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 Ziegler Foundation and the Ziegler Art Museum, located in Jennings City Hall.

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

And the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting and viewers like you.

Thank you.

Hundreds of federal troops hit the streets around New Orleans targeting undocumented immigrants.

I'll have the details.

There is a new initiative set to bring big entertainment acts to LSU Tiger Stadium during the off season.

Louisiana hits a milestone for storm protection.

We're talking to Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple and Supreme Court Justice John Wimmer puts down his gavel and picks up a paintbrush.

We'll show you some of his art.

It's the first weekend of December.

Let's get started.

Let's do it.

Hi everyone.

I'm Christina Jensen, and I'm Victor Howell.

Much more on those top stories in a moment on this week's edition of Louisiana, the State we're In.

But first, the New Orleans immigrant community is on edge as hundreds of Border Patrol agents hit the streets.

Federal officials say they hope to arrest as many as 5000 undocumented immigrants during the sweep.

I spoke to local groups and police about the potential pros and cons from the Gulf Coast to the Mississippi River.

A new federal immigration operation is underway.

U.S.

Border Patrol agents are conducting operations dubbed Swamp Sweep and Catahoula Crunch.

How many people did you detain today?

Still counting.

A lot and still counting.

Efforts designed to increase visibility and enforcement across southeast Louisiana and parts of Mississippi.

Agents will soon be more visible on sidewalks, at doorsteps and near workplaces, looking for individuals they believe may be in the country without authorization.

For immigrants and families, the presence of federal authorities can raise questions and fears about their rights.

In New Orleans, attorneys say their phone lines are buzzing like never before.

I've definitely seen an increase in, calls since this administration came in.

I think there's been just a lot of confusing messaging.

TPS is ending.

TPS is going to be extended.

So, you know, people don't know what to believe.

Dupuy with Nola diaspora immigration law, says she's focused on educating the public about what is and isn't required of agents.

Approach someone on the street or at your home.

If you are home and someone knocks at your door, you can ask that you believe to be Ice or Border Patrol or some federal agent.

Just ask that if they have a warrant.

If they say they do have a warrant, ask them to slip it under the door.

You need to make sure that it's signed by an immigration judge.

Dupuy says these targeted operations can leave families anxious and neighborhoods on edge, especially those with temporary or protected immigration status.

I have talked to, Haitian migrants, as I said, who, are working in the service industry and people are afraid to go to work, but they need to work because they need a livelihood.

The New Orleans hospitality industry, the backbone of its tourism economy, could soon feel a different kind of impact.

Local 23 New Orleans chapter President Willie Woods says the union has dozens of members working under temporary protected status for many of them.

Those protections end in February, going to impact because they are no longer going to be working in the shops.

So while you know Hattiesburg is in a rush working in the shops and the workload goes over to the American workers, which is going to be a heavy workload on these workers.

Woods says a loss of TPS workers would ripple through the entire city.

A city that relies on thousands of immigrant workers to keep it running.

That a native of New Orleans and going up here, you know, back in the 60s, in the 70s, you know, you know, you always say immigrants in New Orleans.

I mean, the city was built with no immigrants from all nationalities.

But as workers and employers raise concerns about the impact.

Some area law enforcement view this as a positive and are taking a different approach, playing a direct role in the operations.

We're going to protect our citizens, our businesses and any other law enforcement entity or agency that comes into the city.

In Kenner, officers have been ordered to assist federal immigration authorities as the operation expands.

It's a virtual program.

And, we have 15 officers that just completed, that training, waiting for them to get credentialed.

And then we have about 15 more.

My goal is to get the whole department, certified.

Since March of 2025.

The Kenner Police Department has helped ice issue hundreds of immigration detainers.

A drastic increase from the year before.

Since March to this day, we've probably had over 300 of our arrestees detained.

By federal agents.

But the chief's participation has also raised tensions within Kenya's Hispanic community, a community that makes up about 30% of the city's population and is a very safe community, one of the safest communities in the country.

But, you know, we like to keep it that way.

And the only way we're going to do it is by being proactive.

Because if you're not proactive, you can't ever be reactive enough.

The only thing I can do is be transparent and be honest.

