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 a historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana.

And the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting and viewers like you.

Thank you.

Hurricane season is ramping up, while some homeowners are already struggling to afford insurance.

We'll see if there is relief in sight and from the curb to our coastline.

We'll show you how a Louisiana company is using discarded glass to help rebuild wetlands, and Louisiana Poet Laureate Allison Pellegrino goes behind bars to help inmates express themselves through the written word.

Plus, we'll introduce you to a Baton Rouge tailor who's making his mark on the luxury fashion world.

Let's get started.

Right.

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, we are three weeks into the hurricane season, and forecasters are warning of above average activity.

Now, that puts an extra layer of stress on homeowners already dealing with unaffordable insurance.

But there could be some relief in sight.

Here's a look at how recently passed legislation aims to strengthen Louisiana's insurance market.

Lower homeowner insurance rates are forecasted for Louisianans.

Barring a major hurricane this season.

obviously the best is yet to come because, you know, we're not seeing widespread reduction in rates.

But as we go through 2025 and again, assuming we don't have a hurricane, those are the way that it helps not to have a hurricane.

Then I think people can continue to expect to see premium decreases as we go throughout the year.

Louisiana's homeowner insurance costs rank as the eighth highest in the U.S., according to insurer.com and other data sources.

Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple says ten new companies received licenses to write homeowners insurance in the state, and he's granted eight request for rate reductions in 2025.

Now, that doesn't mean that they're writing homeowners today, but it shows that the reform that was passed last year encouraged them to go forward, to move forward with wanting to offer policies in Louisiana.

in the 2025 regular session, lawmakers created a permanent funding source for the Louisiana Fortify Homes program, which offers grants and tax benefits for certified fortified roof upgrades.

A fortified roof can lower insurance premiums.

There's a couple of things they can do.

They can apply, through a lottery process for a grant.

And or they can apply for a tax credit or a income tax break.

That grant is for up to $10,000.

So if you're replacing your roof to the fortified standard and it cost $15,000 total, we'll give you a grant for 10,000, and then you would pay for the other five.

That's option one.

Obviously, those grants are limited at state funds.

If you're able to do a fortified roof outside of the grant program, Then the state has now now has available, if these bills are signed into law, either a $10,000 tax credit or a $10,000 tax deduction for doing that, So you will get a discount.

And if you don't, you need to call us and file a complaint.

Lawmakers also extended the amount of time an insurance company is required to notify of a policy cancellation.

What we've done this year is supported legislation that increases that 30 day notice to 60 days, which gives, the citizens of Louisiana more time to shop around for a new policy.

And something else the bill does, it's going to be helpful.

Is it requires the insurance company to tell the homeowner or the other or the driver why they were non-renewal or cancel.

That way, you can actually address the issue that caused your non-renewal so that your hopefully your risk is a little bit more, insurable as you enter the market for a new policy.

The anticipation of lower homeowner insurance rates comes as President Donald Trump seeks to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which provides states with disaster aid.

The official 2025 Atlantic hurricane season forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration calls for above normal activity, with 13 to 19 named storms, 6 to 10 hurricanes, of which 3 to 5 are expected to be major hurricanes.

We do want to encourage homeowners to be insurance ready this year.

And what that means is, is pretty simple.

We want homeowners to understand what their deductible is.

What's your name?

Storm deductible specifically so that if your home, receives damage from a hurricane this year, you'll know how much you're going to have to pay out of pocket before your insurance company kicks.

Insurance coverage kicks in.

That's number one.

And number two is we're urging them to know how to file a claim before you have to file a claim.

So the best way to take care of both of those items, the deductible and the how to file a claim is to go ahead and contact your insurance agent or your insurance company.

Now, The Louisiana Department of Insurance is encouraging everyone to download the app LDI connect for direct communication with the department and resources to help citizens stay informed, safe and resilient during the hurricane season.

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

And it is all about LSU baseball.

