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 an historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana.

And the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

With support from viewers like you.

Hurricane Francine hits southeast Louisiana.

We'll bring you the latest from the storms aftermath and climate change related disasters.

Playing outside role on our older population.

I'll tell you about one group making the elderly its priority.

Meet Louisiana's news secretary, Wildlife and Fisheries.

Madisen chicken.

We'll hear her vision for the sportsman's Paradise.

And meanwhile, a Louisiana plantation reckons with the state's antebellum era in a new, inclusive exhibit.

Let's get started.

Let's do it.

Hello, everyone.

I'm Karen LeBlanc, and welcome to the 48th season of Louisiana, the state we're in.

So to celebrate the start of our new season, we want to welcome my new co-host, Dorothea Wilson.

Now, Dorothea, this wasn't exactly the welcome back to Louisiana.

You were probably anticipating.

It's definitely been eventful, but we are so excited to have you.

Thank you Karen, and I'm so excited to be here.

And you're right.

Wasn't quite the welcome I was looking for, but excited to be here nonetheless.

I'm a Louisiana girl through and through.

Originally from the West Bank of New Orleans, so I am glad to be back in spite of, well, welcome.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Now, speaking of hurricanes, now, Hurricane Francine has moved out of Louisiana, but people in the southeastern part of the state are now working to clean it up.

Francine made landfall as a weak category two hurricane around Wednesday night near Tabone and Saint Mary parishes.

The storm shut down parts of the state as people made preparations, some with a sense of humor, others with a sense of urgency.

It's a man that was inside the vehicle.

Looked like he's a bit stuck right now, trying to get out.

Hurricane Francine caused havoc with heavy rains, calling for a heroic rescue on live TV of this passenger trapped in floodwaters under a New Orleans overpass.

As we see feed and, firefighters now heading out into the water with a stick.

But already this good Samaritan helped to rescue this gentleman in this vehicle.

Such a scary situation.

We were all holding our breath.

Good Samaritan Miles Crawford, an air nurse, springs into action, grabbing a hammer from his home to bust out the truck window, saving the driver's life.

In a press conference, Governor Jeff Landry recognized Crawford publicly for his heroic act.

As of right now, had no reports of any storm related fatalities, and we want to keep it that way in the worst of times.

Normally brings out the best of us.

We are the very epitome of a resilient people.

As Baton Rouge braced for impact, Hurricane Francine changed her course and headed for Saint Mary and Tara Bowen parishes with Morgan City and Homa in her direct path.

She made landfall as a category two hurricane.

Governor Landry surveyed from a helicopter Hurricane Francine's aftermath in Saint Mary, Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes before the storm.

The governor declared a state of emergency and received white House approval for a presidential emergency declaration, clearing the way for federal assistance requests.

We'll get the money that we deserve from the federal government to help us.

That's why we pay taxes, whether it's in the form of public assistance, infrastructure repair, personal assistance, mitigation grants.

I've already started talking to my colleagues.

The entire congressional delegation is united on this.

Hurricane Francine caught the attention of Weather Channel meteorologist Jim Cantore, who received up mixed welcome from the Bayou State.

All right, guys, apparently Francine's got a little fight in her, this evening because we now have a category two hurricane.

A sign on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway bridge between New Orleans and Mandeville warned Canterbury not to even think about coming there.

Meanwhile, a coffee shop in Lafayette served up Jim Cantore Cupcakes, a concoction of shrimp boil and vanilla flavors.

With the weather casters face on each.

Sheets of rain coming down in the Crescent City were enough to stall sewage systems in some parts of the city.

Rains, particularly in the New Orleans area, in fact, on both sides of the tidal lakes, North and South Shore were a little more significant than what we expected.

Two reasons for that.

One, the storm did take a slight jog to the east.

Number two, it moved a little more slowly than we expected, and we also had a pretty healthy north eyewall as that system worked its way through southeastern Louisiana.

