Entergy is proud to support programing on LPB 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 Bea 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 like you.

People need to register with FEMA.

The process of hurricane recovery.

I think Scott's a guy that knows what characteristics he's looking for in a coach.

LSU search for the next Nick Saban.

They're having concerns related to the adverse reactions.

Addressing fears parents may have about vaccinating their kids.

We think we'll have to double the number that we had last year.

Travel trends for this year's upcoming holiday season.

Hi, I'm Kara St. Cyr, and I'm Andre’ Moreau.

We were once considered the COVID capital of the country, but now Louisiana is among the states with the fewest COVID hospitalizations.

The total number of active cases is now below 500.

Public health officials caution throughout the pandemic, though, there have been periods of low cases, followed by spikes.

That is some really good news for our state, but we've also got more big news coming our way.

Louisiana will receive more than $7 billion from the bipartisan infrastructure bill that won passage over the weekend.

The bill barely made it through the House, though, winning by just 22 votes.

But only two Louisiana lawmakers, Senator Bill Cassidy and Congressman Troy Carter, cast their ballots in favor of it.

Those billions will be invested in roads, bridges and broadband and more.

Yeah, lots more.

And now to other news headlines from around our state.

Phillips, 66, is shutting down its massive alliance oil refinery in Belle Chase.

It flooded during Hurricane Ida, and the company says the extensive damage is too expensive to repair.

The plan is to turn the refinery into a storage terminal.

That news has metro New Orleans leaders worried about the loss of one of its biggest employers.

The company is looking at how many of its 900 plus employees would keep their jobs.

A Tulane researcher will use a 50,000 dollar grant to study how ideas floods spread, pollution affecting groundwater and water systems.

Samples will come from about 150 sites, and the work will happen quickly before some of that data is lost.

The former sheriff of St Tammany Parish is facing life in prison for sexually abusing boys.

Jack Strain was convicted Monday on four counts of aggravated rape.

The allegations included crimes that happened before and during his time as sheriff from 1996 to 2015, when he finally lost a reelection.

He is also awaiting trial on federal corruption charges, a 16 count indictment accusing him of steering profits from a 1 billion dollar work release program to himself, family and friends.

He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.

Northwestern state has chosen a new president who is making history as the campus first black leader.

The selection of Marcus Jones was unanimous.

He's Northwestern's 20th president and has worked at the university for 23 years as a professor and executive, UL System President Jim Henderson says.

Jones is an authentic leader of character, integrity and vision.

Jones says Northwestern is home to many.

Julia Hurricane Hawkins, the 105 year old dynamo from Baton Rouge, set a new world and U.S. record again in the 100 meter race at the Louisiana Senior Games.

There's no one in the world older than her currently competing.

When I interviewed her four years ago, she'd already written a book about her life, which she calls wondrous.

The holiday season is upon us, we are officially a couple of weeks out from the busiest travel week of the year, and that is Thanksgiving.

Last year, the pandemic drastically reduced the number of travelers.

Airports in Louisiana were reporting record lows for passenger volume.

But this year, things are looking up for some airports.

Staff are expecting near pre-pandemic levels of air traffic as the state exits this fourth surge.

Last year, most air travel was restricted during the pandemic.

But as vaccination rates increase and travel restrictions are lifted, more people are expected to travel during the holidays this year.

It's about time you flew BTR at the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport.

Jim Caldwell, the spokesperson for the company, says he's expecting almost pre-pandemic passenger numbers.

We think we'll have close to double the number that we had last year versus last year was impacted more by the pandemic than we are currently, and our seating capacity is up compared to last year to 2020 was not a good year for BTR .

Only about 30,000 people were recorded, which was a significant drop from 2019.

New Orleans also experienced a major dip in customers along with the rest of the country to recoup some of the profit lost.

Caldwell says the company would need to be somewhere close to 2019 numbers, which was also a record breaking year for travel.

Except this time BTR saw more customers and they'd seen for nearly a decade.

The Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport saw about 70,000 passengers in 2019.

