Louisiana’s stay at home order has been extended through April. Matt Doyle has the story.
_____________________________________
Department of Education issues guidance for school districts on how to handle the impending graduating class of high school seniors. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
___________________________________________
If you owe child support, the Department of Children and Family Services is not relaxing on payments during the pandemic. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
Cut 3 (30) “…I’m Kevin Barnhart”
____________________________________________
Governor Edwards officially extends the state’s stay at home order through at least April, and says a model used by the White House predicts 1,834 Louisianans will die of COVID-19.
The Governor says the model is predicated on the idea that we continue mitigation measures through May, instead of the current reopening date of May 1st.
310 people have died in Louisiana from COVID-19.
Edwards says to limit the death toll the state has already distributed 450 ventilators to hospitals since the start of the COVID crisis, but finding new ones at the moment is difficult.
507 Louisiana COVID patients are currently on ventilators.
Edwards says we’re not seeing the kind of shelter in place compliance we would like in areas outside the big cities. He says if those rural areas don’t take this seriously now…
____________________________________________
The State Treasurer is shipping out four million dollars’ worth of unclaimed property checks to Louisianans this week. John Schroder says by working with the Department of Revenue they’ve identified tens of thousands of recipients who are owed money they can use right now.
Schroder says about one in six Louisianans is owed unclaimed property by the state, and you can speed up the process of getting it to you by visiting latreasury.com
So keep your eyes on your mailbox over the next week, and don’t throw out any mail until you know what it is.
Unclaimed property can be everything from payroll checks to old bank accounts, royalties, deposits, interest payments, and more.
Schroder says the average check is no small fortune, but it is worth about nine hundred dollars.
Schroder estimates 14 million dollars in checks will be shipped next month.
______________________________________________
Department of Education issues guidance for school districts on how to handle the impending graduating class of high school seniors. Assistant Superintendent Ken Bradford says seniors won’t have to worry about taking the usual standardized tests graduation, but districts will have to make a call on how to handle course credits and other graduation requirements.
Cut 10 (08) “…high school credit.”
Bradford says students may elect to receive a pass/fail credit over a traditional letter grade for classes this semester, but it will not be factored into a GPA.
Cut 11 (10) “…impact their GPA”
All requirements to receive TOPS have remained the same.
Bradford says the Board of Regents is moving forward with options for dual-enrollment students. They can either remain in the course and complete the coursework on time or they can do what is called an “in progress” …
_________________________________________
The Department of Children and Family Services is not relaxing child support payments due to the pandemic. Child Support Enforcement Director Lydia Scales says non-custodial parents will still be on the hook for money owed despite their employment status, but no enforcement actions will be taken.
Cut 13 (12) “…those enforcement techniques.”
If a parent loses a job and can’t make a payment, Scales recommends they call their child support worker and let them know that their circumstances have changed.
Scales says the large number of layoffs and furloughs attached to the pandemic are a major area of concern that is compounded by the fact that they do not have any sort of remedy for the growing problem.
Cut 15 (11)“…this is nationwide.”
_________________________________________________
LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri is still not exactly sure what his roster might look like in 2021. Mainieri says senior pitchers Matthew Beck and Aaron George will be able to return, because the NCAA is giving them another year of eligibility. But he’s not sure how many players or recruits he’ll lose to the draft, because Major League Baseball has yet to decide how many round the draft will be…
Cut 16 (18) “…definitive answers”
Current NCAA rules, only allow college baseball programs to hand out 11.7 scholarships among 27 players. Mainieri says with seniors coming back for another year and fewer players getting drafted, he’s hoping for some roster flexibility….