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.

A single injection could be life changing for veterans suffering from PTSD.

There's a question if rapper 50 cent is running into problems with his multi-million dollar plans in Shreveport.

We'll take a closer look.

Also in Shreveport, twin brothers or on a mission to uncover the city's hidden history.

And we'll take you inside one of the state's largest collections of rare books.

Kristina's off this weekend, but you're in good hands with us.

So let's get started.

Hello, everyone.

I'm Johnny Atkinson, and I'm Victor Howell in for Christina Jensen this week.

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

But 1st September, the suicide prevention month that hits close to home for American service members who often struggle once they return home.

For one Louisiana veteran, his own experience with PTSD led him to search for another way forward and to help other veterans do the same.

Kristina's got that story.

For some American service members.

The dangers of conflict are happening right now.

For others, the battle doesn't end when they come home.

It follows them into crowded rooms, into quiet moments, and sometimes into everyday life.

Andrew Ward knows that firsthand.

Part of my job is whenever I was there, I was part of a Bradley crew, a Bradley fighting vehicle.

And whenever you're in the back as a dismount can be very claustrophobic and you're always in a heightened stage.

And so for me, going to counseling in those days really did start to kind of help me understand it.

Ward served 18 months in Iraq when he came home.

He turned to counseling.

Did it take it fully away?

No, but at least let me manage it enough to keep going.

Day to day.

For years.

That was the goal.

Keep going.

Push through.

Find a way to manage.

But managing the symptoms wasn't the same as making them disappear.

Then Ward heard about another option.

Estelle at ganglion block.

It's an injection of local anesthetic near a bundle of nerves in the neck.

What was your experience with it?

I was fantastic.

I mean, I went down 20, 21 and he administered the shot 20 minutes on the table.

No anesthetic needed.

And same day I felt like I could breathe.

I felt like a weight was lifted, a weight lifted.

But Ward didn't see the procedure as a cure.

If you say something's a cure in science, there's going to be a lot of headwind coming back at you.

All we are is a reduction in the levels of the post-traumatic stress.

For Ward, that relief became a mission.

He wanted other veterans to have an option to.

We were seeing other things coming out, these research papers that were saying that counseling in conjunction with the shot was providing better results than just the shot alone.

That idea became part of heal, a program through the Acadiana Veteran Alliance, the organization ward founded in 2020, the program combines SGB with counseling and follow up support at no cost to qualifying veterans, and Ava says its program data shows improvement in many of the veterans it has tracked.

Among 26 veterans tracked before, in two weeks after treatment, 24 showed improvement in PTSD symptoms.

We identified some trauma informed counselors in the area.

We kind of created that stable of providers, and then we also have our physicians that we trust, and for us, it allowed us to say, okay, not just get the shot, but also once you have that done, we're going to go ahead and provide you with the counseling source.

For veteran Richard Milford, large crowds were one of his biggest triggers.

He watched other veterans go through the program, then decided it was his turn.

Being in large crowds was always one of the biggest triggers that I had.

That was really hard to deal with at times.

After about two years of seeing other veterans and seeing how it helped them, I said, listen, I'm ready to to go do this.

For Milford, the difference wasn't just in how he felt, it was in his ability to work through what he'd been dealing with.

And that's where the support after the procedure matters.

Annabeth Stafford is the center manager.

She tracks veterans through the program from start to finish.

I like to explain it as the shot is kind of the storm stopper, so it brings all of those symptoms that make it impossible to approach all of these wonderful modalities of care brings us under control and consider the system down.

It's basically a hard reset for your sympathetic nervous system, and that makes it possible to then take advantage of all the other wonderful, clinically proven methods of recovering from post-traumatic stress.

Stafford says the program tracks PTSD, anxiety, and depression using standardized assessments and for veterans living in rural areas.

Counseling is available through telehealth.

How rewarding is it for you to be in a position like this where you can see people getting better?

What I love seeing is in those follow up calls after the injection, suddenly when that hope gets sparked, then they want to hear more about our counseling program and they want to hear more about our financial education and our entrepreneurship course, and all of these other areas of life that they're actually able to get excited about now.

