Support for Louisiana.

The state we're in is provided by Entergy.

Louisiana is strengthening our power grid throughout the state.

We're reinforcing infrastructure to prepare for stronger storms, reduce outages, and respond quicker when you do need us.

Because together we power lights.

Additional support provided by the Fred B and Ruth B Ziegler Foundation and the Ziegler Art Museum, located in Jennings City Hall.

The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is an historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana.

And the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

With support from viewers like you.

So this is not going to be a normal edition of Louisiana, the state we're in.

That's right.

Kara, you have some big news to share.

I absolutely do.

Well, let's get started.

All right.

Hello, everyone.

I'm Karen LeBlanc, and I'm Kara sincere.

And Kara has some big news to share with us.

I do, so I can't say too much right now, but I am journeying to the West coast.

I'll be moving to California, so this will be my last show for Louisiana, the state we're in.

Okay, cry, cry.

Frowny face.

But I'm actually super excited for you personally and professionally.

So this show is dedicated to Cara's greatest hits as a journalist for the past three years here at LPB.

And so our attention to turns to one of your favorite interviews, and that is Sister Helen present.

She is a, she's against the death penalty, and she's dedicated her entire life's work to abolishing the death penalty.

And you did a great story with her.

Yes, I did so at the time.

Whenever I did the story, inmates on death row in Louisiana applied for clemency to then-Governor John Bel Edwards.

And Sister Helen Prejean was, of course, very involved in that effort.

And she's kind of a local celebrity here in Louisiana.

There was a movie and a book done about her.

And while I was interviewing her, there were these quotes that she gave, very powerful quotes that I think would resonate with our viewers.

And I just want to go and play some of those for you right now.

The more you look at this system and see how broken it is, you understand why.

We'll see what happens.

But what you do when you're working for justice is you work for the principle end of it, and then you lead this success up to God and the people care.

That was a really powerful statement from Sister Helen prison.

It was.

And it was really amazing hearing it in person.

And we've done a lot of stories like that.

The more serious stories and another one of the stories, and really the series that I'm proud of is the way forward, because we worked on that together.

That was our election coverage and that was really our first project together.

You were new.

We were getting started.

I was doing analysis of election issues, and you were interviewing the candidates for the gubernatorial election.

So I'm really proud of it.

And we covered several topics there things like coastal restoration, the fiscal cliff, brain drain, crime in Louisiana.

And I think we did that together really well.

It was great teamwork because we covered the issues, but we also showed the personalities and personal stories of the candidates.

So we really together gave viewers a very well rounded picture of all of the candidates running for governor.

Yeah.

And so the two stories that I really liked from that series were number one, explaining the fiscal cliff and also the brain drain, which is an issue here in Louisiana where people under the age of 34 are leading our educated population.

So what we did was we put together a small compilation of both of those stories, just to give you an idea of what it was and what we worked on.

What is a fiscal cliff?

By definition, a fiscal cliff is a set of financial factors that cause or threaten sudden and severe economic decline.

In our case, a fiscal cliff is a looming financial deficit in a budget, meaning there isn't enough money to cover expenses without it.

State agencies like the police department or the Department of Education wouldn't have enough funding to sustain themselves.

If we don't fix the structural budget deficit, we can't fix any of our other problems.

There were concerns that we were headed toward a fiscal cliff.

Are there any truth to those claims?

yes or no?

on paper, it does look like there may be a fiscal deficit in some future years.

it's important to remember that the revenue forecasts are incredibly conservative, but some disagree that lowering taxes and limiting spending is enough to avoid a financial cliff.

Even right now, in a pretty good budget year, we don't have enough revenue coming into the state to provide basic services for people who need them.

Whether you believe there's a looming fiscal cliff, and what should be done about it is up to you, voter.

Listen carefully and choose wisely.

The human brain very somewhat from person to person.

The phenomenon is called the brain drain.

And it's hitting Louisiana particularly hard.

But why?

There's an epidemic spreading across the southern U.S., where educated people under the age of 34 are leaving their hometowns, taking their talents and expertise with them to other parts of the country.

How many people are we losing?

