Louisiana Strawberry farmers are once again dealing with the aftermath of a devastating flood. Jeff Palermo has more…
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Four Louisiana Universities are doing very poorly when it comes to fiscal health. Emelie Gunn has more…
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Customers could pay more for Louisiana strawberries in the coming months after strawberry fields were hammered by two historic floods this year. Heather Robertson and her husband own Johndales Farm in Ponchatoula. Robertson says because strawberries are a specialty crop, there’s not much financial assistance, and a lot of producers will not grow strawberries again.
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Robertson says they’re trying to get their fields ready to plant by late September or early October, but there’s a lot that has to be done. She says they have to mix sediment into the wet soil, like a cake mix, with a big disc on a tractor.
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Ag Commissioner Mike Strain says Tangipahoa parish is the center of strawberry production, and it was hit by both floods. Robertson says flooding last March ruined the 2016 crop and the flooding in August is making it very difficult to get a crop ready for next year.
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Four Louisiana Universities have been placed on the fiscal watch list by the Board of Regents. It has been determined that Southern University at New Orleans, LSU Health Shreveport, Grambling State and Southern University at Shreveport are all in poor financial standing. Higher Education Commissioner Joe Rallo explains why they put out this report…
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Rallo says these schools are facing financial challenges because of a decline in state funding for public universities and enrollment is down.
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Rallo says they established this test to raise visibility to legislators that these universities are really struggling. He says there has been a lot of concern about the future of the LSU Health Center in Shreveport with many people worried it’s on “life support.”
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The Department of Transportation announces upgrades to their 511 travel information system. Rodney Mallett with DOTD says motorists can now get personalized traffic updates by creating an account at 511LA.org and the system can alert of any traffic disruptions.
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Mallett says they also have a new Louisiana 511 app for smartphones that offers hands-free, eyes-free audio notifications for motorists. He says the app has a variety of features, like live streaming traffic cameras, so people can see what the roads are like before they head out the door.
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Mallett says they have partnered with Waze, a crowdsource traffic alert site, so the 511 app and website should have more up to date information. He says this allows drivers to make the most informed choices they can make. He says this is especially important for displaced flood victims who are living in new areas.
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A 15-year-old girl was killed and her 12-year-old sister was seriously injured while helping their mother take out the garbage in Belle Rose. State Trooper Jesse LaGrange says the two girls were in the tailgate of their mother’s truck bringing the garbage bins to the street. He says the vehicle the kids were riding on, stopped on the highway and faced the wrong way as a truck approached…
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Impairment has been ruled out. LaGrange says the teenager, Sydny Landry, suffered fatal injuries and her sister was airlifted to Our Lady of the Lake Hospital in Baton Rouge for treatment. He says the crash occurred at night so it’s possible visibility was limited for the other driver.
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Just over a month after the Blue Lives Matter law went into effect, a man has been arrested in New Orleans and charged with a hate crime against police officers. Police say 28-year-old Raul Delatoba was being booked on unrelated charges, when he used sexist and racial slurs against the arresting officers. Executive Director of the ACLU of Louisiana, Marjorie Esman, says Delatoba should not have been charged with a hate crime for what he said, because free speech is a constitutional right.
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Delatoba’s bond was set at $15-thousand, $10-thousand for the hate crime, and $25-hundred for each of the other charges, disturbing the peace and criminal damage to property. Esman says police have lost sight of the fact their job.
cut 15 (11) “those charges”
Alexandria Representative Lance Harris authored the Blue Lives Matter Law. He says he pushed for the new law to give District Attorney’s another tool in their tool box and provide protection for first responders.
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