Support for Louisiana, the state we're in is provided by.

Every day I go to work for Entergy.

I know customers are counting on me.

So Entergy is investing millions of dollars to keep the lights on and installing new technology to prevent outages before they happen.

Together.

Together.

Together.

We power life.

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

And this is our sixth surge and there are some similarities to previous surges and some differences.

COVID cases creeping back up.

We want to make sure that we kind of evaluate it and see if it is actually monkeypox.

The monkeypox reaches Louisiana.

It's addressing the cycle of trauma and abuse that is unfortunately so prevalent in our community.

A new home brings hope.

Hi everyone.

I'm Kara St. Cyr.

And I'm.

Andre Moreau.

We begin tonight with news that's rocking state politics.

Former legislator and Democratic Party leader Karen Carter Peterson is facing federal charges of wire fraud and aiding and abetting.

And is accused of using campaign funds for gambling.

Now, you remember she resigned from the legislature in April, citing depression and gambling addiction.

Peterson is cooperating with the prosecution and will appear in court on August 1st.

She could get up to 20 years behind bars.

And now let's take a look at other news that's making headlines across the state.

The total ban on abortion in Louisiana has another temporary stay.

A Baton Rouge judge this week again blocked enforcement of the ban.

It's because it gives lawyers for a north Louisiana clinic and other supporters of abortion rights time to pursue a lawsuit that challenges the legislation.

A hearing is set for Monday.

A California doctor is proposing a floating abortion clinic in the Gulf of Mexico.

It would give people in southern states where abortion bans are law, access to care.

The idea is to provide a clinic aboard a ship in federal waters and out of reach of state laws that would offer first trimester surgical abortions, contraception and other care.

Even though some state Republicans wanted to overturn the governor's recent vetoes, including one involving the ban of COVID 19 status checks to insure buildings, the GOP dominated legislature voted not to hold an override session.

Democrat Governor John Bel Edwards rejected 29 pieces of recently passed legislation, albeit one authored by Republican lawmakers.

Workers have scooped up 1 million gallons of oil from the Gulf of Mexico since April 2019, from the site of the nation's longest oil spill.

The spill began when Hurricane Ivan in 2004 caused an underwater mudslide, which collapsed an oil production platform.

All the wells were not capped, some leaking for nearly 18 years.

The man sentenced to life in prison for the murder of LSU basketball star Wade Sims has died from an apparent drug overdose in Abbey Parish prison authorities found.

23 year old Deon Simpson dead from an apparent overdose of fentanyl.

He shot Sims in 2018 during a frat party near the southern campus.

The average price of gas in Louisiana is creeping down, but still above $4 a gallon.

The average price about 415, while the average nationally is at 485 a gallon.

That's still $0.20 lower than last week.

Thursday at the Lake Charles Civic Center, the state pulled together federal resources and private partners for a disaster recovery housing expo.

It was for those hit by hurricanes of the past two years, helping them with grants, health care services, more resilient buildings and insurance policies.

And it seems like months of almost radio silence when it comes to COVID news.

But recently we've seen an uptick in the number of cases in Louisiana.

Some experts say the signs are pointing to a sixth wave.

Here to talk us through all the possibilities is Dr. Joseph Kantor with the Louisiana Department of Health.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you.

It's my pleasure to be with you.

All right.

So why are some people worried about a sixth wave?

Because we are.

And to be honest with you.

So we've had up until this particular wave, five surges of COVID 19 in Louisiana.

This is our sixth surge.

And there are some similarities to previous surges and some differences.

The similarities are there's a lot of COVID being spread right now, transmission risk across the entire state.

All 64 parishes is high, meaning for people that go about their daily lives, that congregate, that do what they want to do.

The risk of being exposed to COVID is significantly higher now than it is when we're not in a surge, which means you're going to be exposed.

People are going to be exposed.

The other side is that on average, people are not getting as sick with this wave of COVID as they have in the past.

And that's a good thing.

We're not at risk of overwhelming our hospitals the way that we were in prior surges.

But that's just an average.

