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, Governor Jeff Landrieu's first week in office and his agenda unfold, we'll bring you the latest developments.

Louisiana's newest Democratic House leader talk shop on his goals for the legislative session and Mardi Gras season is in full swing.

We'll go behind the scenes to explore the evolving art of float making.

All that coming up next on Louisiana, the state we're in.

You ready?

Ready to do this?

Hello, everyone.

I'm Karen LeBlanc, and I'm crossing here.

Welcome to Louisiana, the state we're in.

It's a new year and a new look for the longest running newsmagazine show.

And we continue our legacy of covering the issues important to Louisianians across the state, including politics, which headlines our show.

Well, Governor Jeff Landry spent his first week in office declaring a special session to redraw Louisiana's congressional districts and states Supreme Court districts.

Plus, intentions to overhaul Louisiana's primary election process from Inauguration Day to the Governor's Ball.

And several days on the job, the agenda of Louisiana's 57th governor is taking shape.

Governor Jeff Landry took the oath of office a day before he officially started the job as Louisiana's 57th governor.

Governor Landry's theme comeback home.

Louisiana is a nod to a pressing challenge his administration is facing.

Landry declared his inauguration as the beginning of a journey to return Louisiana to its rightful place.

We know far too well why those who leave our state for other opportunities shall always hear the whisper of the living to come back home.

The everlasting love of our culture tugs at their heart.

It speaks to their soul.

His message to lawmakers from the state's 64 parishes.

It's time to repair government, not settle scores.

We are but mere proxies.

In a living illustration of the people's chosen representative government.

It is here that we come together so that their lives are governed even handedly, so that their hard earned money is spent judiciously, so that their institutions are compelled to serve them and not to disenfranchize them.

In another applause inducing moment.

Landry spoke of creating a better future for Louisiana's children, promising a perpetual legacy of opportunity.

While emphasizing his views on the direction of public education.

They demand that our children be afforded an education that reflect reflects those wholesome principles, not an indoctrination behind their mother's back.

The governor singled out crime as a top priority prior to taking office.

Governor Landry indicated that he will call a special session focused on reducing crime.

In his speech, he introduced two parents who lost children to violent crime.

I've only been rolling into you on the next evening.

Governor Landry held his inauguration ball at raising Cane's River Center in downtown Baton Rouge.

It was open to the public for a ticket price of $100 per person.

Price of admission included drinks, dining and dancing to live music by Louisiana artist.

Now we are under a tornado watch and a flood watch that is not keeping people away.

I have talked to people that are coming from out of town, actually out of state.

I live in the Dallas Fort Worth region, but I've known Jeff for years.

So what are your hopes for our next governor?

I'm excited to see what kind of difference he's going to make in this state in every aspect, from safety to overall growth in the state as well.

I live in the French Quarter and we are so thrilled to be here because Jeff Landry is going to be cleaning up New Orleans and the French Quarter and it should shine like it always is, always needed to shine.

I'm very happy about this.

My name is Tim Hardy.

I'm an environmental lawyer.

I was one of the six original transition team chairs for Governor Landry.

I almost said Governor elect is no longer the governor elect.

What are your hopes for our new governor?

Well, look, you talk about last night.

It's all about come back to Louisiana.

It's all about protecting our people.

It's all about creating a rich environment for jobs, protecting our environment.

All the things he talked about just invigorates the people of this state.

So we are an hour into the ball and the weather did not keep people away.

They are still arriving.

Estimates are there are more than 5000 people at the event.

Louisiana's first family took the stage at 8 p.m., greeting attendees and announcing the balls theme.

She wanted this ball to represent a people's home.

Their son, JT, introduced the evening's headliner musical performance, The Amazing One day.

I believe in.

Hold on to me.

Earlier today, before the ball, Governor Landry was busy at work.

His first day in office, he called a legislature out of session, a special session January 15, to handle the congressional redistricting.

He also formally established the office of the first lady, and he issued a veto of graduation appeals process.

In his statement to the media.

The governor explained that his executive order will ensure that students are adequately prepared for post-secondary education and the workforce by creating minimum standards of proficiency in core subjects.

The move eliminates an alternative graduation route for Louisiana high school seniors who fail the state's academic progress exam.

Right outside the ballroom, we found live chickens.

That chicken coop.

These chickens kind of a nod to the fact that Governor Landry gave the chickens at the governor's mansion the boost, the ones that Governor John Bel Edwards has.

The live chickens were a popular photo op at the inauguration symbol, perhaps with a subtext.

A new family has moved into the governor's mansion with a different way of doing things that from hashtag to headlines.

Here's what people are talking about this week.

The sports world is all abuzz about the retirement of Alabama head coach Nick Saban.

And I think that that is exciting news as an LSU fan and an LSU graduate.

Goodbye.

Well, love him or love him.

