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.

My questions are why are we doing this and why are we doing this now?

Tempers flare around vaccine mandates for kids.

We just can't take the culture for granted.

A housing crisis in New Orleans, pushing out natives and culture bears.

We have not only activities in the city of New Orleans, but really around the region.

Holiday events are back on full force.

We've got to have something to bridge the gap.

A storm Louisiana, specifically Cameron Parish will welcome.

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

We still don't have much information on the COVID 19 variant Omicron.

Experts aren't sure how transmissible, virulent or deadly the new strain is.

Patients in Louisiana sickened with it.

They're reporting mild symptoms, and none have needed to be hospitalized.

Yet the State Department of Health recorded a total number of 16 probable cases of the Omicron variant.

Health officials said nine of these cases came from the greater New Orleans area, and the rest were spread out between Baton Rouge and areas around northwest Louisiana.

The CDC and the Department of Health recommend wearing masks in certain settings and getting the vaccine and booster for protection.

And now a look at some other headlines making news across the state.

Disaster relief made news for older Louisianans from AARP this week.

A new disaster relief fund to support victims of Hurricane Ida is now available.

The money comes from ten grants AARP Partners with groups like United Way of Southeast Louisiana, second Harvest Food Bank and Southeast Louisiana Legal Services.

The deadline to apply for individual help from FEMA has passed, but the federal agency remains on the ground in Louisiana, helping with long term recovery.

If you checked with the agency, there is still help that can be given to you.

Storm better Lake Charles has been hit by two hurricanes ice and record cold and floods in the past year and a half.

And now homeowners are finding the coverages they paid to protect them.

Is it coming close to doing so?

Answers from the state insurance company have not yet come either.

Ul Lafayette football coach Billy Napier landed a prize job with the Florida Gators, while LSU offered former Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly a giant 95 million, ten year contract.

Neighbors Florida contract is 51 million for seven years.

Both signed late last week.

The Louisiana Department of Health is proposing a new rule for the immunization schedule that would mandate schoolchildren to get the COVID 19 vaccine.

The proposal is backed by Governor John Bel Edwards, but despite his approval, the proposal is receiving a lot of backlash from lawmakers and parents.

In a hearing on Monday, the House Health and Welfare Committee voted against the proposal, imploring the governor not to approve it.

My questions are Why are we doing this and why are we doing this now?

It was a long meeting between lawmakers, concerned parents and public health officials.

So like the flu shot, I believe the COVID vaccines should be highly recommended but not mandated.

I also think this proposed rule change is executive overreach.

But after nearly eight hours of back and forth, the Louisiana Health and Welfare Committee hearing ended Monday, rejecting the Louisiana Department of Health's proposal to mandate the COVID 19 vaccine for schoolchildren .

The Louisiana Department of Health does not have the authority to do what they are proposing.

The Department of Health's proposal would add FDA approved COVID vaccines to the immunization schedule for schools, which means children 16 and older will be required to show evidence of immunization or intent to get the vaccine.

This type of mandate isn't new.

Parents are already expected to provide immunization records for the measles, mumps and hepatitis B, but throughout this meeting, questions swirled mostly around the Louisiana Department's authority to pass a mandate like this one.

The Department of Health cites statutes that give them broad authority to take necessary actions to control the spread of disease.

While this may be true, these statutes do not give them the authority to prohibit any attendance in school.

That's not completely true, according to the Department of Health, which cites Louisiana Sanitary Code, the code states that each person entering any school within the state for the first time at the time of registration or entry has to give satisfactory evidence of immunity to or immunization against vaccine preventable diseases, according to a schedule approved by the Office of Public Health.

Louisiana Department of Health or shall present evidence of an immunization program in progress.

The code also does not remove children from school if they opt out of the vaccination process.

Instead, it's written that students or parents can submit a written dissent or provide a doctor's note that excuses them from the mandate.

The only time a child will be removed is if there was an outbreak of that specific disease at their school, then those kids will be sent home until the appropriate disease incubation period has ended.

But authority to pass this mandate wasn't the only issue raised at this meeting.

We're going to subject the healthy children in our state throughout our state with a vaccine that has minimal testing, no long term testing whatsoever and jeopardize their health.

I don't understand that.

Opposers raised concerns about the vaccine's efficacy and questioned whether children are immune to COVID 19.

Others were concerned about discrimination against people who choose not to vaccinate their kids.

Many concerned parents with adolescents and Louisiana public school systems, including myself, feel that it is our responsibility as parents to protect our children.

The Louisiana Department of Health push against the opposition with facts Dr. Joseph Cantu explained that this vaccine is no different than others on the immunization schedule.

He also cited that COVID 19 was the sixth leading cause of death for children ages five to 14 and the fourth leading cause of death for ages 16 to 24 in September.

Ultimately, we must recognize the profound impact COVID 19 has had on our lives these past 21 months.

