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.

Flood prevention grants are up for grabs soon to elevate homes in flood prone areas.

I'll bring you the details in this week's Live Pulse.

Our medical expert looks at mental health risk associated with too much social media use, and a Louisiana family travels the state for snake education.

I'll take you to one of their wildly popular presentations at local libraries.

Let's get started.

Hello, everyone, I'm Karen LeBlanc.

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

But first, it looks like state lawmakers are putting an end to efforts to rewrite Louisiana's constitution, at least for this year.

Senate President Cameron Henry says there is neither the political will nor the time to hold yet another special session in 2024.

Governor Jeff Landry, along with major Republican donors, hoped to hold a limited session in August to make changes to the Constitution in time to put it on the November ballot.

An alternative plan to rewrite parts of the state's tax system has also been sidelined.

For now.

All eyes are on Washington ahead of the Democratic National Convention next month.

President Joe Biden spoke to the nation Wednesday night after dropping out of the presidential race and endorsing his vice president, Kamala Harris.

So I decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation.

That's the best way to unite our nation.

You know, there is a time and a place for a long years of experience in public life.

There's also a time and a place for new voices.

Fresh voices?

Yes.

Younger voices in that time and places.

Now.

Louisiana Democrats were quick to voice their support for Vice President Harris.

The head of the Louisiana Democratic Party, Randall Gaines, said, quote, it's time we come together.

And by throwing our full support behind her, we can beat Donald Trump again and continue Joe Biden's legacy of accomplishments and progress for our country.

End quote.

House speaker Mike Johnson says the GOP is considering legal action to somehow block the Democrats from switching candidates.

He argues that changing nominees this close to the election could violate some of the state's ballot rules.

Now, most political experts say that any legal maneuvers would lack teeth because no nominees have been formally put on ballots.

As of this point, Harris appears to have already secured enough of the party's delegates to win the nomination.

The Democratic National Convention begins August 19th in Chicago.

Louisiana homeowners who live in flood prone areas could get assistance for projects to protect their homes.

FEMA will soon open up applications for flood protection grants, asking cities across the state to apply for aid.

The program is aimed at protecting homes and saving homeowners thousands of dollars in flood insurance premiums.

Here's a look at how it works.

Michelle Evans says her home has flooded five times since 2003, the year she bought the home, unaware that it was in a flood zone in this Baton Rouge neighborhood.

It's almost like a soup bowl here, right?

This is unheard of.

Subdivision.

And when it rains from Raymond all the way down here.

Honeysuckle.

the water through the neighborhood rushes and is trying to get to this canal right behind my house and my street.

And the next two streets have mandatory flood insurance and the rest of the neighborhood is not.

When you bought the house, did you know that you were in such an extreme flood zone?

No, I would've never bought the house.

They didn't disclose it until at the closing.

I didn't find out about it to then.

It went south pretty fast, but I had already invested my money on inspections, insurance, things, things that you have to get to buy a house.

Termite inspections.

So I didn't want to give it up, and I didn't think it'd be that bad.

Michelle applied for a grant from East Baton Rouge Parish to elevate her home.

The funds come from a federal Flood Mitigation Assistance grant that distributes money nationwide to municipal teams in need of flood prevention funds.

It's an annual grant offered by FEMA.

It's competitive in nature and where you compete with other communities across the country for funding, and it's designed to either elevate or acquire properties that have repetitively flooded in the past and have had flood insurance claims in the past.

This is where the engineers come in and they look at the flood sound.

This is the East Baton Rouge flood level.

I had to leave my house at least that, I'm 411, so that gives you an idea of how hard they had to lift it.

And I went ahead and went for an extra foot to make complete.

Sure, I'm out in the flood zone.

In 2021, contractors lifted Michelle's home.

She paid out of pocket for extra curb appeal enhancements, including the brick cladding of the elevated foundation and the brick entrance steps.

It's a lot involved in, and you do it yourself.

You have to make the effort to get this grant.

So I had six different bids and then I looked over the bids, interviewed the foot people and made a decision.

So the homeowners was very involved.

The homeowner across the street from Michelle accepted the flood mitigation grant money from East Baton Rouge Parish to acquire the home and clear the lot, while another homeowner down the street used the grant funds to elevate the home.

