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.

Higher education could once again be on the chopping block with possible cuts to scholarships and certain programs.

And we are back on the northeast Louisiana music trail as its founders look to preserve the legacy of often overlooked artist.

And medical debt is a huge problem in Louisiana.

But relief is in the works for some patients, and Centenary College's football program is back for the first time since World War two.

Let's get started.

Let's do it.

Hello, everyone.

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

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

But first, the union representing 45,000 striking dockworkers has reached a deal to delay the strike.

The International Longshoremen's Association shut down ports along the Gulf and East coast, including the port of New Orleans, for three days and a push for higher wages and protection against job automation.

Late Thursday, the union reached a deal to delay the strike until mid-January to give more time for negotiations.

Meanwhile, higher education leaders across Louisiana are sounding the alarm over potential budget cuts.

The looming shortfall this next fiscal year could result in reductions to top scholarships.

The elimination of some university programs and possibly campus closures.

Other cuts would impact economic growth and higher education.

We've seen this dance before, according to Governor Landry.

Louisiana is facing a massive budget shortfall in the upcoming year because health care and higher education are two unprotected entities.

Louisiana's colleges and universities could take yet another devastating blow, with the proposed budget cut of up to $250 million.

That could result in huge reductions to student aid like Tops and scholarships for colleges and universities across the state.

It would be devastating layoffs of faculty, perhaps some satellite campuses or campus closures, for students, which is the heart of what we do.

less access to courses, less access to programs, perhaps less access to financial aid.

And we know for students, if you can't afford it, you can't achieve it.

Doctor Kim Hunter Reed, commissioner of Higher Education, says while there is some concern, she's hopeful that the proposed 250 million, it's only the worst case scenario.

Doctor Reed says it's important that we look at higher education as an investment in Louisiana's future.

Higher education is not just a line item in the budget.

It's an investment in our people.

It's a statement of our priorities.

And so that's the work that we want to continue to do, to talk about, what it means for Louisiana to prosper, what it means for people to have access to the credentials and the skills that allow them to support themselves and their families.

Doctor Denise Shields, president of Southern University, says they faced drastic cuts in the past and only have recently started to recover.

He worries that programs implemented to prepare students for growing job markets in Louisiana could be scaled back or eliminated.

You know, we've added a couple computer engineering construction management that are greatly needed work.

We're exploring developing a chemical engineering program.

All programs that would be beneficial to the state in a significant way.

We're trying to expand access to our nursing program or top, top flight nursing program.

These budget cuts means we may not be able to produce even the number of nurses we already are.

And there is a desperate need for more nurses in the state of Louisiana.

Doctor shields also says the potential cuts could mean fewer students from low income families will be able to attend college because they won't be able to access vital financial aid.

65 to 70% of our students are Pell eligible, which means they come from very modest means.

We don't have enough scholarship and grant support now to ease the burden in the way I think it should be.

Many of them are the first generation in their family come to college.

They need more hands on support, not less.

Both Doctor Shields and Doctor Reed are urging the legislature to find ways to minimize the impact to higher education, to make sure students have access to financial aid and programs to help launch their careers.

Governor Landry and other state officials hope to call a special session in November to look at ways to plug potential gaps in the next year's state budget.

From hashtag to headlines, here's what's trending this week.

Sadly, the topic of conversation remains focused on the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

That's right Karen, and what a travesty.

Rescue and recovery teams are still working to reach areas cut off by major flooding in six states.

So far, officials have confirmed more than 200 deaths.

Early estimates put the damage from Helene and the tens of billions of dollars.

Tons of volunteers from our state are on the ground in the Carolinas to help out members of the Cajun Navy.

They're spread out across the region, helping with rescues and setting up distribution centers to hand out essential supplies.

And it's interesting, I was reading that the Carolinas have experienced a few thousand year floods and less than a thousand years.

Hello, climate change.

I mean, it's a real problem.

On to a lighter topic now.

This month is Music Month in New Orleans and the Nola by Nola Festival continues this weekend.

I'm looking forward to sharing all of the great music in New Orleans with the people that come here to experience the cultural and music traditions that our city is so famous for.

It's a fantastic time for bring the uninitiated to New Orleans, or people who are far away and love New Orleans coming to enjoy it under the best circumstances possible.

Tons of Louisiana musicians will be performing at venues around the city.

Nola by Nola kicks off an especially busy period in the Big Easy with the numerous festivals.

Taylor Swift's Earth Talk Halloween event, the Super Bowl, then Mardi Gras.

In the span of just a few months, so much fun.

And speaking of fun and speaking of music, last week we took you to the Northeast Louisiana music trail that highlights singers and songwriters from 12 parishes in the region.

We're picking up now in Monroe, with a history making venue that showcased black performers at a time when segregation was still law.

