The Loyola Law School is creating a database of inmate deaths in Louisiana prisons, the first such database of its kind in the nation. Matt Doyle has the story.
_______________________________
In 2020 five out of the seven infant deaths in St. Tammany Parish were a result of unsafe sleeping conditions, Brooke Thorington explains how they are working to change that
Cut 2 (29) “…I’m Brooke Thorington.”
____________________________
Women pay more annually for car insurance in Louisiana compared to men, that’s according to The Zebra, the nation’s leading insurance comparison site. Brooke Thorington has more.
Cut 3 (32) “…I’m Brooke Thorington.”
____________________________
This spring Loyola University Law School will release a database of inmate deaths at all Louisiana prisons.
The project is the brainchild of Professor Andrea Armstrong who says up until now there hasn’t been a centralized collection of data about when, where, and how state inmates have died.
Armstrong says before receiving grant money to upscale the project she personally kept data on inmate deaths at Orleans Parish Prison. The 410,000 dollar, two-year grant was provided by Arnold Ventures.
Armstrong says 80 percent of US prisons will go a full calendar year without an inmate death. With this database, we can measure how Louisiana prisons stack up to that expectation.
Louisiana is home to 130 jails, prisons, and detention centers and has the highest incarceration rate in the country. The state also does not require its corrections department to keep a centralized and publicly accessible list of deaths.
Armstrong says using public information requests she and her law students are compiling a detailed list of inmate deaths going back to 2015. She says the database will be highly granular.
Armstrong says the database will be a first-of-its-kind in the nation effort and she hopes it can be a template that is reproduced across the country.
________________________
Last year in St. Tammany Parish five infants died as a result of unsafe sleeping conditions. St. Tammany Parish Corner Dr. Charles Preston says it’s usually because new parents aren’t educated about safe sleeping environments or they received bad advice from relatives who allowed an infant to sleep in the same bed as adults.
Working with the national Cribs for Kids organization, Preston’s office is offering free training for parents, grandparents, and caregivers on the proper way for allowing an infant to sleep. Preston says follow your ABCs.
Preston says infant death by unsafe sleeping conditions is not unique to St. Tammany Parish but is a problem nationwide. Preston says in Calcasieu Parish they have had a successful program reducing infant death with Cribs for Kids.
Once participants complete the 90-minute course they are giving a free Pack ‘n Play bassinet. Call the St. Tammany Parish Corner’s Office to register.
__________________________
Women in Louisiana on average pay $68 more a year for auto insurance than men regardless of their driving record, that’s according to The Zebra, the nation’s leading insurance comparison site. Real Reform Louisiana Executive Director Eric Holl says insurance companies in Louisiana can charge drivers rates based on almost anything they want.
Holl says it’s even worse for women in the state in their 50s.
Holl says on average men have more reckless driving behavior compared to women, but women are charged more on average than men in the state.
Senator Jay Luneau has filed Senate Bill 55 to ban insurance companies from the use of gender and other non-driving factors like credit score. Holl says he doesn’t believe Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon will support the bill.
Holl says seven states have banned the use of gender as a factor in car insurance rates, including four of the cheapest states for car insurance, according to the Zebra: Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Hawaii, and North Carolina.
____________________________
A couple is facing arson charges after they allegedly set multiple fires near their home in Leesville in what was supposedly an effort to drive away snakes.
34-year-old Laura Ashley has been arrested and 34-year-old Robert Ramirez is on the run. Ag Commissioner Mike Strain says it was an incredibly dangerous decision…
Ashley has been charged with simple arson and investigators learned that Ramirez had also set multiple fires in the area last year.
Strain says if you have a snake problem, instead of committing a felony…
___________________________________________
LSU is off to a one and five start in SEC play and also no longer ranked in most of the major college baseball polls. Four of the five conference losses have been by three runs or less. Coach Paul Mainieri is asking his team to keep grinding away…
Cut 16 (20) “…other direction.”
In this past series against Tennessee, LSU lost all three games by four runs. After tonight’s game against South Alabama, the Tigers will welcome top-ranked Vanderbilt. Mainieri says he’s not ready to give up on the season
Cut 17 (19) “…not going to do that.”
LSU struck out 38 times during the three-game sweep at Tennessee and the Tigers allowed 23 walks or hit batters. Mainieri says they’ll work to reduce both of those numbers
Cut 18 (15) “… it’s frustrating.”
____________________________________________________
The Saints have announced the signing of free-agent tight end Nick Vannett (Van-net). The five-year NFL veteran has signed a three-year deal with New Orleans and has caught 75 passes in 70 regular-season games. Vannett is known more as a blocking tight end, but the Ohio native says he can catch passes too
In 2020, Vannett played in 15 games with the Broncos and caught 14 passes for 95 yards and a touchdown. Vannett says it didn’t take long for the Saints to reach out to him after Denver cut him