Hurricanes, Bus Battle, Ethanol, Churches, Young Heroes

Season 45 Episode 31 | 27m 54sVideo has Closed Captions

Hurricane Season, Bus Battle, Ethanol, Churches, Young Heroes | 04/15/2022

4/14/2022

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Louisiana: The State We're In is a local public television program presented by LPB

Thank you to our Sponsors: Entergy • Ziegler Foundation

Hurricanes, Bus Battle, Ethanol, Churches, Young Heroes

Season 45 Episode 31 | 27m 54sVideo has Closed Captions

Hurricane Season, Bus Battle, Ethanol, Churches, Young Heroes | 04/15/2022

4/14/2022

Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback

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Hurricanes, Bus Battle, Ethanol, Churches, Young Heroes
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Entergy is proud to support programing on LP and Greener practices that preserve Louisiana. The goal of our environmental and sustainability initiatives really is to ensure that our kids and future generations can be left with a cleaner planet. Additional support provided by the Fred B and Ruth B, Zeigler 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 it's a great job. It's just it's been real stressful lately. Behind the bus driver scouts across the state, you're looking at millions of barrels a day of new supply that you're going to need. Will the ethanol waiver lower what we pay for gas? We're going to try to do ministry in the world the way it is Rethinking going to church. So most of the breeding grounds, I guess you can say, or or normal to above normal. A forecast that brings fear Everyone, I'm on very more car seats. Here is off tonight. People 50 and older are now eligible for a second booster shot. But is it worth it? Experts at the CDC say the shot adds more protection against COVID variants, especially if you're gathering with a lot of family over the Easter holiday weekend. COVID itself continues to trend downward in the state right now. 63 are hospitalized. And now let's take a look at some other news headlines from around our state. A key step New Orleans took to prevent the spread of COVID at the height of the pandemic would be prohibited under legislation. A House committee approved Tuesday. Shreveport, Republican Thomas Presley introduced a bill that would keep state and local governments from requiring proof of COVID vaccination. To enter public or private places. The Health and Welfare Committee approved it. 12 to five. And next, it goes to the full House A Baker man will likely spend the rest of his life in prison for the 2018 shooting death of LSU basketball star Wade since it took the Baton Rouge Jersey. 90 minutes to find the young Simpson of Baker. Guilty of second degree murder. Simms was shot in the face as he tried to break up a fight outside a Southern University frat party. The shooting happened just hours before Sims would have begun practice to begin his junior season at LSU. The University of Notre Dame will present its prestigious literary medal to the founder of Reiss, St James. Sharon Levine. Levine has worked without rest for the health of her community and the planet. That's the words from Notre Dame. President, Reverend John Jenkins. Levine is a grandmother and retired special education teacher who has a gentle way about her, yet is described as a roaring lion when taking on giant chemical companies in her native St James Parish. The EPA is investigating whether the state's whethehealthstate's and environmental agencies discriminated against black residents in connection with air pollution from existing and proposed facilities between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Two complaints accuse the State Department of Environmental Quality. And State Department of Health of paying too little attention to environmental justice. There is not a soul in Louisiana that will be surprised that to hear this,ised that the Colorado State hurricane forecast for this year, a seventh straight year is above active so very time. Louisiana's state climatologist is here with me. No one's surprised about that. But what are the the reasons that go into that forecasting model? Well, for starters, they're predicting 19 named storms of which nine will become hurricanes. Four become a major hurricanes. The long term average or an average season is 14 named storms they're predicting 19 with some perspective on it. So the reason for this is really it's really twofold There are two main parameters that they look at. The first is are we in El Nino or La Nina or are we going to be neutral this season? I think the big Take-Home message is we will not have an El Nino. El Ninos mitigate potential for hurricanes.