Rainfall totals in and around the Crescent City widespread 5 to 7, with some eight inch pockets there.

And on the North Shore we had some places that had double digit rainfall.

So no surprise, we had flooding around Metro New Orleans.

And it's also no surprise that we're seeing minor to moderate flooding in the Florida Parish rivers.

And a silver lining to Hurricane Francine for shrimpers in Terrebonne and Little Fish parishes.

They reported netting a bounty of shrimp as Francine approached with 100 mile per hour winds pushing tidal waters toward land.

From hashtags to headlines, here's what's trending this week.

Now, a lot of people used humor to get there.

The stress of hurricane Francine.

Yeah.

That's right.

Now, first up, we have a Weather Channel meteorologist, Jim Canterbury.

He got a bit of a scare down in Morgan City.

His car battery died, and when a nearby police officer pop the hood, things got a bit unusual.

Looking out conditions.

Hold on.

We found something a little shocking.

And of course, right there just now, the officer identified the snake as a copperhead, rattlesnake mixture and shade that made him non-venomous.

Now, I highly doubt that.

Now he was.

I'm not sure if he was having a little bit of fun or if he was serious.

definitely the brunt of a joke.

In fact, snake idea, which we recently did a story on there all about snake education, identified it as a harmless water snake.

Wow.

giving Jim Cantore a big eyeroll.

Like, really makes some other people got their future forecasters in on the action.

We are currently recording softball sized hail at 72 and frame at 90 mile an hour.

Now, Lpv sports correspondent Victor Howell's triplets also gave their own forecast ahead of Francine, as did our director Chris Wilcox.

Kids.

Now, that's a good way to keep the kids engaged and entertained while they're out of school.

You know, a lot a little future weather caster in the works here.

Just adorable.

Well, some wildlife also got attention online.

A Louisiana celebrity nudie the nutria stopped by a snowball stand in New Orleans for a pre-storm snack.

It was an ice cream cone, and that is one spoiled nutria.

I'd say eating an ice cream cone.

Jeez.

Now on to a more serious note.

From hurricanes to extreme heat.

Climate change impacts all of us in Louisiana.

The elderly are particularly vulnerable, with complications that make it harder to both prepare for and recover from disasters.

I met with the president of Ground Force Humanitarian Aid, who's making it a priority to help the most vulnerable residents.

As a Louisiana native, there's no place Rob go they would rather be than right here in Cajun country.

In fact, he can trace his roots back as far as the 1600s.

I'm a Cajun.

My last name is go De.

Yeah.

Django.

They came to the New World in 1630. and then I'm in the right geographic place with these storms, and so it's a calling.

I feel like, you know, I want to leave my mark on this earth, and I can improve the flow of relief for those that need it most.

And Rob is doing just that, leaving his mark on the earth by helping those who need it most.

There are over 75 million older Americans in the U.S., making up over one fifth of our population.

Statistics show that more than half of that population is negatively impacted by climate change.

Due to various conditions in Louisiana alone, robbed has helped hundreds of our elderly by helping them recover from devastating events involving climate change.

Through his organization, Ground Force Humanitarian Aid, he's done everything from roof repairs to completely gutting homes, picking up and discarding falling trees and shrubbery.

And the work doesn't stop here in the Bayou State.

He's even traveled outside of Louisiana to provide relief for those who simply weren't getting it.

For example, in Rolling Fort, which was a tornado that hit, Mississippi, we got a call about an elderly woman and an aging woman who needed help.

Her home had been damaged, and she needed some trees taken off of it.

And there's nobody helping her.

And I knocked on the door.

I said, Mister, I'm here to help.

She said, thank you.

Have had no help.

Rob started the organization in 2016 after almost a decade.

It's moments like the one he shared with Miss Adam that keep him coming back year after year.

As we age, our our networks of support deteriorate, that we become socially isolated.

She's, physically challenged on fixed income mobility, challenged all of those factors, and so many more are leaving our elderly in a real crisis after natural disasters.

