year-round; but if you want local crawfish, time is running out. She says even your favorite local crawfish spots will stop serving it soon, if it hasn’t already.
Cut 11 (09) “…for the season.”
______________________________________________________
For years, WalletHub has done annual rankings for life as working moms for Mother’s Day. This year, for the first time, it did a ranking for life as working dads for Father’s Day, and it shows Louisiana with an overall ranking next to last, ahead of only Nevada. Analyst Chip Lupo says the fact that Louisiana is a predominantly rural state plays a major role in its low ranking.
Cut 12 (08) “…of cases, unaffordable.”
We asked Lupo whether Louisiana would have had a higher ranking if the rankings only accounted for the well-populated areas of each state.
Cut 13 (09) “…but not much.”
Whereas Louisiana ranked no higher than 45th in nearly all metrics, the one exception is in the male uninsured rate, in which Louisiana ranks 32nd. Lupo says, however, that number is being held down due to a large number of areas of high unemployment.
Cut 14 (10) “…healthcare insurance suffers.”