But SGP is still an emerging treatment for PTSD.

The VA and Department of Defense say there isn't enough evidence to recommend for or against it, and researchers are still trying to determine who benefits and how long those benefits last.

One 2026 Ohio State University study involving 86 military personnel and veterans with PTSD looked at in combination with cognitive processing therapy.

Researchers found those who received the procedure before therapy saw their PTSD symptoms improve more quickly.

The stellar ganglion block and the counseling sessions.

These lower the hyper arousal.

They increase the ability to get good, restful night's sleep, they lower post-traumatic stress symptoms, and all of those are contributing factors to suicide risk.

For Milford, the change was something he could feel.

Within 24 hours of having the SUV shot.

Things were more mellower.

I was able to focus more clearer, was able to then through using counseling and therapy, to be able to deal with those things that I need to deal with, because now I could see it clear and work through that.

And for Ward, that's why the work continues.

Not because he believes SGB is the answer for every veteran, but because he believes they should have an option.

I leaned into it because I knew what it did for me.

I knew what it did for people that I served with, people that are on my board, people that I'm familiar with, and I've seen how they've told me, and it's anecdotally, but they've come to me and these testimonials are saying, you have changed my life for the better.

So that's what we're going to do.

We're going to keep leaning into it more and more and more.

For a veteran who spent years just trying to manage the fight, another option could be the first step toward something different.

And let's take a look at what's going on this week in the world of sports.

Victor it's a big week LSU.

They didn't look so good on Saturday, but they did.

National audience.

They had a tough one.

Southern.

They got a big win over in Jackson Mississippi.

How about the Saints.

They're going to be coming home.

Saints one big win off one and one.

Yeah they did off a big weekend.

We'll talk about them again in just a moment.

But yes it'll be another sold out crowd inside of Tiger Stadium Saturday night when the 10th ranked Tigers host number 23 Texas A&M.

Both of these teams coming off of disappointing losses one week ago.

Tiger fans know all too much about LSU.

Tough weekend in Oxford, Mississippi, and the loss to Ole Miss.

The Aggies.

Well, they lost at home by a wide margin to Kentucky.

Well, after facing Trinidad Chambliss last weekend, all eyes will be on A&M quarterback Marcell Reed.

And can the Tigers defense control him?

He was a Tiger killer last year in the Aggies runaway win that eventually led to the end of the Brian Kelly era.

Kickoff is just after 630, in a game that will once again be nationally televised on ABC.

Well, if you want a game that should be fun to watch and a half time, that will be even better.

Well, you'll get that tonight in Jackson, Mississippi, when southern faces Jackson State in the Boom Box Classic.

The Tigers have owned the series as of late, and southern head coach Marshall Faulk knows his team will have to rise to the challenge against one of the best teams in the Swac.

Literally, I went back and I was like, let me see the scores of these game.

I mean, these games other than one game, it's been a very comfortable game for them.

And what we want to do is make it an uncomfortable game, make it a close game to where it comes.

It comes down to plays and guys making plays.

That's that's what that's what this game.

That's what we want this game to mirror.

Well the New Orleans Saints are set for their home opener this Sunday when they welcome the Los Vegas Raiders down to the Caesar's Superdome.

The Saints got the attention of the entire NFL last weekend, when they stormed back to beat Baltimore on the road to go to one on one on the season.

That excitement should have the Who Dat Nation extra amped up for this game.

And that'll be this Sunday against the Raiders team that has shocked everyone with a two zero start to the year.

There's a lot of work to go.

We've won one game and there's a lot of games to go, and so I think our guys are just focused on, you know, every opportunity and this will be a fun challenge.

You know these guys played two games.

They won two games pretty decisively in my opinion.

Played really good football.

And so you know it's going to be a fun battle.

And finally once again some sad news to report.

We seem to be doing this all too often for the third time in as many months.

We say goodbye to a Louisiana sports legend.

Thursday we learned of the death of LSU basketball and NBA legend Bob Pettit.

You want to talk about a gentle giant?

That was Pettit.