And a look at some of the musicians whose works would otherwise be lost to history.

In Monroe, we stop at the Milroy Building, which once housed the Savoy Ballroom.

You can see the people that played there.

it's the greatest of all times Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, Billie Holiday.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Ethel Waters, Duke Ellington.

It says as a stop on the renowned chitlin circuit.

What was the chitlin Circuit?

Chitlin circuit was basically a route that performers played all the way from New York City, all the way down to New Orleans, all the way from Chicago down to New Orleans via Memphis.

And the bottom line is, it was clubs that African-Americans black owned that were safe for these people to play at.

A lot of them had hotels in them.

There was a hotel out back here, not official, but a place people could stay because black musicians weren't allowed to stay in white hotels.

I mean, it's part of history.

We can't overlook.

Piano player Ivory Jo Hunter often performed at the Savoy Ballroom.

His marker stands in front of the Northeast Louisiana Delta African American Heritage Museum.

I don't need nobody.

Although he wasn't born here, he lived here for 30 plus years and wrote most.

Most of his best known hits, like, since I met You, baby, I Almost Lost My Mind.

Blues at sunrise.

These are songs that are in the blues museums worldwide that people recognize as, the heart and soul.

but his family, still, some of his family still live here.

Brenda Roy is Ivory Joe Hunter's niece.

Her family roots run deep along the Northeast Louisiana music trail.

Her grandfather built the Miller Roy Building.

Ivory Joe Hunter was a prolific and successful songwriter who owned the rights to his music, which was rare for a black artist at the time.

This year marks the 50th year since his passing, and it seems as if the newer, younger generations will not have any idea who he is.

He is said to have written over 7000 songs.

And since I Met You, Baby, was this really most popular one?

He received gold and platinum records.

His songs were featured in movies, TV shows.

He was really a musical genius.

He was mostly a pianist and just a great guy all the way around.

We have to really push this music song and hopefully keep it alive and well and being recorded constantly with other, genders so that people know who he was.

A lot of black African American history has been wiped away, and it was done because the African-Americans weren't allowed to advertise.

That was segregated.

It was dangerous to let the word out.

Part of our mission, and part of the honor of doing the music trail, is we're able to let people know about these places.

At Enoch's Irish Pub in Monroe.

A marker honors the musical venue Doyle founded in 1980.

The walls are lined with famous names and rising stars who played at the pub.

We don't look at ourselves as more important than the music.

It's all about our customers and the musicians, and we truly believe that we love music.

If one for that, we never would have done this.

Doyle son John now owns in Knox his daughter, Molly Jeter McCullough, helps promote the Northeast Louisiana music trail and designs the markers, which can cost upwards of $4,500.

The entire project is a labor of love that relies on donations.

The goal is to eventually do what?

Like the Mississippi Blues Trail, the Arkansas Rock and Roll Highway is have people volunteer to go into the school and do a lecture on the Northeast Louisiana music trail and bring them to the Civic Center here, where there's hopefully going to be a nice display about the trail and have these kids learn about it here music, country, rockabilly, punk, blues, Delta blues, jazz and learn about it.

I mean, that's what we need anyway.

The kids have got to be taught the arts are were lost.

19 markers stand on the trail.

The latest honor is Hoss Logan, the host of Louisiana Hayride, famous for coining the phrase Elvis has left the building.

Additional markers are coming soon.

There are so many people that has passed through here who was just great musicians.

So I'm really, really excited about I'm very happy that they're being recognized, that markers being put out for these people.

Medical debt is a growing crisis in the United States, and the situation is especially dire in Louisiana.

Across the state, consumers own nearly $2 billion in medical expenses.

A New York based nonprofit has stepped in to help alleviate some of that burden for patients across Louisiana.

I am joined by Alison Sesso, president and CEO of Undue Medical Debt.

Allison, thank you so much for joining us here remotely.

But here at LP in our studios, medical debt in Louisiana, it's a pressing problem with consumers here and undue medical debt stepped in to be part of the solution.

Now, before we begin talking about that solution, tell me about undue medical debt.

What is the organization and its mission?

Yeah, so we are a national nonprofit organization that is working across the country to undo medical debt.

That's in our name.

what we mean by that is we both want to get rid of medical debts that people are confronting.

And I could talk a little bit about our unique model.

And it's very one of a kind.

And it's that's being used across the country, as I mentioned.

but we also fundamentally think that the issue of medical debt should be solved in a bigger way and with broader solutions.

so we're also leading into the idea of supporting policy changes that can get ahead of this problem and help people so that, frankly, our work isn't needed at the first place.

There's a for profit market for medical debt that we take advantage of, in terms of the pricing.

So we take government funds, we take, donated dollars, and we use those to buy medical debt directly from providers and from the secondary market.