So consumers need to make sure that by the deadline, which is normally around September 30th, that they have a flood insurance policy in place, keeping in mind that it's a 30 day grace.

So normally by August 15th or so, you have to have a flood policy already in place and on your property.

You just need to contact your local emergency management program in your community and see if they do offer that opportunity.

Communities can reach out to the state.

The Governor's Office of Homeland Security to find out more information about how to apply and when to apply.

In addition to grant money, municipalities can opt to participate in the community rating system to reduce flood risk and lower flood insurance premiums for homeowners.

The Community rating system, it's a voluntary program within the National Flood Insurance Program that communities participate, like 19 different activities that they can do under four series.

And the activities they do gets them credit points and gives them discounts on the citizens flood insurance premiums.

Participating communities that lift flood prone homes earn credit points toward flood insurance premium reductions for citizens.

What was your flood insurance premiums prior to lifting the home?

It was almost 5000 is 4000 and something, and now it's 400.

It was pricing me out.

One more increase.

I couldn't have kept my house, but that kind of insurance in our community, we've purchased over 150 properties.

We have elevated just over 50 already, and we have about 150 or so that are waiting in the pipeline that are either approved or about to be approved for grant funding to be elevated.

The FEMA flood mitigation grants also pay for flood proofing infrastructure, including the construction of safe rooms for first responders and drainage projects.

Michelle was able to rise above the flood risk that nearly priced her out of her home.

FEMA awards more grant money in the fall of 2024 to help more homeowners statewide.

The state health department is monitoring several cases of the West Nile virus in northeast Louisiana.

Officials say that there are four people confirmed in the Winnsboro community that have tested positive for the mosquito borne illness earlier this month.

That brings the total number of West Nile cases in Louisiana this year to eight.

Health officials are urging people to use mosquito repellent when they're outdoors.

They're also asking people to empty out any standing water in their yards.

In our follow up file, we have an update on a Louisiana Speaks interview we brought you earlier this month focusing on solar energy projects in Louisiana.

Two companies involved in a proposed solar farm in Saint James Parish have filed suit against the parish.

This week, the Saint James Council rejected plans for the 2200 acre complex near battery.

Council members say residents are concerned about possible safety issues, along with the loss of sugar cane land and the overall esthetics of the solar farm.

Developers say these concerns are overstated or unfounded.

If a deal can be reached.

The solar farm would be one of the largest in the state and would supply energy to several industrial facilities in the area.

And we have another follow up file to inform you of the Mid Barataria sediment Diversion project that we've been covering since last year.

Here's the latest.

A new study finds that the coastal restoration project could increase sales revenue in Plaquemines Parish by almost $2 billion, and by almost $3 billion for the five parish areas surrounding the work.

According to the study, the five year project would also create several thousand new jobs in the region in a variety of sectors, from construction to health care.

Experts want to funnel large amounts of sediment, fresh water and nutrients into the Barataria Basin to help restore thousands of acres of wetlands.

Opponents say the study doesn't take into account the project's impact on the fishing industry and potential harm to some of the wildlife in the basin.

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

The Olympics kick off this weekend in Paris.

The Summer games.

And joining me in studio is our special guest, Victor How, longtime sports commentator, former news colleague.

And you probably recently saw this on the purple carpet, I think the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.

So you are the person to talk all things athletes and Olympics.

Welcome.

Right.

It's good to see you.

And, you know, we were honoring Louisiana athletes at the Sports Hall of Fame.

Now we get to talk about so many athletes with Louisiana ties on the international stage with the Olympics over there.

Yeah.

So before we get into all the athletes, let's talk about some of the fun stuff happening and kind of quirky stuff.

Your dog carried the Olympic torch to the last leg of the torch journey.

What's up with that?

You know, Snoop was a part of the NBC coverage four years ago, and he did it streaming on Peacock.

So if you are a streamer and you watch from that way, he was on there doing late night coverage and his own Snoop Dogg way with comedians.

It worked so well.

It was so popular.

They brought him over there now, shocked a lot of people that he actually got to carry the torch, but he'll be doing things for NBC and again, streaming for the late night.

Not suitable for the entire family coverage of the Paris Olympics.

But it is funny.

And you got to wonder, is he going to wrap some of this Olympic coverage?

I can't wait to see it.

