A local judge has issued a temporary restraining order against Shreveport’s mask mandate. Matt Doyle asked a legal expert if cities have the legal authority to issue these mandates…
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Despite a high number of compliance checks, the State Fire Marshal’s office has not cited or shut down a single business for not following COVID mitigation requirements. Why is that? Kevin Barnhart has the story.
Cut 2 (31) “…I’m Kevin Barnhart”
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It will be a hot weekend as heat index values will reach 110, maybe even 115 degrees. State Climatologist Barry Keim says a high pressure system in the northern Gulf of Mexico will limit cloudiness and thunderstorms
Cut 3 (11) “…lots of humidity”
This stretch of hot weather will continue into early next week and Keim says it will be quite warm for outdoor activities in the morning…
Keim says rain chances are low this weekend…
Cut 5 (10) “…miss it”
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A Caddo District Court judge has issued a temporary restraining order blocking the City’s implementation of a mandate requiring masks to be worn inside businesses.
New Orleans, Jefferson Parish, and East Baton Rouge Parish have also issued similar mandates. Loyola Law Professor Dane Ciolino believes they do have the authority to do so.
If the mandate were to be implemented non-compliant businesses could potentially be shut down while the state remained in Phase Two.
Ciolino says governments are afforded a lot of leeways when it comes to this kind of policy.
Governor Edwards has often said that he is not, and has not considered a statewide mask mandate.
Ciolino says mask mandate opponents will have a hard time arguing against the mandates in potential court proceedings.
Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins has until July 16th to respond, and the five businesses suing to stop the mandate have until July 17th to reply.
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The State Fire Marshal’s office has conducted around 3,100 coronavirus spread mitigation compliance checks between June 26 and July 5, yet there hasn’t been any penalization of the rule breakers. State Fire Marshal Butch Browning says that’s because businesses are correcting shortcomings after the first visit.
Cut 9 (10) “…consider penalizing somebody.”
Browning says the lack of citations or shutdowns is a strong indicator that businesses care enough about their customers and employees to come into compliance.
Cut 10 (07) “…everything goes bad”
Browning says after a third check, if there are businesses that are blatantly defying the rules, that’s when further action will be taken, but says it has yet to come to that.
Cut 11 (07) “…exceeded our expectations.”
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The coronavirus pandemic may have put a dent into many sectors of the economy, but the Louisiana Lottery says they’ve just finished their second-best fiscal year ever that ended on June 30th. Lottery spokesperson Kim Chopin says that’s in large part due to an uptick in scratch-off sales from April through June.
Cut 12 (05) “…in our history.”
Multi-state jackpots such Powerball and Mega Millions ended the year down by about $66 million due to a 12-month drought of jackpots exceeding $400 million.
Many lottery retailers such as grocery and convenience stores were deemed essential and stayed open, which Chopin says was vital in maintaining player activity.
Cut 13 (08) “…have become inaccessible.”
Chopin says the ability to avoid interrupting player’s routines while other aspects of life were on hold also contributed to captivating their audience.