The National Association of Counties estimates budget losses due to COVID-19 are roughly $144 billion, leaving parishes in a financial crunch and seeking a federal lifeline. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
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.Matt Doyle asked an LSU economist what the economic impact of holding fan-less LSU football games would be…
Cut 2 (32) “…I’m Matt Doyle”
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Parish level leaders are calling for more federal funding as the National Association of Counties estimates budget losses due to COVID-19 are roughly $144 billion. Tangipahoa Parish President Robby Miller says spread mitigation efforts are eating away at the revenue they do have.
Cut 3 (08) “…because of PPE.”
If they do not have the funds. Miller says the reduction in revenue from COVID-19 is making a bad situation worse in assisting in public health.
Cut 4 (10)_ “…time and effort.”
Lafourche Parish President Archie Chaisson says sales tax collections are down a little bit, but much of the woes in his parish comes from COVID’s impact on the offshore oil and gas industry and the parish’s oil revenue.
Cut 5 (13) “…should have been.”
Chaisson says some estimates show nationally about 1.2 million local government workers have been furloughed or laid off and that can be even more damaging to the economy of a rural area.
Cut 6 (07) “…lot of cases.”
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A 19-year-old man is dead and a 22-year-old man is behind bars facing a murder charge after an argument inside Dillard’s at Mall St. Vincent in Shreveport accelerated to violence in the Mall’s parking lot Saturday afternoon. Shreveport Police Department Spokesperson, Angie Willhite…
Cut 7 (11) “…second degree murder.”
(Trey – vee- ous) Treyvious Dotie of Shreveport was arrested in connection and charged with the shooting death
Willhite describes what surveillance video shows after the argument which began inside the mall.
Cut 8 (12) “…in his body.”
Immediately after the shooting Willhite says the suspect fled the scene.
9 (11) “…city jail.”
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The tropics are seeing an uptick in activity with the formation of Tropical Storm Edouard in the north atlantic. Edouard became a named storm yesterday, setting the record for the earliest formation of a fifth named storm of a season. State Climatologist Barry Keim says the previous record was from a season that was quite devastating to the Bayou State.
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Louisiana is currently experiencing unstable weather influenced in part by a system that is moving over the Florida Panhandle. Keim says the pattern will be bringing rain to Louisiana over the next few days.
Cut 11 (11) “…all this rain.”
Keim says if the wave over Florida does develop into a named system, it’ll be the setting a record of its own.
Cut 12 (11) “…a watch on.”
Keim says another system a few hundred miles east of the Winward Islands in the Caribbean is also being monitored but the chance of formation in the next five days is around 10%.
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An LSU economist warns holding fan-less LSU Football games would hammer the Baton Rouge and LSU athletics budget.
Loren Scott says fans spent 58.6 million in new sales on LSU game days last year. He says that money finds its way all through the city economy…
Cut 13 (11) “…weekends.”
LSU Football made 56.6 million dollars in profit in 2019, while most of the other sports ran deficits. Scott says the cancellation of the football season could impair other sports’ ability to operate.
Cut 14 (11) “…decision”
The season is still set to go ahead as usual, but no word has been given on the stadium experience, which can feature up to 102,000 people when full. Scott says turning that many people away would be devastating.
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COVID cases are spiking statewide, and in East Baton Rouge Parish in particular was the focus of a federal effort that has ferried in capacity to test over 5,000 more people per day.