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 Ziegler Foundation and the Ziegler 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.

New Orleans is slowly returning to some sense of normalcy after a horrific attack on New Year's Day.

We'll have the latest on the investigation and multi-billion dollar facility in Richland Parish, Louisiana, to be a leader in artificial intelligence.

I'll take you there.

And small shifts are the key to assisting in double life changes.

We'll take a look at a new program aimed at helping you achieve positive goals.

And former LSU star Billy Cannon's life and legacy is on display at a new exhibit.

Victor Howell takes us through the ups and the downs.

Let's get started.

Let's do it.

Hello, everyone.

I'm Karen Loblaw 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, heartbreak, outrage and fear are just some of the emotions running through the New Orleans community after the New Year's Day attack.

Bourbon Street reopened Thursday afternoon, with music and crowds trickling back into the area ahead of the Sugar Bowl and the Superdome.

Now, Dorothy, you were there.

What was the atmosphere like?

And most of all, what was security like here in the atmosphere, as you would expect, was very solemn, but I was surprised to see that there was so much positivity and light in the midst of people.

Were really looking forward to coming back.

And it really speaks to the resilience of New Orleans as a whole as they come city.

But like you mentioned, lots and lots of security.

The city itself is still like we've always had the reputation we had of being who we are down here as far as the culture.

We always fight back.

We always push back.

We're going to get out, we're going to stay here, we're going to still be here.

And, this is still the best city in the world as far as I'm concerned.

Bourbon Street's always had a great party vibe and people come here to have fun.

And I don't think that's ever going to stop.

I'm very hurt and sad, but I refuse to let anyone, any place stop me from living well.

Thank you so much for the update and most of all for being there.

I know that was very emotional for you.

Absolutely.

Well, as of now, 15 people, including the attacker, are dead and 16 are still in the hospital after 42 year old Shamsher Jabar plowed into crowds celebrating on Bourbon Street.

The situation is still developing as investigators work to piece together all of the details.

Despite the tragedy, Governor Jeff Landry wants to emphasize the city is safe and people shouldn't live in fear.

Louisiana.

Instead, City Hospital.

The people of this city cared for each other and believe you.

We care about each one of the lives that were lost.

Everything.

This city when you got will people going to family and friends and loved ones who want some time to relax through the pressures of life.

The FBI has released new pictures of the suspect, taken about an hour before the attack.

The poster also shows one of the coolers he used to disguise bombs placed along Bourbon Street.

Just after 3 a.m. Wednesday, Jabar veered around a parked police car and sped into crowds of revelers.

They say he was wearing body armor and fired shots at officers before he was killed.

FBI officials found at least two coolers containing bombs, along with more explosives inside the bars rented truck.

They were all disarmed safely.

Investigators have pieced together phone and computer records, surveillance video and other evidence and say there's no indication Jabar had help planning or carrying out the attack.

According to the FBI, Jabar was a U.S. citizen who served in both the U.S. Army and Army Reserve.

They say he recently posted videos on social media indicating he was inspired by ISIS.

Teams are going through properties tied to Jabar in Texas and Louisiana to look for more clues about what may have inspired him to carry out the attack.

We're also learning more about the victims in the Bourbon Street attack, most of whom are Louisiana natives.

They include 27 year old former Princeton football player and Lafayette native Martin Tiger Bass.

37 year old father of two.

Reggie Hunter of Baton Rouge, was also killed along with Episcopal High School graduate Kareem Badawi.

New Orleans natives, 21 year old Hubert Gulf Row, 25 year old Superdome employee Matthew Tenido Mario and 63 year old Terrance Kennedy also died in the attack, along with 28 year old Nicole Perez of Metairie.

The other victims include Auburn University graduate Drew Dalton, 18 year old Nick Cheyenne Dedeaux of Mississippi and 25 year old Billy DiMeo of new Jersey.

At this time, four other victims have not publicly been identified.

Our hearts are with their families and the families of those who were hurt in the attack.

New Orleans tourism officials say the devastating attack will no doubt affect people coming to the city for big events, but they say New Orleans is resilient and will remain a beacon of joy and help.

Terrible things like this don't happen in places that are not consequential, and this city really matters in the minds and hearts of people all over the world.

This reiterates and affirms that I think people recognize the unique, remarkable spirit and light that this city brings to the world, and I think that they are not going to allow it.

They're going to join with us in not allowing this act to dim that light.

And of course, what they say emphasize that we are a resilient city and, and we will persevere.

So that's right.

Yes, we are.

In other news, at Louisiana, economic leaders hope to make our state the Silicon Valley of the South in Richland Parish.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is building a massive data center to meet its needs for the future of artificial intelligence.

