Louisiana’s Mitch Landrieu will be a senior advisor on the implementation of President Biden’s historic infrastructure bill. More from Dave Brannen.
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The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is investigating to see if the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans is also in whitetail deer. Jeff Palermo has the story…
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An audit of the Louisiana Workforce Commission finds the agency made $2.9 million in payments that potentially violated both state and federal unemployment rules. Brent McDougall, Senior Analyst with the Louisiana Legislative Auditor says this is the fourth audit of LWC since the pandemic.
McDougall says the audit found cases where the overpayments had not been identified and cases to retrieve those overpayments have not been established yet. He says LWC already has already flagged some incidents of overpayment and is working with those individuals to recapture funds.
McDougall says when you look at overall unemployment payments during the height of the pandemic, the overpayments are only a small percentage and he acknowledges it was a very difficult time for the agency.
The audit found $898,000 in improper payments, almost two million of weekly benefits overpayment allowed during the period of February 2020 through April 2021, and almost $34,000 in duplicate payments.
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Former New Orleans Mayor and Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu will serve as President Biden’s senior advisor on the distribution of Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act funding that’s being signed into law today. UNO Political analyst Ed Chervenak on what Landrieu brings to the table in this policy role.
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The one-point-three-trillion-dollar infrastructure bill will provide funding for improvements to such things as roads, bridges and airports, and Landrieu’s influence could mean a positive impact for Louisiana.
The decision to tap Mitch Landrieu as a senior advisor on the investments being made under the historic infrastructure bill is being lauded by UNO political analyst Ed Chervenak.
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Given all of the infrastructure needs and problems in New Orleans and Louisiana left unaddressed, Chervenak was asked about the criticism that may come Landrieu’s way as a senior advisor for dealing with infrastructure needs nationwide.
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Louisiana is beginning to test whitetail deer for the presence of COVID-19 after the same animals tested positive for the virus in Iowa. LDWF Deer Program Manager Jonathan Bordelon:
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Bordelon says the state is now joining with the USDA Wildlife Services to collect blood for testing from whitetail deer harvested by hunters in Louisiana. It’s not known if the deer can transmit the virus to humans.
Bordelon says that even if a deer is infected with the coronavirus, they don’t appear to show any signs of it.
Bordelon says it comes as no surprise that deer and other animals can be infected with the COVID virus, but how it’s transmitted is the bigger question.
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A new report from Bank-rate-dot-com finds Louisiana ranks as the second-worst state for drivers. Bankrate analyst Sarah Foster says a main reason for the high ranking is that Louisiana is expensive for drivers, the state’s average car insurance rates are the highest in the country at 27-hundred dollars…
Foster says in addition to the high cost for drivers, Louisiana has a high fatality rate.
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Foster says Louisiana’s auto insurance premiums are about one-thousand dollars more than the national average. She says the state also ranks 20th for the highest cost of auto repairs and 17th for the longest average commute time at 27-minutes…