The east coast saw the season’s only major Hurricane landfall incident when Florence slammed the Carolinas, killing 29 and causing an estimated 38 billion in damage in September, and as we move into October there’s only two months of hurricane season left. State Climatologist Barry Keim says another major storm is unlikely but possible.
Keim says there’ve been a few storms to hit Louisiana in October, but the last was Juan in 1985.
The Louisiana Health Department announces they did not identify elevated levels of lead in 12 elementary schools built before 1986. State Health Officer Dr. Jimmy Guidry says they tested a dozen schools statewide at the request of the legislature..
Drinking water was tested at schools statewide in every city survey.
The Supreme Court heard arguments today in a case brought by Edward Poitevent of St. Tammany who’s protesting the designation of some of his land as critical habitat for the endangered dusky gopher frog. Poitevent’s lawyer, Mark Miller, says the case will likely break on ideological lines, with the four left leaning judges opposing it, but with support from the right.
U-S Wildlife and Fisheries says the land is crucial to the future survival of the frog, but Poitevent argues the land shouldn’t be off limits to logging because it’s not currently habitable.
LSU Health New Orleans has received a $1.3 million grant from the US Department of Health and Human services to be used to increase the availability of sexual assault nurse examiners across twelve southeast Louisiana parishes. Dr. Jessica Landry says the University of South Alabama received the same grant, so she hopes both programs can work together.