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 and New Orleans, Master Blacksmith, preserving a time honored trade received state recognition.

Meet the man leading Louisiana's energy transition.

The next executive director of fuel.

And from the farm to the fresh produce shelves, our harvest of the month series kicks off with cultivating cabbage.

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, President Joe Biden and his wife, Doctor Jill Biden, will make a stop in New Orleans next week.

They plan to highlight the Biden Cancer Moonshot initiative to reduce cancer deaths by at least half before 2047.

The $8 billion initiative focuses on research cancer prevention, early detection and patient support.

While in town Tuesday, the Bidens will meet with Representative Troy Carter, who represents much of the area known as Cancer Alley.

Governor Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Morelle want a judge to toss out a lawsuit over Louisiana's new law requiring the Ten Commandments be posted in public school classrooms.

In our brief, we illustrate that there are countless ways to constitutionally comply with the law.

Every one of these posters illustrates at least some ways that you could constitutionally comply with the law.

Merl and Landry were surrounded by posters they say would satisfy legal requirements to display the religious document in schools.

Shortly after the law was approved, a group of parents and civil rights leaders sued, claiming it violates students and families rights to decide how they learn about religion.

The attorney general claims the lawsuit is premature because the posters are not yet in classrooms.

Thus, plaintiffs can't prove the law has caused harm.

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned a similar Ten Commandments law in Kentucky in 1980.

Community activists are celebrating the cancellation of plans for a massive grain terminal in Saint John the Baptist Parish.

The $800 million facility would have included 56 massive grain silos to move products to and from vessels on the Mississippi River.

After numerous delays, Greenfield, Louisiana, said this week it will sideline the project.

Leaders with the Descendants Project raised concerns about the project's impact on numerous historic properties in the area, including Whitney, Evergreen and Oak Alley plantations, along with a historic burial site of enslaved people.

Bad news in the Gulf of Mexico.

Scientists are monitoring two dead zones bracketing Louisiana's coastline.

The zones are formed by agricultural runoff like fertilizers that end up in the Gulf, causing massive algae blooms that die off and deplete much of the water's oxygen.

This forces marine life out of the area or kills it outright.

The newer dead zone is on the east side of the Mississippi River, stretching from the mouth of the Mississippi to Mobile, Alabama.

Another much larger dead zone to the west covers around 60 700mi², running from the river to the Texas coastline.

State and federal agencies have poured tens of millions of dollars into programs to help reduce the size of the dead zones, but experts say it is an uphill struggle.

From hashtags to headlines, here is what's trending this week, okay?

Drama, drama, drama on the mat at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Romania's Olympic Committee is pushing now for a new probe into the last minute scoring change that cost one of their gymnasts the bronze medal.

She initially thought that she'd made it to the podium and told the score review team gave USA's Jordan Chiles a slight lead, giving Jordan Chiles the bronze.

It was so heartbreaking, I watched this.

The Romanian gymnast, she burst into tears.

I mean, you saw her smiles too, to just watch and just very scared.

Very, very sad.

So my heart does go out to her.

And I will say that Romania's prime minister is reacting by skipping the closing ceremony because of the controversy.

So there's some of the drama happening at the Olympics, but no drama for Lafayette native and former LSU star Mondo de plantas.

He again broke his own pole vaulting world record and picked up a gold medal.

His vault was 20ft and six inches.

Okay, so social media went wild with this, and one meme shows some quick math saying that he vaulted the equivalent of get this 82 king cakes stacked up a lot that Louisiana math.

Former LSU athlete Hailey Van Lith helped guide her three on three basketball team to a bronze medal.

They bounced back from a three game losing streak to string together five consecutive wins for the bronze and heartbreak for former LSU beach volleyball duo Kristen Nuss and Taryn Close.

They started off strong, but they got eliminated by Canada.

Now, in true Louisiana fashion, they left the stadium with about 30 of their family members and took to the streets of Paris, saying they were looking for a cocktail and a place to laugh and cry together.

Congratulations to all for their accomplishments.

You make love Louisiana proud in Paris.

All right, so moving on.

The city of Shreveport will be packed this weekend for rapper, actor and entrepreneur.

$0.50 humor and Harmony weekend 50 cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, is making huge investments in Shreveport with his new G-Unit film studios.

Now, this inaugural festival includes loads of entertainment and events, from musicians to comedians.

And officials say most of the hotels in and around the town, they're booked solid with about 30,000 people.

Looks like a lot of fun happening in Shreveport this weekend.

Throughout the month of August.