And, and that's what I do is I get out in Hispanic community, we put on several outreach programs just for the Hispanic community from when in self-defense to a citizen's police academy, and food giveaways so that they know where we stand.

He says trust is essential both within the community and with federal agents during the sweep.

As that operation continues, cities must navigate the balance between federal enforcement, community safety, and economic stability.

In addition to the Border Patrol operations, President Donald Trump announced he will deploy National Guard troops to the New Orleans area before Christmas.

Well, moving on now, let's take a look at what's trending this week.

A lot of news and football, Victor.

Yeah, it's all about the coaching carousel in South Louisiana.

Three big moves in south Louisiana.

And we start with the first shoe to drop.

And that happened down at Tulane, when head coach John Summerall accepted the job to be the new head coach of the Florida Gators.

Right now, Summerall has the fifth best record in coaching overall for active coaches, and has led Tulane to a 19 and seven record over the last two years.

But he's actually putting off his trip to Gainesville so he can continue coaching Tulane not only in the conference championship game, but through the playoffs.

Should the Green Wave make it.

It means everything to build the coach in the game.

I'm very grateful for Tulane's administration and on the other side, Florida's administration for, you know, working this out so I could be present.

I'm very grateful that I was allowed to have the opportunity to finish the job with this football team.

Well, it was also a big weekend for the Southern Jags, who got their second win of the season, beating Grambling in the Bayou Classic.

Then they introduce their new head coach.

On Monday, the Jags hired NFL Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk as the new head coach.

What's only coached one year?

That was this season as an assistant at Colorado under Deion Sanders.

But the former Carver High School stand out from New Orleans is ready and says he's willing to take over the Jags on the bluff at every level.

Somehow, someway, I found a way to find the win and that's what we're going to do.

That's what we are going to do.

We are going to deliver a team that plays with heart, that plays with passion and that goes out there and represent this community the way that the way that you want to be represented.

Then, three hours after his press conference on The Bluff Monday afternoon, the big introduction made that had all the national headlines.

LSU officially introducing Lane Kiffin as a new Tiger head coach.

Kiffin seven year deal at LSU comes a reportedly at $13 million a year.

That makes him all the highest paid coaches in all of college football.

He said he had some sleepless nights and what was a difficult decision.

But when he turned to two friends who are two of the premier coaches in football for guidance, the purple and yellow brick road led them to Baton Rouge.

He, Carroll really he told he told me, you know that he always told me and my dad that he he look out for me.

And so when we were talking, he really challenged him, you know, for knowing him for so long and, and he said this is exactly what he would do.

He would tell you, boy, go get it.

Go for it.

Coach Saban kind of coached in another place in his career.

So I can't I can't really say exactly what he said, but I said I'll say I'll say I think the world of Coach Saban and I respect him.

And so there's a reason why I'm here.

Yeah.

That, coaching carousel was on a whirlwind for sure in South Louisiana.

With all of those changes.

Now Lane Kiffin is putting a staff together at LSU.

But he did say Frank Wilson will continue to coach this football team in their bowl game.

LSU is bowl eligible.

They'll find out what bowl they're going to be playing in Sunday night.

We're excited to welcome Lane Kiffin excited everybody.

Absolutely.

Well, speaking of LSU and Death Valley, a new initiative is aimed at keeping the stadium packed outside of football season.

Death Valley Live will bring world class entertainers to the region in hopes of providing a big boost to the state's tourism industry.

In Baton Rouge, Tiger Stadium is known around the country as one of the most electric environments in college football, but now the home of the Tigers is expanding its role.

LSU Athletics, in partnership with the Baton Rouge area Foundation, the Greater Baton Rouge Economic Partnership and Visit Baton Rouge, has announced a new initiative, Death Valley Live.

Officials say Death Valley Live is designed to transform Tiger Stadium into a year round destination for major events.

The venue, usually home to thousands of football fans, will now welcome unforgettable experiences for LSU fans, visitors and residents of the Capital Region and across Louisiana.

This partnership we've put together allows us as a community to compete and now be on the radar of all these major music events that before had been passing us by.

And so we're confident leveraging the amazing brand of Tiger Stadium with the great people.

Will Baton Rouge that we're going to be one of the most attractive places in the South for touring acts and others to come through here.

