President Biden will make two stops in Louisiana today as part of his Getting America Back on Track tour. Brooke Thorington has more on what he’s expected to spotlight in the state.
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With no debate, the Senate overwhelmingly agrees to advance Senator Beth Mizell’s bill to ban transgender athletes from competing in girls’ sports. Brooke Thorington has more.
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As the statewide vaccination campaign stalls out officials are looking for ways to begin a more targeted, grassroots approach. Matt Doyle has more on a program aimed at vaccinating homebound Louisianans…
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President Biden is visiting New Orleans and Lake Charles today as part of his Getting America Back on Track Tour. DOTD Secretary Shawn Wilson says Biden promoting his infrastructure plan is comparable to President Franklin D Roosevelt’s response to the Great Depression almost 90 years ago.
Wilson says the state has had ongoing infrastructure needs for decades and Biden’s American Jobs Plan provides a solution for those outdated necessities.
On his visit to New Orleans Wilson says the President will most likely spotlight the need to update the city’s water and sewer system, and in Lake Charles the Calcasieu River Bridge that was built in 1952.
Biden is also expected to highlight a proposal to remove the I-10 overpass in New Orleans above Claiborne Avenue.
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The US birthrate dropped four percent from 2019 to 2020, now putting the country “below replacement levels” meaning more Americans die annually than are born.
LSU Health New Orleans Professor of Maternal-Fetal Medicine Dr. Robert Maupin says the decline is partially COVID-related, but also the result of advances in contraceptive access and options…
The drop was biggest amongst women aged 20 to 24 and 25 to 34 at six percent and four percent respectively. Maupin says this is reflecting a cultural shift among young women.
The US has experienced a two percent annual decline in the birthrate since 2014, but Maupin says last year’s doubled rate of decline is likely COVID-related.
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The numbers come courtesy of the National Center for Health Statistics.
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A bill to allow citizens 21 and older to carry a concealed handgun without a permit handily made its way through the House Wednesday. Thibodaux Representative Bryan Fontenot’s bill garnered lively debate. Rep Aimee Freeman spoke against the bill and read a statement from New Orleans PD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson.
Representative Mack Cormier says it is a God-given right to arm yourself and everyone should have the opportunity to defend themselves.
The House did reject an amendment by Oil City Representative Danny McCormick to reduce the minimum age to carry a concealed weapon from age 21 to 18. The amendment failed 29-69.
Freeman says any legislation that has the potential to bring thousands of untrained individuals with weapons to the streets of New Orleans mixed with alcohol is a deadly combination.
Fontenot says Louisiana is behind because other states already have constitutional carry, and it hasn’t had a negative impact.
The bill passed 72-28. It now heads to the Senate where last week they approved a similar bill, which like the House version is more than enough to override a gubernatorial vet. However, veto overrides are extremely rare in Louisiana.
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State officials are celebrating our low overall COVID caseload while expressing real concern that the vaccination campaign is stalling out sooner than expected.
State Health Officer Dr. Joe Kanter says Louisiana’s percent positivity rate is down to 2.7 percent with six out of nine medical regions seeing week-to-week case decreases. Compared to the nation…
And while just under a third of Louisianans have initiated their vaccine series and 27 percent have completed their series Governor Edwards says the rapid decline in demand is concerning.
Only 81 percent of all vaccines ordered by the state have been used so far. Edwards says at this point if you want a vaccine, you can get one possibly as soon as same day.
Kanter says they’re beginning to move resources away from mass vaccine events and into targeted community outreach like their new program that vaccinates homebound individuals in their homes.
If you are homebound, or care for a homebound Louisianan call the vaccine hotline at 855-453-0774 and request an in-home vaccination visit.
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The LSU baseball team begins a series tonight at Auburn in the need of victories in order to make the SEC and NCAA tournaments. There are just three SEC series remaining in the regular season and while every series is important, coach Paul Mainieri wants to take a game-by-game approach.
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The Tigers have shown a lot of improvement in the field, nobody more than shortstop Jordan Thompson, who Mainieri says has performed much better than expected.
LSU is still looking for a third-weekend starter since Jaden Hill suffered his season-ending injury. Ma’Khail Hilliard got the start this past weekend and performed well. Hilliard explained his mindset when he knows he’ll start.