Here's a look at what that means, not only for the region's economy, but for Louisiana as a whole.

Meta I paint me a picture of Richland Parish, Louisiana.

This is what artificial intelligence powered by Meta's language model llama can do.

The photo of Richland Parish shows vast tracts of open land and dirt roads, which in reality could be a rendering of the future home base of the meta AI brain that created this photo.

And right here is the starting line of where the State of Louisiana site begins.

Scott Franklin is the fourth generation owner of farmland in Holly Ridge, sold to the state 20 years ago for the purposes of economic development.

We drive the 1400 acre tract of land to get a sense of the size of Meta's AI data center.

What has the community reaction been to the news?

Well, if you're not from Richmond Parish, I always get the question I asked.

Why in the world did they pick Richland Parish?

I said, well, it's because it's the best place you could ask for.

You know, we just didn't know it.

But meta saw the site's potential.

The parent company of Facebook and Instagram purchased the farmland for its access to ground water and power to build the 4,000,000 square foot AI data center.

We just announced that we were building a two gigawatt plus data center in Louisiana.

That's going to that we're going to use to train future versions of llama.

We were in this for the long term, and we are committed to building the most advanced AI in the world.

This is the largest, data center announcement we've ever made for a single location.

We're anticipating more than a $10 billion, investment in this particular data center region.

That will ultimately support 500 operational jobs.

This site in particular, just amazing access to infrastructure, an incredibly reliable electrical grid, business friendly climate, both at the state of Louisiana level as well as Richland Parish and just tremendously supportive and helpful partners, in the community, that business friendly climate.

Amounts to a sales tax rebate for hyperscale data centers in Louisiana that lawmakers passed in 2020 for the Louisiana legislators.

The led deserve a tremendous amount of thanks and gratitude for taking the steps and very quickly implementing a sales tax exemption, because that's what these data center companies really need.

And, you know, I often say $0.10, sales tax on a McDonald's cheeseburger.

We don't really feel that $0.10 on $1 billion.

That's real money.

So these sales tax exemptions, about half the states in the country allow sales tax exemptions for data centers.

And so it immediately puts you in a club.

If you have the sales tax exemption.

Construction has started on site work.

At its peak, the project anticipates 5000 construction workers on site and plans to invest $200 million in infrastructure improvements, including water systems and aerial roads.

So, Karen, just to give you some perspective, you know, we've been driving around the perimeter of the site for about 15 minutes, and we really haven't even made it halfway around the circle just to tell you how big of a site this is and how big of a facility this is going to be.

We're anticipating that it will be, operational at some point in 2028.

That process will involve quite a few partners along the way.

We're we have three different general contractors, that we have engaged for this particular project matter will be creating, upwards of 500 permanent jobs to run this, this operation, once it's fully open.

And those jobs will be high paying their, nearly 150% of the local household income average of Richland Parish.

So high paying, quality jobs in a place that desperately needs more high paying, quality jobs.

The economy of Richland Parish, home to 20,000 residents, has largely dependent on timber and farming.

The area is also the poster child for a declining rural America, where changing times call for economic changes.

The Franklin family sold the land to provide opportunities for future generations, a legacy left by the property's original owner.

My great grandfather, George Franklin, he was an orphan in Alabama, lived in an orphanage.

Not a good place to be at that time, 120 years ago.

Fled an orphanage and jumped on a train heading west.

At age 14.

He got very sick on that train and had to jump off for medical attention.

So he jumped off at Holly Ridge, Louisiana, just right down the road from where we are now.

Scott's great grandfather worked for a lumber company, acquiring timber in exchange for land.

Over the years, he amassed thousands of acres, which became Franklin Farms.

The land brought prosperity to for generations and now fosters the region's evolving economy.

It's going to take a while for us to truly realize how much this changes the world here.

You know, it's hard to picture it looking back then, but, but at the end of the day, you know, the goal was to keep our children at home, to create enough opportunity to where they would have something to come back to.

Initial jobs will be in the construction industry and service providers in the food and hospitality industries, plus housing development.

These are jobs that comprised the first wave of the real AI gold rush that Louisiana aims to capitalize on.

2022 comes.

ChatGPT releases OpenAI releases ChatGPT, the first major generative AI platform in the world.

And everything changes.

Everything changes very quickly.

All the big tech companies realize that this is their future, and they begin to spend billions and billions of dollars in building out infrastructure to power AI applications.

Specifically, these generative AI applications.

Is the vision to have Louisiana become the Silicon Valley of AI?