While the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport saw about 360,000 this year, Caldwell doesn't expect numbers to top 2019 record breaking totals, but he does expect to get pretty close.

Last month, the total volume was 59000, which was 90% of September 2019 levels, but was double September 2020.

So.

So we're getting very close to reaching pre-pandemic levels.

And one thing for us 2019 passenger volume was a ten year high for BGR.

So if if we get close to that level, we're doing really well.

But before we can get back to where we were before the pandemic, Caldwell says that we would need one specific traveler to make a comeback.

But we really need is business travel to return.

That's kind of the missing component, particularly salespeople, technicians, consultants.

You know, they need to see people face to face.

And if their competitors start doing it and they're not doing it, they'll feel they're at a competitive disadvantage.

So I think you'll definitely start seeing more business travel.

The expected increase in this year's passenger volume isn't just unique to Louisiana.

Travel is expected to increase nationwide this year.

Triple H is expecting 53.4 million people to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, which is up 13% from last year's numbers.

Travel volume is now within 5% of pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

This means that air travel is almost completely recovered from the 2020.

So if you plan on traveling this year, Triplé recommends following all CDC guidelines and prepare for roads and airports to be noticeably more crowded.

Triple is also predicting that many people will be traveling by car this year.

They expect about 48.3 million people will be traveling by car despite increases in gas.

So make sure you keep that in mind if you plan on traveling this year.

If Hurricane Ida got you like Hurricane Laura and all those others before and after, you know that getting help, it's not easy.

But the government's answer to help is FEMA.

And one of FEMA's media relations specialist Nate Koster is here now to give us some answers and hopefully, in turn, help you.

Let me ask you one thing first.

What is a misconception?

What to say?

Why not do FEMA is not going to make people whole again?

They're not going to put them into a total recovery to where they were before a storm like hurricane, either.

They're going to give them in a case by case basis, some funding if it's not covered by insurance for emergency home repairs to try to make the home safe, secure and and functional, fix the utilities if there's holes in the walls or whatever.

But then people are going to have to work, sometimes with local relief organizations, with the community groups that will form up to try to get a permanent housing recovery.

We can provide them temporary housing assistance in various forms during the period where they're trying to get a long range program to get back on their feet and in Louisiana right now after Iowa, for example.

What are some of those housing options?

Their trailers?

We know, but what else we have what's called transportable options that would include trailers or mobile homes?

That's a long range of thing to bring about.

You've got to find sites for those utilities.

They've got to be consistent with the local zoning regulations.

They're not going to be in a floodplain.

We can't put people in trailers or mobile homes in.

And having high water sure affecting people again.

So that's one option.

We've had people in hotels.

We still have about 4700 families in over 800 hotels, and these are not local necessarily.

They can be.

They've gone out of state, so have gone to Texas.

Little Rock Jackson, Mississippi because the housing market as far as hotels after this struck was so tight because you had people who evacuated and then you had the first responders coming in and you probably had people who were still in hotels and places from the previous year of storms like Laura, for example.

So the storm has hit.

What is the first thing someone has to do?

What are the essentials that must be done to be directly in touch with FEMA to get this?

This is the word, Andre, that we have sometimes difficulty getting out because communications are down.

People aren't watching TV reading newspapers on social media.

People need to register with FEMA if they had any kind of impact in any of the 25 parishes here in Louisiana from Hurricane Ida registered with FEMA.

first thing to do if you have insurance, call your insurance company, but then register with FEMA because FEMA may be able to cover some of the losses you had if you turned out to be underinsured or you had a very high deductible.

Once they register with FEMA, then they will get a call from a FEMA inspector to come out and make an appointment with them and look at just what happened to their home.

It has to be their principal residence.

We don't cover secondary or vacation home, OK, but we can look at on a case by case basis, emergency home repairs like I mentioned and Temporary Housing Assistance that can be what we call direct lease, where people can Lisa an apartment or a home or whatever.

Once they've gotten the OK from FEMA for them to live in temporarily while they get back on their feet, then FEMA will pay that expense.

We have another program called Direct Housing Lease and Repair.