If you go back to 2000, which is the longest period in time that we have, data is the last 21 years we've lost about 110,000 college educated people on net.

So we've had some move in, but we've lost 110,000 more than we gained, which is about 5000 a year.

But what can we do to prevent this from economic perspective?

One factor that really has more of a local flavor is housing affordability.

So local communities can get involved and look at multi-family housing units.

So zoning is a big issue that affects housing costs.

And so rezoning areas from single family to multifamily can lower housing costs and make things more affordable.

And those stories remain relevant.

We'll continue to track them.

Yeah.

And if you want to watch the full stories you can go to LPB Dory and you can see all of those there.

And speaking of relevant, here's what is trending this week.

If you've been scrolling through your social media, then you know that Tik Tok food critic Keith Lee has been eating his way through parts of Louisiana, Baton Rouge in particular.

Yeah.

So, Keith Lee is a Tik Tok sensation.

He goes around the country reviewing these restaurants.

He eats the food.

Sometimes.

It gives really good reviews, sometimes not so much the smoothies.

That was recommended from one of the biggest food creators here in Baton Rouge.

I got it.

Let's try it.

Right.

What was he?

Him?

He spent $30.24 a customer service.

My family say it was really good.

This is a healthy back on the spot.

I'm gonna show you everything I got and we gonna try it every.

What's a blue drain smoothie with coconut water as the base hibiscus and sea moss in a classic Asahi bowl.

This apple dream is mango, pineapple, banana peel, spirit.

Spirulina, spirulina, spirulina.

Plus barely not say right and see moss and coconut water as a base.

That might be coconut cream.

I coconut water the white.

and he's a big tipper.

He's a huge tipper.

So he'll leave sometimes thousands of dollars at different restaurants.

And the amazing thing about him is that the restaurants that he goes to and that he reviews positively, they get a lot of foot traffic afterwards.

So it's actually a really big deal that he's here.

It's really amazing how influencer reviews have become like the most coveted advertisement for businesses, and I love the fact that he's been dropping $3,000 tips at some of these Baton Rouge establishments.

And it's not very generous.

Restaurants as well.

So not the big chains.

It's the small mom and pop shops that really keep Louisiana's culture alive.

All right, so if you are a sports fan, listen up.

This weekend, LPB will be in Natchitoches.

It is the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.

The 2024 class of inductees will be announced and honored at a ceremony.

I will be doing some interviews on a purple carpet, which is like the red carpet.

on Saturday at 6:00 will be live streaming leading up to the actual event.

All right, so if you keep up with our show, you know, I have no idea what goes on in the sports world.

I usually ask Karen all of these questions.

So for the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, tell me a little bit more about it.

So who's going to be there.

And then do you have a favorite Hall of Famer?

Okay.

So probably the most recognizable member of the 2024 class of inductees is Drew Brees okay.

Yeah I know that name.

He's kind of like Tom Brady.

But for Louisiana that's a good analogy I but the great thing about this is it's not just about the athletes.

They're coaches and sports journalist and and sports ambassadors.

So it really is a well-rounded and a great opportunity to shine the light on Louisiana's world class athletes.

And by the way, you can watch my interviews live from the purple carpet.

We will be live streaming at 6 p.m. an hour leading up to the main event at 7 p.m. will be live streaming that as well.

That is Saturday, June 22nd.

You can go to lpb.org to watch all the action.

All right, that sounds exciting.

Karen.

Well stay tuned.

All right so switching gears we are going to we're going to head out into the swamp.

Right.

We are.

So this next story was actually suggested to me by a photographer who is not on camera here.

But he brought the story up to me.

There's an artist, her name is Lesley Charleville, and what she does is she takes prints of animals, alligators specifically.

So we got out on a boat and she took me on a gator hunt with her.

And I've never done anything like that in my life.

That's quite brave of you.

What?

Have you ever seen an alligator that's six feet tall?

at the zoo?

Yeah.

The safety behind a fence and they were sitting right next to me in the boat.

So at first it was really scary because I'm like, oh, my goodness, is this thing going to get up and move and walk toward me?

But after a while, I got used to it.

It made me appreciate, you know, my own Louisiana culture even more in the name of art and journalism.

Let's take a look.