Yeah, that's actually a great a great question.

Yeah, we want to lead in artificial intelligence for sure.

And so we think about this in terms of a holistic strategy.

Step one is infrastructure.

We can check that box in a very major way with this meta project.

And Richland Parish, meta plans to offer community action grants to local schools and nonprofits to advance Stem education initiatives and tech based workforce development.

It is absolutely already transforming our economy, no question about it.

So, you know, from an economic development standpoint, I would say that we have already seen a noticeable impact on what you would traditionally expect.

Our builders, our construction materials groups, landlords, landowners, those folks that you would expect in the early part of the gold rush, so those companies are already being impacted throughout the region.

So not just rich, parish, not just Washington Parish, but throughout the entire region.

We're seeing these companies already, have an impact.

What do you think your great grandfather is thinking, looking down from above?

What do you think he's thinking?

This man who hopped off a train as an orphan acquired all this land.

That's going to be hard from an answer.

Just the fact that he came here and there was nobody there to love him except the people of this community, and to see everything that we have been blessed with is, special, very special.

Quite a legacy.

After all the food and fun over the holiday season, a lot of people are shifting their focus to help.

Pennington Biomedical Research Center is here to help with a campaign aimed at making little changes for big results, a team of researchers organized a small shift squad, inviting the public to take advantage of tools and tips to promote sustainable, positive changes in the new year.

Studies show that most people gain 1 to 2 pounds on average during the holiday season.

In the new year, the focus turns to keeping those resolutions, many aimed at weight loss.

A team of researchers at Pennington Biomedical Research Center says the way to lose unwanted pounds is causing control, not calorie counting.

This single small shift can add up to big results.

One of the best ways to improve your diet is called using the Myplate approach, and this is envisioning every meal you eat as if it were a circular round plate.

And what you can do then is you make about a quarter of your plate fruits, a quarter of your plate vegetables, a quarter of your plate grains like your rices or pastas, and a quarter of your plate lean, healthy proteins.

Doctor May is one of several researchers working with the Small Shifts team to share tips and tools based on monthly themes.

One of the other really important things to do is is be mindful about your eating practices.

So one of the easy ways to do that is just to slow down your eating cadence.

So when you're at a meal, I like to eat meals with other people.

So whenever you're eating, make sure between every bite you put down your fork, put down your spoon, have a little bit of conversation, and kind of slow down that whole eating dynamic that gives your body a little bit of time to recognize when you're full and be comfortable turning away food.

If you know you're already full and satisfied.

If you sign up to join the Small Chefs Squad, you're going to get a health journal, a digital copy emailed to you, or you can record meal plans.

It's full of information on nutrition and exercise.

Plus, you're going to get monthly tips emailed to you to make small shifts for a healthier you.

And the whole point of this program is to make changes to your lifestyle that make you healthier, and put them in bite sized packages so that you can do them on a day to day basis and so that they're sustainable for a long time.

Quality sleep is another essential ingredient for a healthier lifestyle.

According to the centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Americans get 6.8 hours of sleep per night.

Is there a hard, fast rule in the amount of sleep a person needs nightly?

So, the National, like everyone, all say professionals would say that, an adult needs somewhere between, 7 to 9 hours of sleep.

A lot of us would like to believe that you are an outsider.

And a six hour sleep might be good enough for you.

But, believe me, if on the weekend you are needing to catch up on your sleep, then that six hours is really not what you should be having quality sleep sets you up for success in all areas of your life, mental and physical.

If you are trying weight loss diets and actively trying to weight lose weight again.

If you have a better sleep, you are going to lose your fat mass rather than the muscle mass.

So come on, this is the easiest thing you can do.

The small shifts Squad aims to be a wellness cheerleader and a no judgment zone.

It's here to remind us we are all human, so don't let imperfect behavior derail your overall commitment to living well.

A new exhibit at the Capital Park Museum in Baton Rouge focuses on one of Louisiana's most well-known sports figures.

It takes viewers on a journey through the highs and lows of Billy Cannon's life and legacy, along with the blessing of his family.

LPB sports correspondent Victor Howell toured the exhibit.

A nice kick away going way downfield.

Billy Cannon watches it bounced.

He takes it on his own.

He let me come back up during fifteens numbers.

Monmouth 35 to 20 running half the 25 guys.

We want to take the win.

The 2525.

He's come on.

If it's sports history you want deep in Baton Rouge LSU high school into the pros and beyond.

It's a story of success.

The fall from grace and the return.

And it's about Billy Cannon and Bonnie Cannon.

His daughter is here with us.

Thank you so much for inviting us.