That's where there may be some unused, maybe in disrepair multifamily apartment complexes that FEMA will pay to have fixed up so that they're livable and then we can move people into those into those units.

Something else, though interesting that happened, is the governor's sheltering program that's rather unique where the state has taken the ball and it's brought it all already brought in, I guess, dozens of travel trailers.

Yes, even more FEMA's paying for those, but the state is has a contractor and they're making the arrangements.

While FEMA continues to work on a housing mission, which is which is long range.

Because of these factors that I mentioned of, where are you going to place these units?

The one thing you mentioned is that vacation homes, a second home that's not necessarily covered.

So Grand Isle is a prime example of that.

Louisiana all over has prime examples of that because a lot of the places hit would be not the primary home.

That's correct.

So you have to establish that it is your primary home.

And when you register, you can do that.

The registration was extended another 30 days until November 29th.

You could do it by phone or online, or there was a FEMA app.

If you have a smartphone, you can.

You can use that to register.

OK, what if?

What if you're denied a claim?

You make a claim.

It's denied.

Where do you go?

Don't be discouraged.

That's not necessarily the end of the world and may be just because of missing documents.

Or you have clearly established that you own the home and that you.

As the owner and your Social Security number match up so you can appeal those FEMA decisions and even you can question them, and maybe you'll get to get it overturned initially just because of the missing documents you can provide.

How long can that be?

For example, a Hurricane Laura victim, can they still be trying to negotiate with FEMA, perhaps even a year or 15 months later?

That could be, although the general timetable on that is 60 days from the letter you received from FEMA, which denied you a recovery grant.

FEMA does so much, and you guys are all over really covering southeast Louisiana.

I appreciate your help.

Talking about this and trying to make something that's really complex makes sense to us.

Much like we saw at the beginning of vaccine distribution, some parents are worried about giving their children the COVID vaccine specifically, parents are worried about the long lasting effects the vaccination may have on their children.

Dr. Anita, for the director of pharmacy services at Baton Rouge General Hospital, tells us what parents need to know before setting that doctor's appointment.

one of the most vulnerable groups for COVID 19 is now eligible for the vaccine.

The CDC now recommends children aged five to eleven get their shots.

At a press conference, President Joe Biden said the U.S. is well equipped to vaccinate all 28 million children in the country.

We've already secured enough vaccine supply for every single child in America ages five through eleven weeks ago.

We have states and pharmacies to put together their detailed plan to start placing their orders for these specially formulated vaccines for young children.

But even with the recommendation from both the CDC and the White House, some parents are still struggling with the idea of vaccinating their young children.

Dr. Renisha, for the director of pharmacy services at Baton Rouge General, says the hesitancy we saw at the very beginning of vaccine distribution didn't go away.

Parents are phoning in war concerns ahead of the vaccine rollout because their children are so young.

Parents are having concerns as it relates to the long term effects of the COVID vaccine.

There have been concerns related to the adverse reactions, such as the.

Nausea, the headaches, fatigue and muscle soreness, the slight irritation at injection.

The side effects are a big concern for most people when it comes to getting vaccinated.

Some worry that the shots may cause serious health conditions down the line.

Ford says that the same concern was raised when twelve year olds became eligible for the vaccine in spring.

Her clinic didn't see a rise in demand when the CDC recommended teenagers get the shot.

Even with twelve year olds at Baton Rouge.

We did not see a huge uptick when the vaccines were available for those twelve years to 17 years of age.

And so I don't think that we will see a huge uptick this time for the same reasons, I think, is that same hesitancy during clinical trials.

Ford says that some participants did have some heart problems after taking the vaccine, but instances of that are extremely rare and shouldn't keep parents from vaccinating their children, especially since the fourth wave resulted in a surge of pediatric deaths nationwide during the summertime from late June to mid August.

Hospitalizations of children and teens were ten times higher than previous waves.

Now that we're out of the fourth surge in Louisiana.

Ford says it's a critical time to get the shots before the major holidays coming up in the winter.

I believe it's almost like what the vaccine is, but I don't.