Nick Saban did issue a public statement, this after Alabama's loss to Michigan, New Year's Day, and basically said the goal is to always help players create more value and to be the best player they can be, be more successful in life, shall we say good bye?

He only coach at LSU from 1999 to 2004.

That's only like five years.

So is this really warranted?

Well, he did take us to a 2003 national championship, and I do remember that he has some redeeming qualities.

Very few, though.

Sign Nick Saban.

All right.

So listen, this is probably not new news to you all, but it is official.

2023 is the year's hottest year on record.

Drum roll.

Yes.

And it certainly felt like it.

But, I mean, you know, outside of the fact that it was devastating to walk outside because you just be pouring sweat after being there for 3 seconds.

It also had some really devastating effects on our environment here in Louisiana.

We had the wildfires, we had drought, We had a lot.

Now, in case you missed it, last week was national Bobblehead Day.

Yes, that is a thing.

Yes, there is a Dashboard bobblehead museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

And at our National Bobblehead Day, they debuted a mike, The Tiger.

The official mascot got his own bobblehead.

He got his own bobblehead.

Actually not how I thought he was luring some other bobblehead.

You got Saints players, pelicans players.

You've got Troy Landry's people.

I mean, it's just so fun.

So you got to love it.

And we're going to wrap up this what's trending with what happened here in Baton Rouge.

Yes, Baton Rouge.

Starbucks is one of the first in Louisiana to join the union.

There has been a move nationwide for Starbucks employees to unionize.

I think today there's like 380 stores.

They sent us a picture of the Starbucks employees.

This is a Starbucks on Sherwood Forest here in Baton Rouge that voted to unionize.

And that was like after the Red Cup rebellion.

I don't know if we heard about that rebellion.

It sounds vaguely familiar.

Yeah, right.

Part of their effort for just fair work conditions.

All right.

Well, thank you, Karen.

I absolutely love going through these what's trending with you.

But we've got to move on.

So the Lincoln Theater has lived many lives.

It started as an entertainment sanctuary for African Americans experiencing racism in South Baton Rouge.

But then it shifted into a cultural hub showcasing black musical artistry that would later foster the national civil rights movement.

Today, the building lies in disrepair, waiting to be restored to its former glory.

But as with all good new stories, there's a silver lining Louisiana's Black History Hall of Fame organization has taken it upon themselves to renovate and restore its legacy.

In 1949, Louisiana social politics greatly upheld the doctrine separate but equal, relegating African-Americans to live in near isolation.

There was no mixing at grocery stores or churches, and definitely not in social settings.

But despite the lack of accommodation, Louisiana has black population.

It managed to build thriving communities of color South Baton Rouge being one such place, but one venue remains superior to the rest.

And that was the Lincoln Theater.

Hi.

Hello.

Welcome to the theaters.

Thank you so much.

Pleasure to have you.

Thomas Durand is a member of the Louisiana Black History Hall of Fame.

The group led by Brenda Perry Dunn, created the Lincoln Theater Restoration Project.

The objective is spelled out plainly in the name Restore the Theater back to its former glory, because to Durant, this building is more than a relic.

It's a testament to perseverance and community.

If you look at the historical development contributions of this building, you will find out that it played a major role in the social, educational, business and economic development.

The Lincoln Theater was opened in 1949 by Dr. Aristotle Chatman.

He was one of few black physicians at the time with influence and strong connections, which he used to build up a black business district in the heart of South Baton Rouge.

The Lincoln Theater was the first of many projects to create a safe haven for Black Entertainment.

Before it was built, the city only had about two other theaters that allowed black customers.

This building brought some of the leading entertainers and artists to Baton Rouge for the purpose of entertaining and educating the people in this community.

And all of Baton Rouge, people like Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Mahalia Jackson, B.B.

King, James Brown, all the great and you name it.

I mean, celebrities and another part of the Legend Theater was that it served as a link to the Chitlin circuit that would satisfy our history.

What's unique about the Lincoln Theater is that it gave way for the Lincoln Hotel, which was built by Dr. Chapman as well.

To ramp says the artists who performed at the theater stayed at the hotel afterward, and the Lincoln Theater and later Hotel were two of the finest facilities in the South.

As you can see, the light of the hotel was one of the premiere hotels.

It was a brick hotel, a modern and enlightened theater, but also a fine established hotel that you could see.

The original photo of this building.

It was a place to go.

It was the place to be.

Though the theater had an undeniable impact on South Baton Rouge culture, it was also influential in the civil rights movement.

The building itself lived many lives between its opening and closure.

It was a barbershop, a dentist's office, and even a laundromat.

But for all its amenities, it couldn't transition with integration, and it closed in 1986.

Durante says that the community hasn't been the same since, but there's an effort to restore the building as a cultural epicenter for South Baton Rouge.