It doesn't mean that we don't have small numbers of people that do get very sick.

And unfortunately, we haven't yet had a day where we could report zero deaths.

So small numbers of people do get sick, but not in the larger numbers that we've seen in the past.

And that's reassuring news for most of us.

So what is making people sick right now?

Is it Armageddon?

Is it a sub variant of a crime?

What is it?

It's still Omicron, but it's a sub variant of that.

A cousin of the initial Omicron strain.

So right now we're dealing mostly with two sub variants, one called baked four and one called Baked five.

We're actually ahead of the national average on this.

So nationally, about 81% of new cases are from the baked four and baked five.

Here in Louisiana, we're at about 85%.

And that's what's driving this surge.

If it wasn't for those two variants, I think we would have peaked and already come down to surge.

But they're continuing to drive spread.

Why this variant and why is this variant happening now?

You know, it's difficult to predict these variants and it's difficult to know which ones are going to take off and become variants of concern and really affect us.

These two variants pay for and baked five have unfortunately proven to be the most transmissible variety of COVID that we've seen yet.

It's highly contagious, more contagious than other varieties.

Again, the good news is it's not typically making people as sick as other varieties, but it certainly is causing cases to go up.

In the past, whenever we were dealing with these waves, you know, cases would go up after big events like Christmas.

Thanksgiving is the 4th of July at all to blame for this?

You know, I don't think it helped, but I wouldn't blame it on it.

We were surging before the 4th of July came in really, it's an issue with timing and when these variants come up and how transmissible they prove to be.

So I know you said a little bit about hospitals already, but that's been a huge concern with all of these waves.

Are hospitals prepared?

They are prepared and they've had a lot of practice, unfortunately.

They are prepared.

On one hand, we've increased by more than double the number of COVID patients in hospitals over the past month.

On the other hand, it's a small fraction of what we had been at this point in prior surges.

We've got about 600 or so hospitalized COVID patients across the state at this point in prior surges.

We were at two or 3000, so thankfully we're not anywhere close to overwhelming hospitals and threatening our ability to receive care for COVID or otherwise.

And part of the reason why the numbers at hospitals are going down is because of the vaccine.

So is getting a booster something that can help with this six wave?

Yeah.

So this is what I'll say.

If you're eligible to get vaccinated or to get boosted, do that now if you've been vaccinated.

But not yet boosted, do that now.

That will add significant protections.

About 95% of Louisianans across the board have either been vaccinated or had COVID or both in the past.

And while that's not 100% protective, that certainly is significant.

And that's one of the reasons why on average our cases, thankfully, are mild right now.

Are a lot of those cases reinfections.

They are.

A lot of them are reinfections.

And one of the things we're seeing with Baked four and Baked five is the protection you get from a prior infection is not as robust as it was at earlier points of time in the pandemic.

So unfortunately, we're seeing a lot of people who were infected as recently as a couple of months ago get reinfected now.

And that's something we just have to grapple with.

All right.

So we know about boosters, vaccines and these types of variants.

Is there anything else people should know about this latest wave?

Yeah, we have a lot more tools at our disposal to protect ourselves and protect our families than we did earlier in the pandemic.

You can get vaccinated to get boosted.

It's easy to get those shots right now.

You can get a high quality mask like an N95 or a K95 very easily.

They're available online.

That wasn't available that way earlier in the pandemic.

They provide excellent protection.

And if you do get infected and you are high risk for complications, meaning you're older or you have significant underlying conditions, there's good treatment packs of it is a great trip and there's other treatments available too.

So there are options to keep you out of the hospital if you are infected with family should know is first and foremost take a risk calculation.

If you think you or your family are higher risk, take some precautions.

Be judicious with your indoor settings.

Wear masks when you can.

If you do get infected.

Talk to your doctor as soon as possible.

Because if the treatment's right for you, it could keep you out of the hospital.

All right.

Thank you so much for coming in and talking to us about all these possibilities.

Again, Dr. Joseph Kantor is with the Louisiana Department of Health.

Thank you so much.

