Over 200 state troopers will be in New Orleans for the final weekend of Carnival 2020. Trooper Monroe Dillon says law enforcement will be utilizing the See Something Send Something app, where if you spot something that may need the attention of law enforcement, you can send in an anonymous tip to officials.
Governor Edwards plans to spend a billion dollars a year building and restoring the coast over the next four years, according to his recently released second term coastal plan. 115 million dollars from last year’s surplus will help bolster those efforts. Restore the Mississippi River Delta Director Steve Cochran says not only is that money flexible, but it shows we mean business.
The Tulane National Primate Research Center will soon begin work on a vaccine, and more effective diagnostic tools for the coronavirus. Associate Director Dr. Skip Bohm says part of their work will be developing more reliable ways to test for the disease. Bohm says like many early periods of a virus, they’re seeing a lot of false negatives and false positives.
Cleco customers will see a drop on their power bill starting in March with the removal of the storm restoration fee. The fee became part of customers’ statements to pay to fix the damage caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Cleco spokesperson Jennifer Cahill says the cost to repair Cleco’s system after storms was approximately $160 million, the largest combined storm expense in the company’s history.