Yes.

I've done a lot of things in this career, but hanging out on a boat seems to be a reporter's rite of passage in Louisiana.

And today I'm embarking on that journey with Lesley Charleville.

Nice for me to thank.

Lesley is an artist with a unique medium.

She documents marine life in their most authentic form.

She's printed fish, crabs, anything really.

But her most difficult task is documenting these creatures.

Louisiana's unofficial mascot, the alligator.

To start, you have to go on a hunt.

We're out in Orleans Parish in the marsh, where pieces of rotting chicken are hanging from a pole.

And that's just the beginning.

What were his hopes and dreams?

Okay.

Come out of Roanoke.

All right.

Can you grab a like this plate?

Yep.

Okay.

Oh, it is a boy.

Oh, look at this.

Is it?

The first gator was pulled in pretty easily.

Leslie's second.

However, that was a horse of a totally different color.

Okay, okay, so the thing is that the front legs come over.

You got him with you?

Yeah.

Okay.

Just got to get the front leg over.

So I'm gonna grab the head and check her back so my feet grab a leg.

Yeah.

Oh.

Oh.

Louisiana is extremely strict about who can hunt these creatures and how many they can take.

A hunter must be licensed, and they have to tag each alligator they harvest.

Plus, all of this is reported and monitored to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

It's kept the population steady for decades now.

This is moving a lot.

Then, he's not moving yet, but I'm sure whatever he does, he was careful.

After catching four alligators, it's back to the dock to start the art process.

People request a specific size when they're working.

People.

People request specific size and color combination.

So you'll see, like behind you, we've got a white.

Those are things that are requested.

Okay.

a blue on a white canvas.

White on blue canvas.

White on.

Great.

So we've got some very specific requests.

What is this actually called?

What you're doing?

It's called the otaku.

And it was originated in Japan back in the 17th century.

We're staying in the swamp now.

If you thought the gator story was scary, this is even scarier.

Thank you for the introduction, Karen.

So I got to tell everyone the legend of the fillet, and I would like to point out that I thought it was pronounced filet at first, but I interviewed a former, folklore professor and he said that it's actually pronounced full fillet.

So basically, if you've ever heard of this story, it's about the ghost.

and it's about a ghost of a baby.

And it wanders around in the swamps of Louisiana.

So I got to put together a story of this legend.

And it was it was very fun.

I think this is one of the most fun stories that I've done here.

And it's also a really good example of Louisiana history come to life.

I'd say creepy.

Deep in the heart of Louisiana's bayou, it's easy to lose your way in the night.

He.

Maybe it's the darkness.

Or is it the shadows?

Or is it the spirit of the souffle?

Can you find me?

Can you find me?

One can only hope that if they are ever so unlucky as to cross paths with this entity, that they make it home alive.

Many people describe them as the souls of, unbaptized babies.

who were roaming in limbo.

And, you would see they're the light of their souls at night.

And people, used to claim that they would try to lure people away from the right path, you know, like getting lost.

in the prairies of the woods.

My aunt and uncle remember it and told lots of stories about seeing, you know, you know, the round bales that you see out, now, they were as big as that.

And they would roll.

They would roll and bounce, you know, along the ground.

that's what they said.

Big lights, big, huge balls of fire light, rolling.

And and my aunt, specified that they look blue, whitish blue, blue.

There was a blue tint to them.

As the story goes, the faint light of the film would shine for travelers walking Louisiana's roads and bayous.

At night, they'd see the spirit of the unbaptized child in the distance and confuse it for a candle or lantern that led them home.

But as they followed it, the lights would lead them further into the darkness, and sometimes toward their death.

People would often tell stories about how they saw, they saw a light down the way thinking, oh, that's the light at the house.

I'm trying to get to the lantern at the house I'm trying to get to.

But then it would, it would move into.

Oh, I must have gotten turned around.

Download this window.

I'll go this way.

And they would get lost in the woods, when in fact it was the light was moving.

So it's trying to trick you.

Trying to trick you.

It they weren't so malevolent.

They weren't evil.

They weren't considered evil.

They were considered just rascally or, you know, impish, playing tricks on people.

But sometimes the tricks had, you know, consequences.