So we won't have that help. We won't have that. We will not have help from the from an El Nino. We're starting out in a weak La Nina, but they're expecting that to fizzle out by the time we get into the later summer we getand into the fallummer during the meat of the season. durinSo we'll probably beason. and so neutral. So that's one parameter. And then the sea surface temperature. Yeah. So the sea surface temperatures, it's a little bit of a mixed bag. It most of the you know, where the breeding grounds are near normal. The exception is the Caribbean in the subtropical Atlantic are both running above normal. So most of the. So most of the breeding grounds, I guess you can say or or normal to above normal. And you put that together with the lack of an El Nino and just the pattern we've been in since 1995 with most seasons being hyperactive. Exactly. They're calling for 19 named storms so yet another season with above normal activity. Hurricanes are completely on the minds of people. You just go back to 2017 beginning with Harvey and that odd storm of humongous rainfall. And then our storms of the past few years the worst storms ever hit Louisiana. Everyone has that fresh in their mind still trying to even recover from that. And then taking on the idea of another season coming at us that's supposed to be worse than maybe the previous one.

Right. So the last two years we've had 51 named storms wein the Atlantic Basinms and a lot of activity obviously has been around Louisiana. 51 named storms, whereas 28 would be considered average. And so it's been crazy. Not only that, but Louisiana has been right in the sights of these hurricane seasons. I mean, we've had more activity than almost anybody. We've had six landfalls in Louisiana just in the last two years. Three of those were major hurricanes. And two of those are tied for the strongest storms that ever hit Louisiana. So there's here saying that we're just telling you the forecast to get you ready. Basically it's a it's an early preparation for what will be to come, supposedly. And June 1st is the official date. Those storms happened before that. Let me mention this for a quick LSU has done some Gulf Coast specific data that we will also be looking at. By June 1st, I believe that's correct. So what they're doing is putting together a regional specific forecast for the Gulf Coast based on what's going on in the Gulf of Mexico relative to what these long range forecasts are for the entire basin. So we'll get a tailored forecast for for what the Gulf may look like coming out of the LGU group pretty soon. All right.

Very kind. Thanks so much. I have a feeling we'll talk to you again soon. All right.

Great to be here. Thank you. Across Louisiana, bus drivers have staged sickout, leaving kids without rides to and from school. The drivers are asking for more money, not just for salary but for bus maintenance, which is mostly out of pocket Kyra. Sincere reports from Jefferson Parish in the morning. I usually get up around 5:00, get ready for work, leave because I live in the class. So I leave home about five 50, get to my bus, do my pre-trip inspection through my route after my route, I usually go back home until some come back to work. You know, I got into it from my sister. She started before me. She started in 2006 and I started in 2007. It was a great job. It is a great job, don't get me wrong. Let me rephrase that. It's a great job. It's just it's been real stressful lately. But when I first started, it was like, Oh, I love going to work. I never realized that the people who drove the busses, most of them in Jefferson Parish, were owner operators. You don't have to. You can become an operator No, no. 2009. There was no more operators who are substitutes. When I came in the system, you could be an operator in 2009 if you remember, they had all of the operators come in for a meeting stating that either we bought a bus or we went to being a substitute driver, which meant we were going to lose all our benefits. Right.

