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 Zigler Art Museum located in Jennings City Hall.

The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is an historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

With support from viewers Louisiana's shrimpers are struggling, but new technology could make it easier to crack down on imported seafood.

In honor of Veterans Day, we introduce you to the LSU Military Museum celebrating the legacies of graduates who served our country.

And Louisiana's election results are in.

We'll break down some of the statewide races with Melinda Deslatte from Par, Louisiana's beloved bibliophile event.

The annual book festival celebrates 20 years with some big name authors.

Are you ready?

Let's get started.

Hello, everyone.

I'm Karen LeBlanc, and I'm Dorothea Wilson.

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

But first, let's talk politics.

Louisiana's congressional delegation now includes two Democrats.

Cleo Fields won the election for Louisiana's sixth congressional district.

He'll hold the seat for at least this election cycle.

But the Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge, claiming the district was illegally drawn.

Focusing on race now in the state's five other congressional districts, the incumbent all kept their seats.

They include Democratic Representative Troy Carter and Republican Representatives Steve Scalise, Clay Higgins, Julia Letlow and House speaker Mike Johnson.

Republicans also held on to their third seat on the Public Service Commission with state Senator John Paul Coussan, who's on winning the open swing seat.

And Louisiana voters overwhelmingly supported amendment one.

The amendment will dedicate federal money from offshore energy projects like wind and solar to coastal restoration projects and other political news.

Louisiana lawmakers headed back to the state capitol this week for another special session.

This one focused on reforming the state's tax structure.

Every one of our southern neighbors has adopted or is adapted for growth and success.

And they're winning because of it.

Louisiana must change.

Or sadly, other states will continue to rob us of our children and our grandchildren and the extraordinary talent that they possess.

Governor Landry says the plan will lower income tax rates across the board.

Tripled the standard deduction and eliminate the corporate franchise tax to offset those costs.

He plans to add sales taxes to a variety of services and eliminate subsidy programs like film tax credits.

Now we'll have more on the tax session.

And this week's election a little later in Louisiana, speaks.

Louisiana's shrimp industry is struggling.

More restaurants and stores bringing lower cost and lower quality imported seafood.

But shrimpers are hopeful new legislation and new technology will ensure Louisiana seafood is properly marketed.

I've been on a back deck of a boat and have been ten years old.

58 years I wo shrimp 58.

Ten years.

Oh, you were on a boat in the summertime.

Yeah.

So I said, chances are if you live in New Orleans you eat some shrimp that I've caught and 58 years, you know.

Captain George Barris is a Louisiana Shrimp boat captain and has been for over five decades.

the thing is I don't want to quit.

But they're going to force me out if I'm not successful.

So it's scary.

That's scary.

Captain George is described by some as the last of a dying breed.

That's because life for a shrimp boat captain in Louisiana is becoming more and more unsustainable.

Shrimp has been harvested commercially in Louisiana since the early 1800s, and it's been the backbone for many fisheries.

And not only that, shrimping has also been the center of culture, heritage and independence for many Louisiana families.

In fact, 1 in 70 jobs in Louisiana are directly related to the seafood industry.

Now, although the demand for seafood in the U.S. has grown, imports make up 90% of what the U.S. consumes.

Undercutting many Louisiana shrimpers, Share of, of $100 is 25.

If you have $10 it's only 215.

Yeah.

You know so and I can't I mean I actually give more because I can.

Yeah.

You know but you can't you can't sustain a business like that.

Yeah.

You know, that's just the economics of it.

Louisiana lawmakers have pushed several bills aimed at protecting the seafood industry over the years.

One bill urged the federal government to ban the import of shrimp and crawfish from outside of the U.S., More recently, a bill was passed to stop mislabeling.

The bill will force businesses to display the country of origin when imported products are sold.

And if any mislabeling occurs, violators will be hit with heavy fines.

One company is using a new form of genetic testing to expose any counterfeits.

We're a technology company, but we have, vast experience in the seafood industry.

I grew up in the seafood industry.

Aaron has been intimately involved in the seafood industry, and we feel as one with the.

You see people and communities dying.

And I don't mean figuratively.

Literally.

because of their strong personal connection to the shrimp industry.

David and Aaron Williams of Seed Consulting developed a rapid testing technology to prevent mislabeling that robs Louisiana shrimpers of their bottom line.

testing for authenticity is essential because seafood mislabeling is so widespread, with studies estimating that up to 70% of seafood dishes may be mislabeled or substituted.

So having a lack of transparency in the seafood supply chain affects not only the shrimper, but all the way up to the consumer and every chain in between.

new technology that seed consulting uses yields results in only two hours rather than four days.

Whether it's cooked raw or frozen.

you don't need a high end laboratory.

You can have a table set up your equipment and get results in two hours, their work is already producing results.