And it's literally $1 gets rid of $100 of medical debt.

So we use that.

We've been able to get rid of $13 billion of medical debt across the country using this model.

And we you don't apply.

We literally go to the market, we buy the debt, and then we send people letters and say, you've been freed and cleared of this medical debt.

Tell me about the work here in Louisiana.

You worked with Ochsner Health to buy medical debt here to help out Louisiana consumers.

Yeah.

So I have to say Ashley was a fantastic partner.

They're a fantastic provider.

They've really thought long and hard about this issue of medical debt, and it's one that falls in their lap.

And unfortunately, in our country, many people are underinsured and they have a deductibles that they just can't be.

How much medical debt did you buy and how did that translate in terms of the number of Louisiana consumers that received the debt forgiveness, so that the total that we bought was 366 million, helping 193,000 people?

that is a combination of people largely in Louisiana, but also in Mississippi and Alabama as well.

and where what the impetus for this buy was because of an investment that New Orleans made.

And they are we were able to help, 66,000 people and get rid of 59 million, in debt just for people in New Orleans.

All right.

I want to talk for a minute about what medical debt does to the consumer and their credit.

You know, so, I mean, medical debt is really the number.

It's the number one form of bankruptcy in the country.

And so, it obviously is a huge problem.

it's very, very common.

Unfortunately, and it does impact people's credit, although I will say not always.

It really depends on the hospital and my understanding is that Ochsner actually does not tend to to make this a credit issue.

it still does prevent people from going and getting the care they need, and it does overwhelm people and give them sort of bad feelings about going to the doctor.

but in general, credit impact can be significant.

And when we relieve these debts, if there was an impact on that credit, it is removed.

Have you been able to kind of survey and get a sense of how widespread medical debt is here in the state of Louisiana?

I know you're working with Ochsner, but have you been able to get kind of a scope on the problem statewide?

So we did look up some numbers, in preparation for this conversation.

Actually.

And we do understand that there's about $1.94 billion in Louisiana of medical debt.

So that's obviously pretty significant.

I will say that Louisiana is, is not doing so great in terms of collections.

There's 22% of people in Louisiana, do have debt in medical debt in collections.

And that's the third highest in the country in terms of states.

This is one solution, one approach.

Right.

But at the policy level, what does undue medical debt want to see happen to a father?

Get control of medical debt, not only in Louisiana but nationwide.

Yeah.

So there's a couple solutions.

Number one, I think people need to be better insured.

So if there hasn't been the uptake of, Obamacare or the ACA, as it's also known, there needs to be to insure that people get better insurance by ensuring that the state is taking that expansion.

And a lot of states haven't done that yet.

so making sure that we had good subsidies for insurance.

So when people walk in the door of the hospital, they have better, more robust insurance that doesn't have a lot of loopholes, either because of deductibles or other out-of-pocket costs.

So that's number one, and we need to build off of that.

Number two, when somebody does have a little bad insurance or not fully cover coverage when they walk in the door, it's important that the hospital have robust financial assistance policies, also known as charity care in place, where there's either a re care given to the individual or discounted care.

And then lastly, if you do end up in medical debt, let's make sure people don't lose their homes, have their wages garnished.

Those are pulled extraordinary collections actions.

Let's make sure that those things don't happen to individuals because it's not their fault that they ended up in medical debt.

They simply got sick.

In fact, the number one predictor of whether or not you're in medical debt is not related to your insurance status.

It's related to whether or not you suffer an illness.

Alison Sesso, thank you so much for joining us.

I'm sure there are hundreds, if not thousands of Louisiana consumers.

Very grateful for the work you're doing and continue to do.

Thank you so much for covering this all.

For the first time in more than seven decades, the centenary gentlemen are suiting up and taking the field.

It's been a long time coming and has been sorely missed.

In Shreveport, sports correspondent Victor Hall is joining us to tell us what the program's return means for the area.

Victor, good to see you back here.

Yes, it's been a long time coming and they are very excited up there in this part of the state.

For sure.

We can all remember what it felt like when the world basically shut down for a year due to the Covid pandemic.

Well, in 2021, when we were all ready to return to some sense of normalcy, there was more than just the regular return in Shreveport.

That year, Century College announced it was resurrecting a program that had been dormant for over 70 years.

And now that announcement has become reality.

We're the best kept secret in the South.

Well, we don't want to be a secret being what we consider to be, Shreveport-Bossier College.

We really we really believe in that.

And we really want to emulate that college football is back in Shreveport.

The state's oldest university centenary is once again coming alive on Saturdays with the exciting sounds of tailgating, cheering fans and football pads colliding.

But to appreciate football's return to the northwest corner of the state, it helps to know the past and the reason for the game's long absence.

The earliest official mention of centenary football was back in December of 1894, when the Times-Picayune reported on a game between the Centenary Team and the State University in Baton Rouge.

