Louisiana has a new tool in the fight against COVID-19: an app that lets you know if you’ve had close contact with a COVID-positive individual. Matt Doyle has the story.

Cut 1 (30) “…I’m Matt Doyle”

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The state has no plans to expand eligibility for those who can get a COVID-19 vaccine, because they are not anticipating an increase in allotments. Jeff Palermo has more…

Cut 2 (30) “…I’m Jeff Palermo” 

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The field of candidates for the 2^nd and 5^th Congressional district special elections is now set. Matt Doyle has the story.

Cut 3 (30)  “…I’m Matt Doyle.”  

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The state has released a COVID contact tracing app that lets you know if you’ve been in contact with someone who has tested positive.

State Health Officer Dr. Joe Kanter says the app is designed to sense nearby phones, and with that data let you know if you’ve been near a positive case.

Cut 4 (10) “…measures.”

The app requires you to opt in to voluntarily allowing the service to utilize your Bluetooth.

Kanter says the state isn’t saving this information, and your phone will not tell you who the infected person you had contact with was.

Cut 5 (09) “..information.”

The service works by recording anonymous tokens from nearby phones and alerting you later if any of those tokens gets reported as COVID positive.

Kanter says similar services are already working quite well in other states.

Cut 6 (10) “..useful.”

COVID Defense is available on the Apple and Android app stores.

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Louisiana has been told by the federal government to expect a flat amount of weekly vaccine allocations for the next four to five weeks, which means about 58-thousand doses a week. Governor Edwards says state leaders were previously told that once vaccines became available there would be a steady increase…

Cut 7 (12)  “..happening yet.”

State health officer Doctor Joe Kanter expects a big increase in vaccine supply once Johnson and Johnson and Astrazeneca vaccines are authorized by the F-D-A and become available. Edwards says there’s currently not enough vaccine available, so there are no plans to expand the eligibility or hold mass vaccination events…

Cut 8 (11) “…don’t have.”

Each state receives a percentage of doses based on its population that have been made available to the United States. Edwards says as far as he can tell, Louisiana is receiving its proper share…

Cut 9 (08) “…is flat”

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The Louisiana Department of Insurance has received 691 formal complaints about home insurance companies related to issues stemming from Hurricanes Laura, Delta, and Zeta.

Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon says the majority of those complaints are related to companies’ failure to communicate with policyholders.

Cut 10 (09) “…resolved.”

597 of those complaints have been closed as of January 11^th.

If you’re having a problem with your insurance company or agent Donelon asks you to reach out to his department for assistance.

Cut 11 (09) “….matter”

A non-formal complaint option is also available. Donelon says his department received several hundred of those related to the hurricanes.

Smaller insurers have a higher rate of complaints filed against them per policyholder than bigger insurers. Donelon says when it comes to responsiveness bigger companies may have some advantages.

Cut 12 (08) “…contribute.”

Of the major insurers, Liberty Mutual had the lowest complaint rate, while State Farm had the highest.

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Qualifying for the March Congressional special elections is set with 15 candidates running in the 2^nd district race and 13 candidates in the 5^th.

Political analyst Bernie Pinsonat says Congressman-elect Luke Letlow’s widow, Republican Julia Letow, is a shoo-in to win the 5^th and likely to win it outright in the March 20^th primary.

Cut 13 (12) “….vote”

Alexandria lawmaker Lance Harris, who was runner-up for the seat in the December run-off, elected not to run again, leaving Letlow as the only established candidate in the race.

In the 2^nd District New Orleans Democratic lawmakers Karen Carter Peterson and Troy Carter look most likely to make the run-off. Pinsonat expects this to be a highly competitive race.

Cut 14 (10) “…money.” 

Baton Rouge community activist Gary Chambers has also begun to raise a bit of cash for the race.

Of the 28 candidates in the two fields combined Pinsonat says it’s unlikely more than a few of them are serious candidates.

Cut 15 (07)“…percent”

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The LSU men’s basketball team heads into the week on a two game losing streak after losing to Alabama and Kentucky last week. On Saturday, Coach Will Wade’s team trailed by 16 in the first half on Saturday and lost to the Wildcats 82-69….

Cut 16 (09) “fix it”

Trendon Watford led LSU with 26 points and 10 rebounds against Kentucky. But Watford says they lost both games last week by coming out slow…

Cut 17 (20) “…accountable”

LSU is at Texas A-and-M on Tuesday night.