But as committed as Rob is to helping the elderly get back on their feet, he can't do it alone.

Rob has a team of people around him that shares his vision.

This is incredibly hard and we've been through the fire together on things, situations that we've had to deal with, and they have stood by me and the organization and our board through thick and thin.

One of those team members is Dave Crawford.

He's the community caretaker at Ground Force and has been working with Rob for the past three years.

This gives you, really a sense of fulfillment.

Being involved in something like this.

He says it's after he encountered a fellow veteran that his life changed forever.

And he knew that he was in it for the long haul.

We had received a call from a deputy sheriff about a, elderly man that was alone in his house.

We went over to make contact with him and found out, George was a, was an Air Force veteran, and he was in a really bad situation.

And he had a river that was only a couple hundred yards from behind his house, like a big open bay river.

The water was up to the bottom of his mattress.

He was sitting on his bed like, you know, just praying that the water recede is like, you know, my next step was to get on the kitchen counter.

And then after that, I don't know what I would have done.

Dave was moved to compassion after hearing George's story, making an offer.

Neither one saw coming.

I had asked him I was like, hey, you think about coming to South Louisiana now?

And, we'll figure it out from there.

Will we get there?

Right?

And the rest is history.

Dave says it was the beginning of a new friendship, and George becoming part of his family.

He helped him get a new place.

Veterans benefits and health care.

And was there for him until he passed away early last year at the age of 83.

I'm satisfied that he, I made an impact in his life, and I want to say it probably extended his life a little bit, gave him some hope, gave him new friends, new place, you know, basically like new everything.

So he could.

So he could have that, that joy in his life.

Since then, Dave has worked alongside Rob to help many others, just like George, throughout Louisiana and beyond, working year round to help those who have once helped us.

In this week's Louisiana Space, meet the new Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Madison Sheehan.

The Ohio native landed the role after serving on Governor Jeff Landry's transition team.

She previously worked for former President Donald Trump and with South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.

Before moving to Louisiana, I talked to Sheehan about her vision for managing and maintaining Louisiana's status as a sportsman's Paradise.

I am joined by Madison.

She have the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Welcome.

Thank you so much for joining us.

A lot of viewers are eager to meet you.

So you took over the position in January.

What drew you to this job?

It's a big one.

As secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

It's a great step in my career, and it's really an extraordinary opportunity.

And I think really, what the governor was asking me to do is to really bring, new ideas to the department.

So, as many of us know, there was a lot of issues in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries in the past, and there's no need to relitigate those.

But what we do know is that it was time to rebuild and rebrand, but also to bring in the modern professional department that the people of Louisiana deserve.

So what are your priorities?

So every day we work on projects like our Artificial reef program, and be able to make sure that we're impacting the opportunities for our fishermen.

We just put forth an opportunity with our Wildlife and Fisheries Commission to expand a shark season.

We know that's impact.

A lot of the recreational fishermen.

But we also on the other side of that, like I mentioned, overseas and be able to put forth a bear season in the state of Louisiana.

This is the first time this has been done since the 80s.

And not only did we get a species off of the endangered species list, but we're also putting it forth for a hunting season, and we see the impact that's going to have, both economically, but also on a sportsman standpoint for the people of Louisiana.

And what other expanded hunting opportunities are we going to see in the immediate future?

The other thing that we're working on is a black belly whistling duck opportunity with the federal level.

And so what we're looking at there is we know that the black belly whistling duck has put a lot of pressure on our agriculturist as well as on our communities, and really kind of become a nuisance in some areas of the state, and our job is to manage that species.

And so in doing that, what we want to do is make sure that we promote as much opportunity for our hunters as possible.

You inherited some controversial projects when you took over leadership of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, one of which is Lake Morrow Paul.

That's a state wildlife and fisheries land.

