972 people were killed in 2021 on Louisiana roads according to the LSU Center for Analytics and Research in Transportation. Louisiana Highway Safety Commission Spokesperson Mark Lambert says the number of impaired driving crashes increased a disturbing 32 percent.
Last year there was also an all-time high of 185 pedestrians being killed by motorists.
New US Census information shows Louisiana had the highest poverty rate in the country from 2019 to 2021 at nearly 20-percent. But Louisiana Budget Project Director Jan Moller says thanks to food stamps and enhanced unemployment during the pandemic, the state’s poverty rate actually decreased…
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Moller says national data shows poverty, especially among children fell to historic lows when the expanded Child Tax Credit was available.
The state-run property insurer of last resort requests a rate hike of over 60 percent. Kevin Gallagher has the story…:
Cut 2 (30) “….I’m Kevin Gallagher.”
Governor Edwards issued a statement praising the state’s third consecutive month of record-breaking low unemployment. The unemployment rate in Louisiana is 3.5 percent, the lowest in the state’s history. He also encourages those looking for work to reach out to the Louisiana Workforce Commission for employment opportunities.