A study from the Center for Planning Excellence finds one in three residents live in food-insecure communities. Center for Planning Excellence CEO Camille Manning-Broome says the number of Louisiana residents living in food insecure communities has increased by over 500-thousand since the pandemic began.
Cut 7 (13) “…of this pandemic.”
Manning-Broome says their report also finds that nearly half of newly food insecure communities are small towns and unincorporated rural areas.

The Louisiana Restaurant Association predicts a 25-30 percent drop in restaurant revenue for 2020. President Stan Harris says they projected 11 billion dollars in revenues for the year before the pandemic, generating over a billion dollars in state and local taxes. That’s no longer the case…
Cut 4 (06)_ “…operation.”

The investigation continues today in yesterday’s early morning fatal officer-involved shooting in Baton Rouge of a domestic violence suspect at an apartment complex in Tigerland. Chief Murphy Paul says the suspect had a weapon…
cut 14 (09) “….fired striking him”
The four officers involved have been placed on administrative leave and the suspect has been identified as 51-year-old Vincent Harris, who was wanted for an alleged machete attack on his girlfriend.

If you wear a mask in New Orleans, you could win 10-thousand dollars. Several Mardi Gras Krewes are handing out raffle tickets to people they see wearing a mask and one of the raffle tickets could be worth 10-thousand dollars. Krewe of Red Beans founder Devin De Wulf says they will focus on parts of the city that have been hit hard by the virus…
cut 11 (05) “…of the love”
The drawing will be held on August 4th.

A new study from the Center for Planning excellence finds that more than one in three Louisiana residents live in food-insecure communities due to COVID-19 and the number of Louisiana residents living in food insecure communities has increased by over 500-thousand since the pandemic began. Center for Planning Excellence CEO Camille Manning-Broome says more federal assistance is needed…
cut 9 (10) “….our food banks”
Expanded Federal unemployment benefits are set to expire July 31st if Congress doesn’t act.

Baton Rouge Police has released dramatic body camera video of yesterday’s fatal shooting of a domestic violence suspect in Tigerland…
cut 13 (11) “…bang”
The four officers involved in the shooting are on administrative leave, while the suspect who was fatally shot has been identified as 51-year-old Vincent Harris, who was wanted for an alleged machete attack on his girlfriend.

Revenues are down for Louisiana restaurants. which could translate into hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue for state and local governments. Matt Doyle has more.
Cut 1 (29) “I’m Matt Doyle.”

Southern and Grambling State will not play football in the fall. The SWAC has moved the football season to the spring, with preseason camp beginning in January. The plan is to play six conference games and each school would also have an option to play a non-conference contest. There’s also hope Grambling and Southern can hold the Bayou Classic in the spring.

More than a third of Louisiana residents lack access to an adequate food source because of the number of unemployed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
Cut 2 (30) “…I’m Kevin Barnhart”

About 280-thousand unemployed Louisiana residents are receiving expanded unemployment benefits from the federal government. The 600-dollar weekly supplements are set to expire on July 31st if Congress does not act. Governor Edwards holds a press conference today at 2:30. His Phase two order expires Sunday.

Baton Rouge Police have released some of the body cam video of yesterday’s morning’s fatal shooting of a domestic violence suspect at an apartment in Tigerland…
cut 30 (03) “…got a gun”
The video cuts off there. Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul says he spoke to the family of the man who died before releasing the video…
cut 15 (11) “…of public safety”
Police also released a screenshot from one of the body cameras where it appears the suspect is pointing a gun out of the door of the apartment.

The Louisiana Restaurant Association estimates that 25-percent of their restaurants will close this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Economist Doctor Loren Scott says the industry is vulnerable because demand is dictated by the public’s level of comfort in going out to eat…
cut 5 (09) “…..to it”

After receiving 40-thousand applications, the state has temporarily suspended a 24-million dollar program to provide rental assistance. State officials say 24-million dollars can only help 10-thousand households who are behind on their rent. Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center director Cashuana Hill estimates it will take 500-million dollars to address the impending rental crisis…

cut 5 (07) “….enough”

No word on what the state is trying to do to get more funding.