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The Ragin Cajuns completed its first sweep of conference play as U-L Lafayette held off Arkansas State 77-74 for a second straight win over the Red Wolves. On Saturday, Cal transfer Jacobi Gordon had a career-high 14 points…

Cut  18 (08) “…from here”

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The Pelicans closed a six-game road trip on Saturday with a disappointing 120-110 loss to Minnesota. New Orleans went 1-and-5 during the trip and Coach Stan Van Gundy says the effort wasn’t there on Saturday and that’s why the Timberwolves….

Cut 19 (17) “….across the board” 

Turnovers have been a problem for the Pelicans. They committed 21 turnovers on Saturday. Brandon Ingram had 30 points, but had seven turnovers. Van Gundy was asked if line-up changes should occur…

  cut 20  (28) ” turn it around” 

An entry in the 5^th Congressional District race has name recognition, he’s awaiting retrial after his murder conviction was overturned for the murder of his eight-year-old stepson in 2008. Brooke Thorington has more.

Cut 1 (31) “ …I’m Brooke Thorington”  

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The Louisiana Oil and Gas Association says the Biden Administration’s early, aggressive moves against the industry will drive up prices at the pump. Taylor Sharp has the story.

cut 2 (29) ….I’m Taylor Sharp”  

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Errol Victor Sr. a pastor from St. John the Baptist, is one of seven candidates running for Louisiana’s 5^th Congressional district. What makes his candidacy unique is he’s awaiting a retrial after his murder conviction was ordered for retrial because of a non-unanimous jury conviction. ULM Political Science Professor Joshua Stockley this race will make for some good teaching points.

Cut 3 (12)  “…circumstances.”

In 2014 Victor was convicted of second-degree murder in the 2008 death of his 8-year-old stepson. In 2020 the Supreme Court overturned non-unanimous convictions, so Victor is now awaiting retrial in a facility located in the 5^th Congressional District.

As for his motive to run for office ULM Political Science Professor Joshua Stockley wonders if Victor truly wants to represent the state on a federal level…

Cut 4 (10) “….who knows” 

Julia Letlow, the wife of Congressman-elect Luke Letlow who won the seat in December but later died of COVID before being sworn in, is the projected frontrunner. Stockley says if for some reason voters elect Victor it doesn’t mean he’s automatically going to represent the state.

Cut 5  (11) “…Congressperson.” 

Victor is registered as a Republican and made national headlines in 2012 when he along with his wife Tonya Victor, were captured and arrested in Georgia after being featured on “America’s Most Wanted” when they failed to show for trial in 2011.

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Two days into office and the Biden Administration is following through on campaign promises to roll back American oil production via executive action.

Louisiana Oil and Gas Association interim president Mike Moncla says the industry is not happy about it…

Cut 6 (12) “industry”

Moncla says these moves will end up hitting Louisianans in the wallet.

Cut 7 (09) “..goes up.”

November 2^nd, the day before the Presidential election, oil was 37 dollars a barrel. It is now 55 dollars a barrel.

Moncla says the administration is attempting to push Americans away from oil and gas and towards green and electric energy.

Cut 8 (10) “…areas”

The Biden Administration says these steps were crucial to reducing the nation’s carbon output and limiting potentially catastrophic levels of global temperature increase.

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While there won’t be any Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans due to the Coronavirus pandemic, folks will be able to experience a drive-thru Mardi Gras event in New Orleans City Park. Delgado baseball coach Joe Scheurmann says once he posted this idea on his Facebook page it gained a lot of traction.

Cut 9 (12) “..went viral”

The “Float in the Oaks” event will take place from February 4^th through the 14^th.  People attending the event are encouraged to decorate their vehicles.  Scheurmann says this allows people to celebrate differently than they normally would.

Cut 10 (13) “…they go”

Tickets for the event must be purchased and they will cost 10 to 20 dollars per car.  All proceeds will support the park’s maintenance and operation which Sheurmann says is greatly needed.

