A new leader of New Orleans is sworn in this morning. Andrew Greenstein has more on Helena Moreno’s inauguration day.
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We’re getting more reaction to the new federal nutrition guidelines released last week. Andrew Greenstein reports.
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One state senator is reacting to a recent shrimp audit of New Orleans-area restaurants. Colleen Crain reports.
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It’s a new day in New Orleans today as former TV reporter, state lawmaker and city councilwoman Helena Moreno is sworn in as the new mayor of New Orleans. UNO political science professor Ed Chervenak says Moreno faces challenges right away, including a 222-million-dollar budget deficit. Chervenak says Moreno will also focus on improving the functions of city government.
Moreno replaces LaToya Cantrell, who served eight years as New Orleans’ mayor. During her second term in office, Cantrell was involved in several controversies, including a failed recall effort, and she leaves office under federal indictment on fraud charges. Chervenak says Moreno will have a honeymoon period.
Chervenak says a major metric to determine if Moreno’s administration is successful is if she’s able to stem the flow of people leaving the city.
The inauguration is at 9 a.m.
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We’re getting more reaction to the new federal nutrition guidelines released last week. Dr. Oren Rom, the senior associate dean of basic and translational science at LSU Health Shreveport, says his big takeaway from the new guidelines is how simple they are, going from 164 pages five years ago to ten pages. He says for the most part, the recommendations are not much different from the old recommendations, although he would have liked to have seen a higher recommendation for daily vegetable servings.
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Among other things, the new guidelines place a strong emphasis on protein, including protein contained in red meat. Nutritionists point out that certain cuts of red meat can contain a lot of saturated fat, which can cause cardiovascular disease. But Dr. Rom says a deep examination of the new food pyramid shows no change in the fat content recommendation.
Rom says the new guidelines also delve into how the food is prepared.
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We recently told you that an audit of 24 New Orleans-area restaurants found that nearly one-third of them were lying about the source of their shrimp. Genetic testing conducted by SeaD (“seed”) Consulting found that the shrimp was imported, despite the restaurants advertising it as Louisiana shrimp. Marrero State Senator Pat Connick says if restaurants serve imported shrimp, they are required by law to disclose it; and those which don’t face substantial fines.
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Senator Connick says the lack of enforcement has led to a decrease in compliance with the law that took effect a little more than a year ago.
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Connick is calling on the Louisiana Department of Health to step up its enforcement of the law and to hold non-compliant restaurants accountable.
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Amtrak is boosting capacity on the Mardi Gras line for Mardi Gras. Knox Ross, the chairman of the Southern Rail Commission, says at certain times, capacity will increase by about 62 riders.
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Ross says they would have preferred even more additional cars, but the one additional car during those peak times is all the inventory would allow for. Ross says since the service connecting New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, launched last August, it has been more successful than they had anticipated.
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Ross says the Mardi Gras line has boosted tourism all along the entire route, including group travel
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It’s a win for the LSU women’s basketball team that could make its two-game losing streak a distant memory. The 12th-ranked Lady Tigers beat the second-ranked Texas Lady Longhorns at the P-MAC yesterday afternoon, 70-65. After the game, Head Coach Kim Mulkey said the team showed a little extra than it had in its two losses to Kentucky and Vanderbilt this month.
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Junior guard Mikaylah Williams was the team’s leading scorer with 20 points in 38 minutes. She said toughness is what the team has focused on since those back to back losses.
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Sophomore guard Jada Richard added ten points in 25 minutes. She said the two losses exposed some flaws that she feels that the team has ironed out. She says now the job is to keep that momentum going after beating the number-two team in the country.
Cut 18 (15) “…a national championship.”
It won’t get any easier for the Lady Tigers as they try to make it three in a row, as their next opponent is the fifth-ranked Oklahoma Lady Sooners. They’ll have a whole week to prepare – the game is Sunday afternoon in Norman; tipoff is at two.