Landlords may not be able to legally evict tenants due to Louisiana’s stay-at-home order through April 30th, but knowing your legal protections from retaliation is important.  Kevin Barnhart has the story.

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70 percent of those killed by COVID-19 in Louisiana are African Americans, who only make up 32 percent of the population. Matt Doyle asked a medical expert why that is…

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Landlords may not be able to legally evict tenants due to Louisiana’s stay-at-home order through April 30th, but that does not excuse someone from paying rent.  Staff attorney at Southeast Louisiana Legal Services Hannah Adams says tenants have legal protection from a landlord’s retaliation for not paying rent.

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A landlord might threaten to call police to have a tenant removed, but Adams says that is not within police jurisdiction.

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Adams says it is important to have some sort of documentation on hand, whether it is a lease, a utility bill, or a piece of mail showing that you reside at the address in the event that you are accused of not being a tenant.

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On the federal level, the CARES Act prevents landlords from evicting tenants and/or charging late fees through July 25th for tenants with Section 8 vouchers, Rural Development vouchers, or if a landlord has a HUD, USDA, VA, Fannie Mae, or Freddie Mac mortgage.

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70 percent of the people in Louisiana who have died from COVID-19 were African Americans, a group that only makes up about 32 percent of the state’s population.

LSU Health New Orleans Professor of Public Health Dr. Jim Diaz says there are three likely reasons for that. The first is that the virus is most prevalent in the New Orleans area.

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African Americans make up 60 percent of the city’s population per Census estimates.

Diaz says the second reason is that COVID-19 is particularly dangerous for patients who have co-morbidities.

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Diaz says the third reason why African Americans are more likely to die of COVID than other groups is that relative to other groups they are underinsured.

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Real Reform Louisiana praises Allstate Insurance for offering “Shelter in Place Paybacks” for their car insurance customers due to the number of reduced drivers on the roads. Real Reform Louisiana Executive Director Eric Holl explains what Allstate customers can expect.

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Holl says tech companies are showing data that driving is down an average of 55-percent across the state and in some of the more populated areas like New Orleans driving is down as much as 75-percent, Holl says fewer cars means fewer accidents.

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Holl says Allstate is setting the example and he’s asking Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon to encourage other insurance companies to do the same because now is not the time to be overcharging customers for car insurance they aren’t using.

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The Louisiana Department of Insurance is expected to issue a statement soon. 

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A survey from Public Policy Polling shows 68 percent of Louisianans approve of Governor Edwards’ handling of the coronavirus crisis and 66 percent now approve of his job performance overall.

UL Lafayette Poli Sci Professor Pearson Cross says the splits show a surprising 56 to 25 percent approval/disapproval from state Republicans when asked how he’s handling the crisis.

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Edwards’ overall approval sits at 82 percent among Democrats, 64 percent among Independents, and 49 percent among Republicans.

It’s a remarkable jump from his approval numbers last year, but Cross says you can pin a lot of it on the “rally around the flag” polling effect of a public emergency.

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1,023 Louisiana’s were surveyed April 3^rd and 4^th for the poll.

When asked if Governor Edwards or President Trump is doing a better job Edwards lead 46-41 percent. Cross says that’s because the question led to a generic partisan split.

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90 percent of state Republicans approve of Trump’s job while 23 percent of Democrats and 50 percent of Independents do.

An East Baton Rouge Parish mother loses her baby after her COVID-19 symptoms resulted in the child’s premature birth. Matt Doyle has more.

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Saints legendary kicker Tom Dempsey has died from complications of the coronavirus. Jeff Palermo has the story…

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Normally. flu activity goes down at this time of the year.   However, State Immunization Director Dr. Frank Welch says the state has not yet seen that dip as one in ten visits to a doctor is for flu-like symptoms.

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Both coronavirus and flu have similar symptoms.  Welch says with the high rates of testing for COVID-19, the math paints a picture of flu activity being much higher than normal.

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Many of the spread mitigation efforts of coronavirus run parallel to combatting the flu as well.  Welch says the one big difference maker is having a vaccine for the flu.  While it doesn’t guarantee someone won’t get the flu, it will reduce the severity of the illness and reduce the chance of hospitalization.

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A one day old infant in East Baton Rouge Parish dies after being prematurely born due to complications stemming from her mother’s COVID-19 case.

EBR Coroner Beau Clark says the child’s death is being counted in the parish’s total COVID fatalities, because…

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He adds this is the first such case in Louisiana, but similar incidents have been reported nationwide.

The baby will be tested for coronavirus, but Clark says it’s not clear yet whether the virus is vertically transmissible.

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Clark says the CDC is in contact with the hospital where this occurred to collect data on whether the child itself was infected.

Pregnant women are considered a COVID-19 high-risk group. Clark explains why…

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Former Saints kicker Tom Dempsey, who once held the NFL record for the longest made field goal, has died from complications of the coronavirus. He was 73. Demspey kicked 159 field goals in eleven NFL season, even though he was born without toes on his right foot. His former teammate and ex-Saints Q-B Billy Kilmer…

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In 1970 at old Tulane Stadium, Dempsey booted a 63-yard field goal as the Saints beat the Detroit Lions on the record-breaking kick. NFL analyst Mike Detillier says Dempsey told him he never saw the ball go through the uprights

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Dempsey’s record stood for more than four decades. Matt Prater broke the record in 2013 with a 64-yard field goal in Denver. Dempsey only played for two seasons with the Saints. Detillier remembers the two appeared together at a public event in 2011 and fans stood in a long line to get Dempsey’s autograph

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Dr. Ray Authement, who served as the president of UL Lafayette for 34 years, has died.  Upon his retirement in 2008, he was the longest-serving public university president in the United States.  Current UL Lafayette President Joe Savoie says Authement’s impact on the campus can still be seen today.

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During Authement’s administration, the school’s name changed from USL to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.  Savoie says it was Autement’s own time in college that guided his handling of a student’s experience.

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Savoie says Authement started at the school as a math professor.  Upon his retirement, he came back to the University to teach math again.

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Authement died Sunday at the age of 91.