Okay. So they left us really no choice but to go by bus, you know? So that's what made me and my best friend, you know, we went out and bought us a bus, you know, around 2000, ten, 2000. And they just started changing a lot of things with the school system, you know, as far as like the field trips on how you get paid. onAnd it's startedd. to make things difficult. And then when your bus starts to breakdown, you know, and you don't have the funds to fix it, that's when things weren't so great. Because maintenance requires oil changes, tires batteries oh God. Oil change bus. To have someone do it and it has to be done twice a year, anywhere from five to $600 you know, little things that you wouldn't think cost that much money. It's a fortune Oh, yeah. Their group bus bus driver was a bus driver. Not much Oh, my goodness. This really is a thankless job, right? I came into the system where they was trying to organize check outs so this been going on that many years? Mm hmm. Well, this particular time, we seem to have gotten enough drivers together that first stick out. We did Mardi Gras week where they felt it. You know, we just don't feel like we make enough money. And it's more than what we want. It's what we need. Right Exactly right. It's not about what we want because, you know, right now we need this, you know? Yeah. I mean, if we don't stick together, we'll know right by. We know these children have to be transported. So by doing a sick out, we're hoping that we can come to some kind of agreement once we put on the table what we wanted maybe they wasn't going to agree to pay us just what we came to the table with, but they could have come back with a counter offer, just something to ease the pain that we're feeling. Right. You know, but they didn't come back with anything. Not $0.50, you know, and that let you see how we appreciated my care. That's how I feel The bus driver shortage is a statewide issue. Some districts have been offering hasign on bonusesg to increase their roster. And right here in tangible whole parish, they've been offering monthly recruitment sessions to attract more drivers. So they're actually having one of those sessions right now. And we're going to sit in on one of those meetings All right. Well, welcome, welcome, welcome. It's always an a school bus driver. Of course, it is only for those two positions. It's only for substitute. You have to be a substitute before you're hired because of the shortage. Some people that might be in the room might make a different call. Okay. You have some 244 busses transporting 13,000 students across the parish from the Mississippi state line all the way to man Shea. all theAnd there's Shea. a lot of moving parts ato make that happens every single day. And, you know, when when you when you're doing something like that, there's going to be bumps, there's going to be bruises along the way. There's going to be issues that arise. There will be complaints It's a it's a nature of the beast. So we need 244 drivers. We're missing 40. So this this is the way we try and address the drivers shortage issue. And it's more training. And after, you know, the attrition, we bump that from once a year to four times a year. And now we're up to every month of the starting salary for a bus driver is right around $20 an hour with 5 hours of work per day. It's about benefits for us. And that's kind of what we tell drivers or potential drivers is that we have great medical benefits and when you look at it 5 hours a day, you still got some time to do other things right here. Well, have you heard about the sick outs that are going on the sin different parishesng on in Louisiana? Yes, we we've heard about them. They happen quite frequently across the state. And now and we haven't been immune to it here in our parish. We've had them here, but we've been dealing with those and trying to understand the issues that the drivers have, listening to the driver and then trying to resolve those issues that we can. What are the chief complaints? Obviously, salary is a huge, huge issue and there's been some complaints about fuel costs and we're working through those. But salary has been one of those things that not only we hear about, but districts across the state. How long do you think it will take do before the problemtake is fully addressed with us? I wish that new is not happening soon enough for me. Oh, but again, all I can say is, you know, our team out there, the powers that be, the administrators, the leaders of the school district, we're doing everything we can to understand what those issues are and resolved. The so they really want to give me a hand on a different thing. But as Patrick and her sisters say that they have reached out to the school board, but no real answers yet the Biden administration is searching to stem inflation and the price of gas. He waived the ethanol ban this week which could help. But how much can I hear from energy expert Dr. David Dismukes from LSU? Inflation now reaching a 40 year high and Americans are feeling the burden in everyday life. But gas still remains the bulk of the increased costs. Thank you very, very much. President Joe Biden rolled out one of his solutions in Iowa Tuesday afternoon. He'll temporarily waive the ethanol rule, which prevents gas with 15% ethanol blend from hitting gas stations during the summer months. It's an attempt to reduce smog and emissions. It's a war time bridge to increase oil supply. As we work with U.S. produce oil producers to ramp up their production this year. The move is expected to bring gas prices down, especially in Midwestern and southern states like Louisiana. But David Dismukes, an energy studies professor at LSU, says that Louisianians won't see a dramatic change at the pumps. The problem is you can't go in and change a fundamental