We're focusing on the rich bounty provided by Louisiana farmers, fishermen, and others who coax great foods from the earth.

In our first episode of harvest of the month, we take a look at cabbage, how it's grown, harvested, and some tasty preparations you can try at home.

Check it out.

Hi friends, I'm Krystal Bessie with the Louisiana Farm to School program.

This month's Louisiana Harvest of the month was one of the first plants ever cultivated by humans.

Along this well-traveled journey, it has become a staple in many cultures, sparking delight, storytelling, and sharing in each one.

It's cabbage.

The culture around cabbage brings with it many tales.

It might even bring you wealth if you eat it on New Year's Day.

Whether or not it does much for your bank account, one thing we know for sure it will provide a wealth of health.

Let's head out to Palu Farms, where we will get to the core of what takes this often overlooked vegetable from the patch to your plate.

Cabbage is a cool season crop that produces large heads of tightly packed leaves on a short stem.

Green cabbages are the most common, which are fermented with smooth leaves.

And that's what we're going to see here today.

Cabbage is part of the Brassica botanical family.

The foods found in this family are commonly known as cruciferous vegetables, which also include broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale, and collard greens.

There are hundreds of varieties of cabbage throughout the world, and their differences are just as many, such as leaf texture, head shape, and color.

I'm here with Timmy Palou, perilla farm in Motz, Louisiana.

Thanks so much for having us today.

You're welcome.

Nice having you.

Y'all here.

Mr. Timmy is known for his larger than life produce.

He's a native of the river parishes.

Can you tell me a little bit more about how you got into farming?

And a little bit more about your farm?

I bought it from, dad, uncle and for aunt in 1977.

Once I had her, I do something with it.

So I started falling while working a full time job at Gatcombe Grove, five miles away from here.

And, once you start farming, it just, it gets in your blood.

It gets in your blood.

You just can't stop.

You have a special, partnership with a few groups nearby.

with a cabbage fundraiser.

Can you tell me a little bit more about that?

My son was on a baseball team.

Destrehan High School baseball team.

That's how we started.

They were looking for off from the parents all of the parents were looking for, come back two weeks with a fundraiser idea.

Oh, it took me about two seconds to realize in that meeting what I was going to come back with.

I asked all of the powers they ask, hey, would you only for New Year's?

1 or 2?

said cabbage, I say, that's it.

You'll eat cabbage for New Year's, everybody.

Cabbage from years.

And I guarantee you all is going to work.

I'm going to grow them.

I'm going to fertilize them, to buy the plants.

Everything.

Y'all can't lose.

Y'all can't lose.

If I lose the whole crap, I lost not a penny.

But y'all got to come back on December 28th and cut those cabbage.

Y'all going to have five locations in Saint Charles Parish on the east bank where y'all can sell them.

I had already planned all this.

I knew it would work.

And of course it did work.

Well, it sounds like it was more than just a fundraiser.

Here we are at the LSU Demo Kitchen so I can show you these two simple, quick recipes using Louisiana cabbage.

First, I'm going to cut some cabbage for a quick saute.

And then I'll cut the cabbage for the coleslaw.

There are two different ways to cut the cabbage for the best results.

We also have some fun, colorful and tasty additions to the coleslaw like some tart apple.

So first I'm going to take the diced cabbage and combine all the ingredients for the Cajun saute.

I'll mix the cabbage, the oregano, the Cajun seasoning, Filipino pepper, onion, and bell pepper.

I'm going to be melting some butter over low heat in a large pan, and then we'll add the cabbage mixture and saute it for about ten minutes.

We want to saute it until it turns a golden brown.

So we know that we have a little caramelization.

Now I'm going to take the sliced cabbage, the apples and onions and toss them together in a large bowl.

The marinade needs to be heated.

So I'm going to whisk together the vinegar, the sugar, the oils and the Dijon mustard.

Throw in a little red pepper flake and then simmer it until it's well mixed together.

Then I'll pour the hot dressing over the cabbage mixture to coat the cabbage and apples.

After dressing the coleslaw, we'll cover the bowl with some plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator so that it can marinate for a little while before we serve it up.

You can check out full length episodes of harvest of the month at LPB Porgy Harvest.

While there, you can also see other series from our award winning digital team like ritual, Safe Haven and their new series focused on the similarities and differences in the European French language and Cajun culture.

In this week's Louisiana Speech, we introduce you to the man charged with leading Louisiana's energy sector into the future.

Mike Missal is the new executive director of the statewide program known as Fuel or Future Use of Energy in Louisiana.