But there's still more to do.

believe this is important that the, authorities, have the ability to test restaurants and test their products within restaurants, and that's what the right test is designed to do.

So I believe that if enough, enthusiasm and motivation gets into the, government of Louisiana, there will be deployment of the right test, hopefully with health departments or other organizations.

Captain George says he's grateful for the work seed consulting has done so far.

As they've already exposed many false claims of Gulf shrimp when it was imported.

In the meantime, he has the following message for consumers.

know, ask for the and they don't ask guys.

They don't have to ask them why not?

You know, number one.

Number two, what a pork chop.

You know, or walk up.

I make some people walk out from hashtags to headlines, here's what's trending this week.

The Saints will take to the field this weekend for their first game.

Ever since cutting ties with head coach Dennis Allen.

Shocker.

I don't know, Karen.

That's not much of a shocker there.

After they lost to the worst team in the division last week and the Panthers.

But I do hear that special teams coach, longtime special teams coach Darren Rizzi he's going to come out and take him out there on the field Sunday.

Well, it seems like, sign center Gail Benson finally heard cries from many Saints fans calling for changes to the coaching staff.

Now, the big question is, who will replace the head coach?

And I know there's been some names thrown about something really interesting to see.

Right.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

All right.

Well, speaking of football, it is a big football weekend for LSU.

They play rival Alabama.

That's right they do.

Yeah.

So and they attract it because it's such a big game ESPN College GameDay is coming to broadcast at the game.

And get this apparently according to senator state senator Bill Wheaton.

I live Tiger will be on the sidelines which that hasn't happened in years and years.

You're right.

And that's insane.

A lot of talk about it being, you know, animal cruelty because of all of the noise.

But this is some rivalry that spans back all the way since the late 1800s.

Actually.

They're trying to pull out all the stops they're carrying.

Well, so it may be a little bit of an active intimidation for Bama, but I will say this tiger is not going to be the official Mike the Tiger mascot.

That would be Mike the seventh.

He will be safely tucked away in his comfy, comfy home cage.

High stakes game, we should point out, right?

Absolutely.

Both team has.

They have two losses.

The the loser of this one, they're done.

No playoffs for them.

We'll be watching.

All right, so on to some good news.

As the nation celebrates Veterans Day on Monday, November 11th, the LSU Military Museum is honoring Louisianans with exhibits that chronicle their military service and sacrifices.

The museum's most recent acquisition comes from the daughter of an LSU graduate and military veteran missing in action.

I'm taking you on a tour of the military museum to experience this family's story of sacrifice and service.

This is a letter my dad wrote to my mom dated two days after I was born.

This morning at 630, I received a phone call from the Red Cross saying we had a baby girl weighing 6lbs and 14 ounces and that you and the baby are doing fine.

Kim Carroll never met her father.

Grant Stewart, the U.S. Air Force cadet, was shot down in Vietnam in 1969, just days after she was born.

He remains missing in action.

Kim is keeping her dad's memory alive in an exhibit at the LSU Military Museum honoring her father and LSU graduate.

my mom had every letter that he had ever written, plus patches and everything.

And it was in boxes.

And I would rather have everyone else enjoy it.

And I think it was the legacy would live on more here than in a box Kim donated her dad's military belongings to the museum.

It was her husband, Gary Carroll's idea.

Gary is also a military veteran who served in Iraq.

And he's an LSU graduate.

His uniform stands alongside the uniform of the father in law.

He's never met.

I think it's appropriate that LSU that was founded as a military school, has a museum that recognizes its veteran alumni.

And to be part of that to be part of that tradition, not just our tradition of the military, but the tradition of LSU is a great honor.

the William H. Brookshire Military Museum resides in Memorial Tower on LSU's campus.

It opened in 2022 after a major renovation.

So this was finished in 1925 and LSU built up around it.

So this was not officially a LSU building.

The American Legion built it, but LSU purchased the the plantation, land around it and then built the university up.

The rotunda pays homage to World War One soldiers memorialized on wall plaques.

We start our tour in the north wing, detailing LSU's origin story as a military training institution.

The university was founded in 1860 as the Louisiana State Seminary of Learning and Military Academy.

Modeled after military schools like West Point.

Its history dates back to the Civil War.

people don't know is the first president of LSU is General William Tecumseh Sherman, who was brought in two years before the Civil War.

So he trained the cadets.

But when the Civil War broke out, he returned to the north and most of the cadets and the faculty joined the Confederacy.

In 1916, LSU became one of the first universities to establish a reserve Officers training course or ROTC program.

With the passage of a National Defense Act.

Military training was a significant component of campus life, offering students a pathway to commissioned as officers in the U.S. Army.

in fact, LSU required ROTC up until 1969.

So every male student had to be a part of ROTC.

And that meant that our cadet corps was know 6000 strong.

