LSU game-day tailgating on campus may not be happening this year according to LSU Interim President Thomas Galligan, or atleast not nearly as extensive as it usually is. Galligan was on Talk Louisiana this morning when he made the comments…

Cut 6 (06) “…campus”

Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin proposes scaling back absentee ballot usage in the upcoming November election compared to what was available in August and July. The only COVID-related reason for requesting an absentee ballot would be testing positive for the virus during or after early voting but before election day.  Ardoin says the observations in July indicate only a small portion of the participation was COVID absentee voters.

Cut 11 (10) “…same in November.”

Southeastern, ULM, McNeese, Northwestern, and UL Lafayette all resumed classes today.  UL System President Jim Henderson says he’s confident and comfortable with the spread mitigation plans the schools have put into place, adding that faculty and staff are doing their best to execute those plans.

Cut 7 (08) “…that we have.”

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is investigating a fatal jet ski accident in Lower St. Martin Parish. L-D-W-F spokesperson Ed Pratt says two teenage girls were operating separate jet skis when they collided on Saturday.Pratt says Hannah Landry of Franklin was airlifted to a hospital in Ascension Parish with severe injuries

cut 14 (08) “…in Donalsonville”

Pratt says a 17-year-old allowed the two teenage girls to ride the jet skis and he faces possible charges.

Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin’s plan for the November 3rd election would limit the ability for someone to request a mail-in ballot compared to the criteria for the summer elections. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
cut 2 (30) “I’m Kevin Barnhart”

The SEC announced today that LSU will open its 2020 football season by hosting Mississippi State. The SWAC says its spring football season will start February 27th and the Bayou Classic will be held April 17th. No word on where the game will be played.

A 14-year-old girl from St. Mary Parish died over the weekend in a jet ski accident in Lower St. Martin Parish. Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries spokesperson Ed Pratt says a 17-year-old allowed the victim and another 15-year-old girl to operate separate jet skis
Cut 13 (06) “…one another”
Hannah Landry of Franklin died at a hospital, while the other teen suffered minor injuries. State law says you must be at least 16 to operate a jet ski.

The LHSAA is hoping it can begin the high school football season on October sixth. But infectious disease expert, Doctor Catherine O’ Neal with Our Lady of the Lake, says the state needs to lower the percentage of coronavirus tests that are coming back positive…
cut 4 (10) “…safe in the classroom”
O’Neal says some areas, such as New Orleans, are nearing that five percent mark but regions like Acadiana and Baton Rouge are a good bit above ten percent.

Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin proposed plan for the November 3rd Presidential election and December run-off scales-back eligibility for requesting an absentee ballot compared to the July and August elections. Ardoin says the plan has been tailored to work in Phase Two compared to the stay at home order.
Cut 10 (11) “…to move forward”
The proposal will go before the House and Senate Governmental Affairs Committees later this week.

Tonight at 6 PM, the SEC releases its revised football schedule for 2020. LSU interim president Thomas Galligan is optimistic they’ll have fans in Tiger Stadium, but if you don’t have a ticket, tailgaiting on campus will be discouraged…
cut 6 (06) ”..campus”

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is investigating a fatal jet ski accident in Lower St. Martin Parish. L-D-W-F spokesperson Ed Pratt says two teenage girls were operating separate jet skis when they collided on Saturday.Pratt says Hannah Landry of Franklin was airlifted to a hospital in Ascension Parish with severe injuries…
cut 14 (08) “…in Donalsonville”
Pratt says a 17-year-old allowed the two teenage girls to ride the jet skis and he faces possible charges.

It’s the first day of the fall semester at U-L Lafayette, ULM, McNeese, Northwestern and Southeastern Louisiana today. Nicholls and Grambling State resumed in-person classes last week. U-L System President Dr. Jim Henderson…
cut 9 (11) “…is your responsibility”

LSU Interim President Thomas Galligan is optimistic that at least some Tigers fans will get to be in Tiger Stadium for the upcoming fall season. While they’ve discussed occupancy limits as low as 30 percent, they are hoping that the nature of how coronavirus spreads will allow for people to be spaced out in the stands.