Board members like Duran have put their heads together to renovate it and preserve its memory for future generations.

What we want this facility to be is a community center flourish, where people from the community, both the immediate community and a larger community, can come and also be inspired and to be educated and to be entertained.

And then we want this center to be an interactive center, not just standing here as a monument, but to be utilized by the people, primarily who live in this community.

The building has already secured funding from the Baton Rouge Metro Council, who allocated $45,000 to the renovation.

Duran says the organization is in the final stretch of planning before the work can truly begin.

We want to maintain the sustainability of this facility so that it can be here not just for a year or two or maybe five or ten years, but it can be an ever lasting monument to what is development of this community.

Louisiana's political landscape is changing.

The inauguration of Republican Governor Jeff Landry shifts the formerly bipartisan legislature into a Republican supermajority.

The state's Democratic Party will have to work overtime to keep their agenda from falling by the wayside.

The new Democratic House leader, Representative Matthew Weller, reflects on the past governor's race and the future of the party.

Take a look.

So you mentioned the transition and the Louisiana legislature is about to experience a major transition.

There's going to be more Republicans and there's also going to be a Republican head of state.

So what does that look like for Louisiana's Democratic Party, the future of it, its agendas, and also the strategy to get legislation passed?

It's definitely a big transition for us.

The biggest loss will be Governor John Bel Edwards leaving the governor's mansion in this transition to now Governor Jeff Landry.

There's a lot of things that we're going to need to do.

We really, at this moment, need to galvanize and energize Democratic voters throughout the state.

And I think that's a huge opportunity for us.

And we really just need to let the people of Louisiana know and the Democratic voters know, that the House Democratic Caucus will continue fighting and advocating for their needs and those of their families.

So is there any concern about not being able to pass what you want to get done on the agenda because there such a majority coming in?

We really don't have time for that concern.

We have to continue fighting and advocating for those people centric policies.

In my professional life, I was a Scrum master and I led this team of engineers by the ideology of incremental progress.

And over the past four years, as a legislator, that's really been my focus area.

We know that we can't deliver a minimum wage of $15 an hour in the state of Louisiana.

We know that it's going to continue being challenging to get equal pay for equal work, but we'll continue putting those policies out there and seek different ways to move the ball forward and have that incremental progress with the understanding that we may not be able to bring everything home in one legislative instrument.

Well, in your opinion, what is the best strategy to truly have a bipartisan legislature?

I think one of the key focal points of that is communication constant, consistent and frequent communication, not only with me and my members, but with House leadership, with the governor's office.

And I think we can all agree that there are many issues facing the people of Louisiana in our state that are not partizan.

Insurance reform needs to happen.

Homeowner's insurance is unaffordable and people are losing their homes.

Our public education system needs tremendous improvement.

We consistently rank at the bottom of those lists compared to our other states.

So there are a lot of issues out there that are not partizan.

And I think if we come together and we can work toward solutions for those issues with the understanding that there will be those partizan fights and we'll have to respect each other's viewpoints during those debates.

So something that you'd mentioned earlier was that you wanted to galvanize voters and voter support.

So that kind of brings me into my next question.

The election was a little bit of a disappointment for the Democratic Party.

The front runner, Shawn Wilson, only got about 26% of the vote, and voter turnout was very historically low.

I mean, what do you think the Democratic Party could have done differently?

And also, how do you plan to get that support so that next time maybe the voter turnout will be a little different?

I really do think that Shawn Wilson was running against a stacked deck.

Governor Landry came out of the gate very early with millions of dollars at his disposal.

He secured the endorsement of the Republican Party And all of that time that he took, preparing and setting the stage really put Shawn Wilson and the Democratic Party at a disadvantage.

We didn't have the funding needed to run a statewide gubernatorial campaign.

I think that the state party needs to really focus on engaging with members throughout the state of Louisiana that tend to vote Democratic and let them know that we will continue prioritizing their needs.

There was just no ground effort in.

Shawn Wilson did what he could, but the resources that he needed, the time he needed to really build up a statewide campaign and to get people familiar with his name.

Governor Landry had already served as attorney general.

He had great state name recognition.

Shawn Wilson, while he was the secretary of DOT.

Most families in my district, Gentilly and New Orleans, people that know him and he was at a disadvantage from that perspective as well.

So timing, we need more time to organize a campaign funding.

We need it more resources to educate and galvanize support across the state.

And we really needed better boots on the ground, people knocking doors, people making phone calls, people going to churches to get them excited about the possibility of Shawn Wilson being Louisiana's next governor.

All right.

Well, thank you so much for joining us, Representative Willard, and can't wait to see what guys are going to do.

Thank you so much.

And thanks for having me on the show.

Health care.

That was a very timely interview.

It'll be interesting to see with the special session coming up if the Democrats and the Republicans can play nicely in the sandbox without the polarization.