So the name of this story is uniquely Cajun.

The origin is not so much.

The full fillet is loosely based on the European will of the wisp, which is a ghost fairy or elemental spirit that seeks to lead you astray.

The ball of light it emits is usually blue, and you could find them late at night in bogs or low lying wet areas.

When the French settled in Louisiana, they changed the name to filet.

The food means fire and fury loosely translates to wisp.

Why are they unbaptized babies specifically?

They were unbaptized babies were, you know, described as being in limbo, wandering around between.

You can't get into heaven but can't be sent to hell, according to Catholic tradition and or belief.

And, so I guess the notion of them wandering sort of caught in, can't, can't go anywhere else, may have had something to do with it.

Now, there are a number of reasons for this story, and not all of them are exciting.

In fact, most of them are scientific.

The light that travelers saw was most likely a product of gas.

Barry took me to a lot on his property, where his aunt encountered the family to give me a better idea.

If you cut hay and it gets wet before you bale it, sometimes, it produces methane and it will spontaneously combust.

We had a, a fire that the fire department had to come and put out some bales of hay that got, that were baled wet, and they, they started smoldering and caught fire.

So if people had just cut their hay and there were clumps and it got wet, it'll start rotting and produce methane and sometimes catch fire.

For all of you who don't know, a methane fire is sometimes blue.

Barry's home is located near an old oil well site that produced the gas.

This is the old website.

so it was a sort of a naturally low occurring spot.

And then right, right behind those big tree, that tree line right there, there's a, a swamp.

yeah.

It it gets, you know, holds about as much water maybe sometimes in, heavy rains.

So hold this with water.

My, my dad and uncle used to go cat fishing in there.

In fact.

And, that was another naturally occurring little spot.

So would you know, a spot that would have likely produced gas from decomposition?

Berries.

Last explanation is a little more unconventional, but gas produced by cows on location could have also produced enough methane to cause a spark.

now, if you ever come across the food fully, here's what you should do.

You could avoid having them make you get lost by planting a multi blade knife, a pocket knife into a fence post or a stump and, you know, sticking it.

And and apparently the buffalo was interested in its own reflection and would come and dance around the blades and, you know, play in the blades and that way you could get away.

I'm not here to tell you what's true or not.

That's up to you to decide.

But this Halloween, when you're walking through the darkness, don't follow the light.

You may not come back.

As a journalist, what a great opportunity for us to cover such a wide range of stories, from hard hitting news to art and culture and scary stories.

And also just to take a deep dive into issues.

LPB has won a lot of awards for content like Precipice and Ritual, but one of the most prestigious is, of course, the Emmy, which you won for this series for Green Book.

Yes.

So back in 2022, me and my co-producer Emma Reed put together a series called Safe Haven Louisiana's Green Book, where we went to ten locations listed in the book.

So we interviewed people who remembered businesses, taverns, bars, places that aren't even in business anymore.

And, you know, that was one of my favorite things that I've done here.

I am the most proud of this series because in addition to, you know, winning the Emmy, I got to learn so much about Louisiana's history.

And I don't think people realize the impact that Louisiana has had in the civil rights movement over the years.

And this series, I got to learn all of that.

And I also got to preserve it for viewers to look at for years to come.

I love that really just these are stories that would be lost to history if it were not for your work.

And also, I'm a read your co-producer, so we'll give a shout out to her as well.

But yes, she did a lot of work and a lot of research.

So, this Emmy would not have been possible without her either.

So I like to always highlight all the work that she's done.

And the next episode was actually something that she found.

And, it was about a house in Opelousas, and it operated as kind of an Airbnb.

But, you know, during the 60s and during the civil rights era.

So, this is one of my favorites is the very first episode that we ever did.

And I cannot wait for you guys to watch this one again.

It's hard to believe.

If I were to travel just 70 years ago, this little guide could potentially save my life.

I'm Cara Sincere and this is safe haven.

Louisiana's Green Book, 1939, was the second year that the Green Book was published for a small, rural town.

Opelousas had a surprisingly vibrant African-American commercial district.

They called it The Hill.

For some reason, the businesses in the Hill never made it into the Green Book, with one exception to ourselves.