And there is a carbon capture project in the works.

there's been a lot of, vocal criticism and concern about potential environmental and public health, threats where does the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries stand at the moment with this project?

So where are we set up?

The project is we are the ones who help with the permitting process.

And some of the land processes.

But what we don't do is we don't own the water bottoms.

So that's the Office of State Lands.

And so a lot of the conversations that's very controversial is really a conversation that needs to be had between air products and state lands.

But what I can tell you is there was a fish kill on the property, and we work directly with air products to come up with the restitution.

And they were very gracious in the fact that they came back and worked with us and have been a very good partner in actually restocking some of those properties.

And so that's really where we sit with the relationship with them.

But a lot of that conversation is really to be had with state lands, with the Mid Barataria Sediment diversion, project.

That's the freshwater diversion, big project could be the largest and I think in our history in terms of, of, restoration and rebuilding.

But a lot of controversy there.

And the concern is that it is going to harm wildlife and marine life.

What is the department's role in that project and in mitigating potential, damage to wildlife and fisheries?

So we currently sit on the Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group.

It's commonly known as the Tig.

And this is a program that they use to really look at and identify these projects and, and how they affect our coastal lands.

And so being a member of that, we play a role in it.

But it's really not our project.

It's mostly a CPR, a project or even a parish project.

And so we're monitoring it because we want to make sure, again, when you're talking about the balance of the commercial industry and the recreational industry, but also how the commercial industry interacts with different organizations, and we want to make sure we're a voice for the commercial industry.

And we've made sure that there's about 300 million set aside to actually help with mitigation dollars, whether that's purchasing fishing equipment or making sure that the studies are done correctly.

We have a priority in the department to make sure that all of that money goes directly to the folks who need it, directly to our commercial industries that are going to be affected by this.

And another exciting project that we'll be following is Port Wonder.

It's going to be a great thing for the city of Lake Charles.

I work actively with Hunter, Nic Hunter, Mayor Nic Hunter, and so we're very excited about those projects.

We've got a section of our own that is there, and we wonder, it's very educational based.

You're going to be able to go through whether it's our touch tanks or actually seeing firsthand the reef fish as well as our bayou tanks.

And really kind of getting a firsthand experience of what we do on a daily basis as a department and how our science affects the people of Louisiana, and why it's so important for us to do do right by that.

And we'll also also have a fishing pier just off of the the lake there and, hopefully get a lot of people out hunting and fishing.

It's very youth engaged.

we're really excited about that.

Well, thank you so much for joining us here in studio.

And to introduce yourself to our viewers.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Across the state, a reckoning with Louisiana's antebellum era is underway as plantation tours rewrite their stories.

Shadows on the test and New Iberia is among the first to offer an inclusive narrative in its new exhibit, A Picture Unbroken.

It tells the stories of more than 1000 enslaved individuals who worked and lived on the sugar plantation.

I'm taking you on a tour as they give voices to those silenced by history.

Shadows on the Dash in New Iberia sits along the banks of Bayou Tash as a National Trust Historic Site.

The Weekes family owned the home for four generations.

Its history tied to the beauty and brutality of the antebellum South.

Slave economy.

So the shadows.

The construction started in 1831.

It was completed in 1834.

Mary and her six children moved into the house.

And, you know, this is history today.

A reckoning with history is happening across the street from shadows on the at its visitors center, in a new exhibit that tempers the romantic notion of plantation life with its conflicted reality.

It begins with a wall listing the names of more than 1000 enslaved people who worked on the sugar plantation.

This is somewhat of a memorial to those individuals, even to those whose names we have not, uncovered just yet.

We tell it how it is, how it was, the Weekes family before the Civil War owned up to nine plantations.

So it's not just the shadows, right?

They owned they owned up to nine plantations all across the state.

And they enslaved 1112 people all across the state of Louisiana.

That is a story that is important.

it is what they built their wealth on.

It is what the entire sugar industry in Louisiana built their wealth on.

