Support for Louisiana, the state we're in is provided by.

Every day I go to work for Entergy.

I know customers are counting on me.

So Entergy is investing millions of dollars to keep the lights on and installing new technology to prevent outages before they happen.

Together.

Together.

Together we power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred Bea and Ruth 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.

And if those books weren't there, the library is a great place.

Controversy at the public library.

It's an idea.

Let me try it.

What's the worst that could happen?

How a TV news reporter created her own news brand.

We've had these great results.

Seniors flex their writing muscles.

I am very appreciative of what Louisiana has given me.

Remembering Willis Reed.

We begin with the recall effort involving New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell.

It has ended.

Not enough signatures by recall supporters to move forward.

That's right.

The recall campaign submitted over 60,000 signatures to the registrar of voters.

But Governor John Bel Edwards announced that only 27,000 were valid.

That's 18,000 less than required.

Now, keep in mind, signatures can become invalid for multiple reasons.

The page can be mislabeled, signatures could be dated after the deadline or a name could be misspelled.

And those are just a few examples.

Well, after this failed campaign broke, Mayor Cantrell held a news conference where she said she was happy to get back to making her troubled city much better.

And now to news making headlines across the state.

Livingston Parish is eyeing a parish ordinance draft that would ban TikTok from all parish computers and cell phones.

The White House already banned the app from government phones and computers earlier this year because of national security concerns.

But Livingston Parish wants to ban access to the app in libraries as well.

One of the main supporters of the ordinance, Gary Talbot, says the app could provide backdoor access to inappropriate material at public libraries.

One of the two locations that houses the Louisiana National Guard will get a new name, Camp Beauregard, which is named after Pierre Beauregard, a Confederate general during the Civil War, now has six new name options.

The Louisiana National Guard Training Center, Pine Ville, Central Louisiana Training Center.

Pine Bill.

Camp Stroud.

Louisiana Maneuvers Training Center, Camp Pine Ville and Post Day repeats.

The naming commission, which is a federal commission, require that all locations with Nexus to a Confederate general be renamed.

Last September.

What's available to children in libraries has been the focus of American politics for over a year now.

The American Library Association recorded 1600 book challenges last year as opposed to just 400 in 2017.

The issue has finally reached Louisiana.

Two lawmakers drafted bills that would limit a child's access to explicit content in public libraries.

The goal is to give parents more discretion over what their children can and can't check out.

But opposers say this is just the first step to censorship and book banning.

If those books weren't there, the library is a great place that I've always loved the library when I had children.

My kids ran free in the library while I tutored, you know.

And they still do that.

I wouldn't do that now.

Kitty Sibley Morrison is a teacher, and she's joining thousands of Americans advocating for a cleansing of public.

Libraries around the country.

Efforts to ban specific books or even whole categories of books are on the rise.

A recent study found hundreds of books, mostly focused on LGBTQ themes or racial issues, have now been forbidden across the country.

The focus is primarily on the children's section.

Conservative politicians and organizations are rallying to limit a child's access to books with what they say is explicit content or adult themes.

And support for the movement is growing.

In America, a literature nonprofit recorded over 1600 book Challenges during the 2021 2022 school year.

41% of the books were LGBTQ themed, 40% focused on person of color narratives, and 22% had some sexual content.

This topic transcends Christianity, and it transcends book banning.

This is about protecting your children from obscenity.

According to PEN America, Louisiana is one of the few states without outright book bans.

But people who share kids viewpoint are organizing here, too.

Based on what I've read on the sanctimony accountability, there's a you know, I mean, it's really, you know, is so vile that I don't even want to repeat the things that I've read.

That's how bad it is.

The Saint Tammany Library Accountability Project, the organization Kitty's referring to, posted a list of books they think are inappropriate for children.

This began a debate between parents and librarians across our state about how we can keep sexually explicit material out of the hands of children while still ensuring that librarians are able to promote healthy viewpoints within appropriate libraries.

Louisiana Attorney general and gubernatorial candidate hopeful Jeff Landry is also pushing for legislation that doesn't ban books, but still limits a child's access to certain titles.

He compiled a list of books and excerpts which I can't read for you here.

Most have to do with sex, and the language can be graphic.

Let me be clear there is zero confusion.

Nowhere in this report can we call for the censoring or banning of books.

This is about what's appropriate for children.

This is about giving parents the ability to control the information that their children see or have access to in public libraries.

Landry released a Protection of Innocence Project, which lists his opinions with guidelines for concerned parents to use.

It tells them how to write formal complaints to library boards.

There's even a hotline to report them for keeping inappropriate books.

It's not very popular with some librarians.

I mean, that's straight out of a dystopian, straight out of like the Soviet times, you know, with people like neighbors being having like a way to snitch on their own, your community members on their community members.