Over 14,800 of our friends, family and neighbors in Louisiana have lost their lives.

Despite Cantor's testimony, the committee still voted against the mandate 13 to two.

The Senate Health and Welfare Committee will vote on the vaccination mandate next before it heads to the governor for a final decision once it's on his desk.

The governor can ultimately affirm or deny the committee's votes.

Governor John Bel Edwards does have the power to overrule both committees should they vote against the mandate.

At a press conference last week, Edwards said he supports adding the COVID 19 vaccine to the immunization schedule.

Each year, a tourist pump, millions of dollars into New Orleans' economy during Carnival season alone, but many of the culture bearers who draw tourists to the city are paid low wages and are having a pretty hard time finding housing they can afford.

Tyrone Stevenson and Denise Smith, Mardi Gras Indians from the Monogram Hunters tribe talk about their struggle to find affordable housing in the Crescent City, Tushar kilometers south of Wollongong.

Tyrone Stevenson is the big chief of the Monogram Hunters, a Mardi Gras Indian tribe in New Orleans for 38 years.

Big Chief Pie, as he's called, has suited up in feathers and beads with big queen Denise Smith by his side.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Smith and Stephenson have spent a lifetime participating in the 300 year tradition of masking as a Mardi Gras Indian.

The tradition dates back hundreds of years to slavery, when Native Americans in the region helped hide and protect runaways from slave owners.

For generations, black New Orleanians have used feathers and intricate hand beading on their suits as part of a ritual of gratitude.

And it's this fundamental culture that Stevenson and Smith are teaching and passing down to younger generations, which is why in 2020, they were devastated to move 33 miles away to Slidell, Louisiana, where housing prices are more affordable.

Looking for a house in New Orleans was horrible.

I did the research on different homes looking for something.

It took us a year to find something, but we didn't find it in New Orleans.

Since moving, Smith and Stevenson have been commuting to the city for community events as often as they can.

But commuting is expensive, time consuming and logistically challenging.

They have to rent a truck just to transport Stevenson's large Mardi Gras Indian suits for each event.

They worry that if more culture bears like them or displaced, New Orleans will rapidly lose its sacred traditions.

If you can't be here to teach and prepare the way for for the children what you are in the future for us.

You know, if we can't be here, we can't afford to live here.

You know, how can we teach the culture?

How will the culture survive?

According to the Apartment Guide grant report, the average price of a one bedroom in New Orleans is about $7,500, while a two bedroom is 20 400.

This is an 18% jump from 2020 averages, and the price increases show no signs of slowing.

For Smith and Stevenson, the cost of rent combined with other expenses is too much.

Anything 113 50 will be affordable because you're paying 3050 plus light water gas gas trash, mowing the lawn.

You know, gardening is just it's a lot of money.

So then standing still, trying to maintain the thing that got you here, the culture, the culture.

When major storms like Hurricane Ida in 2021 or Katrina in 2005 blow through it damages homes, displacing residents that limits the supply of houses even while the demand is high, which in turn raises rent prices.

In a study done by the Federal Bank Reserve of Dallas, economists found that hurricanes surge rent prices with a three to 4% peak occurring around three years after the storm.

That's creating a nightmare situation in New Orleans, which for two years in a row has barely had time to recover from one storm before being hit with another one musician, DeVonta Wolf, as part of an emerging movement taking on the housing crisis through Fee The second Line, a charity organization dedicated to supporting local culture.

He says that fair housing is inextricable from preservation efforts that feed the second line is about supporting the people who make our city's culture, and we just can't take the culture for granted.

Fee The second line is beginning a new initiative to connect culture bears with affordable housing, starting with Stephenson and Smith.

The nonprofit has helped them to secure an affordable rental home in the seventh ward, where Stephenson grew up.

The house is currently being renovated based on best practices of historical preservation for the area.

I put my all first suit on right down the block from this place right here.

I was eleven years old and I've been mass, and ever since this first home as a test pilot for the Wolf, who's also creating a music festival that will use proceeds to create even more housing opportunities for culture bears.

So they cheered.

Pie in this house is just one example of what could be possible.

And if we think about the whole city and all of the different cultural groups that make culture in this city, I think it would be the best thing we could do to preserve New Orleans culture is make sure each and every group has their own spot, has ownership in their neighborhood, and that will really keep the culture from generation to generation.

Stephenson and Smith's home is currently under renovation.

They don't have a move in date just yet, but they already feel the weight has been lifted.

Dwarfs us feed, the second line has a lot more projects underway for the greater New Orleans area, and if you want to donate to feed the second line, you can visit Fee the second line dawg.

So how big is the announced expansion of another 10 billion dollar LNG facility in Cameron Parish?

Well, when finished in less than five years, it'll make North America the world leader in exportation of liquefied natural gas.