There's another outbreak amid the pandemic.

Louisiana is reporting its first cases of monkeypox.

Close physical contact with somebody who's infected can pass the virus on to you.

While scientists don't know everything about it or where it comes from.

They do understand the symptoms and the risks.

Dr. Rachael Khamis with Baton Rouge General Hospital explains what you need to know.

The monkeypox outbreak is quietly spread throughout the U.S. and now we're seeing the first cases in Louisiana.

So far in Louisiana, we've only had a few cases and they've all been localized to New Orleans.

But as things spread, we don't know what it's going to look like.

Dr. Rachel Kermit is a physician at Baton Rouge General Hospital.

She says monkeypox is a virus that's easily spread.

The Department of Health already recorded three cases here.

So monkeypox is a new virus that we're seeing start showing up here in the United States.

We are not seeing it near the same levels that we were with COVID when it first came on board.

But we do want to educate the public about it because it is spread through respiratory droplets.

And also, if we touch something that might have had that virus particle on it, you can get it that way.

The strain we see spreading now first appeared in 2017 to 2019 in areas like Singapore, Nigeria and the U.K.. Now, the U.S. has documented over 700 cases, but scientists still don't fully understand why the outbreak is happening or where it really came from.

Right now, the widely held belief is that there is more monkeypox circulating in this country than has been formally identified and diagnosed.

And there's a few reasons for that.

Testing is not as widespread as it perhaps could be.

There's a long incubation period on this.

Some individuals might misinterpret their lesion for something else, and some individuals just might not go get checked out at a clinic or by a doctor at all.

The symptoms start off flulike with congestion, body aches and fatigue.

But soon after, a person will develop sores or lesions on the skin.

That's when they become infectious.

Mainly what they look like.

It can be little blisters, what we call little vesicles, and they can be in various stages of healing on the body.

So if you have any rash that you're like, Hey, I don't know what this is.

I've never had anything like this before.

Reach out to your doc, especially if you've been around someone else who've had a similar rash.

We want to make sure that we kind of evaluate it and see if it is actually monkeypox.

They can have a variety of symptoms.

They can sometimes have a little bit of discharge from them.

They can be painful, especially if we run the risk of getting a secondary bacterial infection on top of it.

So if we've kind of opened it up or whatnot and then bacteria gets in, that can make it pretty painful.

So it's something we want to just keep an eye on.

The lesions usually clear themselves within 2 to 3 weeks of the initial infection.

It's best to isolate during that time, but it's important to remember that monkeypox isn't covered.

It's not likely to be fatal, but precautions should be taken.

So right now, the most important way to keep from getting it is don't talk to someone who has a rash right now.

Make sure we're washing our hands really good.

And then what we can do if we happen to obtain it ourselves is we want to stay at home and you want to stay at home until the lesions have dried up and stabbed over, and then you're no longer considered infectious.

While health care providers are still gathering data, they do know that cases are highest among LGBTQ populations at the moment.

But Kermit says this isn't a time to stigmatize.

So I think it's important that when we have a dialog about monkeypox, that we're not labeling it as something that's unique to just one group of people.

It's actually something anyone can get.

It's just this happenstance of how it entered into the US and all of that.

So I think that's a big message for people to realize.

At this time.

The best way to avoid getting sick is to be clean and stay aware of your surroundings.

The White House has promised to ramp up the vaccine production for monkeypox.

They've already purchased 1.1 million completed doses.

And with the pandemic induced spike in mental health problems, the opening of the new Methodist Children's home of southeast Louisiana last month brought enormous relief.

The facility located in Lawrence here is the first permanent home in the region since 2005.

That's when Katrina wrecked the one that was in New Orleans.

I talked with two of the organization's leaders.

But we have three children's homes across the state of Louisiana.

Sarah Head is the director of development for Louisiana United Methodist Children and Family Services.

The group runs three homes for children with behavioral health issues.

On June 24th, the newest home in LA, Roger and Tangible Parish opened its doors.