He does it in his own Snoop fashion for sure.

So the Olympics definitely brings out all of the celebrities and who's who's.

And it's also creating quite the sensation on social media.

So TikTok is just like buzzing with all these videos of these Olympic athletes showing off their hauls.

Oh, they're swag bags they're getting from brands Nike, Lululemon and as you pointed out, international brands and athletes.

And I think it's also the opportunity for the Paris Olympics to say, hey, Academy Awards, hold my cocktail and get out of the way, because now you've got athletes by the thousands representing countries all over the world getting these tremendous swag bags.

But on the way, you just said it is the biggest thing years ago you would hear about the swag bag, say, after an awards ceremony, after the Academy Awards with TikTok and Instagram and everything being right now and in your hands, they can get a swag bag, put it out there and it's instant marketing now everybody has to buy it.

Wait, did you see that jacket Karen was wearing?

I want to get that and immediately starts to search, you know, and to your point, these brands have launched whole Olympic lines for this show.

Gone are the days of the sad little swag bag with your water bottle and your magnet and your sticker.

That's exactly right.

So Louisiana has a big turnout at the Olympics.

LSU alone has 30 plus athletes.

Yep.

What are some of the athletes to watch?

Well, you know, there's 35 from the state of Louisiana that represent 20 countries internationally, which speak so highly as to how the state of Louisiana draws athletes from around the world to come and participate in the state.

A finalist throughout many, many sports.

But here are some to watch.

Alia Finnegan is going to be one.

She's a gymnast.

Just won the national championship with LSU in gymnastics.

She try it out in 2021.

Did not have a good effort in the U.S trials.

Thought maybe she wouldn't do international sports anymore except her mom's Filipino.

She's qualified as the first Filipino to represent that country in the Olympics.

She will be there in gymnastics.

I love that that.

So she gets a redo.

And you know, a lot of returning athletes get a redo because the Tokyo Summer games in 2021, that was during Covid, right?

So they didn't get the full vibe, the full audience experience.

So Vernon Norwood is one of those.

He actually got two medals in Tokyo.

He's from Morgan City putting Morgan City on the international map.

He is running in the fort.

He's a four time world champ running in the 4x4 hundred, which is a team that is ranked second right now in the world.

And how about Maggie McNeal?

She's a swimmer from LSU.

She represents Canada.

She did win a gold, a silver and a bronze in Tokyo.

Here's her great story.

She will be defending her gold medal in the 100 meter butterfly.

And Karen, if she can win it again, not only does she represent LSU very well, she will be the first Canadian ever to repeat as a gold medal winner in the Olympics, so we wish her the best of luck.

And don't forget a name everybody knows.

If you're interested in track at all, Mondo Duplantis.

He rewrote the record books at LSU in track and pole vaulting.

He represents Sweden.

He's already broken his own world record twice.

Wow.

This year, three months ago, he's really competing against himself.

Would be great to see.

So before we go on a personal note, if you could cover the Olympics, what would be your dream sport to cover?

I dunno if I'd have a dream sport.

I would want to go to venues that you really don't do a lot here in the States.

Like I've played basketball, I cover basketball for my career.

We have football, we have baseball.

Yeah, I'd want to go to the kayaking or I want to go ping pong.

Breakdancing.

Believe it or not, breakdancing this year is a sport.

It's the first time.

How about trampoline y?

You just had a story.

We could go on the trampoline.

Athletes.

I would want to go to some venues that you just don't see every day.

But it's on the international showcase.

This is your chance to see it and I look for it over the next two weeks.

Well, the Winter Olympics are coming back to the station after 32 years.

they're headed back to Salt Lake City, the 2023, 2034 host city.

So that's going to be cool.

The last time Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Olympics, I think was, 2002.

So Park City, Deer Valley, the canyon is one of the most beautiful areas in the country.

They're going to get it back.

It'll be great.

All right.

Well, Victor, thank you so much for joining us.

It was great to see.

So fun to chat about athletes in the Olympics.

And we'll be watching.

Looking forward to it.

Well, Louisiana summers mean spending plenty of time outdoors.

But one of the possible perils is coming across slithering and sometimes scary snakes.

In this week's Good News, Louisiana, we meet a family on a mission to educate people about the important role snakes play in Mother Nature and to dispel some of the fears and misconceptions.