He was an All-American as a Tiger, and he was an NBA all star in each of the 11 years he was in the league.

Pettit played his entire career with the Saint Louis Hawks, where he led them to the 1958 world title, beating the Celtics, and in 1956, he was named the NBA's first ever Most Valuable Player.

He was also a four time all star game in V.P.

only Kobe Bryant, the only other player to achieve that.

Pettit retired after the 1965 season, was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1971, and in 1991 was honored as a Louisiana Legend by LPB.

Bob Pettit was 93 years old.

I tell you, Johnny, I had a chance to interview Bob Pettit when I was working for the New Orleans Pelicans in New Orleans Hornets, and it's one of those moments like we get in this business, sit there and you realize I'm talking to Bob Pettit.

What what a great man.

He has a statue outside of LSU.

Very sad to hear about his loss before he was a special one.

I truly Louisiana legend.

You're right.

Yeah, he really, really was.

All right, let's turn our attention now and turn more to entertainment, if you will.

And we'll go towards Shreveport because a cryptic post from rapper 50 cent is raising questions about his plans for downtown Shreveport.

The massive development has hit a few roadblocks, but as Kristina Jensen reports, Shreveport mayor is still optimistic.

I don't know what you heard about me.

In an Instagram post this evening by music and business mogul Curtis 50 cent, Jackson sparks questions and concerns that he may be having second thoughts of doing business with the city.

One Instagram post and suddenly, questions are swirling around 50 Cent's vision for downtown Shreveport.

The post came from his verified account July 13th.

50 cent wrote, there are people in Shreveport that just don't want things to get better.

I only make deals that make sense.

I'm going to have to pull back on the Red River piece and quote.

Days later, another post appeared to respond directly to the mayor.

Now, after nearly two months, Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux is responding.

We entered into contracts with with Mr.

Jackson, and the state entered into contracts for three specific developments one.

One called Stage Work, which had been a soundstage and a convention center.

One is a dome similar to the Sphere in Las Vegas that he's going to construct.

And the third one is this movie studio.

All of those are moving forward.

We have some physical difficulties we're addressing with the movie studio.

It's it's in a low lying area, and we need to make sure that there won't be any water incursion there, but we're going to address that issue.

Three projects.

One vision for downtown Shreveport.

Together, the projects are designed to expand the city's capacity for film and television production, digital media, and large scale entertainment events.

We took it one step at a time, and it started with a few million dollars.

And now those three projects are going to be an investment of about 124 to $127 million.

So it's a big infusion of development into downtown Shreveport.

On paper, it's a massive investment.

$50 million from the state, 74 million from G-Unit.

And the potential payoff?

$18.8 billion over 20 years.

And more than 6000 jobs, according to a study commissioned by G unit.

And with state money on the table, a new oversight entity will help track the development and the funding behind it.

For Shreveport, the bet isn't just on buildings, it's on an industry.

Movies have been filmed here for years, but Arceneaux says he wants more than productions that arrive, film and leave.

He wants the jobs to stay.

So he's going to be creating film production jobs, but also pre-production in post-production jobs here.

They will begin filming, I hope, as early as this year.

But for the people who already called downtown home.

The future isn't abstract.

It's personal.

Just as executive chef and downtown restaurant owner Neema de Gracia.

We often, you know, less sighted when it comes to food when it comes to community.

We focus on just New Orleans, New Orleans, New Orleans.

There are other cities in Louisiana that are great.

De Gracia moved to Shreveport with a simple goal to be part of its growth.

Now she's watching that community change around her.

I moved here 12 years ago, and I wanted to be the change that I wanted to see in the world, not just serving good food, but also creating a community.

But bringing 50 cent, bringing a big name, it's such an amazing thing for our community.

And the changes are already visible.

Fences now mark blocks of downtown behind them.

A different future is taking shape.

He has bought between 8 and 11 private properties that he intends to develop in in downtown Shreveport as well.

So a lot of the fencing that you see are the private properties.

But one site is hard to miss.

The biggest fencing you see is where the giant dome is going to be built.

And it's a it's like a 14 story dome, big event center.

And so we're very excited about that.