Melanie Brothers and Lynnette Mejia are co-founders of Lafayette Citizens Against Censorship.

Their local libraries have been subjected to several complaints about the content of the books and who's reading them, leading to huge conflicts at local library meetings.

You're out of order.

The third time you forgive, get changed.

I mean, they're dividing things into what is safe and what is dangerous based on their own.

But controlling that language and controlling, you know, the words and how we describe these things.

You know, to me, that's one of the scariest things.

Both women say libraries already have systems in place to protect kids, which for the most part is true.

Generally, a library director delegates, library employees to filter through a variety of titles.

They usually rely on professional review journals and publishing houses that designate age, appropriateness and relevance.

Whether the, you know, magazines, newspapers, books.

They're ordering them from respected publishers.

And those books have already been vetted by editors, by professional reviewers.

They're written for and age appropriate audience, whichever, you know, whichever section of the library they end up in.

So this idea that somehow there's all this awful stuff that, you know, is, you know, quote unquote, inappropriate, it's just it's just not true.

In fact, most of the books on Landry's list are marked for young adults around 15 to 18 years old.

How much do you think these items that you're detailing in the report with these pulled from the complaints that were made to your protecting minors, tip line up?

I believe I couldn't answer that particular question, but we can find out is any of the material that's in there came from the tip line.

We do know that this investigation into the public libraries had started before we opened up that line.

Both women say this is the first step to outright book bans.

They're most afraid of statutes.

More specifically, two bills drafted by Senator Heather Cloud and Representative Julie Emerson.

Their bills would create a library card system that indicates whether kids can check out books with explicit content or not, depending on their parents approval.

They'd be given a library card with that specification.

You have to be very careful about this language because there's a there's a fine line between giving a parent actual control and then you know, handing that control over to Jeff Landry or the Louisiana legislature.

It's a topic expected to be big this legislative session.

Whether these bills make it to the chamber floor or not.

But regardless of what happens at the Capitol, the effort will persist.

But what's right is right and what's wrong is wrong.

You know?

It's called Unfiltered with Kieran.

Local Baton Rouge news that you won't see on TV.

It has its own website and app, YouTube and social media.

There's a large, dedicated following and it's seeing steady growth in its second year.

Former local TV news reporter and owner Kieran Chawla says if the past two years have taught her anything, it's that God's plan is the plan.

It's an example of how local TV news has changed, but it may be the only example of its kind anywhere, at least that I could find.

Kieran Chawla is here to talk with us about it.

Your views unfiltered with Kieran and it's on YouTube, it's on social media.

You have a website, you have an app which I just downloaded.

Good.

Thank you.

And you're off and running.

You've got a very dedicated audience.

We do.

We have a very loyal following.

How long you been doing this?

Oh, God.

We launched June 9th of 2021.

Okay, So coming up on two years now.

Two years?

Yeah.

And you're hiring people you have.

We are.

We've got some openings for advertisers.

We do.

It's.

Did you ever see this ad?

And what gave you the idea to do this?

That's what I'm curious about.

I think the elephant in the room is obviously WFB and I parted ways.

So after that.

We used to work there.

We did.

We worked together.

It was also it's it's actually nostalgia to sit here.

And I feel like we should be preparing for the 10:00 news right about now and going on there.

But after things, after we split ways from there, I sat there and just asked myself.

I interviewed at several TV stations and this was deep covered at that time.

So terrible, so terrible timing.

I mean, I'm applying for jobs left and right.

And if it's not a majority, all of them came back saying COVID.

In fact, I was very close to right when COVID happened.

I was in the middle of booking, which weekends I could go interview in person at one specific TV station.

So that was a little tough.

But I'm a firm believer in God knows what he's doing.

Everything happens for a reason and when things happen, I just sat there and asked myself, Let's be honest, is this not in your hands?

24 seven It is.

It is.

You sit and watch the 5:00 news.

And the biggest fear that TV stations have been talking about.

Even when we worked there, that was the biggest issue.

And I just sat there and I was like, you know what?

It's an idea.

Let me try it.

What's the worst that could happen?

I fail at least 20 years from now.

I can't look back and say, Man, I had that dream.

If only I would have pursued it.

If only I would have chased it.

I wonder what things would have been like.

And we launched and here we are.

It's astounding.

And for people all over the state, because we've reached all over the state that are not familiar with you, you're were a hot dog investigative reporter for Channel nine in town.

You've won a moral award, you've won Emmys, you've won a lot of awards, and then when you parted ways, you took out on your own and you've got this audience following you and sending you messages.

I look at some of the messages that people send you.

They're like, Kieran, depending on you.

They are interesting.

That's for me, the hardest part is not being able to get to everyone.

That is the truth.

I mean, I can show you our messages right now.

