A bar in Monroe attempts to open against the Governor’s orders and is shut down just 25 minutes into service. Matt Doyle spoke with the owner of the Junkyard bar…
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An LSU economist predicts it will take at least two years to recover 90 percent of the jobs lost to the COVID Recession. Matt Doyle has the story.
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The Louisiana Community and Technical College System launches the Reboot Your Career program designed to help those who may be unemployed due to the pandemic get training for a high-wage, high-demand gig. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
Cut 3 (30) “…I’m Kevin Barnhart.”
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The Junkyard Bar in Monroe planned to open yesterday against the Governor’s orders but was shut down just 25 minutes into service.
Owner Lane Clark says with bills pilling up he had no choice but to try to open, but when he did ATF arrived and told him he could either surrender his liquor license or be arrested if he served another beer…
Clark is asking other bar owners to follow his lead saying suspensions of licenses don’t mean much if you can’t open anyway.
Clark had publicized his reopening beforehand and opened the doors at 3 PM Tuesday only to have ATF arrive at 3:25.
A hearing has been set for September 30th in Baton Rouge.
Clark says it’s not right that bars seem to be just about the only business not allowed to operate right now. He also says it’s not fair that many restaurants have gotten into the bar business…
Edwards has defended his decision to keep bars shuttered, pointing to guidance and requests from the White House Coronavirus Task Force that the state do so due to the still high prevalence of the virus. Edwards and the Task Force say bars lead to lax judgment and promote social behaviors that can create super spreading events.
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The Louisiana Economic Outlook estimates by 2022 Louisiana will have recovered only 90 percent of the jobs lost in the COVID Recession.
LSU Economist Dr. Loren Scott says by the end of this year Louisiana will have lost 105,000 jobs to the pandemic economic collapse, and our recovery will be less of a V and more of a Nike Swoosh…
72,600 of those jobs will return by the end of 2021, but only 94,100 of the jobs will have returned by 2022, leaving 11,500 jobs lost across the state.
What’s driving much of this slow recovery? Scott says a lot of it boils down to their projection that oil prices will only rise to 49 dollars a barrel by 2022, doing real damage in oil-dependent regions…
The Lake Charles, Baton Rouge, and Hammond regions are all projected to regain all of the jobs they lost by 2022, but the Shreveport-Bossier region, due to reliance on casinos, is only expected to get 70 percent of their 10,600 lost jobs back.
The report was conducted before Hurricane Laura devastated southwest Louisiana, but Scott anticipates the region will see higher than expected growth due to all of the wind damage caused by the storm.
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Two Kenner men are under arrest and a third suspect wanted for the rape of a juvenile under the age of 13. Kenner Police Commander of Criminal Investigations Michael Cunningham says the three suspects were home alone with the victim when they began making sexual advances to the child, offering money for sex. The victim then locked herself in her room.
Cut 10 (11) “…sexually assaulted her.”
The two arrested have been identified as brothers Raul and Wilmer Paz-Perez, both 35, and 31-year-old Elder Paz-Perez is still on the loose.
Cunningham says the suspect that is on the run was in a relationship with the mother of the victim.
Cut 11 (07) “…a second investigation.”
Cunningham asks that anyone with information on the whereabouts of Elder Paz-Perez contact law enforcement or Crime Stoppers.
Cut 12 (09) “…track him down.”
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The Louisiana Community and Technical College System launches a program designed to help those who may be unemployed due to the pandemic. LCTCS President Monty Sullivan says the Reboot Your Career program aims to train no less than 5000 individuals in the 2021 fiscal year.
Cut 13 (07) “…of their families.”
Training focuses on skillsets for in-demand jobs such as industrial technology, healthcare, transportation and logistics, manufacturing, and information technology.
Sullivan the training programs for certifications are much quicker than trying to get a degree, with durations between 8 and 12 weeks.
The program comes with reduced tuition and no application fees. Sullivan says the funding comes from the federal CARES Act.
Cut 15 (11) “…in Louisiana’s people.”
More info can be found online at LCTCS.edu/reboot.
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LSU Football Coach Ed Orgeron says starting defensive lineman Neil Farrell has returned to the team after announcing in August he would not play because of the coronavirus. Farrell’s grandmother was hospitalized with COVID-19, but tweeted last week that his grandmother is getting better every day and he missed football. Orgeron says it remains to be seen if Farrell will play in the season opener
Orgeron says his three starting linebackers are Damone Clark, Jabril Cox and Micah Baskerville. Coach O says Baskerville looks comfortable in Bo Pelini’s defense…
Orgeron says another player that has made tremendous strides is offensive tackle Dare Rosenthal. He was recruited out of Ferriday High School and started at LSU on defense, but Orgeron says he saw Rosenthal gain confidence last December while working out on the o-line…
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After a historic win on the road at Iowa State, the 19th ranked Ragin Cajuns begin Sun Belt Play this Saturday at Georgia State. After going 2-and-10 in 2018, the Panthers were 7-and-6 last season. U-L Lafayette Coach Billy Napier says G-S-U Coach Shawn Elliot is building a good program…
The Cajuns made a statement last week beating Iowa State on ESPN. This Saturday’s game will be on ESPN 2 and Napier says playing another early Saturday game on national television is good for the program…