You have those individuals or those parents like myself, who have been waiting for the vaccine to be available to their children between the ages of five to eleven .

And as soon as it's available, you're ready to have your child vaccinator.

Then you have those parents who are going to wait a while and see what happens and see their side effects.

And then they'll have their children vaccinated.

And then you have those who just have decided you're not going to change their minds about having children vaccinated.

The CDC writes that the vaccine was 91% effective in the trials, with very mild symptoms for most participants.

Anyone looking to get the vaccine for their child should ask their doctor if they have any questions.

So if you're one of those parents that's on the fence about getting your child vaccinated, make sure you talk it over with the doctor before making a decision.

Avery Atkins punt.

And it's a fake and a jump pass.

And they've got it complete Mashburn, the tight end coach, owe it to trickery at midfield.

LSU set up at the 25.

That right there is the latest sample of this year's bizarre LSU football season a game against Alabama, a game they should have won, actually.

But right now, with three games left.

The big story is who will the new coach be to replace coach at over on?

And some insiders say it's Jimbo Fisher of Texas A&M one.

Mel Tucker of Michigan State to our insider, Matt Moscone from after further review and ESPN radio you everywhere.

What do you say about those top two?

I think you're insiders are probably just about on point.

I think Scott Woodward's M.O.

is that he's always going to go big game hunting, and Jimbo Fisher kind of fits that mold.

But as we saw with the baseball search as well, if he doesn't land that big fish, he has a pretty high floor where he knows there's a guy that'll take the job.

I think that's where Mel Tucker fits into this search.

Would it be a disappointment, though, if it was Mel Tucker, because it's not the biggest fish?

Maybe to some.

I think there's there's an expectation when Scott Woodward was hired that he would make this hire, make a football hire at some point and that he would swing for the upper deck.

And then you'd land a Jimbo Fisher, a Dabo Swinney.

Somewhere along those Lincoln Riley.

But I think what we've also learned with Scott Woodward is he deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Jay Johnson baseball higher.

Not many people knew Jay Johnson's name when that search began.

And so far, most people are thrilled.

I think Scott's a guy that knows what characteristics he's looking for in a coach.

I think Mel Tucker probably fits that characteristic mold.

Is there anybody else who would be just out of the blue that we're not talking about?

I think there's always that possibility.

I think there's always the possibility that there could be a smokescreen, as we see with coaching searches.

Look, in 2016, Jimbo really was a smokescreen for Tom Herman.

So you hear Lincoln Riley's name bubble up.

He's an interesting candidate.

There's been some talk about Dabo Swinney.

And you never underestimate a guy like Jimmy Sexton, who's Mel Tucker's agent, who's Jimbo Fisher, his agent?

Who's the agent, basically?

Yes, he is everybody's agent.

So when you have a guy that's cunning like that is also very close friends with Scott Woodward.

You never know what type of back alley deal he might be trying to work for one of his candidates.

The hiring, though the date they want to announce it is very important and key in this, and that could play a role.

I completely agree.

So remember, college football went to a new December signing period for recruits.

It used to be in February.

So 80% of high school recruits are going to sign in the middle of December.

So if you're Scott Woodward, you want this done, Ellis, you don't play Texas A&M on November the 27th.

I mean that Sunday, Monday, you want this done?

You do.

It makes it very hard to wait for an NFL candidate, potentially or candidate that would play into the playoff.

Exactly.

And Michigan State, by all accounts, will not be going into the final four of college football.

Texas A&M could be.

You could also have a scenario where coach zero defeats Texas A&M, the Jimbo Fisher and then the LSU turns around announcer seems coach.

That would be if they beat them, they certainly wouldn't be a candidate for the Championship.

That would be a bizarre scenario if it played out the way.

It's not completely out of the realm of possibility.

Something to consider, though, if A&M gets a little help.

If Auburn, for example, beats Alabama and Texas A&M wins out, A&M goes the Championship game.

In that scenario, it is nearly impossible to imagine Jimbo Fisher leaving Texas A&M.

So Ellis just kind of has the scoreboard watch a little bit too.