The state of the art facility was a giant step forward and a journey that began in 2005, when Hurricane Katrina forced the Methodist home for children of New Orleans to close it.

It first opened in 1886.

Our headquarters is in Ruston, Louisiana.

So north Louisiana, we have our Methodist children's home of Southwest, which is in sulfur right outside of Lake Charles.

And then we have this new facility in LA, Roger, which operates as our southeast hub.

The Ruston home first opened in Bunkie in 1902 and moved to Ruston two years later.

It all adds up to more than 135 years since the homes opened their doors to orphans.

And in the years following, the facilities and the services have grown.

In addition to these these three residential care facilities, we operate a variety of community based services throughout the state that help build out the levels of care that we're able to provide.

So this includes therapeutic foster care, family counseling, life skills training for children that are aging out and independent living, equine therapy, etc.. Marlene Giacconi is director of the brand new facility in La Raza.

We are providing very intensive services to a population of children that are severely struggling to maintain some semblance of normalcy in a community based, in essence, anyone can refer a child to our program.

But there has to be basically a ladder leading up to the need for this intensity in terms of intervention.

So they have had the support system has to show that every community based services has not been successful in a fully functioning system where you had all levels of care, you had community based, you had the necessary level of psychologists and psychiatrists and pediatricians in every parish of the state, even with that functioning system.

There's still a place for this type of care.

And because we are missing so many of the community based levels in our state, what we provide is even more important.

The location of this newest home in tangible parish was very strategic.

We wanted to be in a central location that we were close enough to the greater New Orleans area and then also closer to the Baton Rouge area.

Because if you look at the population of the state, we are right smack in the middle of the most populous area of our state.

And we wanted to make sure that we are providing much needed services in the communities that maybe otherwise wouldn't have a resource.

The kind of tap into.

The equine therapy mentioned is fascinating.

The south east home will eventually feature the therapy, which is prevalent in the north Louisiana home.

Big, imposing and yet friendly horses play a unique and powerful role for these children.

Why is that so important?

Was equine therapy so important?

I think our CEO says it best where he says there's nothing like seeing the relationship that a child can form with the horse.

So if you think of a horse, you think of this this pretty significant animal.

And then you think of children being able to approach this horse and gain the horse's trust.

And it's really about teaching a child that even though the initial work of establishing a relationship, a healthy relationship, takes time, the possibility of establishing that healthy relationship and gaining trust, not only that horse, trusting the child, but also the child trusting the horse.

It's a vital aspect of teaching children and reinforcing children that positive relationships are possible.

These gentle giants are quietly helping children rebuild and restore trust that will carry over into their interactions with their parents, their family and people around them.

It's an especially vital aspect of care in a world where the mental health crisis is severe.

Currently, we have our what's known as our Owl Center, our Outdoor Wilderness Learning Center outside of Ruston and Dubuc, Louisiana.

And so right now, that is our primary equine therapy center, and we kind of base it from there.

But what's great about our new southeast Louisiana location is that it is on 126 acres.

So we have a ton of space we're able to grow and build out.

We are all about building positive seeds so that in turn our children and families can take those positive seeds and then transplant them into their home community.

So it's really about breaking the cycle of out of home placements.

It's really it's addressing the cycle of trauma and abuse that is unfortunately so prevalent in our communities.

The new place can house 32 boys and girls 7 to 14 years and age for six months at a time.

As part of the PBS for the Arts Campaign, LP was selected to highlight a performing artists who's been impacted by the pandemic and use their skills to positively impact the community.

We chose local artists and community activists, My name is Boone Milton.

I am 26 years old and I'm a performing artist and producer.

So in high school, things kind of took off when our biggest song is called Justice.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, we got this style of music called Jigging is like jig music, but the reason why they call it is because it's a specific dance that happens here, like in Baton Rouge has really expanded everywhere now.

So we created the first jig lion dance almost.

We go, wow, we go out like I have songs that was in the club while I was old enough to get into the club.

And I was really like getting kind of lost in the South.

I was really getting like pulled by my talent as an identity.

