LSU’s live mascot Mike VI’s cancer has spread throughout his body, according to his veterinarian Dr. David Baker. Jeff Palermo has more…
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Research by the Associated Press and the Center for Public Integrity finds Louisiana has more opioid prescriptions than residents. Halen Doughty has more…
CUT 2 (30) “I’m Halen Doughty”
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Mike the Tiger’s veterinarian announces the live mascot’s cancer has spread throughout his body. Dr. David Baker says based on a CT scan, they believe Mike has one to two months to live.
Baker says currently, Mike VI is behaving very normally and his appetite has returned after treatment for a sinus infection due to a tumor. He says their current plan gives the LSU community time to say their goodbyes to the beloved mascot.
LSU has already instructed Baker to begin the search for a young tiger to become Mike VII. Baker says there is no way to know when Mike VI will permanently retire to his night house and assures they will not let him suffer. He says he’s been questioned about Mike’s radiation treatment and believes it did what it was supposed to do.
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There are more opioid prescriptions in Louisiana than there are residents. That’s according to research by the Associated Press and the Center for Public Integrity. Medical Director with the state Office of Public Health, Dr. David Holcombe, says it’s a problem in the Deep South, as Louisiana is one of 8 states with a high rate of prescriptions per resident. He says part of the problem is that it’s easier for doctors to write a prescription.
Louisiana’s opioid prescription rate was 1.03 per capita in 2015, and Tennessee, West Virginia, Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Kentucky also had rates higher than 1. Holcombe says pharmaceutical companies push these pills as being safer than they really are. He says there’s also a problem with patient demand.
Holcombe says when they crackdown on over prescribing these pills, many people who have become addicted will switch to heroin because it’s cheaper and more readily available. He says a simple solution would be for doctors to check their patients’ prescription history.
Holcombe doesn’t expect doctors to be eager to do these checks because it would be another hassle on their to-do list.
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Angry Jefferson Parish residents spoke out at a council meeting today urging Parish President Mike Yenni to resign. There are multiple allegations claiming while Yenni was the mayor of Kenner, he sent a 17-year-old boy sexually explicit texts and kissed the teen in a public bathroom then gave him designer underwear. Resident Richard Brown maintains Yenni offered that teen a job.
A spokesperson for Yenni said he would have something to say soon, but not today. Kenner resident and a mother of two boys, Stacy Alessandro, says she’s disappointed Yenni wasn’t at the meeting to refute these allegations. She says his silence speaks volumes.
Another Jefferson Parish resident says this is humiliating for the entire parish. She urges the council to take whatever action is need and hopes Yenni will speak out about these claims.
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An unrestrained 19-year-old was killed in a single vehicle crash after her vehicle was split in half in Catahoula Parish. State Police Trooper Scott Moreau says police responded to a crash in Harrisonburg, yesterday morning involving, Reagan Rainey of Jonesville, who lost control of her vehicle and hit a tree.
Moreau says State Police doesn’t see too many crashes were a vehicle is split in half, but when they do, speed is typically a factor.
Moreau says police are out enforcing speed and seat belt laws because it can be a recipe for disaster like this.
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