Louisiana is making strides in increased wages and gender pay equality but there is still a long way to go for workers on this Labor Day. Emelie Gunn has more…
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The LSU Ag Center increases its estimate on how much damage feral hogs perform on Louisiana farms. Michael Farrar has the story…
Cut 2 (30) “I’m Michael Farrar”
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After a long Saturday night that resulted in a cancelled football game, the LSU Tigers prepare for a tough test in Starkville against Mississippi State. Jeff Palermo has more…
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There is mixed news for the workers of Louisiana on this Labor Day. The Louisiana Budget Project found that wages for workers in the state have finally started to turn upwards, with the median wage rising to $15.63 an hour, a 39-cent increase from 2012 to 2014. L-B-P Director Jan Moller says with the good news, there is also some bad news to report.
Moller says we’re not doing nearly enough to improve the lives of workers across Louisiana. He says we have more people working in the state than ever before, yet these large pay gaps continue to get bigger.
Moller says we’re losing many jobs in the construction industry and manufacturing, which are jobs that pay more. But he says some redeeming news is the gender pay gap is shrinking, as women are beginning to make some headway on their male counterparts.
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To conclude our series of questions to the gubernatorial candidates, we asked them how they would work with state agencies to reduce the number of sexually transmitted diseases. Louisiana has some of the highest STD rates in the country. Senator David Vitter says education is the first step to lowering these numbers.
Republican Scott Angelle believes Louisiana suffers from such high STD rates because we’re failing to educate children. He says parents should have the birds and the bee’s conversation at home but sex education should also be taught in public schools.
Republican Jay Dardenne says problem needs to be addressed through increased awareness, testing and treatment. He says the areas experiencing the highest rates of STDs are Louisiana’s bigger metropolitan cities, which also are at an increased risk for human trafficking.
Democrat John Bel Edwards says healthcare access is crucial to reducing the rate of HIV, AIDS and STDs, as well as, treating those already infected. He says educating the public on prevention is key to stop the spread of more diseases.
Cut 10 (10) “educational curriculum”
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Damage from feral hogs cost Louisiana farmers an estimated 74-million dollars in 2013. That’s according to research conducted by LSU AgCenter Economist Shaun Tanger, who says the hogs caused 53-million in damage to Louisiana crops…
cut 11 (08) “non-production losses”
The additional 21-million in non-production losses includes replanting costs and damage to pastures and levees. Tanger says since the feral hog population continues to grow, so will the amount of damage
Cut 12 (07) “continue to escalate”
The LSU AgCenter estimates Louisiana’s feral hog population at a half-million, with heavier concentrations in the south-central and northeastern regions of the state. He says this study is based on a survey of Louisiana farmers, so it doesn’t account for damage to non-farm land
Cut 13 (10) “considerably bigger”
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There’s no LSU game from Saturday to react to on this Labor Day. The Tigers and McNeese State played a handful of snaps, when lightning near the stadium halted the contest. The decision to cancel the game, came just after 10:30 after the teams waited nearly four hours for the lightning to stop. Coach Les Miles says there was no sense in trying to resume the game at around midnight
Saturday’s cancelled game will not be made up. McNeese will still receive a 500-thousand dollar game check from LSU. Miles is not sure how this will impact the team, if they are a candidate to play in the four-team college football playoff and they only played eleven games, while everyone else played 12
LSU is now getting ready for Mississippi State, without the benefit of having a full game under their belt. But Miles says the Tigers will be ready for the Bulldogs…
Cut 16 (11) “positivies there”
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Franklin Parish remains in shock over the death of 16-year-old Tyrell Cameron, who died from an apparent broken neck sustained while playing football on Friday night. Matt Reynolds is the play-by-play man for the Franklin Parish Patriots and says Cameron was covering a punt and ran into a Sterlington player who was blocking for the returner…
Cameron was taken off the field on a stretcher and quickly rushed to a local hospital, but died shortly after the fatal hit. Reynolds says it was Cameron’s first varsity game as a starter and he was well liked by his teammates
Cut 18 (08) “brought laughter”
Reynolds says there was vigil at the football stadium on Saturday night, which was attended by about a thousand people. He says it was great to see Franklin Parish support the team and Cameron’s family