He'll help steer a $160 million grant from the National Science Foundation to help the state develop clean energy practices and develop more renewable energy sources.

So we are talking about Louisiana's energy transition.

And joining me is a new executive director, Mike Mazzola of Fuel.

Welcome, first of all.

So for the uninitiated, what is fuel?

Well, first, thank you for having me today.

Fuel is an acronym, for Future Use of Energy in Louisiana.

And, we are one of ten inaugural Innovation Engine awards from the National Science Foundation.

And this is big news.

It's not just big news in Louisiana.

It's big news in the country.

Because, this this program is the largest program in the National Science Foundation history.

And we're talking about $160 million in federal funds, plus some state funds.

That's right, 100 for Louisiana alone.

We have the opportunity to receive up to $160 million over ten years from the federal government.

And, the Louisiana Economic development has already pledged over $60 million in matching funds to support the program.

So these funds will go to help push Louisiana into its energy evolution and transition.

When we talk about energy evolution and energy transition.

What is that globally?

by 2050, there are very, very solemn and important agreements that the United States is also part of that, says that that energy economy will, to the greatest extent possible, be net zero in carbon emissions.

You set a goal worldwide to decarbonize the energy economy by 2050, has 30 short years away, which is quite ambitious.

it's the most difficult technology based effort in human history.

No question about it.

So there's it's not just the electricity grid, which is where most people have started decarbonizing and perhaps where we're the furthest along.

We can't just look at one segment or another of the energy economy.

We have to look at all of it.

But each part of it is different.

And so there are parts of the energy economy that are considered to be very difficult to decarbonize.

So what do we mean by carbon?

We mean principally carbon dioxide emissions, which, comes naturally from burning oil and gas.

So, we have kind of a challenge here in Louisiana.

we want to continue the prosperity.

We want to continue the, the benefits that come from this fantastic energy industry that, as well as derivative industries like petrochemical and many other, products that are derivative of the oil and gas production.

But we have to do it smartly.

And so that's what fuel is about.

And, I've said before, the smartest thing about that Fuel acronym is it's the first letter future, because what we're doing is future proofing the energy industry in Louisiana.

So how do we future proof Louisiana's energy industry?

Some of them, which I'll mention, such as carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery, CO2, you know, it's a process.

It's already commercially viable.

And in fact, the Gulf region, is a world leader in producing oil from this CO2.

You know, our process.

Now, what the clever thing about CO2, SARS, it's a carbon capture process in which you CO2 not as a pollutant or a negative thing, but as a crucial chemical that when pumped into the ground, dissolves, stuck oil, the oil and the CO2 comes up.

They recycle it, they pump it back in the ground, and the net result is that more CO2 ends up stored forever in the ground than would be released by burning the oil that you produce.

It is a net negative carbon process that still produces fossil fuel.

So that's an example of how the future is right in front of us.

We're already using it.

So we need what one of the, technical areas of fuel will be to expand that process, make it even more feasible to be used around the country and around the world.

What about renewable energies?

What are we doing in that area?

So the Economic Development Administration, an EDA, which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, has a sister program called the Tech Hubs.

And Louisiana was also awarded Tech hub status.

And what is our topic there?

Offshore wind.

Even if we never build a wind turbine in the Gulf of Mexico, there are thousands upon thousands of wind turbines that have already been ordered to be installed globally.

So there's a global established commercial market and building those components is an opportunity for more good paying jobs in Louisiana.

Solar and wind are part of the solution, but decarbonizing the industry that Louisiana depends upon is got to be the number one part of that solution.

So we talk about hydrogen as an alternative fuel.

What is that and where does that fit into our overall energy evolution?

Hydrogen is now emerging as being the clean energy way to keep all of that infrastructure, but just transition it.

And in fact, hydrogen is really cool because you can blend it with natural gas.

And we can eventually achieve once, we've upgraded all the systems necessary to potentially use 100% hydrogen, but we don't have to start with 100% hydrogen.

So producing hydrogen is a recognized as an emerging critical technology that will help us decarbonize the entire economy.

And by the way, the Gulf Coast region is one of the largest producers of hydrogen in, in the country.

So we have the potential to export hydrogen to other parts of the country.

And again, futureproof our energy, our energy business here in Louisiana.

Final thoughts before we go.

We can be so proud in Louisiana for what we've accomplished.

We are on the national stage.

We have demonstrated around the country that one of the most innovative places in America is right here, and our people and our infrastructure and our institutions can compete with anybody.

Go, Tigers!

Master craftspeople are rare in the modern world of mass production.