Behind that fence is the biggest piece of the vision.

The G dome, a project 50 cent broke ground on June 17th.

And that day he described the groundbreaking as a significant milestone for the city.

When he was asked what Shreveport would look like five years from now, he had a simple answer.

Oh no, you will recognize.

And for the mayor, the G dome is just one part of a much bigger vision for downtown.

It's taking a little time to develop.

And so I think some people a little skeptical, but I'm still confident that Mr.

Jackson is going to do what he said he was going to do.

For downtown business owners like Degrassi.

The hope is that the investment brings more people and more business to the heart of Shreveport.

Also in Shreveport, twin brothers have turned a passion for history into a unique way to tell the city's story.

Here's a look at how Mike and Mark Mangum are preserving the region's historical accounts and its ties to the past.

It started in 1836, when Captain Henry Shreve decided to clear out a 160 mile natural log jam that was blocking the Red River.

Then, one year later, the state officially recognized the community with a permanent name.

Shreveport.

Mike and Mark Mangum are identical twin brothers, and they are known as Northwest Louisiana's History hunters, bringing back those lost eras of the city's everyday life.

It was pretty fun growing up.

Of course, we didn't know any difference, but we always had a best friend, you know, never, never were bored.

We always had a friend to throw a with, a brother to throw with, to play out in the woods with.

Never had any peer pressure or anything like that because we had each other, so we didn't worry about anybody else.

And then one day we went down to the library, Northwest Louisiana Archives at LSU s to find some old photos of our neighborhood to post on Facebook.

The brother discovered old pictures of the city dating back to the 1880s, and all more than 50,000 photos.

And we were just, like, fascinated.

We had no idea that we had streetcars, that we had steamboats and all of that.

So we started posting and people just ate it up.

The brothers got the photos from LSU West Northwest Louisiana archives and restored them, blending old photos of areas from the past to what they had become today.

We're trying to think of a name and we're twins, and we blend pictures together then and now pictures.

And I told Mark, I said, we need college stuff.

Twin blends.

He hated it because I was like, it sounds like coffee company, but but it does.

Twin blends has since been revealing the interesting parts of the city of Shreveport, and the direction has been going over the last century, like the old Shreveport Union train station.

They built this Union Station here, and it was a huge, huge train station.

And it was Gothic.

It was a Gothic looking train station, and there was like 35 trains coming in and out every day.

There were over 40 hotels around hotels and boarding and boarding houses in that Jefferson Hotel.

Right.

There was one of the main ones.

The train station routinely saw 35 to 45 passenger trains every day, and continued operations for over 70 years.

Where would they be going?

Yeah, they'd go all the way less.

Atlanta.

Texarkana, everywhere.

Yeah.

World War II service south.

I think New Orleans and all.

That station closed in 1969, and then two days later there was a fire and burned it up.

And so eventually they just tore the whole train station down.

And it sit like this for years.

Another historic marker found in Shreveport was the Louisiana State Fair Raceway.

This was a dirt oval racetrack located right on the fairgrounds, and this was a one mile dirt track built in 190909.

It was it was a one mile track that went all the way around the fairgrounds.

And what a car races and horse races.

The horse races in 1909.

And then they switched to cars.

That's right.

That track was modified after the turn of the century for the new auto racing craze that was sweeping the country.

What's cool is the 1927 fair, which we have a video of it, and it has these cars right here racing around the track from 1927.

So that's a really cool video.

Yeah.

How fast are the cars going?

1927.

Oh, probably ever been about 35 or 40.

For 77 years, the grandstand seated thousands of fans gathering for not just car races, but also for horse races, state fairs and premier open air concerts.

When that grass area right there used to be Fairgrounds Field that was a minor league baseball team for the San Francisco Giants, San Francisco Giants.

Anyway, it was here from 1986 till about two years ago.

We see seen a lot of major league games, minor league games here at this place, and it was just really incredible for the city of Shreveport to come out and support their favorite baseball team.

The Shreveport Captains and Swamp Dragons were popular minor league baseball teams playing in the local stadium before it was demolished.

Shreveport has kind of an interesting history.

