There are talks of adding a Category 6 to the hurricane Saffir-Simpson scale. But is it necessary? Brooke Thorington has more.
Cut 1 (33) “…I’m Brooke Thorington.”
______________________________________
Chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee Patrick McMath says there are way too many questions about the proposed sale of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana to a for profit company based out of Indiana. Jeff Palermo has more
Cut 2 (34) “…I’m Jeff Palermo”
______________________________________
Due to the growing intensity of storms there’s talk of adding a Category 6 for hurricanes. A Cat 6 would be defined as wind speeds of more than 192 miles per hour. But LSU Climatologist Barry Keim says considering the last one that even came close in the Atlantic was Hurricane Allen in 1980 at 190 miles per hour, there’s no need.
The strongest storm to ever make landfall in the US was Labor Day 1935 with winds of 185 miles per hour.
Keim says the National Hurricane Center considered adding a Category 6 but opted against it. He worries adding a higher classification could have repercussions.
The study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests global warming has prompted the need for an additional Saffir-Simpson scale storm category. Keim says the jury is still out…
Keim notes Pacific storms are routinely stronger because there’s less land to weaken their intensity.
________________________________________________________________
Las Vegas is hosting its first Super Bowl this week and next year New Orleans will host its record tying 11th Super Bowl. The Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation is the host committee for next year’s Super Bowl and CEO Jay Cicero is in Vegas all week….
New Orleans is hosting its first Super Bowl since 2013 and Cicero says the huge sporting event has grown…
New Orleans hosted its first Super Bowl in 1970 at old Tulane Stadium. Cicero says next year they’ll be remembering the ten previous Super Bowls held in the city and they expect it will be a great event…
Cut 8 (10) “…Super Bowl here.”
__________________________________________________________________
Senate Health and Welfare Chairman Patrick McMath says a daylong meeting with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana officials about its proposed sale to Indiana-based Elevance Health produced a ton of unanswered questions. McMath says the sale will create a foundation that will address poverty and health inequities, but there are a lot of unknowns
Cut 9 (11) “…incredibly vague”
McMath says they are also concerned the proposed sale to Elevance will lead to higher costs for policyholders despite the president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana telling legislators in his opening statement that premiums will not rise…
McMath says Blue Cross is a local nonprofit while Elevance is a for-profit company that has to answer to stockholders. He says in states that Elevance has acquired a Blue Cross Blue Shield, premiums have gone up…
Cut 11 (12) “…desperately need.”
Blue Cross covers one-point-nine million people in Louisiana.
For the sale to go through 92-thousand policyholders will be asked to vote and two-thirds of them will need to approve it. Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple will also have to sign off on it.
The Department of Insurance will hold a two-day hearing on the proposed sale on February 14th and 15th.
When the sale was announced in January 2023, Elevance and Blue Cross said the acquisition would improve access, quality, affordability and the customer service experience.
______________________________________________________________
McNeese men’s basketball coach Will Wade has agreed to a new five-year contract that will pay him 700-thousand dollars annually. That’s a lucrative contract for a school in the Southland Conference. Wade has led the Cowboys to a 20-3 season which has garnered them national attention. The former LSU coach says the best is yet to come for the Pokes…
Wade says his team’s upset victory over Michigan earlier this season resulted in six thousand unique visitor’s to the school’s website the next day and hundreds of those looked into applying at the school.
__________________________________________________________________