I'm taking you to tangible a parish for a look at their growing fan base.

Head over to the PCR test.

Negative.

For the hood family, snake education is a family affair that started with Matriarch and Hood.

I would catch little dark snakes, which people call the brown rattler, which they're not the little dark snakes.

And I let my children play with them, and then we put them, bag them in and be in a flower beds.

And then they wanted to learn about them.

And we didn't have cell phones or anything like that.

So we had no Google whatever, so we'd have to go to the library.

We always spent time in the library, and I always checked out the snake box.

It's a full circle moment on this day at the Ponchatoula Branch Library.

Or son, Kevin Hood, his wife Rachel, and sons Kyler and Landon held their first snake friendly event for library summer reading programs.

Our main goal is to keep people from killing them because they get a bad reputation, so that's why we do what we do.

So tell me how this whole idea of Louisiana snake idea came about.

we moved our boys to a swamp in the, you know, and we would take pictures with snakes.

We know what they are.

And people realize we did, so people would start sending us pictures of snakes.

unfortunately, snakes are different than, say, a frog or a bird or something.

They would also send us pictures of dead snakes.

The hood family created a Facebook page called Louisiana Snake ID, connecting with people curious about snakes.

Today they educate, relocate, and care for snakes at their own expense.

When you don't know what a snake is, send us a picture.

We'll tell you what it is.

The hood family owns more than 20 snakes, including the family pet, Chris, the corn snake, which they bring to their presentations as part of their snake petting zoo.

I learned that, some snakes are transmission.

Some snakes are not venomous.

Louisiana has 48 different types of snakes, the hood family says.

Of the 48, only seven are venomous.

Their message to kids if you see a snake in your yard, you go get a grown up call a grown up should you spot a snake.

But don't kill it.

But X used a tongue to smell instead of being up nostrils.

I personally just really enjoy knowing that all of these kids are really enjoying their time coming.

They're not just coming because, you know, Mom and dad forced them to.

They're coming here and like just to see the smiles on their faces when they're holding the snakes.

It's one of the greatest feelings in the world.

The family aims to expand the Louisiana Snake ID program and is establishing a nonprofit to raise funds.

Tag items for sale, including t shirts and posters, help cover the cost of snake care and housing.

We would love to have a snake facility like you see some.

There are a lot of them north where people have those reptile facility where people could come see them and learn about them, and it's not just a part of the zoo.

And then also we love to have a snake sanctuary where you could where we can release snakes of this pet, would acclimate to the area we want to travel, the state we would love to travel the country.

One of the snake show takeaways is a respect for venomous snakes and their roles in medical research and disease treatment.

A message Kevin's mom proudly wears on her t shirt.

I'm a breast cancer survivor, so usually he'll say something about the Copperheads because I use that venom for that and, to treat it the venom.

They use that for, breast cancer survivors and other things.

More than 200 people turned out in a rainstorm to pet snakes and snap photos.

Some even checking out library books about snakes, much like Kevin's childhood snake research trips to the library with his mom.

The next snake friendly generation, captured in a selfie and posted, of course, on the Louisiana Snake ID Facebook page.

In this week's Light Pulse, we're digging into the close ties between social media and mental health.

People, especially young people, are spending more and more time glued to their phones or computers, which can lead to increased risk for anxiety and depression.

Doctor Ronnie Whitfield shares his expertise and advice.

In this episode of Life Pulse, we're taking a look at the relationship between social media and mental health.

And joining me is Doctor Ronnie Whitfield, aka hip hop Doc, social media sensation here to share with us his insight and expertise, on mental health and social media.

And we'll start this conversation by pointing out that the US surgeon general recently came out and announced, this is a real problem, and he's trying to establish some guidelines and create public awareness as a medical doctor.

What do you see and what are your concerns?

Well, the first thing is I'm a father, so this is important to me.

Not only did he come up with some strong guidelines, he recommended a labeling of social media, and I don't know how that would be done.

But I guess when you open your screen, they'll say, warning, this is increases your risk of anxiety, depression, suicide, whatever.

labeling of tobacco and alcohol, limited research on how effective or impactful it was in changing people's behaviors.

But I think with social media, something has to be done.

Social media is not all bad.

