The Department of Children and Family Services is urging those calling in for DSNAP interviews to do so on their assigned day. Brooke Thorington explains.
Cut 1 (31) “ …I’m Brooke Thorington.”
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AT&T has faced heavy criticism for its response to Hurricane Ida and today a PSC member tried to get answers. Jeff Palermo has the story
Cut 2 (32)…I’m Jeff Palermo”
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Congressman Garret Graves is pulling no punches in his concern for the fate of much-needed federal dollars for hurricane recovery aid in Louisiana. He says the amount proposed is less than two billion dollars and is earmarked for disasters across the nation.
Cut 3 (10) “…not a chance.”
And, Graves says a “poison pill” in the mix is that the funding is tied to legislation to increase the national debt without limit that’s being sought by the Biden Administration. The debt is currently more than 28-trillion and recent requests would push it to 45-trillion.
Garret minces no words with the move by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to intertwine disaster recovery with substantially increasing the debt limit on federal spending.
Cut 4 (10) “..pill in there.”
Congressman Troy Carter is among those who voted Tuesday to approve the Extending Government Funding and Disaster Assistance Act. He says the bill provides crucial funding for disaster recovery in Louisiana.
Cut 5 (10) “…across this nation.”
The bill is part of a larger package dealing with funding the government and increasing the debt ceiling.
Carter says there is funding in the continuing resolution to help with South Louisiana’s long-term recovery efforts.
Cut 6 (08) “…in the past.”
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More than 26-thousand calls were taken during the first two days for DSNAP interviews. 25 parishes are eligible for disaster food stamps however interviews for the parishes are not held on the same weeks. In an effort to reduce hold times DCFS Assistant Secretary Shavana Howard urges callers to visit their webpage and only call on their designated day.
Cut 7 (10) “…the help.”
To receive DSNAP the first step is to pre-register online, then call in on your specified day. Howard says she understands it’s frustrating to sit on hold for an hour only to be told to call back on your assigned day. Besides their webpage, another way to find your day to call is by…
Cut 8 (11) “…using.”
Howard also recommends downloading LA Wallet to reregister for DSNAP and you’ll need your social security number, proof of income, resources, and disaster expenses to preregister. Calling in on your assigned day is not pre-registration and if you miss your interview day, they are holding makeup days.
Cut 9 (10) “…the alphabet”(x2)
Current SNAP recipients are not eligible for DSNAP.
For more information visit dcfs.louisiana.gov/dsnap and visit their FAQ page.
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An AT&T representative told the Public Service Commission today the company’s response was immediate and their restoration efforts were robust in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. But P-S-C Member Eric Skrmetta doesn’t believe the customer should be the ones requesting credits for the days without AT&T service
Cut 10 (12) “…investigation”
Skrmetta also expressed disappointment that AT&T could not provide information on how many contractors they brought in to restore service.
Cut 11 (11) “…unacceptable answer”
Skrmetta also believes AT&T should have an outage map that’s easily accessible to customers, similar to the one Entergy has for power outages.
But he says one of the biggest headaches for his office is that AT&T is failing to meet with its customers and his office has received numerous calls on this issue…
Cut 12 (12) “….your customers”
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A Benton woman faces 16 counts of aggravated cruelty to animals after a tip led Bossier Sheriff’s investigators to a horse training center behind Benton Intermediate School. Deputy Rod White says three horses were found dead inside a dump trailer, while 13 additional horses were found to be malnourished and lacking water.
Cut 13 (08) “…things were showing.”
White says the woman, 52-year-old Sandra Blackmon Driscoll, had her bond set at 100-thousand-dollars.
White says the surviving horses were living in deplorable conditions.
Cut 14 (05) “….stalls were unkept”
White says the charges against Driscoll are all felonies.
Cut 15 (12) “…were taken away”
Driscoll was booked into the Bossier Maximum Security Facility, while the surviving horses were transported to another local horse owner to be boarded.