After setting a new record for visitors in Louisiana last year the tourism industry is bracing for a bleak 2020. Matt Doyle has more.
____________________________
Barbershops and hair salons would open up ASAP if AG Jeff Landry had his way. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
Cut 2 (30) “…I’m Kevin Barnhart”
_____________________________
After ruling all non-unanimous jury verdicts unconstitutional the US Supreme Court will now decide whether that decision applies retroactively.
The case involves a Baton Rouge man serving multiple life sentences, but the jury hearing the case did not deliver a unanimous verdict in 2006. His attorney Andre Belanger explains the objective
Belanger’s client, Thedrick Edwards, was convicted on multiple counts including kidnapping and rape near LSU with most of the non-unanimous convictions being decided along racial lines.
Belanger says Edwards’ case should be overturned because the US Supreme Court has already decided non-unanimous verdicts were wrongly decided.
One estimate pins the number of potential cases impacted by this decision at around 1,800. Belanger says it could be life-changing.
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry opposes overturning past non-unanimous convictions, and Baton Rouge DA Hillar Moore opposes overturning Edwards’ verdict, calling him a “bad dude”.
_________________________________________________
After a record breaking 53.2 million people visited Louisiana in 2019 the state is scrambling to save the tourism industry.
The future of tourism is murky but Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser says this isn’t the first time we’ve weathered a storm and rebounded to set new records.
The 53.2 million was a four percent increase over 2018.
Nungesser says he hopes Louisiana can begin phase one of re-opening the economy on May 15th and phase two a couple of weeks later. He says that’s when they can try to bring tourists back. He says the department of tourism is reaching out to groups that canceled their events in Louisiana…
By the end of 2019, an estimated 242,000 people worked in Louisiana tourism. Nungesser says it is the fourth largest industry in the state.
Cities and parishes are cash strapped and Nungesser says to save major event tourism the Legislature needs to authorize more tourism assistance to local governments.
______________________________
Attorney General Jeff Landry is pushing for the Governor to greenlight the reopening of barbershops and hair salons. Landry says it is a step in the right direction of getting the economy running and stresses the importance of haircuts as a matter of personal hygiene and mental well-being.
Landry is calling on the move to be made as soon as possible and says the reopening would be a part of the restoration of people’s liberty.
Landry encourages the Governor to issue guidance for the reopening and says spread mitigation techniques can implemented into the haircut process.
Cut 11 (11) “…should be optional.”
______________________________
The University of Louisiana System announces a special tuition rate for adults wanting to return to school to finish their degree at one of their nine campuses through the Compete LA program. UL System President Jim Henderson says the new rate provides an average discount of $450 per course.
Cut 12 (12) “…the adult learner.”
The UL System launched Compete LA last fall and has enrolled more than 2,000 returning students. Henderson says the process of finding the right path to a degree doesn’t get much more convenient.
Cut 13 (11) “…the market today.”
Henderson says the program gives employers a bigger talent pool to hire from and will enhance the revenue for the state of Louisiana.