I love that the first major headliner was announced.

Can you talk a little bit about that?

Yeah.

That's right.

So Zach Bryan will will be the, inaugural act as in Death Valley Live.

And that'll be, at the end of March.

We're very excited about that show.

A show he did recently at the University of Michigan sold over 110,000 tickets.

And so we're anticipating, I mean, this this is an event that, certainly could sell 100,000 tickets.

It'll be set up that way, for the show.

And so we're really, really excited.

President and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, Chris Meyer, says a series of other events will be announced in the near future.

Now, I have to ask this, but can you give us any more details on the upcoming events?

Yeah, so I can tell you there's two events we know about Zach Bryan.

The other one will be announced early in the new year.

But but I think another kind of, world renowned, touring act, that again, you know, we can host here in Baton Rouge.

And I think that's what's so exciting is we're all class acts that are capable of selling out major arenas and stadiums all over the world coming to Baton Rouge.

And once we get into that mode, it makes it a lot easier to attract the next act and the next act.

The partnership will also drive tourism across the area, benefiting hotels, restaurants and local businesses.

What kind of visitors do you think it will attract?

Regional?

National?

Both.

But I really do believe that most of our visitors will come from a regional basis.

That is our drive markets, mobile in Houston and Dallas and the southern part of the Mississippi area.

So we think that that's probably where most of the visitors will be coming from.

But we know our locals in Louisiana, all across Louisiana will be enjoying these concerts.

Visit Baton Rouge says its goal is to position the city as a premier southeastern entertainment destination, capable of hosting events that rival large market cities.

The impact will be especially significant for the hospitality industry.

These events create opportunities for temporary staff, event management and related services.

Further contributing to the state's economy.

How do you see Death Valley Live impacting hotel bookings going to have a huge impact on hotel bookings?

Not only is it going to travel demand to our hotel, but to the downtown market into the city as a whole, it's going to increase our rates as well.

It's supply and demand.

It's just like a home football game.

You know, when LSU plays in Alabama, LSU plays an old miss.

People get excited, your rates go up, your demand goes up.

And I think definitely live is going to bring the same type of excitement to that room across the region, everyone from downtown restaurants to Uber drivers stands to gain and the state of Louisiana does as well.

When Garth Brooks was here a few years ago, we did an economic impact study, and it showed that the visitor economy increased by $10 million in spending during that time period.

So it had a great economic benefit to our community.

And so we anticipate that this Zach Bryan concert will be about the same.

And, and indirect and direct spending, probably in about the $35 million area from football Fridays to live concerts, Saturday's Tiger Stadium is transforming into a year round destination.

Death Valley Live promises to make Baton Rouge not only a home for sports fans, but a hub for entertainment, culture and community connection in the in.

Well, people in Louisiana are still feeling the crunch of the state's insurance rates.

What relief could be coming as a result of legislation that was passed earlier this year and more homeowners are taking advantage of incentives to prepare their homes ahead of future hurricanes.

Johnny Atkinson joins us in studio.

And, Johnny, you spoke to Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple.

Yeah.

And he had a lot of really good information.

Hurricane season just ended.

But the commissioner says homeowners should not let their guard down.

He's encouraging people to strengthen the roofs of their homes ahead of the future storms.

Well, joining us now is Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple is here to talk about a major milestone in the state's fortified roofs program.

Tell us about this program.

Yeah.

You know, I'm very proud, the fact that we now have 10,000 fortified roofs on in Louisiana.

And it's really important to highlight the fact that a year ago, we had about a thousand.

So within the last year, we've put almost 9000 fortified roofs on a portion of those have come through the grant program.

The Louisiana Insurance Department has a fortified grant program so people can apply.

If you become an applicant and you're awarded this grant, you'll receive up to $10,000 towards fortifying your roof.

This last grant application, a thousand grants were, you know, that were available for award.

We had over 10,000 people apply for that.

But also of those 10,000, 6000 people chose to put a fortified roof on themselves, pay for themselves and pay for it themselves.

Okay.

Yeah.

Well, if a person does want to get at the fortified roof and, how can they apply for a government paid fortified roof?

Yeah, you can go through the Department of Insurance website at ldi la gov.