supply problem with fossil fuels. With a non-fossil fuel answer. Dismukes says the amount of ethanol gas being distributed isn't enough to make a large impact. The E15 gasoline will only be available at 2300 pumps nationwide. Biden anticipates a ten cent drop in prices on average, but Dismukes doubts we'll see that much gasoline demand is somewhere in the 19 and a half somewhere between 19 and a half million barrels a day. So we've got to get into somewhere around ten to 20% of that market. So you're looking at millions of barrels a day of new supply that you're going to need to probably start moving the needle. This is only one of several tactics the president has employed to manage inflation rates. Last month he ordered the release of 1 million barrels a day from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which did lower prices slightly. But Dismukes says only time will tell what will truly drop gas prices. E-15 will be available from June to September during COVID's Peak. Churches closed and services went online Things have been mostly back to normal for many months now. Last week, we reported that people are not rushing to fill state jobs. What about churches, though? Are they having trouble filling the pews? Reverend Brady Whitten, pastor of First United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge, says it's a mixed bag We literally shut the doors of the church for about a five month period of time shifted. Like many churches, did our ministries to primarily online ministries. And interestingly, people made that shift with us. peopleAnd so they startedth us. coming to church online. coming And it wasonline. it was kind of a lot of fun for a while, a lot of work. But a lot of fun. And then and then people's interest in being online intersort of startedline to wane a little bit. So there was a. If you talk to most church professionals, there was a big spike in online worship attendance. And then people started getting distracted and doing other things. But at this point last time, we measured some statistics here at our church. We were probably at about 40% of our people who had come back in person. And this was at the end of 20, 21, 40% of our people would come back in person and 60% still watching online. Okay. Since then, as again, I'm a chronic past and everything, we're probably up to about 60% in person now, but a lot of our folks have not returned and there's the question that a lot of church professionals are asking are are they going to. There was I think Gallup did put a report out in 20, 20 that showed for the first time that ssince they had been time tracking this data and it was from the thirties fewer people attended than didn't attend a church, mosque or synagogue. And that's the first time that happened and it was in 2020. So there was already a trend of people not attending church. not atAnd againhurch. I think the pandemic sort of sped that up for some people. Yeah. But you know, what does it say about our society. I still think about 80% of the people say they believe in God. By and large number of people say that they're spiritual. So, you know, maybe the church isn't doing maybe the cas goodsn't doing a job as we need to be doing. I think maybe people's lives are really busy and hectic and they're while they still and thebelieve in Gody still and they still have faith, maybe church participation and church involvement isn't a priority in their lives. I tend to think it's the church's job to meet people where they are. It would be nice if people would give us a little commitment in response. I think that's part of it. But I know, you know, people are busy, they're hurting. They need the church and they need God. And as a Christian, they need the gospel as much as ever. And the fellowship that comes with it. And so so I think the church has to sort of, you know, rethink some things about how we're engaging with people in the world that we live in. in tSo with that in mind, in. how has First United Methodist and then many churches rethought what you might be doing? Yeah. So, you know, probably the biggest thing that we've done, we had already our contemporary worship service was already online, but we've put all of our traditional services also online. And we're really trying to I mean, you look at where is the town square nowadays? sThe town square is in these digital spaces. And so I've started doing all of my Bible studies or hybrid so we have some people in the room. I have some people online. There's some interesting technology around that. We do a prayer time Bible study. And people are live there. They're on Zoom. We've we were a cool thing called an owl that allows us to do do it hybrid. We're doing we offer prayer every morning online at 7 a.m.. And so we've been moving into some digital spaces in a way that we did not before to reach out to people and really connect with them where they are in their cars as they're listening to things. You know, we had a we had a young man during the pandemic who attended Sunday school from from the sideline of the soccer field with his phone. And so there's there's all kinds of interesting things allyou can do there and workngs and continue to find out how how can we engage people where they are. Because clearly, people are not coming to the church buildings the way they were. Right. You know, in in the year 1995 and you know since for a long time. So adapting to that and adapting to what the present future is will be. Right. Somebody years ago said the line to me sI always remembere it said you can either do itministry in the worlddo the way it is or you can do theministry in the world do the way you wish it. Was, you know. So we're going to try to do ministry in the world the way it is. And people are scattered now, but I still believe they have faith. tI