That is right Karen and the LSU Tigers locked in their spot in the College World Series finals Wednesday with a big win over Woo Pig Suey, the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Victor Howell has more.

Lost in all of the drama of how this game ended was the pitching effort of Zach Cowan, who started for the Tigers five and a third innings pitched.

That's a season high, only gave up one run and had six strikeouts.

But the drama starts in the eighth inning.

It's two one LSU.

Arkansas with the bases loaded, one out and a grounder.

That could have been a double play to end the inning.

The ball gets away from Jared Jones at first.

That much two run score for the Razorbacks.

And now Arkansas led 3 to 2.

But in the bottom of the eighth with two outs.

The Jared Jones Revenge Tour part one.

Jones with a solo shot to right field, and now the game is tied at three with one inning to go and the Razorbacks feeling the frustration, but not for very long because in the top of the ninth, Arkansas is nine hole hitter Justin Thomas, junior, a ripping shot to left field that scores two runs and all of a sudden Arkansas three outs away from forcing another game with LSU but in the bottom of the ninth.

Two on for Stephen Milam.

A shot to the shortstop, but instead of turning the double play to end the game, he throws to third for the shore out that kept the Tigers alive and led to this.

Luis Hernandez A shot to left field.

If it's caught, it's over, but Charles Devlin slips the ball, bounces off of his shoulder.

Two run score.

Hernandez was on second base and now it's five five.

But not for long because four pitches later it's part two of the revenge tour for Jared Jones.

A shot up the middle, just off the tip of the glove of the second baseman.

Hernandez scores, and the Tigers walk it off to win, six five and eliminate Arkansas.

Afterwards, head coach Jay Johnson talked about the special makeup of this Tiger team.

I just I would coach this team forever.

I've been telling them that, probably since March or April and, it's because of the character and and they just stay with it.

The mental toughness is really like nothing I've ever seen before.

And it's all about this.

I mean, they I mean, it's it's not just a saying like at LSU baseball, the expectation of the players, I will always place the needs of the team above my own.

And we have so many examples of that and I'm just really thankful.

I mean, if you asked me if I had a word or an emotion, it's just really thankful.

and LSU, Stephen Milam is giving back to some four legged friends.

He sure is.

And he's rocking custom cleats during the College World Series featuring his three adopted dogs and the words Three Amigos.

So who got you the shoes?

Who made those for you?

His name is Chuck broad.

I got the cleats.

I sent him the pictures that I wanted on my dogs, and I've been rocking them on postseason, so some extra good luck with your dogs on them.

Yes.

And actually, good luck.

We won.

I think every game I've been in, I'm so if to keep it going.

For every home run and extra base hit he makes, he'll donate $100 to the companion animal Alliance of Baton Rouge.

Meanwhile, former LSU track star Mondo Duplantis is unstoppable.

That's right.

And Karen, you actually interviewed him a few weeks ago.

Yeah, I love him.

Yes.

Great person.

Absolutely.

Now the gold medalist pole vaulter got yet another world record this week.

So he cleared get this 20ft.

Since it was at an event in Sweden, he's celebrated by ripping off a shirt and pumping his fist at the roaring crowd.

Mondo has broken the pole vault world record 12 times, putting him in a league of his own.

He certainly is.

That's right.

And in other good news, a New Orleans area company is helping save our coastline one bottle at a time.

Instead of glass piling up in landfills, glass half full takes them and crushes them and then turns them into sand and gravel for restoration projects.

Check it out.

I think since day one we said, hey, what if we recycled glass in Louisiana?

And everyone was like, yes.

Yeah, like, please, like take my glass.

That was Franziska Trautmann, co-founder and CEO of Glass Half Full, a recycling initiative in New Orleans that transforms glass waste into sand and gravel for various uses like coastal restoration and disaster relief.

She and her partner, Max Steitz developed this idea during a break from vinyls.

So how did two Tulane University seniors come up with the concept of starting a glass recycling business?

it started, like most good ideas over a bottle of wine.

