A House bill from Covington Republican Mark Wright aims to limit the amount of time a state of emergency declaration can go without legislative approval. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
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With kids spending more time in front of screens these days the number of reported cases of potential online sexual predation of minors was up 200 percent from April to June. Matt Doyle has the story.
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A UL Lafayette biologist is conducting vegetable research with NASA and launching radishes to space on Thursday. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
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The second special session of 2020 began last night and bills have been filed that seek to scale back the governor’s authority during an emergency. House Republican Mark Wright of Covington aims to limit the amount of time a state of emergency declaration can go without legislative approval. Wright proposes that any emergency declaration extended beyond 30 days should see more input than just the governor.
Cut 4 (13)“ …of these orders.”
Republican lawmakers did not consult with the governor before calling this 30-day session. Governor Edwards has said you can’t respond to a public health emergency by committee. But Wright says his legislation could result in future emergency orders being more effective, because it will have the backing of the legislature as well.
Wright calls the legislation an additional layer of checks and balances and says similar consultation with lawmakers exists at the federal level as well.
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According to the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office, there’s been a 200 percent increase in online sexual predator cases during the pandemic.
Louisiana Internet Crimes against Children Commander Corey Bourgeois says the increase appears to be linked to the fact that kids spent more time online due to the stay at home order.
Despite that increase in activity Bourgeois says the number of total arrests for online predation will likely not be notably higher at the end of the year.
Bourgeois says parents must be the frontline of defense against online predators and keep a close eye and limits on their young children’s internet usage despite pressure not to do so…
Bourgeois says nationwide there have been 16 million cases of potential online predation reported by social media companies between April and June to watchdogs, 743 of those were in Louisiana.
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Radishes from UL Lafayette will soon be growing in space. UL Lafayette vegetable researcher Dr. Karl Hasenstein says the research has been in the works for three years but needs to be tested in space to advance cosmic exploration.
Seeds will travel to the International Space Station via a rocket launch on Thursday from a NASA facility in Virginia.
Hasenstein says radishes were selected for their ability to be grown rapidly with a greater quantity in a smaller amount of area. The usefulness of the plants also extends beyond the ability to be a food source.
Cut 11 (09) “…consumed by humans.”
Two batches of 20 radishes will be grown in space, then upon harvest will be sent back to earth for further research, including a comparison to radishes grown on earth at the same time.
Cut 12 (12) “…do the analysis.”
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The 250 dollar Frontline Worker Rebate Program has processed about 65 percent of the over 240,000 applications received.
Louisiana Revenue Secretary Kimberly Robinson says they’re confident they will give away all of the money by the October 31st application deadline.
Eligible workers have to earn less than 50,000 dollars a year and have worked in a specifically listed frontline job for a certain amount of hours during the pandemic.
Robinson says they only have about 22 million dollars left to give out from the 50 million dollar pot, and over 110,000 eligible workers have received their money.
Robinsons says they still have thousands of people who need to respond to requests for additional information before they can get their cash.
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LSU Football Coach Ed Orgeron admits they should have had a better plan in place on both sides of the ball this past Saturday when they lost to previously unranked Mississippi State 44-34. LSU allowed 623 passing yards and the Tigers offense allowed seven sacks. Coach Ed Orgeron says he looks forward to getting back on track this Saturday at Vanderbilt
Myles Brennan threw for a bunch of yards in his first start, but he was also intercepted twice and brought down behind the line of scrimmage seven times. Orgeron says Brennan needs to make quicker decisions…
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Cornerback Derek Stingley Junior could return to practice as early as today. He missed the season opener after suffering a non-COVID illness on Friday night that sent him to the hospital. Orgeron hopes Stingley can play on Saturday.
He says it hurt that Stingley’s replacement Jay Ward missed a couple of weeks during the preseason because of an injury. LSU’s other starter at corner Cordale Flott got picked on a lot. Orgeron says they still have confidence in this group
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The Saints made Alvin Kamara one of the highest-paid running backs in the league just before the season started and so far that investment is paying off.
Through three games he has 153 rushing yards on nearly five yards a carry and 285 yards through the air with six total touchdowns. Coach Sean Payton highlighted his 52 yard TD catch in Sunday night’s loss…
Just days before the season opener against the Bucs Kamara signed a five year, 75-million dollar extension with the team. Only Panther’s QB Christian McCaffery makes more at 16 million a year.
In that 52 yard explosion against Green Bay Kamara broke six different tackles off a short line of scrimmage dump-off pass. Payton says he’s just a tough player to keep down…