One of our employees, her job is literally to go through Facebook messages and she tries so hard it's not even possible for her to keep up.

And I know that some people get upset saying that we're ignoring them, We're not ignoring, but there's no way possible for us to cover every possible story out there.

There's one beat of yours that is has been true to you since the beginning, and that's crime and police.

And right now you're in a lawsuit to try to get the right to cover police press coverage.

Once again, they're saying that you need some sort of special.

They're claiming we're not media.

You're not media.

I mean, again, elephant in the room here, it's Baton Rouge police.

Right.

But the orders are coming from the mayor's office because the mayor's office also does not accept us as media.

Well.

You've got you've got maybe hundreds of thousands of people that might say otherwise.

Exactly.

But we just last year, we won a national Edward R Murrow.

So national entities consider US media to even be considered for a media award.

Right.

Of course.

But then locally and I mean, they've made us go through hoop after hoop after hoop that you have to have this credential.

No, you got to have this credential.

You got to have this.

So where's it stand right now?

It's tied up.

We're in the middle of motions.

Okay.

We're in the middle of motions right now.

And they crossed the line when they kicked our photographer out.

And the interesting thing is you're doing this simply to have access to something that you should have access to.

Yes.

You're not asking for money.

Not this grieving.

Like nothing like that.

Just our rights restored.

Right.

Oh, by the way, I've seen you on Ashleigh Banfield.

I want to bring into your and she is an investigative reporter in Baton.

Rouge.

And we'll thank you.

That's couple of nights you really have made a mark.

I will keep doing this till I die.

Well, congratulations on what you've done.

And again, I think it's a one of a kind thing.

And till I find someone else doing it, you're the only one I know of doing it.

And thank you.

All the best.

You can still do that.

Thank you.

Thanks for being.

Here.

Thank you for having me.

A six week writers workshop for a group of Louisiana seniors may be ending, but don't be surprised if there's another one soon to follow.

We were very fortunate to have some of the group come to be and tell us why this has been so rewarding their focus.

Writing essays for social Change.

The assembled in the conference room at LP B with no tablets, laptops and ideas.

For six weeks they've met at the main East Baton Rouge Parish Library, very much in the way they are meeting here with us.

Gordon Bucks grandfather wrote short stories, and even though he's an engineer by trade, writing is in his blood.

He had books and books of short stories, and it reminded me that I had always wanted to write a novel and at my age I thought, if you're going to do it, you better get busy writing.

So about four years ago, I started writing this program.

What have you loved about it?

The interaction.

It's a very dynamic group.

We get to hear each other's writing, do a little criticism of it, discuss it before and after class.

It's been a wonderful, wonderful program.

Rene Chatelain is the president of the Arts Council.

The Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge was invited to be part of a national cohort through the National Guild for Community Arts Education.

And it was focused on creative aging.

You know, providing people 50 plus with opportunities to explore the creative arts for their own satisfaction, for maybe a career change, training for a career change or socialization.

And it could be in any of the arts.

But we focused on here in the state.

We focused on creative writing.

Chatelain leaned on communications guru Ronnie Gray, who also happens to be an award winning true crime author and author of children's books.

Rene happened to pick my favorite topic was, which was writing for social Change.

And I thought if we did that, what better topic to really delve into than crime?

It's something that we're all worried about keeping our communities safer.

And I just thought this would be a really good topic because no matter what you think, you're affected by crime in some way in your community.

The class looked at crime from every angle, such as improving policing in America.

The essay Denise Greenwood Loveless wrote focused on helping overworked police manage stress.

You're burned out.

You've worked too many hours.

And so I started thinking about that problem and what is a way to do that.

And I remembered that the dental school in New Orleans came here after Katrina, and you could go to the dental school and students would fix your problem, your dental problems for a very small fee.

And they got real world experience while you got the help that you needed.

And so I thought, surely psychology students could do the same thing.

And they do.

It's called practicum, and it feels like police officers could give back by giving them real world experience.

Talking about these situations that they've found themselves in.

And in return, students could do some sort of therapy, you know, and learning how to cope with the problems that their fate police officers are faced with.

From the camaraderie to the work to the writing produced.

What has happened in reality has been far has far exceeded what we originally thought might happen.

Communities have been birthed and developed on their own with this.

Has the impetus.

So we've loved that and we've loved all the really strong creative writing that we've seen.

So, you know, opening up the channels we've had these great results.

And run a great we'll be submitting their essays on policing to the National Police Union Board.

Willis Reed was a Louisiana native turned NBA star.

His career started when the New York Knicks picked Reed during the 1964 NBA draft.

As a rookie, he scored 46 points against the Los Angeles Lakers, which was the second highest single game total for a Knicks newbie.

Reach trajectory continued to trend upward, eventually landing him two championships between 1969 and 1971.