still believe they need the church theyand they needrch what we have to offer is just up to us to figure out how to engage them. As always, our thanks to Brodie Witten for his insight. This week's lob young heroes spotlight shines on Buckeye High School. Senior gave Hoosier. He's a natural born leader and a giver, and he's had role model parents teaching him every step of the way when he what 17 year old Gabe Hoosier and see what makes him tick, it quickly becomes apparent why the actions of this soft-Spoken teenager from Rapids Parish separate him from the crowd. Well, first of all, not only his parent, his teacher and his coach. So I've been teaching my own son for three years, high school science at Buckeye High School, and I've been coaching for just as many years in varsity powerlifting. I'm out looking boys and girls coach our school. So you know, as a parent you see a lot of things at home, but sometimes your kids might act a little different at school. a littlAnd, you know, school. I'm really proud to say that being there, you know, being a sponsor, being a teacher, I've been able to see what a positive influence he's been and his involvement and his leadership and what a good role model he's been. What is something that Gabe has done that stands out to you? One of the biggest things would be his leadership at our National Honor Society, which really focuses on working with people that are either underprivileged maybe minorities. Like for today, for example, they actually worked with the special needs students of Rugby's Parish, and there was a prom and he went and worked the prom. Same thing with the special needs, the adults in Alexandria with the Homeless Coalition, just, you know, a lot of high schoolers are a little bit more self-centered usually. moreAnd you don't oftenlly. see them volunteering multiple times a week for other organizations. And although it's few and far between, he's consistently been a leader at our school that's led our chapter in those community service organization activities. And people see that and that's, you know, positive change. They want to be involved. So, Gabe, where does that come from for you? Really, my whole entire life, I always look around and it's never been I want to look around and see how I can help myself the most. I look around and I see somebody else hurting and I seesomebody elsee hurting suffering or any other, And I'm like, you know, there's any way that I could help. I would love to help. And that's pretty much what I do. I go around finding any way possible that I can help other people. Gabe, there's something called Cinderella's closet that you're involved in there at your school. And tell me exactly what that It's a organization that's locally run by the teachers and some of the students where we help children that are not fortunate enough or just, you know, whatever else that circumstances going on. We help kids get a dance. My dad, a dress for either homecoming or prom. Gabe is the oldest of three siblings with his youngest sister being adopted at birth. That little sister, who is biracial, is one of the joys of Gabe's life. And she can be. a teaching opportunity for him when confronted by people with certain judgments. Well, actually, my mom was adopted as a kid, so that actually has a lot to do with our family. withYou know,ly. she's very proud to be adopted shand be raised with parentsed that she was raised. And she always wanted to be able to take that chance to adopt one of her own. And obviously, I'm always with her that, you know, I love my sister at the bottom of my heart. You know, she's very cute. She's loving. She's just a great person to be around. And it was really all because my mom, it was her idea. She said, you know, I was adopted. This means a lot to me. And I want to be out to help somebody else out to see just your normal high school kid that's trying to, you know, have his own fun and get and go to school and do sports and make good grades. You've got the normal dreams and aspirations. It's the small things in life that we all do on a day to day basis that can, you know, make a ripple and impact the world around you and calls change you know, and I'm real big about that. And he's learning that little by little. And I think that's important for us to do and, for you know,and, raising the next generation. raisSo that's what I hopeon. he does is it makes a change Gabe plans to attend, um, Monroe, and he's very excited about a career as a physical therapist. Leaves Louisiana young Heroes program is presented this year with the generous support of America health care status. Louisiana East Baton Rouge Parish Library, Community Coffee the US Army, Baton Rouge recruiting Battalion Demko and Hotel Indigo and everyone. That's our show for this week. Remember, you can watch anything else be any time, wherever you are. With our LPV TBS app, you can get LTB News and Public Affairs shows and other Louisiana programs that you've come to enjoy over the years. And please, like us on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram for everyone in Louisiana Public Broadcasting, I'm Andre Mauro. Until next time.

Happy Easter. That's the state where in Entergy is proud to support programing on LP and greener practices that preserve Louisiana. The goal of our environmental and sustainability initiatives really is to ensure that our kids and future generations can be left with a cleaner planet. Additional support provided by the Fred B and Ruthie 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 fin Louisianae Public Broadcasting. PublWith supporting. from viewers like you

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Louisiana: The State We're In is a local public television program presented by LPB

Thank you to our Sponsors: Entergy • Ziegler Foundation