So World War One, World War two, thousands of LSU students joined the military, in fact, making us one of the top three schools of the time, putting in officers into the US Army.

Over the years and in various wars and international conflicts.

LSU students, including many athletes, pursued military service.

Many achieving high honors.

most people don't know is Chennault who was an LSU grad, he had come here, he graduated.

So part of the story is that he named them the Flying Tigers after his association with LSU and the Flying Tigers went on to have great fame in China and then later in the Air Force.

And to this day, they're one of the most recognizable units because they like to paint the shark's head on front of their planes.

From high ranking generals to Purple Heart recipients.

LSU fostered the careers of many military greats.

Several whose namesakes appear on campus buildings.

another big name on campus is actually Middleton.

And so we have his image here.

Troy Middleton was commandant at LSU.

He later served as president of LSU.

But in World War Two, he served as a general and is credited for holding Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge.

The museum chronicles many history making moments, including saving the life of a future president.

Bill Edwards served on the USS Finback, a submarine, and they received a call that a pilot had been shot down.

Well, the pilot they rescued was George H.W.

Bush.

The South wing covers World War Two to the present.

And a lot of people think of museums as the past.

But this side kind of shows are living legacies.

People that are still around, people that come and talk with the museum.

The exhibit also showcases ephemera chronicling life for LSU military service people on and off the battlefield, such as this crown from homecoming queen Rachel Sherburne.

She received it before serving a tour of duty in Iraq.

There's LSU stickers that adorn military helmets and Bradley tanks.

Symbols of tiger pride and connections to home.

almost everything you see in here comes from the families.

And so the museum only works if the families contact us.

So right now, it's just a word of mouth.

always looking for more donations, especially with stories We love stories here at the museum.

There is always something new to see, with regularly rotating exhibits that encourage visitors to return.

For more stories of military history and heroes.

This week's election went mostly as expected, with all of Louisiana's representatives keeping their seats.

Voters did elect a second Democrat to Congress and lawmakers are back in Baton Rouge to talk tax reform.

I sat down with Melinda Deslatte from the Public Affairs Research Council to talk politics.

now.

This special tax session started this week.

What's the goal with that?

Right.

So, Governor Jeff Landry is trying to do sort of a wide ranging tax reform, that would essentially lower income tax rates and trade them for sales taxes.

So we would charge sales taxes on more items, in exchange for having a lower income tax rate overall.

Also, he would get rid of a variety of tax credits and exemptions and various tax breaks on the books.

The idea is to try to help fill a budget gap that is looming, in the next budget year, but also to lower income tax rates overall for people.

So, it's a two and a half week session.

They're going to be debating a lot of bills in a very compressed time period that could fundamentally restructure how we charge taxes on people who live there.

So a 16 bills have already been filed Melinda.

And there are more to come.

What do you think about that?

Where are we?

I think the original bills that got filed are already different than some drafts we had seen earlier.

So I think what that indicates is you can expect a lot of debate, probably some substantial changes.

And I think it's still a question mark about how much will get passed in the special session and if anything will sort of bleed over into the regular session, that is.

And that starts in April of 2025.

You see a lot of support for the broad concepts of the legislation.

But you see a lot of legislators who still have questions and want to know how the math works and how all the pieces fit together.

So I do think, you know, people should expect a lot of debate on that front.

And a lot more to come in terms of what the final versions of those bills will look like.

Now going into some of these election results now Cleo Fields he actually won the sixth district.

Right.

So we have six congressional districts in Louisiana.

Five incumbents won their reelection bids.

That's for Republicans Steve Scalise, Clay Higgins, Mike Johnson and Julia Letlow and then Democrat Troy Carter.

So the vacant seat that we had after the legislature redraw, redrew the districts was the seat that Cleo Fields won, the sixth Congressional District that stretches from Baton Rouge up to Shreveport.

It's now a second Majority-Black district.

Now, we actually might see some changes because I understand that the US Supreme Court did agree to hear this in court.

The lawsuit that's going on, can you talk about that a bit with us?

it doesn't appear that it will affect, Senator Fields, his ability, to take his congressional seat, and at least serve a two year term.

But where that court case goes after that, what does that mean?

We really don't know until the Supreme Court hears it.

But it could mean that district gets redrawn again.

Talk to us about the PSC in that seat.

Right.

So the Public Service Commission regulates utilities around Louisiana.

It's a five member commission.

And the seat that Senator John Paul Quan won is actually a swing seat.

So it was very, it was very heavily watched in terms of what was a Republican going to keep that seat or what it go to a Democrat?

The Republican who previously held that seat, didn't run for reelection.

So it was an open seat.

Tucson is a state senator.

He was one of three candidates, and he won without needing a runoff.

So, that that means the balance of power in the PSC will stay with Republicans.

amendment one passed, which will dedicate money from offshore energy to coastal restoration.