That's why Louisiana is honoring a New Orleans master blacksmith who heats and hammers metal into functional and beautiful designs.

His work can be seen in the historic gates of the Presbyterian Cabildo and as far away as Disneyworld.

I'm taking you to the New Orleans Seventh Ward to meet Darrell Reeves, and to witness how he's forging Louisiana's past, present, and future.

When I take these things apart, somebody is talking to these people and going from here.

200 years of better.

In his New Orleans seventh Ward workshop, Darrell Reeves hammers hot iron, forging a shudder guard.

It's a piece you can't buy in your local hardware store.

In this world of mass produced everything, objects aren't made like they used to be, except here.

Darrell is a master blacksmith.

His skills are self-taught.

That education came out of books, chisels in school.

I take him to the library.

I had a particular type of latch or hook to make.

I dig up old blacksmith scrapbook in a library.

They're doing their work.

I started doing them.

I started educating myself.

The proper way of doing it.

Nobody was doing it right.

I started making authentic hardware, and the market just took off.

Darrell's hand forged metalwork caught the attention of preservationists.

That led to commissioned work on high profile projects, including the Presbyterian Gates and the iron fence around the Cabildo, both in the New Orleans French Quarter.

When we put the fest together.

We beat the spindles out like this.

We're going to put this box underneath it.

And we're going to pull the shape on top of this.

And a restoration of the Chalmette Cemetery main gate, originally fabricated in 1872.

Each piece he restores is a portal to the past based on centuries old blacksmithing techniques.

I've seen every form of restoration because my being in New Orleans, you have African blacksmiths they brought from West Africa, you have the French.

Spanish and German.

No matter where you come from, everything looks the same when you look at it, when you tear it apart.

It's a different story.

Everybody has a different method of putting together or depending on where you come from in a world.

On a sweltering summer day, Darrel smelt metal at 2100 degrees, taming the molten iron into intricate shapes and functional pieces.

Blacksmithing is a disappearing art form, trade and craft.

Darryl aims to preserve it by teaching the next generation of artisans, including Karina Rocha, his apprentice.

She just puts them.

Karina showed up unannounced at Darrell's workshop after watching a PBS documentary of his blacksmithing skills that piqued your interest and passion for iron working.

I always secretly wanted to be an iron worker.

I lived in New York City for a long time, and I did urban farming.

So just like expanding my intimacy with the built environment, you know?

What does that mean?

To preserve, ancestral ways of being and becoming and, so.

Long story short, 2020 happens.

I'm in Brooklyn, New York.

I make a crazy decision to move to New Orleans a month before Covid.

Together, the duo forged one of the workshop's most visible projects to date a weathervane with a functioning lightning rod atop Walt Disney Worlds new attraction, Tiana's Bayou Adventure.

They wanted me to design this thing myself.

They wanted my style.

That's a very huge, They adorned the weathervane with Adinkra symbols, a visual language that originated in West Africa.

The top piece is a far distant dance.

It's basically strength.

You don't give up the symbol underneath that is Mother Earth.

Take your mother Earth, mother.

It'll take care of you.

The bottom one is one of my favorite.

They call it Sankofa.

This symbol means family, ancestry, respect and learn from your family that came before you.

The meanings are just lovely and just the level of intention that Disney had with curating this space is really like seeking out folks from New Orleans to really bring the culture to that built environment was really nice thing to see.

And, to be a part of.

Yes, is was awesome.

On the day we visited, Daryl was working with his team to restore fence post.

Each pointed tip is precisely hand forged and cast as it originally was crafted centuries ago, giving new life and new stories to old things.

Half of these pieces we take apart, we'll never know the names of the folks that put them together.

But for what we are putting into the world 100, and 50, 200 years from now, when they take that apart and they see that Da, they're going to know exactly whose hands crafted them.

So to be a part of adding on to this storytelling, to this, to this endless loop of, this intergenerational knowledge is just it's really a blessing.

Daryl's passion and purpose as a blacksmith earned him the distinction as a 2024 Louisiana tradition bearer.

He's one of six statewide honored by the Louisiana Folklife Commission and the Louisiana Folklife Society.

At 74 years old, this third generation blacksmith is crafting a legacy that lives on in buildings and beautiful things that tell Louisiana's multicultural story.

Everybody wants to remember.

And if I could be remembered for my trade.

I like that.

I'd say that as a big honor.

That's our show for this week.

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

You can catch 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 and Instagram for everyone at Louisiana Public Broadcasting, I'm Karen LeBlanc.

And 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 Zigler 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.