There's a very prominent, tab on the website.

You click on that and it takes you through walks you through the process to do that, you know, but also, as we mentioned, you know, the 6000 people so far that have chose to put a fortified roof and pay for it themselves.

You can also receive either a tax credit or a tax deduction.

So if you choose to pay for it, there's ways to help incentivize people for doing that.

And then also it's very important to remember that if you get a fortified roof, every admitted carrier in the state that writes homeowners has a filed discount with the Department of Insurance.

So so you're getting a fortified roof.

You get that peace of mind that your shingles are going to stay on, your contents are going to stay dry.

That's good for you, the homeowner, and it's good for the community because it builds resiliency.

Well, a lot of people have seen their insurance prices go up.

And, they're wondering, we passed laws that, to make the insurance less.

So what can people expect in the future?

We had a package of bills that that I had that I had, helped, Shepherd through the process.

And, you know, again, the legislature passed it.

The governor signed them.

And we're starting to see the positive impacts of that.

The rate increases that insurance companies take, or less the number of increases that they're asking for are fewer.

And in addition to that, we've had several insurance companies take rate decrease.

We've got reinsurance costs coming down.

We were very blessed this year.

We didn't have a hurricane, impact anywhere in the United States.

So that helps on the reinsurance cost.

We live in a hurricane prone, part of the country.

You know, 50% of our population lives within 50 miles of the Gulf.

They're going to be exposed to hurricane force winds.

So we need to build more resilient structures, stronger properties, and look at our building codes and make sure we're keeping up and enforcing those building codes.

Well, what about the auto insurance?

You announced the insurance reform package for drivers.

How does that work?

Yeah, look, we've made some progress this year, in Louisiana.

And at the end of the day, losses drive premiums.

And in Louisiana, we have a loss problem.

We have bottling.

We file bodily injury claims twice the national average.

We filed litigation 2 to 3 times the national average.

And that increases the cost of a claim.

Fortunately, last year, the legislature called themselves into, They had 14 individual hearings to talk about cost drivers.

Why a cost?

What was the cost of a claim?

It's more expensive in our state versus other states.

And the legislation that we had asked the legislature to the bill.

So we'd ask the legislature to address this past session.

A lot of those were designed to help rebalance the system, to reduce the the incentive people have to file what I would call, you know, potentially fraudulent claims with claims where they really weren't injured.

There wasn't a lot of damage, but they felt, you know, incentivized to file a claim and try and get some money, easy money.

We're trying to rebalance that, you know, if people have a legitimate auto wreck and they have legitimate, bodily injury, a result of that, they need to be taken care of.

But we're talking about the people that abuse the system.

And so what we're trying to do is disincentivize people from abusing the system that adds cost.

And we as ratepayers bear the burden of that.

What other changes do you see in the future of insurance in Louisiana?

Yeah.

Well, look, you know, we compete for insurance company capacity, no insurance company.

You know, they don't have to do business in the state of Louisiana.

They can pick and choose where they want to put their capital at risk.

And so we need to continually work to make sure that Louisiana is, again, as I said earlier, you know, a stable, predictable place to do business.

And we work through that through legislation.

We've the last two years that I've, you know, since I've been commissioner, we've worked with the legislature and state leaders and stakeholders to to try and push that initiative.

We're going to continue to do it.

We need to compete against other states.

Just recently, just earlier this year, Georgia passed a legal reform in their state to make their state more attractive.

Florida did some major reform in the last several years.

Other states are actively looking at doing legal reform or have recently done legal reform.

So we can't afford to stop.

We need to continue to push and promote our state, make our laws, make sure that we're competitive so that we don't fall further behind.

I don't want to fall further behind.

I want to catch up to where those other states are, so that the premiums in Louisiana are more closely aligned to what we see in other states.

All right.

Some really good information.

I think people out there seeing that can help.

Thank you.

This is Tim Temple of the Louisiana Insurance Commissioner.

Thank you.

And switching gears now, when you think of a Supreme Court chief justice, you likely picture an older, serious person making vital decisions.

But Louisiana's top judges make a name for himself with a paintbrush.

Take a look.

