Saints owner Gayle Benson said her team’s performance this season has been unacceptable, but what does that really mean for the Black and Gold? Kace Kieschnick reports.
Cut 1 (35) “…I’m Kace Kieschnick.”
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Louisiana finished the fiscal year that ended on June 30th with a 565-million-dollar budget surplus. Jeff Palermo has the story…
Cut 2 (32) “…I’m Jeff Palermo.”
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The Saints will have their chance to answer owner Gayle Benson’s call to action on Sunday against the Giants. Nola.com’s Jeff Duncan says Benson’s rare public appearance admonishing the team’s performance was eye-opening. Her speech came before a big road trip to New York, then to Paris for the first-ever NFL game in France.
The Black and Gold are 1-and-4 to start the season, and only six teams in the last 20 years have made the playoffs after such a bad start. New Orleans has not been to the postseason in five years, and Duncan says if they miss out again, it would be the longest playoff drought in a long time.
Duncan says everything in the organization would have to be considered, including the job security of GM Mickey Loomis and head coach Kellen Moore.
Duncan says the team is dealing with injuries, but they are also just not playing well in all three phases of the game. He says questions of the game planning are emerging, and they need to get back on track this weekend.
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A north Louisiana theater which was one of the focal points during the civil rights movement is awarded a 750-thousand-dollar grant from the National Park Service for the first phase of a major restoration project. Janice Simmons, the assistant director of Greater North Louisiana Community Development Commission, says the money will go towards much-needed repairs for the 102-year-old Palace Theater in Jonesboro.
Cut 6 (11) “…disrepair right now.”
In 1965, the year after President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law, then-U.S. Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach sued the theater in Jackson Parish, along with two nearby restaurants, for refusing to admit Black patrons. In response, the theater and restaurants opted to close down rather than serve Black patrons. Dr. Herbert Simmons Jr., the co-founder of the Greater North Louisiana Community Development Commission, says it’s all the more reason why restoring the theater is of utmost importance.
In all, the renovation will cost up to four-million dollars and will take place over the course of up to five years. Herbert Simmons says they have big plans for the theater when the renovations are complete.
Cut 8 (09) “…past and present.”
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All the numbers have been tabulated, and it turns out Louisiana finished last fiscal year with a 565-million-dollar budget surplus. House Appropriations Chairman Jack McFarland says a huge percentage of that surplus is the result of higher-than-expected tax collections.
The state constitution dictates how the surplus dollars can be spent. McFarland says at least half of it will be used to add dollars to the rainy day fund and the paying down of state employee retirement debt. He says the rest of the money will be used on one-time expenses.
Cut 10 (12) “…college campuses.”
McFarland says another reason for the surplus, the Landry Administration and this state legislature have limited the growth of state government. He expects Louisiana will avoid tough budget times in the future, because of the job creation that’s happening.
State lawmakers will decide during next year’s legislative session how the money will be exactly spent.
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A dry cold front will bring Louisiana fall-like temperatures this weekend and into early next week. Meteorologist Brad Bryant with the National Weather Service in Shreveport says we finally see relief from the humidity, and high temperatures will only be in the 80s.
But this cold front is elevating the risk for wildfires. Bryant says outside of southeast Louisiana, the state is experiencing severe drought to exceptional drought conditions. He says combine that with low humidity and breezy conditions, it will not take much for a wildfire to spread quickly.
A red flag warning, which means elevated fire weather conditions, has been issued for much of the state. Bryant says gusty winds will subside in north Louisiana today, but continue for central and southeast Louisiana tomorrow.