But when you say North America, you really mean Cameron Parish, because Cameron is where all the production and export takes place.

I talked with a woman at the center of where it's all happening, Cameron Parish Port Director Claire Marceau.

This means a big deal for Louisiana.

Quite frankly, for Cameron Parish, it means that soon we will be the largest exporter of liquefied natural gas in the world.

We won't be second to Australia and Qatar in the amount of liquefied natural gas that we're sending around the world.

It's an extremely important project not only for our state, but especially for Cameron Parish, Louisiana.

I don't think people can.

It's easy to grasp, so explain how that is possible.

What it means when a project has, you know, 2000 or more construction jobs is that our two lane roadways with no shoulders are utilized much more than they typically would be right now.

Venture Global's Calcasieu Pass Project, at its highest point, I believe, had 59 charter bus sized busses that were taking nearly 20 drivers off of the roads that would be had they weren't being transported via bus.

Curious will there be highway expansion?

Will they four-Lane it or something?

It's my absolute hope that at least Highway 27 will be four lanes.

Yeah, I think that's sad that the two major road were and by major, I just mean, not parish.

The roadways in Cameron Parish are highways.

27.

Highway 82.

Those are state roadways.

And currently, yes, they are two lane roads.

All but a short portion of 27 is all too late.

When you say Cameron Parish and you know the population, you know it looks like there and a lot of it is, is wilderness.

And then you say third leading exporter of LNG in the world to be first to become the leader in the world.

It's hard to miss that in your mind.

It is a bit difficult to comprehend, isn't it?

What it means is that right now, Australia is exporting about 78 million tonnes a year around the world from its country .

Qatar is exporting about 77 million tonnes a year around the world.

Cameron Parish, Cameron Parish.

We're a country we'd be third in line well and wind projects like Venture Global Elegies Calcasieu Parish, which is their original facility that is nearing the completion of its construction and will soon begin exporting.

And you add that to the capacity that's coming from Cheniere Energy, Sabine Pass facility Simper as Cameron LNG facility.

Both projects already exporting.

We go from about 65 million tonnes a year all the way to surpassing Australia and Qatar.

At some point we will surpass 100 million tonnes a year coming from Cameron.

So we are the major reason why North America is third among nations.

It's really for us.

It's really, yeah.

In fact, it is really Cameron Parish, the companies that are actually building these facilities.

We see tremendous engagement in our community, not just when it's bright and sunny, which it is so much of the time here in Cameron Parish.

But when when things are frightening and we return after pretty utter devastation like Laura and Delta, when they're doing things like helping us clear roadways, that's a significant role to play in a place like this.

This is not an easy place to live.

You've chronicled a bit of a bit of my life in the last few years to see a project of this magnitude, like what you'll see with with Kalkaji Pass to be constructed ahead of schedule and in many cases, with sometimes as many as thousand construction workers to as many as 12,000 construction workers for a project like Cameron LNG and Highbury.

It's a it's a huge range.

The talent, the local talent that is utilized can be utilized.

These are life changing opportunities, not just for the developers of these projects or countries that could not get access to liquefied natural gas before the ones that are here are exporting.

But for the people like me who live here, the expansion for Kakashi too will simply be more of the project that you most recently saw when you were here in Cambridge.

So Venture Global LNG has a project that they're nearing completion on, called Calcasieu Pass.

Calcasieu Pass to will expand on that same site, both to the East and the West.

If you look at economic development, which is boasting this project expansion, but you're hearing that it's a much greener footprint that it leaves behind.

Is that accurate?

Well, I'm not a scientist, but my research shows me that liquefied natural gas has the emissions equal to half of what traditional coal.

And so anything that cleans up coal's act is is certainly an improvement from my perspective.

Also, when when I consider that our report would certainly like to be able to offer a portfolio, a menu of energy diversity, you know, looking to the future when we consider that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is saying that the most optimal winds, for example, are from Sabine Pass to Calcasieu Pass.

That's our port district here in Cameron Parish.

There's still, even if projects were to begin construction immediately to harness solar energy wind energy.

We still got a gap of time, and liquefied natural gas is a high performance option when it comes to meeting that gap.

We don't go to sleep tonight and wake up next week and have completely green projects that would be fantastic.

But what we've got to have something to bridge the gap in liquefied natural gas is doing just that.

Claire, thanks for as always, looking to us and giving us the scope of what's happening and what this means.

Appreciate it.

Great to see you.

Always you too, Andre.

It's time to bring your family back together and return to the magic of the holidays.

That's supposed to get you in the mood, I think it does.

It's one of two TV commercials promoting New Orleans as a major holiday destination.

It has been one for generations, interrupted only by the COVID pandemic.

Last year, New Orleans and Company Chief Marketing Officer Mark Romig told me the city is ready with open arms.

It is a really different world now, even though we're still going through aspects of the Delta variant and everyone is being careful with the Omicron variant.