Cut 5 (11)  “inside”

Galligan did indicate that game day tailgating may be seriously restricted.

In the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, UL Lafayette, ULM, McNeese, Northwestern, Southeastern all start back to class today. UL System President Jim Henderson says they’ve got the protocols to keep the students safe, but they just need them to be cognizant of the risks that come with socializing.

Cut 8 (06) “…that age population.”

A 14-year-old girl from St. Mary Parish died over the weekend in a jet ski accident in Lower St. Martin Parish. Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries spokesperson Ed Pratt says a 17-year-old allowed the victim and another 15-year-old girl to operate separate jet skis, and possible charges are pending against the 17-year-old who allowed the girls to operate the jet skis…

Cut 15 (11) “any charges” 

State law says you must be at least 16-years-old to operate a jet ski. 

Louisiana reports one of the lowest new COVID positive test totals in weeks today at just 735. But there is some bad news, total hospitalizations rose by 30, a reversal of a weeks long trend of lowering numbers.

Our Lady of the Lake infectious disease expert Dr. Catherine O’Neal says it is not safe to have fall contact high school sports right now. O’Neal says before those sports can resume the state needs to prove it can reopen schools without shutting communities down because of outbreaks, and have an average percent positive rate on COVID tests of five percent.

Cut 3 (09)  “…safely”  

Governor Edwards says the statewide percent positive rate is about ten percent.

Southeastern, ULM, McNeese, Northwestern, and UL Lafayette all resumed classes today.  UL System President Jim Henderson says he’s confident and comfortable with the spread mitigation plans the schools have put into place, adding that faculty and staff are doing their best to execute those plans.

Cut 7 (08) “…that we have.”

Nicholls and Grambling started last week. LSU starts next week.

A 14-year-old girl from St. Mary Parish died over the weekend in a jet ski accident in Lower St. Martin Parish. Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries spokesperson Ed Pratt says a 17-year-old allowed the victim and another 15-year-old girl to operate separate jet skis

Cut 13 (06) “…one another” 

State law says you must be at least 16-years-old to operate a jet ski.

The state revenue department says 240-thousand people have applied for the 250-dollar hazard pay check that’s available to workers who were forced to work during the governor’s stay at home order. But Revenue Secretary Kimberly Robinson says they’ve had problems verifying workers’ information on many of the applications…

cut 9 (10) “…name”

This week the state Revenue Department will mail thousands of letters to frontline workers who had problems with their tax rebate applications. Matt Doyle has more…

Cut 2 (30) “…I’m Matt Doyle” 

The LSU Tigers are also putting the pads on today as they get ready for their season opener on September 26th. Today, the SEC will release each school’s 10-game schedule. Week one games will be revealed at two PM and then the complete schedule comes out at six o’clock.

The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry is reaching out to auto insurance companies who are not currently offering coverage in Louisiana to let them know the state has made changes to its civil litigation system for car crashes. LABI President Stephen Waguespack says the tort reform legislation approved in the special session has made the state’s judicial system more transparent and fair.
Cut 6 (10) “…your services here.”
The Louisiana House Democratic Caucus says the tort reform legislation approve in June will not lead to lower rates.
Louisiana will need to begin borrowing money from the feds to fund our unemployment insurance program as of September 7^th. Louisiana Workforce Commission Director Ava Dejoie says even if the state runs out of money in the trust fund, the state is constitutionally mandated to keep paying benefits, so…
Cut 10 (07) “…benefits.”
Dejoie says over 20 states are already borrowing money from the feds to fund their unemployment programs.

The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry is reaching out to auto insurance companies who are not writing policies in Louisiana to let them know about changes made to the state’s civil litigation system. LABI president Stephen Waguespack says it will only take a handful of companies to start writing new business to lower rates…
cut 5 (10) “….is no compeitition”

The Louisiana Workforce Commission is beginning the process of having to borrow money from the federal government to replenish the state’s unemployment trust fund. There’s currently 245-million in the fund. It had over one-billion dollars before the pandemic. L-W-C Secretary Ava Dejoie says the state will have to impose a solvency tax on businesses to pay back the loan…
cut 11 (10) “…funds”

The state Revenue Department says they’ve received 240-thousand applications for the 250-dollar payment that’s going out to front line workers who had to work during the governor’s stay at home order. But Revenue Secretary Kimberly Robinson says there is a problem with many of the applications…
cut 8 (09) “….information”
Robinson says they’ve also received 208 applications from people who are dead.