He describes himself as a painter, not an artist, and he has an extensive collection of his work now on display at the Roderick Gallery in New Orleans.

And in his spare time, John Wimmer serves as Chief Justice of Louisiana Supreme Court.

Chief Justice Whitmer's career is a testament to hard work, the deep commitment to public service.

In 1995, he was first elected district judge, then in 98, he was elected as an appellate judge.

He became Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in 2001, and took the oath of office as Chief Justice in 2021.

So this is a courtroom where litigants, while their attorneys, appear to make their arguments before the state Supreme Court, our job in Louisiana is to follow the law as it is written by the legislature.

So you started out as an associate justice, and now you're the chief justice, correct.

And the chief justice, according to the Constitution of Louisiana, is the justice oldest in service.

I wish I had picked another word other than oldest.

I'm actually not the oldest.

Yeah, but, I have served longer as a justice in the Supreme Court.

Growing up in Lafourche Parish, Whitmer was the oldest of five kids.

His mother died when he was nine years old, but he had big dreams that didn't include Louisiana law.

I wanted to race motorcycles initially, and, we did that.

My brothers and I did that for a number of years.

We wanted to drop out of high school and was actually named Class Clown, and I finished third in my high school class from the bottom.

I think my siblings and I learned that an education was incredibly important with no money or grades.

We got into Nicholls State majoring in business, and he worked as a legislative assistant in the state Capitol to bring in money to pay for school living in food.

Whitmer took on another job working offshore on the oil rigs and supply boats.

A lot of us back then in four days, I could make enough money to pay my tuition.

And I tell people all the time how important it is in undergraduate school not to go just to get a diploma, but to get an education.

And that's the time to experiment.

That's the time to try all kinds of different things.

Outside of his work in courtrooms and education, Judge Whitmer was always interested in art.

In his free time, he began painting the unique landscapes around south Louisiana.

Tell me, how did you get started in art?

You started as a kid?

Yeah.

I, hate to call what I do art because, art is very subjective.

I've never taken any art lessons.

I'm completely self-taught.

It's obvious by looking at the work that I do.

Waymo was a fan of the work of George Rodriguez and was influenced by some of his early work with drawings of some of the unique landscapes around Louisiana.

But I had gone to a a show of Rodriguez work at the Cabildo, and I got home that night and I turned on the TV and on, believe it or not, PBS, LPB, there was a story about Georges life that was just remarkable.

After an exchange with Wayne Fernandez, who worked for the George Rodriguez Foundation, the idea for an expansion of the Rodriguez art show was born.

A paint.

And, the show here actually said, that's a painting show.

You be the judge.

So I were like that role to others to decide whether or not this classifies as art or not.

Shamsie Frizzell is the curator of Rodriguez Art Studios and explains the connection of the two galleries of work.

This is a little bit different than what we do downstairs in the gallery.

So basically the idea behind this exhibition of Judge Whitmer's work is to use the space upstairs to kind of continue Georges legacy by showing work that sort of ties into his perspective on art, on Louisiana, and kind of have this upstairs gallery space as an expansion.

Chief Justice Weinberger continues working full time hearing cases, overseeing Louisiana Supreme Court, raising a family, and doing his unique style of painting whenever he has spare time.

So the You Be the Judge exhibit is open at the George Rodrigue Studio in New Orleans.

And you can see Justice Whitmer's work seven days a week at the Rodriguez Studios in the French Quarter.

And for more information, you can go to George rodriguez.com.

Tremendous artwork to see.

And I understand you, when you had a chance to see him, meet him, you took home a little something as well.

Yeah.

He gave gave us some printed photographs and I had him autograph.

So those will hang up nicely in my high school.

Very pretty pictures.

Well, that is our show for this week.

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

You can catch LPB news and public affairs shows as well as other Louisiana programs you've come to enjoy over these years.

And please take a moment and like us on Facebook, on zoom, and on Instagram for everyone at Louisiana Public Broadcasting, I'm Christina Jensen and I'm Victor Hall.

Until next 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 Ziegler Foundation and the Ziegler Art Museum, located in Jennings City Hall.

The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is a historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana and by Mary Bird Perkins, cancer Center.

Visit Baton Rouge and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting and viewers like you.

Thank you.