LSU is returning the Pete Maravich Assembly Center to normal after using it to produce personal protection equipment. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
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If your child received free or reduced-price meals at school, you could receive an EBT card to make up for those lost meals due to school closures. Brooke Thorington explains.
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The Senate passes the Omnibus Tort Reform bill on a near party-line 29-8 vote. Matt Doyle has the story.
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The Louisiana Department of Health has made public a list of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities where residents and or staff have tested positive for COVID-19. Governor Edwards says you can find the 12-page document on LDH’s coronavirus webpage and click on the tab that says nursing homes
Louisiana is reporting 4,084 total resident cases in nursing homes along with 987 resident fatalities and 1,737 staff cases.
LDH has also issued formal guidance to all adult residential facilities on prevention measures going forward…
And the Acadiana region is reporting an uptick in COVID cases. Assistant Health Secretary Dr. Alex Billioux says around 100 people at three crawfish farms have tested positive…
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The Pete Maravich Assembly Center at LSU has hosted a PPE production facility for about the last month and now the operation is wrapping up. Director of Economic Development at LSU Greg Trahan says during that time, they made a big impact on the PPE needs of the state’s healthcare workers.
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Over one million square feet of billboard vinyl was used to make gowns and roughly 100 employees assisted in the project. Trahan says the project showcased LSU’s ability to bring together different departments to tackle a project and do so in a highly productive manner.
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The project also produced over 2,000 gallons of hand sanitizer. Trahan anticipates the project will have a long-lasting legacy at LSU.
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Louisiana public school students who received free or reduced-priced meals at school can now receive 285-dollars per child to offset the loss of those meals due to COVID-19 school closures. Louisiana has been approved by the USDA to issue Pandemic EBT cards to help feed approximately 600-thousand students. State Department of Education spokesperson Syndi Dunn
The application is available online at the LDE website in a P-EBT portal or you can call 1-888-524-3578.
Dunn says families will receive up to $285 for each eligible child.
Dunn says the state expects to begin mailing EBT cards as early as May 26.
Dunn says benefits on the cards will expire in 365 days and you can now register now online for benefits until June 7th.
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Legislation that seeks to reduce auto insurance rates by changing the state’s legal system clears the upper chamber on a veto proof 29-8 vote. River Ridge Senator Kirk Talbot says his measure would result in more jury trials and other reforms that aim to limit damage claims against insurance companies and other businesses. Talbot says these reforms will lead to at least a 10-percent savings more motorists…
Talbot says Louisiana has some of the highest auto insurance rates in the country and these changes put Louisiana in line with other state’s tort policy. He says the legislation will also result in more companies writing auto insurance policies in Louisiana
Tort reform is a major priority of Republican lawmakers and business lobbying groups. Many freshmen members made supporting tort reform a central message of their campaigns.
Democratic Senator Jay Luneau of Alexandria opposes the bill. He says it has been written with loopholes that allow insurers to skip out on passing along tort related savings.
In committee, opponents testified that passage of the bill would lead to lower settlements for victims of corporate or personal negligence.
Luneau also targeted the legislation for undermining critical funding sources for local courts and says it fails to address the real reasons behind rising auto insurance rates.
The legislation is pending House introduction.
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Pelicans executive vice president David Griffin says seven players worked out at the team’s training complex in Metairie yesterday on the first day it’s been open since March 20th. Griffin says they could have had more, but the NBA has put a lot of stringent restrictions in place when it comes to what players can do inside team facilities
Players can work out with one staff member, but not with the head coach or an assistant. And the staff member who is working with the player must wear gloves if that person is rebounding for the player.
Play was halted with 18 games left in the regular season and the Pels 3.5 games back of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Griffin says when the season resumes, the schedule will likely look different
It’s been reported the NBA is looking at resuming the season by holding games in Las Vegas and Orlando. But Griffin says there’s a chance games could be played in the Smoothie King Center, without fans…