The university 11 dominated, winning 32 nothing.

There was excitement in 1895 with reports of the school's first victory in the Times Democrat centenary defeated the Natchez team in Jackson, Louisiana.

16 nothing Century Football made its Shreveport debut in 1908 as the Gladstone Lads, then the centenary 11, going three and one that season.

The only loss to Haynesville High 1922 was a big year.

The star of the program was Robert Calvin.

Cal Hubbard, a two sport star who to this day is the only man inducted in both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Baseball Hall of Fame.

1922 was also the year the university got its mascot name that it still uses today.

Apparently, there was a fight that broke out during a match and, there was a lot of hullabaloo about that.

And, it was a black eye on the, institution from a public perception standpoint.

So the head coach at the time went to the team and said, from now on, you will play like gentlemen.

And that's stuck.

And that's where we got the nickname The Centenary gentlemen.

and when we added, centenary women's athletics, that big, they naturally became the ladies over a span of 35 seasons between two locations, centenary compiled a 62% winning percentage with wins over much larger institutions like SMU, Baylor, TCU, Texas A&M and yes, even LSU.

In December 1941, with World War Two casting its dark shadow from across the globe, the Centenary Board of Trustees discontinued all athletic activities for the duration of the war.

Emergency football never returned, other sports were revived, and what was once the NCAA smallest Division one school moved down to Division three in November of 2021.

The university's president made a long hoped for announcement, with over $1 million in fundraising already gifted to the school.

Gentlemen football was returning to campus and the Shreveport Bossier City area.

There's just so much history, so much positive history.

and to be able to start a new chapter of that is amazing.

It's really more about the love that the community showed us.

There was a lot of love, a lot of support early on.

So that's really the only thing we think about is we're not playing for ourselves.

We're playing for our city, and everybody loves to come to our games and they just love Shreveport, and that's what we play for.

The task of leading the return of football on the field was given to head coach Byron Dawson, a Shreveport native who played for LSU and is coached at the high school and college levels in the state.

Man, that was like a dream come true.

You know, to be able to come back to my hometown and do something that I love, you know, I had the opportunity to spend two years at Tulane under Willie Fritz.

And one of the things that I noticed that a lot of young men was getting overlooked, especially when it came to the, transfer portal, especially high school student athletes.

And so I saw it as a great opportunity to go back and be a leader of a team at the head coach position, but do it in my hometown and also do it for big A for a bigger purpose, which is for to, uplift and to unify the Shreveport area and the 318 area code.

And so I thought it was a dream come true when I got that phone call, the return of Jets football is certainly provide an opportunity to many who might have thought their football days ended as high school seniors, 66 players on the roster, all Louisiana natives, 27 live less than 90 minutes away.

for me personally, it was, coming here and being able to, start something with our group of, freshman, just like me that, came here with the same goal of, growing the program.

And, that was my main focus from coming here.

Was I you as a first year, and it was, laying the foundation for the, years to come is, setting the culture for the program.

The guys from here, from Shreveport, they're some of the hardest players on our team.

And I think it's just it's just because of the pride that they have from where they're from, you know, they're not going to come to a school that openly celebrates and openly endorses their city and not play hard.

And those are some of the best guys on the team.

And Brown, it's a returned 76 years in the making, honoring those who established the program and the successes they had.

All those decades ago.

But it's also a triumphant return for that entire region of the state.

Which is why when you look at the uniforms, when the jets take the field, you'll notice they're not playing for the name of the school, but for the city it calls home.

That was one of the first decisions that we made.

We wanted to do that.

Let me tell you the significance of Shreveport is on the front of our jersey, because that is our heart.

We are about unity and community.

What the game does, how it brings people together.

And they go in the stores and go around the city just because people on the street taking pride and half of them give you a hug and say thank you, coach, for bringing football to our city, it really gives you, a job of energy and it motivates you and inspires you to keep pushing and to keep working to make this program great.

Senator, football is in the NCAA.

Record books were playing in what is called the craziest football game ever played.

1939 Playing Texas Tech in a torrential downpour and two inches of standing water.

The two teams combined for you ready for this?

77 punts and just 30 total yards of offense.

In fact, for one stretch in the second half, there were 22 punts in a row.

Karen and Dorothea.

When was all said and done, 13 records were set in that wild night, and the score zero zero.

I mean, that sounds like another thousand yard.

Exactly what a night that must have been, Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

How exciting, though, for it to be coming back.

Yeah, there.

The stadium is the perfect size for them.

They've been waiting for this to happen.

They've gotten the interest there, the communities behind it.

It's a wonderful time for football fans now.

All right.

Well we are rooting for them.

Report.

Thank you.

Well that's our show for this week.

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

That's right.

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.

For.

The 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.