BESE formally adopts a list of minimum safety standard recommendations like mandatory face coverings and busing policy for schools to implement before classes begin. Matt Doyle covered the meeting…
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Attorney General Jeff Landry issues a legal opinion that says Governor Edwards order that requires maks, closes bars and limits crowd sizes is likely unconstitutional and unenforceable. Jeff Palermo has the story…
Cut 2 (30) “…I’m Jeff Palermo”
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The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education adopts a list of minimum safety standards that schools will be called on to implement to reopen safely. The recommendations range from mandatory face coverings to group size maximums. Children’s Hospital Chief Quality Officer Dr. Leron Finger says if schools follow these rules…
The recommendations also require teachers to be provided with hygienic supplies, limits on bus capacity, COVID symptom monitoring, and the recommendations could expand or shrink depending on what happens with the virus.
Parents, teachers unions, and even a board member raised concerns about whether physical classes should resume, but Ochsner Pediatrics Chair Dr. William Lennarz says current data suggests the risk is low.
BESE has no enforcement power to make districts follow the guidelines, but State Superintendent Cade Brumley says districts that choose not to would lose liability protection against COVID civil lawsuits.
Some spoke out against the recommendations, including Tangipahoa Parish School Board Member Brett Duncan who says he supports many of the standards, but…
Several school districts have already decided to delay the start of school.
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The Louisiana Department of Revenue says a state computer network connectivity problem created issues earlier today with the website where front-line workers can apply for a 250-dollar “hazard pay” check. Revenue Secretary Kimberly Robinson says the Office of Technology Services noticed the problem this morning…
Cut 6 (08) “…connectivity issues”
At around 2:00 this afternoon the web page was back up and accepting applications.
Frontlineworkers.la.gov began accepting applications at midnight and by seven AM they accepted more than 14-thousand applications. Robinson says they have funding available for 200-thousand applicants…
Robinson says the technical issue is also impacting those who are trying to file their state income taxes on the Lousiana Taxpayer Access Point portal, which is why they’ve pushed the state tax deadline to file taxes to Friday. The secretary hopes the technical issues have been resolved.
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Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s deputies are searching for a Lake Charles man who authorities say fatally two people and left a third-person fighting for her life at a home in Westlake. Sheriff Tony Mancuso says his deputies were called to the home around 4AM after 51-year-old Neil Broussard fled the scene.
Cut 9 (11) “…shot multiple times.”
One of the deceased has been identified as 17-year-old Kyla Hidalgo and the 18-year-old male victim has not been named. The third victim, 40-year-old Catherine Hidalgo was shot multiple times and is currently hospitalized.
Broussard, who authorities call a family acquaintance, is also accused of stealing Catherine’s car and kidnapping her 14-year-old daughter.
Mancuso says the agency is currently searching a wooded area in Beauregard Parish with the help from the FBI, State Police, and other agencies.
Cut 10 (10) “…safe, thank goodness.”
Mancuso says if anyone knows the whereabouts of Broussard, they should call 911 and not attempt to approach him as he is considered armed and dangerous.
Broussard was previously convicted of molestation of a juvenile, one count in 2005 and two counts in 2011.
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Governor John Bel Edwards announces the state has surpassed one million COVID-19 tests administered to residents since March. Edwards says Louisiana is testing at one of the highest levels of any state
The state reported two-thousand new coronavirus cases today, bringing the total to 84-thousand. The death toll also increased by 14 to 3,351.
The governor says testing, contact tracing, and reasonable regulations like mask wearing for people eight and older while in public can reduce the spread of the coronavirus…
A statewide mask mandate went into effect Monday and bars are also closed, except for curbside pickup. White House coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx says you should not have large gatherings at your house either…