Cut 11 (10) “..it’s exciting”

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Governor John Bel Edwards says there are positive signs that Louisiana has plateaued in the latest COVID-19-surge but the state percent positivity rate remains over 10-percent. The state health department reported 1,937 new cases on Friday and 41 more deaths. Edwards says the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has fallen below 18-hundred, but…

Cut 12 (09) “…delivery system” 

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 deaths is just shy of eight-thousand and the state will likely surpass that grim milestone this weekend. Edwards says while there’s a decline in the total of new cases reported each day, but the lagging indicator is deaths…

Cut 13 (07)“unacceptably high”

The state health department also reports that 314-thousand vaccine doses have been administered and 41-thousand individuals have received both dosages. State Health Officer Doctor Joe Kanter says the state will receive another 58-thousand vaccines next week, the same as this week and they expect the allocation to remain flat for the next four to five weeks…

Cut 14 (15) ” doing that” 

Julia Letlow has officially qualified to run for the 5^th congressional district, which her late husband won in December before passing away due to Covid-19.  Taylor Sharp has the story.

Cut 1 (30) “ …I’m Taylor Sharp”  

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The state is facing hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts for the next fiscal year, barring a significant economic recovery or federal aid. Matt Doyle has the story.

cut 2 (30) ….I’m Matt Doyle”  

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According to the most recent COVID-19 dashboard from the Public Affairs Research Council, the state is showing a downward trend of cases, positivity rate, and hospitalizations. PAR President Robert Travis Scott says the numbers are encouraging.

Cut 3 (09)  “…looking for.”

The most recent dashboard was data from January 7^th through the 20^th. 

The positivity rate for the state, which is the rate of how many tests show a positive result for COVID versus negative test results, in the last three days is 6.4 percent according to the PAR dashboard. Scott says that’s an indicator we are on the downside of the most recent surge.

Cut 4 (12) “….eight weeks.” 

As for hospitalizations, the PAR dashboard shows levels in the third surge well surpassed the second peak over the summer. The peak was 2,069 on January 8^th and as of the 20^th, 1,858 were reported. Scott says however hospitalizations in Lake Charles and Lafayette are still concerning.

Cut 5  (11) “…facility” 

Scott says there were 48 new confirmed fatalities Wednesday bringing the three-day average to 48.8, he says fatalities are the last number to show a decrease when observing downward trends.

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Julia Letlow has qualified to run for the 5^th congressional district of Louisiana seat that was won by her late husband Luke Letlow, who died of Covid-19 days before he was set to be sworn in. Julia, who is an executive administrator at ULM, has never served in public office, but she says she has always had political aspirations.

Cut 6 (14) “..leap of faith”

Luke Letlow defeated Alexandria representative Lance Harris in December, but came down with COVID a few days later. He served as former Congressman Ralph Abraham’s chief of staff.  Julia says she watched how Luke handled himself and learned a lot.

Cut 7 (11) “…make a difference.”

Republican Allen Guillory, who is also running for the 5^th congressional district, stated that Letlow taking office could be harmful to her children, but Julia believes it will be beneficial

Cut 8 (10) “…serve others”

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Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne warns we will likely face hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts for the fiscal year that beginning in July.

The Revenue Estimating Conference adopted this forecast ahead of the budget that will be presented in February. Dardenne says unfortunately the budget will have to include cuts to higher ed and healthcare.

Cut 9 (07) “..hit”

The exact number adopted was a 228 million dollar drop from this year, but Dardenne says it’s just too early to know what the real number will be given the economy’s volatility, and…

Cut 10 (08) “…enact that”

Dardenne says it’s tough to see our budget get slammed by the pandemic considering just a year ago it had been stabilized.

Cut 11 (10) “..education”

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Former Baton Rouge news anchor Donna Britt passed away early Thursday morning after losing her battle with ALS.  Britt worked for the CBS affiliate, WAFB, from 1980 all the way until 2018 when the illness forced her to retire.  Britt’s husband Mark Ballard said they were prepared for this moment, but living through is entirely different.

Cut 12 (11) “…together” 

Britt’s health deteriorated quickly recently as Ballard says she was preparing her LSU Journalism Hall of Fame acceptance speech just a few months ago.

Cut 13 (11)“to the event.”

While most will remember Britt for her talents as a news anchor, Ballard says he remembers a different side of her.

Cut 14 (15) ” life at home.” 

Britt announced her ALS diagnosis on-air in July of 2017 after nine months of seeking a diagnosis. She is survived by her husband, and two children. Britt was 62.