All right, so tell us what we don't know.

What's the latest thing you've heard from?

Say the Alabama staff, perhaps about this hire or some of the conversations I've had with people in Alabama is they know the Saban tree very well.

Remember, Mel Tucker was hired by Nick Saban four different times.

Yeah.

And I think there's a real concern that Alabama coach here at LSU.

Absolutely.

If Mel Tucker ends up as the LSU head coach because of his ability to recruit his maniacal work ethic, it sounds when people describe him almost Saban esque, actually.

So while the the skins may not be on the wall from a head coaching standpoint with a guy like Mel Tucker, there are characteristics and traits there that paint him as a very good candidate for this job that could really succeed.

Highly successful assistant in the SCC went to Colorado for a year, went to Michigan State short circuited by COVID.

That season was not so great.

This season has been, though.

It's something that I would point out to anybody who's going to look at his head coaching record.

Keep in mind the context of the jobs he inherited, and sometimes coaches have rough first seasons because they inherit very bad situations.

How they turn them around is often the definition of that coach in.

Tenure, so is hard as it is to ignore the record as a whole.

Look at what he inherited a very difficult situation.

Mel Tucker got the Michigan State job a month before COVID and then didn't get to see his team for eight months.

So and then had a coach a partial season.

So 2020, you can almost wipe that slate clean and look at 2021.

I think Mel Tucker has done a fantastic job.

How will LSU finish this year?

I do think they make a bowl game.

I think they're going to beat Arkansas.

I think they'll be well.

I think they'll lose to Texas A&M.

So you want to know really odd scenario.

LSU hires a new coach, but an overall coach is the bowl game.

You're going to have the the lame duck in the new guy in the building at the same time.

Then are the whole time.

It's been fun to watch, though, and I'm happy to have you in our corner so you can give us the inside scoop.

Always my pleasure.

Thank you, Matt.

Appreciate it.

My pleasure.

We've wrapped up our digital first series, Safe Haven.

You can watch all eight episodes on YouTube.

And to celebrate the series completion, I'd like to share one of my favorite episodes with you tonight.

This one follows the story of the famous Dooky Chase restaurant in New Orleans.

It's hard to believe if I were to travel just 70 years ago, this little guide could potentially save my life.

I'm Kara sincere and this is safe.

Haven Louisiana's Green Book.

After segregation, very few black owned businesses in the Green Book survived.

But in the Tremaine neighborhood of New Orleans, this family run restaurant not only survived, it became nationally renowned.

What started as a family run sandwich shop and lottery outlet in 1941 was transformed into Dooky Chase's restaurant in 1946 by newlyweds Edgar Dooky Chase Jr and Leah Chase.

It was one of the few upscale dining establishments for African-Americans.

Today I have the honor of beating Stella, Reese Chase and Edgar Chase the third.

They're both the children of Leah and Dooky Chase.

Hey.

Hey, Kara.

Oh, nice, nice.

three Dooky Chase, welcome to Dookies.

All right.

You went our family business.

I am happy to be here.

So what's your hero?

Oh yeah, come right in.

What is your signature dish here?

So the signature dish here is the gumbo.

And there's a reason why it's the gumbo, because this chase, our mother said that was over a bowl of gumbo that she and my family helped change the world.

And again, you can catch this series on our YouTube page.

That's the link right there on your screen.

It is so good.

You've done a great job educating us with that.

I tell you what.

On Monday night at eight on LPV, you can watch this year's presentation of the Angel Award.

It's presented to nine everyday Louisianans doing extraordinary things for the children in our state lab partners with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana in this broadcast.

You can watch it right here.

It will also live stream at LPB dot org and on the LPB app.

And that's Monday night at eight.

Well, that's our show for this week.

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

You can catch LPB news and Public Affairs shows, as well as other Louisiana programs you've come to enjoy over the years.

And please like us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for everyone here.

Louisiana Public Broadcasting I'm Andre’ Moreau and I'm Kara St. Cyr Until next time.

That's the state we're in.

Entergy is proud to support programing on LPB 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 Bea 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 like you.