Yeah, I love it.

Michael Vander, Max and I were sharing, two buck Chuck from trader Joe's.

Nice.

While we were seniors at Tulane.

And when the bottle was empty, we realized it would end up in a landfill because we didn't have adequate glass recycling here in south Louisiana.

And we thought that was a shame.

And so we thought, what could we do with glass?

Could we come up with some way to make sure it's not just going to the landfill?

And that's when we found this tiny little machine that took one bottle at a time, and you could just pop a bottle in the top of the machine, and it turned into sand.

And that's when things just started to click, What began as just an idea among friends developed into a planet saving powerhouse glass recycling company.

That the southern region of the world didn't know it needed.

growing up in south Louisiana, you always hear about our coastal erosion crisis, how scary it is, how much land we lose.

And it felt like sand was something that could at least help combat that issue.

But it was just an idea.

You know, we didn't know necessarily that it was going to work.

But having studied chemical engineering at Tulane and knowing some incredible professors there, we were able to apply for a national science Foundation grant that got us the ability to start, like doing that research of like, okay, this is an idea, And we just hope to be like one small part of that, like sediment issue that we have in Louisiana, which is like you need sediment to be able to build back land.

And whether that's, some of the ways we've been using it, which is like, building berms to protect plants and kind of help like the natural process and ecosystem restart or, potentially using it in like terraces and different structures.

In just a few short years, Glass Half Full has had monumental success, quickly outgrowing their first machine that could handle only one glass at a time.

long way from that guy, Oh, yeah.

So this is the machine.

We started with the one bottle at a time system.

So you would just pop a bottle into the top here, and sand would come out the bottom, so you would catch heavily.

A very big difference.

That's right.

They now have the capacity to recycle thousands of bottles at a time, and have enough resources to aid neighboring states on the coast, like Mississippi and Alabama.

They've even secured partnerships with companies around the region who have all vowed to donate their glass for recycling.

Jason Andreasen, CEO of the Baton Rouge Gallery and a recent glass half full partner, says when he found out about the work that Franziska and her team were doing, it was a no brainer and he signed up right away.

Well, it actually started with one of our artist members here at the gallery who had shared a video of a Ted talk that one of the founders of Glass Half Full had done.

having not been aware of the project that they had undertaken prior to that video, just got really excited about what they were doing and how late night drink amongst amongst friends and turned it into an effort to rebuild our coast.

And so we reached out to them and said, you know, we have, a lot of community events, a lot of community building events, that include wine.

And we've got wine bottles at the end of the night that, are presumably ending up in landfills.

And if we can have them redirected somewhere else for a better cause, then we'd love to see about making that happen.

Jason says after their event, they go through about 5 to 600 wine bottles a week, and he couldn't think of a better way to dispose of those bottles.

That'll take it to their processing plant in Chalmette.

And eventually that glass will make its way to different coastline projects that they've got going.

And how cool is that?

It's shaved down to sand to be repurposed, for our coastline.

And just what a great idea and what a great initiative to be a part of.

Oh it's phenomenal.

It's it's such a it's one of those ideas that you hear about and you're like, why wasn't that already a thing?

You know, now, after hearing more of the glass half full recycling initiative and more of Franziska and Max story, I asked her to share her plans for the future.

we just started this partnership with the Baton Rouge Gallery because we've started expanding basically.

You know, this facility enables us to collect more glass than we ever thought possible.

Yeah.

When we were in that backyard with that tiny machine.

And so now with this new facility, we really want more glass.

So the more glass we can get, the more good we can do, right?

The more sand we can make.

more jobs we can create.

So we want everyone's glass, especially in South Louisiana.

But we're also expanding out into Mississippi.

Alabama.

And we hope to expand out to Florida soon as well.

Louisiana's poet laureate, Allison Pellegrinelli, brings poetry to a place that often silences the human spirit through her lifelines.

Poetry project, Allison goes into state prison systems to help inmates find their voice and ultimately, peace.

