Parts of Mandeville woke up to ten inches of rain this morning, flooding homes and shutting down streets in parts of St. Tammany Parish’s second-biggest city. Matt Doyle has the story.
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The Senate votes to override Governor Edwards’ veto of legislation that would ban transgender athletes from playing on girls’ and women’s K-12 and higher education sports teams. Matt Doyle has more…
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Rain overnight and into the morning caused flooding in several cities in the St. Tammany Parish this morning in the Mandeville region. Slidell National Weather Service Meteorologist Chris Bannan says the area already had a moisture-rich environment in place and that combined with a land breeze…
Bannan says the afternoon heat should help the area dry up somewhat, but more showers are in the immediate forecast. He says areas that flooded this morning should take precautions and surrounding areas as well.
Bannan says the area will experience widespread showers today, Wednesday, and possibly into Thursday.
St. Tammany Parish Public Information Director Michael Vinsanau says most of the worst flooding occurred in Mandeville south of I-12 along US 190…
Vinsanau says at this point they do not have concerns about the rivers and waters north of Mandeville swelling after this deluge as they have in previous heavy rain events.
Vinsanau asks residents to stay off the local flooded roads not only for their own safety but out of courtesy to their neighbors.
Sandbags are available at the St. Tammany Parish Government complex on Coop Drive in Mandeville.
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SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey says they will not reschedule football games this season if a team is hit with a COVID outbreak. Sankey says if a team does not have enough players to play as a result of COVID, they may have to forfeit that game
Sankey says last season’s schedule had open weeks so that games can be rescheduled, he says they will not do that again this season. So his message to football programs is this
Cut 8 (05) “…throughout the year”
Sankey says six of the league’s 14 football programs have a vaccination above 80-percent among its players. The Advocate reports more than 90-percent of the LSU football team is vaccinated, one of the highest rates in the SEC. Sankey says the league or schools can not force players to get vaccinated, but they can educate…
Cut 9 (09) “…from our perspective.”
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As cases numbers grow and Louisiana remains one of the least vaccinated states, Senator and physician Bill Cassidy encourages those who are unvaccinated to speak with their personal physician about the vaccine and ignore the politics.
Cut 10 (11) “…their physician.”
Cassidy was asked about his feelings on mask mandates for school systems amidst the growing number of COVID cases among young people. Cassidy says if the CDC recommends face masks for school-age children he would support it.
Cut 11 (11) “…disease control.”
Last week LSU Health New Orleans Professor of Clinical Medicine, Doctor Catherine O’Neal issued a dire warning that if you choose not to get vaccinated you are choosing death. Cassidy says the message delivered by his former student was accurate.
The state reported more than 15-hundred new COVID cases today and 20 fatalities. Hospitalizations increase also and currently 779 are in hospitals across the state with COVID.
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The veto override of legislation banning transgender athletes from playing on girls’ and women’s K-12 and higher ed sports teams clears the first hurdle, passing the Senate with one vote to spare.
Franklinton Senator Beth Mizell asked lawmakers to support this bill the way they did in the regular session…
The final tally was 26 in favor 12 against and one absent, that being Lake Charles Senator Ronnie Johns who was on injured reserve. The bill heads to the House, but it can’t be taken up for at least a day unless three-quarters of House members vote to accept it from the Senate early.
Mizell says this is a widely popular bill and lawmakers shouldn’t vote on it based on financial or political incentives but based on their conscience and constituents.
The vote was strictly party line with all Democrats voting against.
Alexandria Senator Jay Luneau opposed the bill, saying strict Louisiana High School Athletic Association policy already makes it very difficult for trans athletes to play on girls’ teams.
Luneau says LHSAA policy requires that transgender athletes receive a hardship waiver to play on teams different from the gender on their birth certificate. After receiving a waiver the athlete’s eligibility does not begin until two years after they have had their reassignment surgery and hormonal therapy.
New Orleans Senator Karen Carter Peterson says 400 major businesses put out a statement calling bills like this discriminatory…
The NCAA has indicated that passage of this bill may endanger New Orleans’ hosting the 2022 Final Four.
But Houma Senator “Big Mike” Fesi, speaking in support of the bill, says money shouldn’t factor into this decision…
Cut 17, 11 seconds, morals