Legislation to require surgical facilities to mitigate smoke plumes advances from Senate Health and Welfare. Brooke Thorington has more.
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A bill that would screen and detect students statewide who are suffering from dyslexia has been approved by the House Education Committee. Teiko Foxx has more.
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A bill to make operating rooms safer advances from Senate Health and Welfare. Bill author, Lafayette Senator Gerald Boudreaux says heat-producing equipment used in surgeries can create a smoke plume that could obscure a physician’s view.
The legislation requires healthcare facilities to adopt policies and implement surgical smoke plume evacuation systems to mitigate health hazards.
Nineteen other states either have similar laws or legislation in process in relation to surgical smoke plumes. Boudreaux says he’s met with physicians and nurses about the legislation and says the bill is not about penalizing healthcare facilities and providers.
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The Louisiana Department of Health would verify compliance with the smoke plume evacuation and mitigating systems. Boudreaux says he’s fostered a good working relationship with medical associations about the legislation.
Senate Bill 29 passed favorably in committee.
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UL Lafayette’s CAPE team of student researchers will design and build a small solar-powered satellite that will be used by NASA to help keep astronauts and the public safe from radiation. Electrical and Computer Engineering Instructor, Dr. Jared Tessier (Tess-see-yay) says the students are excited to have been selected…
The satellite will orbit the earth at least twice a day and will gauge radiation in space through measurements taken with a neutron radiation detector. Tessier says the experimentation is rooted in technology.
UL Lafayette became the first university in Louisiana whose students designed, built, and launched a working satellite that orbited Earth in 2007. They also launched a satellite in 2013 and 2021. Tessier says this has been an incredible foundation for students interested in STEM fields.
NASA’s latest CAPE satellite is projected to blast off sometime between 2024 and 2027.
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Legislation that would mandate every Louisiana kindergartener to be screened for dyslexia is making its way to the House floor. The bill authored by Gretna Representative Joe Marino says it’s time to change the educational narrative for students in Louisiana.
Marino says screening tests are only $1.50 per and parents can request testing for their child. HB 69, approved by the House Education Committee, would test students in the second semester of kindergarten.
Marino says nearly 20 percent of the U.S. population has dyslexia but this is a step in the right direction for the academic careers of many students.
Marino believes catching students early can equip them with the resources necessary to succeed.
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Authorities seized a little over 108 pounds of powder cocaine during a traffic stop on LA Highway 28 East of Pineville. Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Tommy Carnline says deputies assigned to the RADE Unit Highway Interdiction Team conducted a traffic stop on a semi-tractor trailer truck for improper lane usage.
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Deputies deployed their police canine ‘Izzy’ to do an air sniff of the tractor-trailer driven by 56-year-old Jose Calderon of Edinburg, Texas. During the investigation, they observed a positive alert of possible narcotics. Deputies located over 108 pounds of powder cocaine in the commercial rig hauling 45,000 pounds of mangoes.
Calderon was arrested and remains in the Rapides Parish Detention Center on a $500,000 bond. Carnline says the RADE agents along with agents from the local field office of the FB and the Drug Enforcement Administration were helpful in the investigation.
Calderon is charged with improper lane usage, obstruction of drivers view windshield, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Agents estimate the street value of the recovered cocaine is between $1-$3 million dollars.