And you always needed to perform and thrive and have something like that, that whereas in tourism you and I started seeing myself as more than just a rap, I saw myself at the center of being me, identifying that I have talents and realizing that I am not my talent.

I'm also a son.

I am also a brother.

I am also a student.

I am also a lot of these other things.

And if I get caught up so much and one identity, then all the other ones start to fall apart.

And I was seeing that in my life already in so many different ways.

I was taking this hiatus and music, starting to really get connected to community, started doing some events here and there, taking on this newfound drive to really help people.

Things started really picking up in line, man.

I'm really doing some cool stuff.

Bone covered.

Metal like tub is.

Crazy.

Danny See what up with that you've got to.

And I was like, Oh, how do I continue to do what I do?

And I really didn't know how.

Like, okay, it was very different cause I'm like, how do I help people if I can't talk to them?

Touch them.

Sometimes I felt like I wasn't connecting with my creative side, but yet I was the whole time and just didn't really up front.

No way.

The pandemic allowed me to dig even deeper into my talents and get even more sense of self.

I was in the house and I was low key, bored at times and was trying to find different ways of expressing myself and doing things like, oh, like what if I like actually made a song and this was the creation of this song called Daylight How Sorry.

I've been in the house already.

I've been in the house sound literally saying I've been in the house all day, I've been in the house all day.

And that's literally what song about just me being in the house, but also what an inspirational message to got to really learn how to plan and clear the store right up a mountain west.

And it started happening and I had an initiative called Spark Box come up and it just took me for a ride.

Many camps are closed this summer due to COVID 19.

So this morning's good news story, the day we're meeting a community activist who's bringing the lessons of a camp to kids in the form of a take away home kit.

So joining us from Baton Rouge, Louisiana is Emmanuel Boo Melton.

How are.

You there?

Man, I'm beautiful today.

How are.

You?

Great.

Emmanuel, may we call you Boo?

Is that okay?

Yeah, sure.

It was a social emotional learning that I created, along with help with some of my old English teachers and stuff.

It was a solution for kids to still get that developmental part that they get over the summer, which is in a box like inactivity.

We were able to we're able to distribute over 3000 boxes.

The activity was cool.

I felt like that was really needed at that time, but I felt like the next thing people needed was just a feeling of just hope and a message.

So that's whenever I decided to put together an EP.

Hope is everywhere.

Lately I've seen for every reason that got to keep believing.

For every reason don't like say I'm dreaming, I see and achieve.

Because even when agreed, I receive in and seed because sometimes like the sky when it rains but.

Sometimes doesn't have to mean all the way I know is definitely different from the type of music I was making prior to is a little bit more hopeful and intentional about what emotions I'm going through that I can then express to make somebody else connect with it as well in a more hopeful way.

I feel like that's really where my passion was, was for people, and music was another way to connect with people.

Even though I might've took a break or a hiatus from rapping, I didn't stop taking a break from being an artist.

I'm an artist musically, but I'm also an artist.

All my community events through the things that I create, you know, I'm a continue to make music.

I'm a make music authentic to who I am that tells my life story and hopefully people can connect with it and get inspired by is a healthy as well.

Because sometimes I bring the accent when I write the sometimes there's an anthem in my room I know I know I am.

Certainly an extraordinary.

Person.

Yeah, he sure has made an impact, hasn't he?

Hey, the PBS short film fest is back for an 11th season and it features 25 short form independent films that have been submitted by PBS member stations around the country.

This includes three local films submitted by US Lvb.

Be sure to tune in at PBS.org Slash Film Festival and for updates on the festival, visit Live's Facebook page and follow hashtag PBS's Film Fest on Twitter and everyone.

That is our show for this week.

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

App, you can catch all 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, Twitter, TikTok, and on Instagram.

For everyone at Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

I'm Andre Moreau and I'm Kara St. Cyr Until next time.

That's the state we're in.

Every day I go to work for Entergy.

I know customers are counting on me.

So Entergy is investing millions of dollars to keep the lights on and installing new technology to prevent outages before they happen.

Together, together, together.

We power life.

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