Hey, how you doing?

How are you doing?

my name is Kara.

For a little Jerome sub.

Jerome remembers one of these homes very well, and they had big bands going through this town.

Duke Ellington called the bass.

And then here, James, Sam Cooke, these people, the only name people came to this club in Appleton.

The club sub is referring to is Bradford's White Eagle, a famous venue on the Chitlin Circuit, which is for black musicians and back.

And no, they didn't have many hotels, a motel for black, so they have to go on living.

There are people housed, and my grandmother took a bite that went in.

And you see that half on the corner ahead?

Lift right here.

Yeah, I can see it.

That's the big house with this Sabas grandmother.

Beulah Jerome ran a tourist home, and they called it the big House because it was the big house.

people there all the time, 24 seven.

Yeah.

Teachers lived there.

Students, construction workers.

You would never go in that house.

There wasn't anything cooked on their stove.

This is the big house on the corner of South Lombard Street where meeting subs cousin Donald Jerome.

He grew up in the brick house right behind it.

Hey, how are you doing?

My name is Kara.

I'm working.

Luckily, the current tenant, Mrs. Betty, welcomed us inside.

Well, everything's the same outside.

And you changed the inside and renovated their shutters.

Six bedroom, living room and a kitchen.

One bathroom.

All these people that live in one bathroom.

And right here in this room.

Yeah, she had a fan in there.

No, man, noone used to play in the family.

Yeah, they were, they were dancing.

Yeah.

They will come here while your grandmother was here.

Yeah.

She was in that room without.

Even if she didn't know them, they were back.

And then the people said, you know rainbow.

Well, blacks couldn't stay in the hotel.

We didn't have any, you know.

Yeah.

The entire.

You slept in your car.

This was no place for two family houses that only could come to these houses and, you know, and rent a room.

Surprisingly, this safe haven wasn't even in an all black neighborhood.

But all this across the street was white.

White people.

Okay.

And over here with white.

Okay.

Yeah.

And across it across the street with white people, too.

So we were like, I don't know, I live in a neighborhood with the only black family in the US.

Really nice man.

Wow.

I fill out in you little fun on black Opelousas, had one of the only all black high schools in the area which drew teachers from all over the state.

People would bring the kids it and some of them come in wagon.

The house remained in the Green Book for 27 years until its last publication in 1966.

You know, when I moved here, they say a lot of teachers believe me, but I really didn't know the history.

The real history about it.

And I'm now I'm getting this opportunity to even to witness who is here today.

Most people don't even know this neighborhood was called The Hill, almost all of the black owned businesses here closed after integration, and things seem to fall apart.

I'm beginning to learn this story is not uncommon.

That's our show for this week.

But Karen, on a personal note, I have to say it has been an honor and a privilege to work with you.

I think you are so talented and an incredible journalist, and you are just going to go out there and conquer the world.

You have so much to offer, and I truly, truly wish you the best, both personally and professionally.

Though I will be sad to see you go, you will be missed.

Thank you so much.

It's been an honor telling Louisiana stories for the past three years and even before because I've been in Louisiana all my life.

So thank you so much for everybody that's tuned in and watched over the years.

I appreciate you.

Thank you so much.

And to all the crew here at Louisiana Public Broadcasting, thank you for making all of my stories and all of the work that we do here possible.

And here is our goodbye.

Remember, you can watch anything LPB anytime, wherever you are with our LPB app.

Remember, you can watch LPB news and public affairs shows as well as other Louisiana programs you've come to enjoy over the years.

And please like us on Facebook and Instagram for everyone at Louisiana Public Broadcasting, I'm Karen LeBlanc and I'm Kerosene Cheer for the last time.

That's the state we're in.

Support for Louisiana.

The state we're in is provided by Entergy.

Louisiana is strengthening our power grid throughout the state.

We're reinforcing infrastructure to prepare for stronger storms, reduce outages, and respond quicker when you do need us.

Because together, we power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred B and Ruth B Zigler Foundation and the Ziegler Art Museum.

Located in Jennings City Hall, the museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is an historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana and by Visit Baton Rouge and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

And viewers like you.

Thank you.