And it seemed like it got strong support.

Melinda.

Now what do you make of that?

Right.

So I believe that, constitutional amendment, which was the only one on this ballot, got over 70% voter support.

I mean, look, coastal restoration and coastal erosion is a big issue in Louisiana.

Obviously, people, the majority of our population lives in South Louisiana, lives in areas that, are seeing coastal erosion and that are seeing, pretty significant changes to the way that the state looks quite frankly.

And so, I think broadly, coastal restoration initiatives are fairly popular, particularly in south Louisiana.

So it wasn't entirely a shock that that amendment won so easily.

Bon.

There will be an election in December.

People will have, to choose some local candidates.

Still in a lot of local races in Louisiana, but they'll also have four constitutional amendments coming.

Meanwhile, the legislature is meeting at the Capitol, and everything they do there could actually impact how you pay taxes.

So I think people should not, you know, just kind of cocoon and forget about elections and the legislature.

I think they should still be paying attention because politics is still happening in Louisiana.

The Louisiana Book Festival celebrates its 20th year as a beloved bibliophile event, bringing readers and writers together for a day of storytelling and author meet and greets.

Thousands turned out at the Louisiana State Capitol grounds to celebrate Louisiana's rich literary heritage and their favorite page turners.

Here's the highlights.

This book is not a book about a It's not a book about sports.

And it's not a book about dying.

This one is about believing.

player Steve Gleason leads a heartfelt discussion about his book A Life Impossible co-written with sports columnist Jeff Duncan.

This is my story.

Our story of enduring drastic ch Suffering, heart crushing loss, and ultimately finding a way to through those circumstances to discover strength, happiness, and peace of mind.

Steve was diagnosed with ALS in and since then he's created the Gleason Foundation to raise awareness of the disease and imp the lives of those affected by A In his book, Gleason talks about his journey to find peace no matter life's circumstances.

in chapter one, I say I allow myself to get atta to the delusion that my life should somehow be d Gleason joined more than 200 authors hosting talks, book signings and meet and greets at annual Louisiana Book Festival.

It's not only our 20th book fest but this is the 30th year of the Center for the book, which is a affiliate with the Library of Co Center for the book.

The Louisiana Center for the boo the book Festival as part of its to stimulate public interest in reading libraries and Louisiana's rich literary he The event brings together Louisiana's literary greats, emerging authors and poets, including this group of 2024 National Student poets selected from five regions natio once they are appointed, they have a year of service where we ask them to sort of activate their talent and gifts of poetry for the benefit of the community it's sort of like the culminatio of our high school writing caree I mean, you've been writing for we've tried to see validation or and to be awarded such a big nam to be able to serve our communit to represent the National now represent poetry on a nation It's a dream come true.

From the written page to film and television programs.

Readers were able to connect with all things literary, including at an LPB co-hosted pa with national PBS books.

PBS books has a readers club, and every month we designate a book for us all to read together across the coun And what's so neat is for the mo of November, we picked Leonardo Louisiana author Walter Isaacson a history professor at Tulane Un wrote a biography about Leonardo which inspired the Ken Burns doc Leonardo da Vinci A two hour, a four part series p November 18th and 19th on PBS st nationwide.

Jay Darden, coauthor of Why Loui Mississippi, or Anyplace Else, shared a behind the scenes look at the creation of the comp to the multi-part documentary of the same name produced by LPB it's no denigration of Mississip You know, I could have called it Louisiana and Montana, while Lou New York was just like Mississip better.

The book festival also honors literary achievement the highest honor, the Louisiana Writer Award.

It went to poet and Baton Rouge area native David Kirby, an English professor at Florida State University.

does that work?

I see you as in a swirl of smoke I'm in a church in Rome, saved for a mosaic of gold and green and blue, and the wind is high outside.

And the green door behind me blo when I turn to look at it slams From children's books to new fiction, nonfiction, and The Louisiana Book Festival brings together readers of all a for a family, fun literary fando and a shared passion for the pag You can catch a public screening of Ken Burns documentary Leonardo da Vinci at 2:00 this Sunday at the Louisiana Art and Science Museum in Baton Rouge and the National PBS Book Club.

Conversation with author Walter Isaacson about his DaVinci biography that will be on November 20th on the National PBS books website.

That's our show for this week.

Remember, you can watch anything LPB, any time, wherever you are with our LPB app, and 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 I'm Dorothea Wilson.

Until next time.

That's the state we're in.

Support for Louisiana.

The state we're in is provided by 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 and Ruth Zigler Foundation and the Zigler Art Museum located in Jennings City Hall.

Louisiana is strengthening our power grid The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists We're reinforcing infrastructure and is an historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana.

reduce outages and respond quicker And by visit Baton Rouge when you do need us, because together and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting and viewers like you.

Thank you.