The state House Speaker is encouraging his fellow Republicans not to sign a legislative petition in circulation that would revoke the Governor’s coronavirus pandemic state of emergency. Speaker Clay Shexnayder says the executive order is just one layer of mitigation efforts and it will not loosen up restrictions put in place by local governments.

Cut 10 (08) “…won’t do that.”

Governor John Bel Edwards spent his lunch hour today fasting and praying and he’ll do the same tomorrow and Wednesday. Edwards says he believes in the power of prayer and in the power of working together and being good neighbors to overcome COVID-19…

cut 8 (10) “….praying as well”

Edwards says he got the idea to pray and fast during lunch from a conference call with faith leaders. He encourages Louisiana residents to do the same.

The National Hurricane Center is monitoring three tropical waves, but none of the disturbances are a serious threat to Louisiana. State Climatologist Barry Keim says a weak low pressure area south of the Texas-Louisiana border has caught the attention of forecasters….

cut 12 (07) “…southwestern Louisiana”

Keim says there’s another disturbance way out in the Atlantic and the other is over Cuba and heading towards the Gulf of Mexico.

House Speaker Clay Schexnayder is discouraging his fellow Republicans from supporting an effort spearheaded by Shreveport Republican Alan Seabaugh to revoke the Governor’s coronavirus pandemic state of emergency.  Schexnayder says the petition fixes nothing.
Cut 9 (10) “…all to that.”
Schexnayder adds the move could trigger overrides for ongoing executive orders tied to previous natural disasters and be a hurdle for the governor’s authority to tackle future events.
The National Hurricane Center is monitoring three tropical waves….
Cut 14 (07) “…up about.”
That’s State Climatologist Barry Keim who says one of the tropical disturbances is in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico and another one is north of Cuba. But the National Hurricane Center gives both systems a low chance of developing into a depression.

Governor John Bel Edwards says he’s using his lunchtime today, through Wednesday for prayer and fasting. Edwards says he got the idea for three days of fasting and prayer during a conference call with faith leaders…
Cut 7 (09) “other Louisianians”
Edwards is encouraging Louisiana residents to also fast and pray.

A 24 million dollar state program designed to provide rental assistance to low-income individuals has been temporarily suspended. The program had funding to help 10,000 families, but 40,000 applications were received. Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center Director Cashauna Hill says the mass interest in the rental assistance program is evidence of a budding crisis that is set to get much worse in the near future.
Cut 4 (12)_ “…home.”

A legislative petition aimed at ending the Governor’s public health emergency order, circulated by Shreveport Republican Alan Seabaugh is getting pushback from fellow GOPer, House Speaker Clay Schexnayder. The recently enacted statewide mask mandate has once again brought attention back to the petition.  Schexnayder says he understands the inconvenience of wearing masks, but…

Cut 11 (12) “…going to bed.”

Seabaugh called the Speaker’s response “fear-mongering”

A state rental assistance program is temporarily shut down after the program gets inundated with applications. The program had funding to help 10,000 families, but 40,000 applications were received. Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center Director Cashauna Hill…

Cut 3 (11)  “…need is.”  

The state’s COVID hospitalization numbers are back to where they were in early May as we crossed the 1,500 mark today, along with another 3,100 cases being reported. The caveat here is that officials say about half of the cases are from a two-month backlog. Governor John Bel Edwards says he’ll use his lunchtime today, tomorrow, and Wednesday for prayer and fasting. He’s encouraging Louisiana residents to do the same…

Cut 6 (11) “…passed on”

There’s a tropical disturbance over Cuba that’s heading towards the Gulf of Mexico.  State Climatologist Barry Keim says this disorganized area of showers and thunderstorms should get into the Gulf tomorrow.

Cut 13 (10) “…overly serious.” 

Attorney General Jeff Landry blasts the Governor’s support for social justice protests, saying they’ve sparked the recent wave of COVID cases. Edwards’ staff says there’s no evidence of that.