It's got a lot of history in Shreveport.

Unfortunately, a lot of us have been lost to history, but that's our job.

We feel like to make people aware of the history that we used to have.

This has got us so proud of our city, where we come from, the people and the places that used to be here, that some of them are still here.

But when we post stuff, people are like, wow, I did not know that.

Today, the city is transforming into a southern tech and entertainment powerhouse fueled by massive new developments.

So Mike, how can people find a mark?

Mark, how can people, Mike how can people find out?

They can go to our Facebook page at Twin Blends Northwest Louisiana History.

And if they're not on Facebook social media, we have a website.

This twin blends history.com.

I'm just kidding.

I am Mike, by the way.

I was just that's really Mark.

Really.

It is so northwest Louisiana.

Louisiana is home to one of the largest private collections of rare books in the entire world.

Yeah, LA 64 is Karen LeBlanc takes us inside the Noel Collection at LSU Shreveport.

Browsing the shelves of the Noel collection feels like stepping back in time.

With volumes dating as far back as 1492.

What began as one man's passion grew so vast it once filled a downtown Shreveport train station.

James and Ruth Noel donated the collection to LSU Shreveport, which in turn built a library dedicated to these rare books and opened it to the public.

We frankly, we don't even know how big the collection truly is.

It might be well over 250,000, but we're still cataloging and we're about about 100,000 items cataloged.

James Smith Noel was a successful businessman and a scholar who lived in Shreveport.

He began collecting books as a teenager, saving enough to purchase his first rare book.

Over a lifetime, his passion grew into one of the largest private collections in the world.

The collection aims to be a research and cultural resource, underscoring how the printed page captures a moment in time, the prevailing values of a society, its mindset and way of life.

We regularly organize conferences, speaking engagements.

We bring scholars from all around the world, but we also provide fellowships for scholars and graduate students who are working on topics that we are that we have strength in.

We step inside the vault where the oldest and rarest volumes are preserved.

These books are works of art created in a time when the written word was cherished as a family heirloom, meant to be passed down through the generations.

This is the complete works of William Shakespeare.

Of course, Shakespeare's work has been published in multiple different editions, but this is one of the very rare ones.

It's published in the late 19th century.

Bound in red Moroccan leather with a special gilding and silk.

But what makes this edition particularly unique?

And there are only 27 sets ever produced.

And we have one of them, is that in order to illustrate this book, they went through previous publications or books or prints, and they collected them all in order to illustrate it and what meant what it meant that even though this book is published in late 19th century, many of the prints are actually for older.

The Noel collection continues to grow through new acquisitions, with a special focus on Louisiana's colonial era, including titles that explore the Spanish experience in Louisiana.

So everything you see on this line is part of our growing body of Napoleonic and French revolutionary books, which is actually in the state of Louisiana.

We are one of the best places to study it, because we have now close to 10,000 volumes just discussing this period.

And of course, that period has an integral in impact on Louisiana.

It is during this period, Louisiana was sold to United States, where editions of literary classics share space with printed and bound oddities, such as his 1633 elongated book a merchant's guide to the coins in circulation across Europe at the time.

I and my Tour with Unexpected Literary Treasures, a tonal book that unfolds with 3D scenes that pop into view.

And you should be right there in the middle of the French palace.

This is like going to the movies in the 18th century.

That's right.

Wow.

It it's like an animation almost.

You can you can travel through this scene.

That is, it's sort of like a viewfinder, right, a little bit.

Panoramas unfurl to reveal entire scenes, such as Queen Victoria's coronation spanning 40ft.

Pages of this double for edge book fan out to page printed reversible scenes hidden in plain sight.

It's a literary wonderland, offering the public rare, hands on access to one of the world's largest private collections of antiquarian books.

People are welcome to come and study and read and really have that connection to to the past.

Well, that's our show for this week.

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

And yet LPB news and public affairs shows, as well as other Louisiana programs that you've come to enjoy over the years.

And please like us on Facebook and Instagram for everyone at Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

I'm Victor Howell and I'm Johnny Atkinson.

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

And viewers like you.

Thank you.