While in DC meeting with lawmakers about disaster relief for 2020 and 2021 Governor Edwards was asked about what’s being done to address immediate housing needs for those impacted by Ida. Brooke Thorington has more
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The Louisiana National Guard is still busy at work helping those victimized by Hurricane Ida almost four weeks ago. More from Dave Brannen.
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A federal grand jury indicts former Monroe area State Police trooper Jacob Brown for the May 2019 flashlight beating of a man during an arrest. More from Kevin Gallagher.
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Louisiana State Police are taking part in this Saturday’s national program to check child passenger seats. Sergeant James Anderson says the event will take place from 9 a.m. to noon.
Cut 4 (11) “…they’re installed properly.”
Officials say that 75-percent of children are in a safety seat that’s the wrong size or type or improperly installed. The National Seat Check is being held in nine locations around the state.
Trooper Anderson says the focus will be on helping participants with the proper installation of a child seat.
Cut 5 (12) “…to be installed.”
Sergeant Anderson says that in many cases the child seats are not being correctly utilized.
Locations for the free car seat inspection can be found on the website, www.lsp.org.
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Hurricane Ida left an estimated eight thousand homes unlivable and some of those individuals are living in tents and rubble where their homes once stood. Thousands of others are displaced. Governor John Bel Edwards says his administration is pushing FEMA to speed up the decision-making on long-term housing for these individuals…
Cut 7 (09) “…available to that.”
Edwards says it’s not as if FEMA isn’t helping because the agency is currently assisting 25,000 with transitional shelter via hotel rooms and there’s also essential lodging for those in impacted areas. Edwards says FEMA will decide on the next phase and it could be a combination of structures.
Edwards says FEMA is currently housing 25-thousand displaced Hurricane Ida survivors in hotels away from home. He understands many of those would like temporary housing set up on their property, but will be FEMA’s decision.
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Thousands of Louisiana National Guard members are still on the job helping victims of Ida in the southeast coastal communities. Spokesperson Noel Collins tells us what some of the citizen-soldiers are doing to assist in the recovery.
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Collins says many of the guard members have been working to get commodities to those in need.
More than three weeks after Ida made landfall, the guard is still helping out in many ways, but the number of soldiers still on duty has diminished significantly according to Collins.
Cut 12 (11) “…thousand service members.”
She says the guard still has 12 points of distribution for meals, water, ice, and tarps operating in four parishes, down from 80 pods at the start statewide.
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A federal grand jury indicts a former Monroe area State Trooper for excessive force in the May 2019 roadside beating of arrestee Aaron Bowman. Jacob Brown’s bodycam footage shows his striking Bowman 18 or more times with his MagLite. Legal analyst Tim Meche says it’s important to remember a federal indictment is not for committing a violent crime.
Cut 13 (09) “…jurisdiction over that.”
Brown’s indictment is for “deprivation of rights under color of law”. Meche says the prosecutor will need little more than the video to convince a jury of Brown’s guilt, but there are avenues Brown’s legal counsel could take to clear him.
If convicted of the deprivation of rights charge, Brown could face up to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $250-thousand. Meche says this is a great example of how cops wearing body cameras leads to more and better transparency. He says Brown’s defense has its work cut out for it.
Cut 15 (13) “…gonna be the key.”
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LSU’s defense has spent this week getting ready for Mississippi State’s air raid offense. The Bulldogs threw for an SEC-record 623 yards against the Tigers in last year’s season opener. After missing the last two games with an injury, safety Jay Ward is expected to play. Defensive end BJ Ojulari says having Ward on the field means a lot for the Tigers…
Ojulari believes they are better on defense this year
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Louisiana Tech looks to rebound from a tough loss last weekend when they host North Texas in the Conference USA opener. The Bulldogs fell to 1-and-2 on the season when SMU hit on a Hail Mary pass on the final play of the game to beat Tech last Saturday. Bulldogs Coach Skip Holtz says it was a gut punch, but hopefully something they can learn from
Holtz says North Texas is an explosive team on offense…