Here's more.

Louisiana State Poet Laureate Allison Pellegrino joins us here in studio to talk about her two years of service as a state poet laureate, and also a project that she launched during her service called the Lifelines Poetry project that works with incarcerated individuals.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Thank you so much for having me.

It's my pleasure to be here.

First of all, congratulations.

Tell me what goes into selecting a state poet laureate?

Well, it's quite a process.

The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities is the organization that is in charge of running this process.

And, one has to be nominated by someone.

And then if you accept the nomination, there's a list of requirements that you need to submit, such as letters of recommendation, a resume, a list of publications.

And probably most important would be a letter kind of talking about what you might do in the role and how what what you see that you might be able to accomplish.

As Louisiana poet laureate, which begs the question, what do you want to accomplish as well?

It's kind of a funny story, because I did not have a really clear vision when I entered the role.

I didn't have the idea for lifelines poetry project until I visited the poetry group at Angola, which is Louisiana State Penitentiary.

I was invited there as part of a conference in which I was participating, and I was a little nervous because I simply didn't know what I could offer to this group of people.

But I walked into a live the library after going through security and, you know, gates opening and shutting.

And, I was just in a room with people who were passionate about language and excited to talk about poetry and, all the other things that had given me pause or that had made me wonder went away.

And we were just right there talking about poetry.

How does the lifelines poetry project work?

So with lifelines, I've been able to visit, I think, up by this point, 12 different prisons or locations in Louisiana to lead poetry workshops with incarcerated writers.

And, all that means is that we're sitting in a group.

It's usually about 15 to 20 people, sometimes more, just depending.

And I'll bring a handout with me that has different poems on it we can talk about for inspiration.

We talk about language when we first started writing, and then we all start kind of writing poems together, and people love to read them and give feedback and support each other.

It's just been really great.

What would you say about the power of poetry with those who are incarcerated?

What has been your experience working with them?

Well, it's only been a wonderful experience.

And the power of poetry, I mean, I I've, I've been a teacher for 20 years at southeastern, and, I always feel a little bit as though I'm at a pulpit when I'm in front of a classroom talking about poetry.

It feels more like preaching to me than teaching.

And it's partly because I'm passionate about it, but it's also because that's how important poetry is.

And when you factor in someone who's living in a very restricted setting for a very long period of time, with very little to do and very little freedom to move about words and the ability to say what you think and what you feel become of the utmost important.

So it's just really been a joy for me to witness this happen.

You brought some of the poems that, people in your workshop wrote.

Read me one of those.

I'd love for our viewers to to hear the work that is generated, the art that is generated from these poetry workshops.

So, Alex, this is a center poem.

And what that means is that it's a poem made up of lines by different writers.

So I put these together, but I didn't add anything.

These are just straight up lines written by incarcerated writers over the last year, people who've shared their work with me for this purpose.

The clock can't save me from this prison sonnet.

Let me stand and smile while listening.

Unlock the mystery.

My mind is stuck on one page.

Today I'm feeling dark and want no one to see me hurting.

People can lose their hope here.

Behind these walls.

Part prison, part daycare center.

Dreaming of the cool grass.

The spatters of rain have nowhere to be so powerful.

Poetic words, raw emotion.

And also I imagined therapeutic.

Absolutely, absolutely.

And when I read this, it always gives me chills because I can just see some of these different people I've met reading their work out loud and struggling to put in the words, transformation, redemption, remorse, joy, sorrow, all those things.

We're going to wrap up our interview with, what do you plan to do as you finish out your two years of service as Louisiana State Poet laureate?

Well, I'm trying to get into as many prisons as I can.

Which I know sounds like a strange statement.

I plan to continue this work.

I think it's so important and vital.

And, there's no way if I get an invitation to visit with a group of incarcerated writers that I would ever say no.

Well, Allison Pellerin, thank you for all you do for sharing your art and those beautiful words.

Thank you so much for having me.

It's been a pleasure.

Thank you.