Based on the latest data from the state department of health, Louisiana continues to show signs it’s seeing a decline in coronavrius cases after experiencing a second surge in June and July. State health officier Doctor Jimmy Guidry on why we saw a second surge….
cut 15 (12) “…this virus spread”
The state reported 77 more COVID-19 deaths over the weekend.

A few weeks from now Louisiana will begin borrowing money from the feds to pay out unemployment benefits. Brooke Thorington has the story.
Cut 3 (30) “…I’m Brooke Thorington”

The Louisiana Health Department reported another 77 COVID-19 deaths over the weekend to bring the state’s death toll to 4,384. The state also reported another 12-hundred coronavirus cases. COVID-19 patients in the hospital continued to fall. It dropped by another 47 over the weekend to just under 12-hundred.

Based on the latest data, the number of new COVID-19 cases is on the decline after the state experienced a second surge in June and July. So why did Louisiana experience a second surge? State Health Officer Dr. Jimmy Guidry says some of those that tested negative in the spring may have relaxed on their spread mitigation efforts
Cut 13 (12) “…keep our distance.”

The state revenue department says 240-thousand people have applied for the 250-dollar hazard pay check that’s available to workers who were forced to work during the governor’s stay at home order. But Revenue Secretary Kimberly Robinson says they’ve had problems verifying workers’ information on many of the applications…
cut 9 (10) “…name”

Louisiana Workforce Commission Secretary Ava Dejoie tells lawmakers the state’s unemployment trust fund is set to run out of money on September seventh. Dejoie says the state’s unemployment trust fund was rated as the 17th strongest in the nation before the pandemic…
cut 12 (11) “…million”
Dejoie says in order to keep paying unemployment claims, the state will have to borrow from the federal government and taxes will increase on businesses.

The state is reporting nearly 138-thousand coronavirus cases, almost 87-thousand cases have been confirmed since June 22nd. State health officer Doctor Jimmy Guidry says our hot summer did not slow the spread…
cut 14 (11) “…viruses normally behave”

The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry is reaching out to auto insurers who are not doing business in the state to let them know about recent changes to the state’s civil litigation rules in car crash cases…
Cut 1 (30) “I’m Kevin Barnhart”

A 14-year-old girl from St. Mary Parish died over the weekend in a jet ski accident. Witnesses say the victim and a 15-year-old were operating separate jet skis in Belle River in Lower St. Martin Parish when the two jet skis collided. Hannah Landry of Franklin died at a local hospital, the other girl had minor injuries.

The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry is reaching out to auto insurance companies who are not currently offering coverage in Louisiana to let them know the state has made changes to its civil litigation system for car crashes. LABI President Stephen Waguespack says they have sent out more than 1,100 letters…
Cut 4 (07)“ …rates go down.”
But the head of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of Louisiana, Jeff Albright, says despite the tort reform law passing this year, Louisiana could still rank number one in auto insurance rates next year.

Louisiana will have to borrow money from the feds to fund the state’s unemployment trust fund starting on September 7th. Louisiana Workforce Commission Director Ava Dejoie says even if the trust fund runs dry, the state is constitutionally mandated to keep paying benefits, so…
Cut 10 (07) “…benefits.”
454-thousand people are receiving unemployment from the state.

The Louisiana Revenue Department says 69-thousand checks worth 250-dollars a piece have been sent to essential workers who had to work during the governor’s stay at home order. Secretary Kimberly Robinson says 240-thousand people have applied for the tax rebate since July 15th
Cut 7 (14) “…testing”
17-million in payments have gone out and the program still has 23-million available dollars, so the state is still accepting applications at frontlineworkers.la.gov.