Nearly 900 soldiers and airmen with the Louisiana National Guard are mobilized throughout the state in support of various Covid missions. Michelle Southern reports their work continues in 2022…
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Real Reform of Louisiana is calling out the insurance commissioner and those who said auto insurance rates would drop after the passage of tort reform in 2020. Brooke Thorington has more.
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Louisiana’s public colleges make big changes to help assure students are not made victims of sexual misconduct. More from Kevin Gallagher…:
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The Louisiana National Guard is continuing to support Covid missions around the state in 2022, at the direction of Governor John Bel Edwards. Cindy Haygood is the Task Force Covid commander with LANG. She says the Omicron surge has led to a huge increase in test site demand throughout the state…:
886 service members are currently supporting various Covid missions in Louisiana including providing food bank and warehouse support. Haygood says they are working at 28 vaccine sites and administering Covid tests at 31 sites…:
Haygood says guardsmen have administered more than 542,000 Covid tests, 206,300 vaccines since the start of the pandemic — and distributed over 42 million pounds of food. She says between the pandemic and hurricanes, many of these soldiers have been activated full-time for nearly 22 months…:
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According to ValuePenguin’s State of Auto Insurance in 2022, Louisiana will see car insurance rate increase faster than the national average. Eric Holl with Real Reform Louisiana says despite a promise that tort reform measures passed in the 2020 legislative session would decrease rates, so far, they haven’t.
When asked about the ValuePenguin’s report Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon says he’s not familiar with them.
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ValuePenguin is a personal finance website that researches insurance and other financial topics.
When the tort reform was debated in the 2020 session, Holl says there were claims passage would bring about a major reduction in auto insurance rates within a year.
Donelon counters that the bill contained no mandates for in a reduction of auto insurance premium costs.
Donelon says the tort reforms measures passed were an effort to address the highest in America claims to litigation ratio that the state suffers from. Holl says policyholders now actually have fewer rights as a result of tort reform if they’re in a battle with their auto insurance carrier.
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Louisiana colleges and universities are making sweeping changes to their sexual misconduct policies after new state laws were passed last year. Higher Education Commissioner Kim Hunter Reed says one big change is that virtually ALL staff and faculty are now mandatory reporters, should they be aware of sexual harassment or assault…:
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The 2021 legislature took action last year when LSU was found to have failed in addressing widespread sexual abuse complaints. Dr. Reed says since that time, there has been extensive training of employees on hearting such complaints and acting accordingly. She says 188 confidential advisors are now in place at Louisiana schools, to hear the complaints and report them up the line for appropriate action…:
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The new laws require agreements between campus officials and law enforcement to assure sexual abuse complaints are properly investigated. It also requires staff and faculty undergo training in properly handling such complaints. Dr. Reed says administrators will also be held responsible if complaints are ignored and “swept under the rug”…:
Cut 13 (10) “…can say “we did not know’”
Reed says the overall effect will be a safer and more secure environment in which to get an education.
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State Health Officer says it’s so important to wear face coverings to reduce transmission and because of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, you might want to rethink the type of mask you’re wearing. Kanter says while cloth masks help protect those around you…
When the pandemic began it was extremely difficult to find face coverings. But over time Kanter says the N95 and KN95 masks are not as scarce as they once were.
Kanter says he personally wears a KN95 mask because it’s more comfortable but either a KN95 or N95 mask provides equal protection.
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After dropping the SEC opener to Auburn, the 21st ranked LSU men’s basketball team is now 2-1 in league play after beating Kentucky and Tennessee last week. The Tigers knocked off the Volunteers in front of a sold out crowd on Saturday 79-67. Forward Darius Days says losing to Auburn turned into a good thing…
LSU is at Florida on Wednesday and they’ll host Arkansas on Saturday. Coach Will Wade says his team need to keep getting better…
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The Saints did their part but didn’t get the help they needed from the Rams who blew a 17-point lead against San Francisco and its the 49ers not New Orleans headed to the playoffs. After the Saints defeated the Falcons 30-20 they watched from the locker room to watch San Fran win in overtime in Los Angeles. Coach Sean Payton says they were pulling for the Rams hard…
The Saints finish a crazy season with a 9-8 record. The regular season started with the team re-located in the Dallas area because of Hurricane Ida. The Black and Gold used an NFL record 58 starters because of injuries and COVID. And played four quarterbacks. For the second time this year Trevor Siemien had to replace an injured quarterback…