We see a much more activity, particularly now with the holidays approaching us.

New Orleans just had a very successful bayou classic where we had southern and Grambling playing in their annual football game and returned to New Orleans this year.

It was in Shreveport last year and we're very happy to have it back.

That was it was a great Thanksgiving weekend and now we're in holidays New Orleans style, which is our annual celebration of all things festive about the city during the holidays, restaurants, hotel deals.

We have concerts and a far magazine just listed New Orleans that's one of the top ten destinations in the world to visit during the month of December because of all this activity that occurs here in the city.

Yeah, everybody, everybody gets on board.

It's it's almost like a precursor to what's going to happen for Mardi Gras.

Temper down a little bit, but with the holiday spirit?

That's correct.

We have not only activities in the city of New Orleans, but really around the region, things that really come together.

We think this part of the world celebrates the holidays better than any other part of our globe, and we're getting ready for that for that 2020, too.

There's a lot on the calendar for the next year, including, as you just mentioned, Mardi Gras will be a late Mardi Gras.

It'll be a March first Mardi Gras day, which all the activities prior to that we have final for next year.

We have a tremendous exhibit coming to the New Orleans Museum of Art.

It's going to be similar to and I'm sure some of your viewers will remember the King Tut exhibit, which occurred in the seventies.

This is Queen Offertory and it will be a celebration and a look and see of what Egypt was when she was one of the queens of Egypt.

We have Navy Week coming back in April.

We have the PGA Tour event at the TPC of Louisiana.

And of course, festivals are returning French Quarter Festival and of course, the Jazz and Heritage Festival.

And I see that Garth Brooks is coming to LSU on April 30th, and we know that that's going to drive additional visitation to this part of Louisiana.

People will enjoy both a great concert and in New Orleans as well, as well as the things that you can do in Baton Rouge.

Yeah.

Market from the Natchitoches Festival of lights down to New Orleans, there is a lot to do in Louisiana.

Each city in the state has its own sort of holiday lights and some New Year's Eve celebrations like Baton Rouge does.

New Orleans does, of course.

one thing that's returning this year, among all those other things, is the Sugar Bowl with a full crowd.

Yes, and two teams that will really bring in the drive traffic Baylor and Ole Miss.

They're both known to travel well.

Great fan bases.

And so we expect to see a lot of activity in New Orleans that last week in December and the first few days of January.

But we also have the New Orleans Bowl, which will feature Marshall and the University of Louisiana Lafayette right before the Christmas holiday.

New Orleans is back on the map as a sporting destination.

And again, as I mentioned, the Final four will be here in early April of next year.

And then all leading into what we think will be at a relatively decent convention and trade show year.

We have several citywide conventions on the books.

We won't be where we were pre-COVID.

You know, we use 2019 as that year to gauge how we're doing.

Maybe we'll be between 72 and 80% of 2019, but visitor spending when we get to the end of 2020 to two and then slowly but surely, 23 will be better and then into 24.

And then, as you know, in 2025, we have the Super Bowl back here in the city.

Yeah, we sure do.

Let me ask you this a couple of things.

How is the workforce right now?

Because it's tough and a lot of places?

How's New Orleans working with that?

And how also has things bounce back?

And how is a deal or their deals out there for people coming in?

Well, the bad news is the workforce issue is still is a problem.

Here we have between 20 and 25,000 jobs still to fill.

We're down from where we were approximately 90,000 jobs at the beginning of 2020.

And so we're still looking for men and women to come back into the workforce, particularly in the hospitality sector, as it regards to deals.

We have some wonderful hotel opportunities right now, particularly during Holidays New Orleans style.

We have something called Papa Noel rates.

Go to our website, New Orleans dot com and look for the holiday section.

And you'll see a number of hotels that are participating in special rates this holiday season, which gives people an opportunity not only from out of town but even locals to do a weekend or mid-week stay and enjoy all the things that you can do in the city it.

For hotel deals and holiday season info, as Marc mentioned, head to New Orleans.

Com.

Well, this week marked the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

And there was a ceremony in Baton Rouge at the USS Kidd.

Here's a look at that.

On Sunday, December seven, 1941, an unprovoked surprise attack was launched upon our armed forces at Pearl Harbor.

And in that moment of desperation and confusion in that time of danger and terror, our sailors, marines and soldiers did not waver and did not succumb to defeat.

They held the line, they did their duty, and they fought back that day.

The surprise attack by the Japanese that day, 80 years ago, formally ushered the U.S. into World War two and everyone.

That is our show for this week.

Remember, you can watch anything LPB, any time, wherever you are with our live PBS app, you can catch live 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 at Louisiana Public Broadcasting, I'm Andre’ Moreau and I'm Kara St. Cyr all next time.

That's the state we're at.

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 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 an historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

With support from viewers like you.