Mardi Gras season is in full swing with parades and private balls, packing social calendars and filling weekends in the days leading up to Fat Tuesday, February 13th.

Float makers are in a frenzy putting finishing touches on thousands of floats that roll during the season.

I went behind the scenes at Kern Studios in New Orleans, a family owned company synonymous with Mardi Gras since the 1940s.

It's insane.

It's just absolutely insane.

On the Saturday before Mardi Gras.

We do the three three of the largest parades and all of Mardi Gras.

We do all the alcohol on that day.

Bobby Saddler is putting finishing touches on a large prop for one of many floats under construction at Kern Studios.

The float maker is a former sign painter who became mesmerized by Mardi Gras and found his muse here at Kern Studios, where he's worked for 25 years.

And counting.

The painting of a prop like this takes 3 to 4 days.

So what is this made of?

It's made out.

It's sculpted out of Styrofoam.

So they put a single layer of papier maché over the Styrofoam to give it a smooth finish.

And then what they do to make it more durable is we take it and we spray a polyurethane coat on it before Bob gets the prop to paint.

Sculptor his work with a robot named Pixie to carve Styrofoam blocks into creations from digitized designs.

We create thousands of floats for Mardi Gras every single year.

And so, I mean, it's, you know, a year round job.

You know, everyone everyone asks me, when do you start making Mardi Gras?

I go, Wednesday.

You know, it's the day after.

Patrick Curran is a fourth generation float builder and director of operations at Curran Studios.

He took us on a behind the scenes tour of Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World, the part of Curran Studios open to public tours.

We also went behind the scenes for an insider's look at float making, including this room where digital artists operate.

Pixie.

It's able to cut out at a rate that really our sculptors really aren't able to do.

And also we use it a lot for commercial projects because it cuts to a millimeter tolerance.

As Pixie carves intricate, precisely detailed props for the floats.

In another nearby building resides the float barn, where workers are constructing the float frames out of plywood and covering them with fabric.

Some have little knobs embedded in them, known as bump belts, to add depth and dimension to the float surface.

You know, you're curious as to where the bathroom is on the float.

Here you go.

It's one of the bathrooms.

Every year each.

So there's two different types of floats.

For Mardi Gras parades, there's theme floats, and then there's signature floats.

So the signature floats stay the same year every year.

And the theme floats are basically each krewe as a theme.

Patrick's grandfather, Blaine Kern, son of a line painter, founded the float making company in 1947.

After misfortune, fate and opportunity collided.

Blaine's mother was ill and she needed medical care.

So Blaine offered to paint a mural to pay for her surgery.

They're from the second oldest neighborhood in New Orleans.

Algiers only had one hospital at the time.

And so it's called the Algiers Clinic.

And the owner of the clinic at that time, he was the captain of the fledging crew of Allah.

He had agreed to you know, Blaine, if you can paint the history of medicine on our walls, you know, we'll go ahead and do the we'll do the aisle, perform the surgery for you.

And I'll go ahead and do that.

And so my grandfather ends up doing this, you know, super, super detailed and crazy over the top mural that turned out so incredible that Dr. Rocha, who was the captain of Al at the time, basically asked him to become, you know, the actual designer and float painter and, you know, create the parade for him.

Blaine and his dad began making floats for the crew of Allah, which caught the attention of the crew of wrecks.

They didn't really like the fact that, you know, the poor people from Algiers on the West Bank had a better parade than the ones running down the streets of Paint Charles in uptown New Orleans.

And so basically brought my grandfather on to start designing and creating their parade.

At this point, the only people riding in the parades were, you know, old line families and old money and kind of, you know, it was very exclusive and so what my grandfather actually ended up doing was helped to kind of democratize Mardi Gras and to make it something that it wasn't.

He wanted you know, it doesn't matter what walk of life you're from, who you are, whether you're poor, rich, if you want to do it, you can participate in some respect.

Blaine's over-the-top creations started gaining attention outside of New Orleans, attracting the interest of Disney and other themed attractions.

Today, current studios creations populate Disney parks, the Las Vegas Strip, and countless other places.

Like what's going to happen to this after the parade?

We don't throw anything away.

And while we may not need a bottle of Apple anymore in the future, we may need a bottle of something else.

So we have props that are literally from the, you know, fifties and sixties that we're still reusing and kind of repurposing year every year.

The day after Mardi Gras.

It's back to work for the crew of artists at Kern Studios.

They'll begin disassembling floats and recycling props to craft next year's floats.

That's our show for this week.

Remember, you can watch anything, be any time, wherever you are.

With our Help app, you can catch all TV news and public affairs shows as well as other Louisiana programs you've come to enjoy over the years.

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

I'm Karen LeBlanc.

And I'm Garrison Keillor.

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 Bea 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.