Well, when you think of fashion, you probably think Paris or New York.

But one business is bringing high end clothing to the Bayou State headquartered right here in Baton Rouge.

Nathan Pierce with Pierce bespoke, has fitted everyone from athletes to the president's son with custom, one of a kind suits.

Take a look.

My story goes back to literally when I was in college in Jackson, Mississippi, at Millsaps, played football and baseball there, and had an idea for a t shirt concept with a teammate and right place, right time.

Started that company with a couple thousand bucks and, ended up lucky enough to do a couple million dollars my first year with that t shirt concept.

From the blues trails of the Magnolia State to the swamps and vibrant sounds of jazz and the Bayou State.

Nathan Pierce, a Mississippi native turned Louisiana resident, is making a significant impact in the fashion industry.

One customized suit at a time.

I want to go in and get you measured up.

I'm going to take your point to point.

I'm going to grab your sleeve length.

We're going to go through every single detail and kind of talk through what you like, what you don't like, what your preferences are.

And then once we're done, we're done with that.

I'm going to walk you through the fabrics, the buttons, the linings.

We're going to design the perfect suit exactly the way you want it.

Pierce started with a t shirt manufacturing company.

Now, while it had a strong beginning, it didn't turn out like he'd hoped.

He quickly realized he wanted to go beyond manufacturing and received help finding the right path.

I kind of realized that manufacturing wasn't really my dream.

Okay.

I was more of a business builder.

Yeah.

Visionary who loved building products and starting new companies.

And there was a traveling tailor that we used to make dress shirts for out of my factory that called me when I exited that company, and he said, what are you going to do next?

And I said, I'm going to start another clothing brand.

Yeah.

And his response was, you should get into the suiting business.

And from that point on, life as he knew it changed forever.

Pierce spent several months traveling across the country following a traveling tailor.

I would watch him measure and open his leather briefcase and show people fabrics, buttons, lining, styling and guide them through the custom clothes buying process and obviously, I fell in love with it.

Yeah, because that's what led to custom suits.

I moved to Baton Rouge.

My wife went to LSU.

Yeah.

So she convinced me to to move to Louisiana and, I told her the joke became if I could sell suits in the swamps of Louisiana, anybody could sell suits anywhere.

And that's exactly what he did.

He sold suits everywhere and to everyone, including local superstars like Jayden Daniels and Eli Manning.

He even went to the white House and dressed the president's son, Barron Trump, and business was booming.

Pierce's business grew so much that he branched out to offer others a seat at the tailor made table.

We just set 60 franchises across the United States, and we franchised it about two and a half years ago.

So it's been a fast paced, growing company to say the least.

And, you know, me loving entrepreneurship and now being able to offer entrepreneur entrepreneurship to new business owners, people that have been in corporate America, and they're tired of the 9 to 5 grind and they want freedom.

So you've got about a quarter of an inch hanging underneath your shirt sleeves.

It was his quest for freedom that led this Mississippi native across the country to the white House and even around the world.

But he still finds joy in catering to the everyday man that wants to feel a bit tailored.

Awesome, man.

We got you squared away.

Perfect.

Thank you so much.

I appreciate it, dude.

It is the coolest freaking job on planet Earth.

And you know how I know that?

How?

Because I'm still a clothier and I'm the founder and CEO of the company, so I still sell suits, and I enjoy it.

And I get to make people feel good and look good and at the end of the day, I don't think anything beats that.

I agree, still boots on the ground with still making a difference and making an impact on other people so they could experience the same level of freedom that you have.

I love that.

This summer, we're switching things up on the state we're in.

Each week, we'll dig into our archives to bring you some of the best stories we've done thus far.

So each week, we will have a theme starting next week where we will take you to Natchitoches for a look at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.

Be sure to catch our Summer Sky series right here on LPB.

Well, that is our show for the week.

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

That's right.

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 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 a historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana and by Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center.

Visit Baton Rouge and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting and viewers like you.

Thank you.