And that's something that we need to make sure that we point out that we recognize a picture.

Unbroken chronicles the lives of the weeks family and the people they enslaved through artifacts from the weeks family archive of 17,000 items.

This is a business card.

probably a, slave dealer that if we weeks family did business with you and the receipt.

The collection includes several rare outfits for enslaved children on the plantation.

Charity pulled an enslaved seamstress, sewed the clothing, customizing each piece instead of following orders to stick to the pattern.

Because she did that, and we don't know if it was out of maybe just, some form of of, of resistance or just compassion for the enslaved children.

But she did, and, she was disciplined.

We don't know how, but she was disciplined by the family, and they took those clothes and threw them in the trunk.

And that's why we have them today.

Mundane objects discovered from archeological digs around the slave cabins reveal a larger picture of plantation life.

Buttons.

Thimble.

Sewing.

toothbrush.

A little doll here that was probably given to an enslaved child, a marble.

The exhibit moves through time, chronicling the Civil War years when the shadows on the tush was occupied by Union troops through reconstruction and post reconstruction in the Jim Crow South class.

That, it's reality alluded to.

yeah.

So, you know, there was a lot of, terrorism intimidation during this period.

States enacted laws, to disenfranchize, black people take away the rights that had been before that December 13th, 14th, 15th, the Constitution amendment, including Louisiana across the street.

The inclusive narrative continues on public tours of the home.

In this room, we talk about the plantation life on Weeks Island.

So I had the people colorized in these images, but these are actual images from our collection.

So weeks on is about 15 miles from here, and the weeks family owned around 2000 acres of land there.

So it was an enormous sugar operation.

They enslaved around 300 people on that island.

In the kitchen we see more clothing.

Charity stitched for enslaved children.

We have about eight pairs of clothing in our collection, and they're extremely rare.

The dining room retains much of its original furnishings and decor, typical of wealthy planters and plantation owners in the 1800s.

Portraits of the home's original owner, Mary Weeks, and her second husband, John Moore, overlook the dining room.

Moore was a member of the Confederate government and signed the secession ordinance, splitting Louisiana from the Union.

A copy of the document is also on display.

Then we ask a pretty complex question.

We asked, what do they think relationships looked like between the enslaved people on the property and Mary and the weeks family?

And you get lots of different answers, and they're all correct because we don't we don't acknowledge that there was only one singular experience.

So it challenges our visitors to really think more deeply about systems of slavery and how, and how these two very different societies kind of dealt with each other in Mary's bedroom.

Behind the door lies another grim reminder of life after the Civil War in the Deep South.

Here we also talk about the rise of Jim Crow.

We talk about the racial violence in Louisiana that happens on this map was created by B Wells.

And what it does is it tracks the number of lynchings in a state over 33 years in Louisiana.

During those 33 years, there were 326 lynchings in 1919.

The weeks families sold Weeks Island, the sugar plantation shadows on the Dash remained in the family until 1958, when its last owner and his censured painter and socialite, William Weeks Hall, died and donated shadows and cash to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The tour ventures into his artist studio, where a door covered with famous names signatures tells the story of the home's many celebrity visitors.

The walkthrough ends on a lighter note in this room that celebrates black artists with ties to the property, including jazz legend Bunk Johnson.

Our tour is completely dialogic.

It means that we have conversations, so we threw out the old scripts.

So every single tour is different.

We typically don't allow visitors to get away with the idea of, oh, well, that was just that was just how it was, right?

I was just the time that they were living in.

You know, these are choices that these people made.

The second one is that there's no such thing as a singular experience, and it also helps to build some empathy with these enslaved people who labored and lived on this plantation.

For.

Well, Dorothy, a hurricane may not have been the best way to welcome you to our team, but we are so excited to have you join us and to help us tell the state stories.

Thank you.

So that's our show for this week.

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

Yeah that's right.

And you can catch LP 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 Loblaw and I'm Dorothea Wilson.

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 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.