Julia Letlow has officially qualified to run for the 5th congressional district, which her late husband won in December before passing away due to Covid-19. Taylor Sharp has the story.
Cut 1 (30) “ …I’m Taylor Sharp”
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The state is facing hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts for the next fiscal year, barring a significant economic recovery or federal aid. Matt Doyle has the story.
cut 2 (30) ….I’m Matt Doyle”
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According to the most recent COVID-19 dashboard from the Public Affairs Research Council, the state is showing a downward trend of cases, positivity rate, and hospitalizations. PAR President Robert Travis Scott says the numbers are encouraging.
Cut 3 (09) “…looking for.”
The most recent dashboard was data from January 7th through the 20th.
The positivity rate for the state, which is the rate of how many tests show a positive result for COVID versus negative test results, in the last three days is 6.4 percent according to the PAR dashboard. Scott says that’s an indicator we are on the downside of the most recent surge.
Cut 4 (12) “….eight weeks.”
As for hospitalizations, the PAR dashboard shows levels in the third surge well surpassed the second peak over the summer. The peak was 2,069 on January 8th and as of the 20th, 1,858 were reported. Scott says however hospitalizations in Lake Charles and Lafayette are still concerning.
Cut 5 (11) “…facility”
Scott says there were 48 new confirmed fatalities Wednesday bringing the three-day average to 48.8, he says fatalities are the last number to show a decrease when observing downward trends.
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Julia Letlow has qualified to run for the 5th congressional district of Louisiana seat that was won by her late husband Luke Letlow, who died of Covid-19 days before he was set to be sworn in. Julia, who is an executive administrator at ULM, has never served in public office, but she says she has always had political aspirations.
Cut 6 (14) “..leap of faith”
Luke Letlow defeated Alexandria representative Lance Harris in December, but came down with COVID a few days later. He served as former Congressman Ralph Abraham’s chief of staff. Julia says she watched how Luke handled himself and learned a lot.
Cut 7 (11) “…make a difference.”
Republican Allen Guillory, who is also running for the 5th congressional district, stated that Letlow taking office could be harmful to her children, but Julia believes it will be beneficial
Cut 8 (10) “…serve others”
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Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne warns we will likely face hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts for the fiscal year that beginning in July.
The Revenue Estimating Conference adopted this forecast ahead of the budget that will be presented in February. Dardenne says unfortunately the budget will have to include cuts to higher ed and healthcare.
Cut 9 (07) “..hit”
The exact number adopted was a 228 million dollar drop from this year, but Dardenne says it’s just too early to know what the real number will be given the economy’s volatility, and…
Cut 10 (08) “…enact that”
Dardenne says it’s tough to see our budget get slammed by the pandemic considering just a year ago it had been stabilized.
Cut 11 (10) “..education”
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Former Baton Rouge news anchor Donna Britt passed away early Thursday morning after losing her battle with ALS. Britt worked for the CBS affiliate, WAFB, from 1980 all the way until 2018 when the illness forced her to retire. Britt’s husband Mark Ballard said they were prepared for this moment, but living through is entirely different.
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Britt’s health deteriorated quickly recently as Ballard says she was preparing her LSU Journalism Hall of Fame acceptance speech just a few months ago.
Cut 13 (11)“to the event.”
While most will remember Britt for her talents as a news anchor, Ballard says he remembers a different side of her.
Cut 14 (15) ” life at home.”
Britt announced her ALS diagnosis on-air in July of 2017 after nine months of seeking a diagnosis. She is survived by her husband, and two children. Britt was 62.