Reed died from heart failure on March 21st.

An LP is combing through our archives to honor his memory.

He's a very honorable person.

He is proud of where he's from.

He always tells everyone he's not just from Louisiana, but he's from Bernie, Louisiana, which caused another conversation and a loyal, very loyal.

And those are the those are the characteristics that I've loved about him from the day I met him.

Willis Reed was born 14 miles south of the Arkansas border in Hiko, Louisiana, just down the road from Bernice, where his legendary skills as a basketball player were honed.

He's always been that kind of guy that, uh, pushed himself to be better.

As a freshman at Grambling.

He led his team to its first and air national basketball championship and was twice named all-American.

I think he is one of the top athletes that come out of Grinnell.

But after scoring an amazing 2280 college career points, Willis headed to the NBA's New York Knicks.

1965 was the start of an incredible decade of superior athleticism and awards, which included two NBA championships induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982 and recognition as one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history.

But none of his athletic accomplishments would ever outshine his performance as captain of the New York Knicks in the final NBA championship game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Close it down as picked up by Jerry West at the top of the post three three scorers.

The first bucket inside Willis.

Reed and right now is outside.

There's a second.

Shot he was pulled for to well it's three.

And everyone was wondering if he was going to play.

Many players will say that well I'm sure I'm play.

He said that he had to go because he would not want to sit back and talk to his grandkids about what if I, you know, didn't play.

The playing hurt guy?

I looked at him when he played, shoot, I'm not going to miss a game.

He did.

He can barely walk back out there.

I forgot.

I mean, he scored, but they were the water without him.

After a decade of playing with the Knicks, Willis moved on to coaching and then management positions, including with the New Orleans Hornets.

If he never had to put another suit on, it wouldn't bother him.

If it was a hunting gear, that's a different story.

Willis really loves country life.

In a time that I can't keep up with him, then I know that he's somewhere, you know, hunting, fishing.

If I could put a theme on Willis.

His life is just.

He's humble.

He's appreciative.

He never takes anything for granted.

And I think those are great qualities in a person he shot.

I think he has had an influence on a lot of young people, and I'm sure he's aware of that.

And he tries to govern himself accordingly.

He would reach out and help people.

He was just a type type man.

I think one of the things that Willis is most proud of is his church and Bernard's, Louisiana.

He was very influential in getting that church built and donated quite a bit to get it done.

And I think that's probably one of his proudest moments off the court.

Do the right thing.

Be accountable for your own action.

I think that's the thing to him.

And the reason I'm saying that, because I pattern I try to part of my life after him.

He's always put his best foot forward at whatever he was trying to do and was satisfied with his result because he says that he's always done his best and you can't ask anything more from anyone.

Willis Reed, NBA superstar Living the country life in North Louisiana.

Reed was an amazing man and definitely a pillar to his community.

And also a Louisiana legend.

And there's much more on him on the L.A. Digital Media Archive site.

Well, guess what?

Time of the year it is its time to announce this year's 2023 young heroes.

Six exceptional high school students who are role models in their communities and in their classrooms.

They've gone above and beyond through public service.

They've overcome adversity and inspired others with their deeds and strength of character.

So let's meet them right now.

The 2023 Louisiana Young Heroes, beginning with Cadence Bradford of Baton Rouge, a senior at Liberty Magnet High School.

Caden, Hoosier of Deauville, a junior at Buckeye High School, and Lindsey McKenney of Baton Rouge, a senior at Franciscan High School.

Nicholas Tarver from Manny, Louisiana, a junior at Fluorine High School.

Kelsey Tillage from Baton Rouge.

A senior at Southern University Laboratory School.

And Vivian Webb from Shreveport, a junior at Cato Magnet High School.

They join the ranks of almost 200 others who've been recognized by Lvb since 1995 with the statewide honor L5 Louisiana Young Heroes Program is presented this year with the generous support of America Health, Caritas Louisiana Community Coffee East Baton Rouge Parish Library, the US Army, Baton Rouge Recruiting Battalion Demko and Hotel Indigo.

LTV will celebrate the achievements on Louisiana Young Heroes Day in April.

Over the next few weeks, you'll get to know more about each of these young heroes or present their stories here on Y.

And you can learn more at pbs.org.

Slash Heroes.

The stories are always fascinating.

And everyone.

That's our show for this week.

Remember, you can watch anything else heavy anytime, wherever you are with our live PBS.

App, you can catch all TV 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 at Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

I'm Andre Morelli.

And I'm crossing here.

All next time.

That's the state we're in.

Every day I go to work for Entergy.

I know customers are counting on me.

So Entergy is investing millions of dollars to keep the lights on and installing new technology to prevent outages before they happen.

Together.

Together.

Together we power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred Bea and Ruth 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.