There are reports that some families are opting out from having their child take standardized tests that are part of Common Core because they feel those tests will be harmful to their children. Chairman of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, Chas Roemer, says the new standardized tests are more rigorous than previous ones, but it will help determine a student’s strength and weakness…

cut 8 (09) “their student”

Roemer is encouraging parents to have their child take the test in March.

Many are waiting to see if democratic New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu will get in the governor’s race. Jeremy Alford, publisher of la-politics-dot-com, says Landrieu only has about 40-thousand dollars in campaign money in the bank, so if he’s getting in, he’ll need to make a decision soon…

cut 13 (06) “wanted too”

Alford says some Democratic operatives say Landrieu will pass on the governor’s race.

LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center plans to provide doctors in Louisiana with proven strategies which would reduce and treat childhood obesity. Project lead, Dr. Amanda Staiano, says they have fantastic national recommendations on how to treat obesity and screen for it in clinics, but they find many physicians aren’t using them…

cut 5 (12) “and families”

Staiano says they have over 2,000 hard copies of the toolkit they plan to distribute throughout the state.

If you are interested in health reports for local restaurants, there’s now an app for that. It’s called “What the Health” and co-creator Jake Van Dyke of Modern Appsolutions says the app is very user friendly…

cut 10 (08) “recent inspection”

Louisiana is one of just eight states, along with Washington DC, serviced by the app. The app is free and available for both Android and iPhones.