If you curate your list and you're looking at, you know, I have a son and he likes basketball, and we're looking at basketball drills, that kind of stuff.

And I'm doing it with him and I'm aware of what he's doing.

That's fine.

But you're seeing some very lewd behavior and nudity, vulgarity.

Pranks that could be harmful to folks.

These young people are seeing it.

And particularly cyberbullying in comparison.

A lot of these young ladies, particularly young women, will look at this stuff and say, I want to look like they will be like that, but I can't.

and it's depressing for them.

So we're seeing a lot of anxiety and depression and sometimes suicides from young people that are looking at social media.

So there's a huge concern.

So the U.S. surgeon general said that any screen time over 3.5 hours a day is a problem, right?

But realistically, I think many would say our youth are spending more than 3.5 hours a day in front of a screen of some sort.

So he said three hours last year would increase your risk of anxiety, depression times two.

And at that time, he was saying the average teen spent 3.5 hours alone on social media.

It's up to 4.8 now, but I would take it a step further than most of the kids I know have the computer on why they're doing homework.

Nobody's writing anymore.

Their phone is open where they scroll to social media to see what's happening, you know, locally, and then also may have the TV on as well.

And so you're able to condense or compress probably eight hours into that 4.8 hours.

And that's a lot of overload for the brain effects sleep patterns and again anxiety and depression.

It could go along with it.

So we have to be able to control that screen time.

Controlling screen time of our parents is very important.

So what can a parent do.

The number one is controlling screen time.

Talk to your child about what's going on, what they're looking at.

And also, you know, my daughter first got Instagram, which was in after middle school.

I think she was in ninth grade when we first allowed to have Instagram.

I had access to the account so I could see everything that she could see and follow, everything that she would follow.

So making sure that there's some parental controls there, talk to your child about what they're interacting and what they're seeing on Instagram.

And if there's some sort of keepsake Instagram, Facebook, whatever it might be TikTok.

And then lastly, get out, put it down, set, set some parameters like that in an hour before bedtime.

No more screen time.

Take the phones on if you have to.

You know they say blue light affects or the light affects how you sleep in that time.

So take take those devices from your children and control the screen time.

So as a medical doctor in one of your areas of active advocacy is heart health.

This has got to be a concern for you because not only are they attached to these screens and it's affecting their mental health, but there's consequences for their physical health as well.

You're not exercising.

You're not moving.

We're not getting any sunlight.

I see a lot of low vitamin D levels in my practice.

This is because people are not getting out in the sun during, say, some eight hours.

So again, another part of what parents should do is encourage activity in exercise and or hobbies and doing things outdoors.

So getting away from that screen time, spending some time outdoors and doing more family time when it's dinner time, all phones down and, you know, come on, most families are not having a traditional meal together.

But when you're able to do it, it should be phones down and they should take in a group chat of the family.

So signs.

Warning signs.

Parents should look for if social media is, negatively impacting their child's mental health.

Right?

You need to look for typical signs of anxiety and depression.

Addiction.

So you have a child that is in the room all time just on the phone to scroll on to the phone 4 or 5 hours a time.

What is impacting schoolwork?

Impacting sleep?

again, sleep.

Interesting things they used to like to do.

Guilt.

Guilt issues.

Their energy is down.

weight gain because they're they're on a screen and they're just eating.

The clinical signs of depression, anxiety are very evident, and they're easy to identify.

But you have to pay attention to your child because it's easy to say, oh, you're in your room studying and just leave them.

You need to check in, and see what's going on.

All right.

Final thoughts on social media and mental health, especially among our our young kids.

Social media is not all bad, but it's definitely got, some, some things we need to address.

And anxiety.

Depression is real.

I don't think I said it statistically, but about 95 to 96% of our young people, teenagers, are on social media.

Surprisingly, about 46% of children between 8 to 12 have access to social media as well on a regular basis.

So we need to be parents and parent our children and let them know that this is not good all the time.

We need to do other things as well.

All right.

Doctor Ronnie Whitfield, thank you so much for joining us for this episode of Life Pulse and sharing your insight and expertise on the relationship between social media and mental health.

This is a topic we will be following closely as more data comes out about some of the dire consequences.

So again, thank you.

Thank you.

That's our show for this week.

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

You can catch LPB News and Public Affairs, 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.

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.