The Louisiana House gives approval to a resolution that would suspend the state Fire Marshal’s ability to enforce Governor Edwards coronavirus orders on businesses. Jim Shannon has the story….
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New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell warns lawmakers steep cuts in local government services are likely due to pandemic revenue losses. Matt Doyle has more.
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The Louisiana House votes for a resolution that would suspend the Fire Marshal’s authority to enforce coronavirus restrictions. Erath Representative Blake Miguez says fire marshal deputies are checking businesses to make sure they are following capacity restrictions and it’s the fire marshal who helped develop the capacity limits at high school and college football games
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Miguez says his legislation is part of an overall effort from Republican lawmakers who are trying to rein in the coronavirus emergency orders that have been established by the Edwards administration…
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The state Fire Marshal is not the agency that issues penalties. The state Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control and the state Health Department handle those duties. Metairie Representative Stephanie Hilferty argued her interactions with State Fire Marshal Butch Browning have all been positive…
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The Resolution passed on a 62-33 vote and heads to the Senate for more discussion.
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Governor John Bel Edwards received his flu shot today. Edwards is encouraging all Louisiana residents to do the same
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Edwards received his vaccination at the Our Lady of the Lake North Baton Rouge Clinic. O-L-O-L Family Medicine Specialist Doctor Joshua Clark says the vaccine is the best way to protect yourself from getting the flu, which could lead to other complications
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The flu causes about 500 deaths and nearly three-thousand hospitalizations each year. Clark says the best way to avoid a flu outbreak is if everyone gets the vaccine…
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New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell told the House Appropriations Committee that the Crescent City faces a 150 million dollar shortfall because of the coronavirus pandemic. Cantrell says they’ve been granted less than 60 million dollars in federal CARES Act money by the state, and that’s just not enough…
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Through those CARES Act funds, some one-time dollars, and a variety of other efforts the city has cut that deficit down to 41 million dollars. To close the gap employees are being encouraged to retire early, contracts are being cut and vacant positions are being left open.
The city is furloughing its entire 4,000 person workforce for one day per pay period through the end of the year to save an estimated six million dollars. Cantrell says they had no choice.
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Cantrell says there’s no way local governments will be able to restart their economies next year with budgets deep in the red…
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Republican legislators told the mayor that the city could start to see more tax revenue if she loosened the restrictions on bars and restaurants. The mayor says bars will open to outside patio services this Friday.
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As of Tuesday afternoon, the number of customers in Louisiana without power as a result of Hurricane Delta has dropped to 95-thousand. About a third of the outages involve Entergy Louisiana customers. Entergy spokesperson David Freese says their crews are making steady process
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After Laura roared through, it took weeks in some cases for the power to come back on. But Freese says Delta was not as destructive
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Freese says they anticipate most of their customers will have power back by Thursday. He says the hardest areas from Lake Charles to the east of Lafayette may have to wait until Saturday
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