Welcome.

Thank you.

What an unbelievable exhibit to have and display for things that your dad did, both the good, the bad and then the return.

You've got to tell both good and bad.

A lot of people said, why did you put that in there?

You have to tell the good and the bad.

He he was a fantastic he was a phenom as an athlete.

He was a pretty good dad and a pretty good person.

He made a few mistakes, but he he redeemed himself.

I mean, you know, it's it's the what do they call it, the ultimate redemption story.

Yeah.

But, this memorabilia here is just so that people can see it.

He wanted his collection to stay together, and he wanted people to see it.

And I know you have this this beautiful exhibit down the Capital Museum, and it starts with a storm.

And by the way, when we walk in, believe it or not, did you know that there were ribbons for tetherball?

What was the other one?

Croquet.

Okay, okay.

Yeah, he was first place in croquet.

Second and tetherball at the figured out.

We came out second and third of all.

But when you walk into this beautiful exhibit.

Bonnie, the first thing I told you, I can't believe that it's been 70 something years since his high school days.

And you still have all of this from the stroma.

And you told me there's even more.

Oh, there's a lot more.

You take everything that's in this museum today, and multiply it times about five.

And that's what we've got.

And it's really a testament to my mother scanned and saved everything.

Everything he had, everything he touched.

Everything he used was saved and was put in a cedar closet all of our life.

And he kept it at 70 degrees.

So it's it's almost in perfect condition.

That's amazing.

And when people come and you want to see the astronomy stuff, you said the first place we need to stop is right here with big fuzz.

Tell me about Big Fuzz and why this is so important to you and to this exhibit.

So it was big buzz and little first big buzz was the principal and they, Alvin Roy was in the war.

He went to the Olympics, and he saw what they were doing with weightlifting and how they were getting stronger.

And he came and he went to all the schools and asked if they could put weightlifting in the schools.

And everybody said no, except for big fuzz.

And he said, if you can make Billy can run faster in a senior year.

He goes, I'll let you do it in the summertime.

So they brought all the weights.

They started weightlifting.

My dad increased his, his, out of, I think it was 100 yard dash by a few seconds and they put weightlifting in there, and then they all did it.

And you'll notice that most of the people who did the weightlifting ended up on the LSU football team with the first national championship won one, that they were stronger, they were faster, and they got better.

So, you know, increasing your speed by a couple seconds.

So it all started with big fuss, all started with big fours.

And then when you leave the astronomy exhibit, it makes sense.

You come right across to the other side of the hallway here.

And I know that this is just the beginning of everything you have, at LSU, but we're talking about best in the SEC, best receiver, all the accolades.

We'll talk about the big, big one, in just a moment.

But as we look at this stuff, why was this important to you to to do this, this, this entire exhibit A stroma, LSU, Angola, everything.

Why was this important for you?

Well, number one, I want people to know who he was, who he really was at the heart of the matter.

Who was it?

Everybody thinks they know.

They hear bits about what happened in the 80s.

They.

They see the Halloween run, but they don't know the man.

They don't know who he was and what he stood for.

And what he stood for was honesty, education, integrity, education.

Everything was about education and everything was about LSU.

And, I just wanted people to see what was important to him.

And when he got to Angola, you could see the humanity come out of him.

And, he did some great things there.

And we'll probably talk about that a little bit later.

But I just needed the people to see this.

And we're at a pivotal role in college athletics.

You know, you've got nil.

You've got all these players that are making so much money.

These these people made nothing.

And they started the path for what these kids have today.

And I really think it's a testament to where we came from.

What LSU is today would not have been what it is without this group.

It's amazing when you mention I you think these awards and you see the one in the very back when you're talking about the best player in the SEC, all the individual awards.

This is blood, sweat, tears.

And it started with, yeah, started over there right with the track and running.

But you're right, there's no end.

I oh there was no easy road, no awards.

You got to earn it.

And they all most of these people, these players were married.

Most of them had kids.

Most of them had second jobs.

And so this was not just you.

They had to go to school, they had to practice, and they had to work.

And so they didn't get paid to do any anything.

Of course, the one big award that probably everybody knows.

And if you ate at a certain barbecue spot in Baton Rouge, you would see it showcased there.

And that's Billy's Heisman Trophy.

Two things that were interesting that I just found out.

Number one, it survived not one but two fires at TJ Grove.

And it's still there.

But the other thing that you were just telling me is the material, that it's a one of a kind to explain that it's one of a kind sterling silver.

It was given on the 25th anniversary of the Heisman, and the Heisman folks didn't even realize that, it was sterling silver.

And when we went for the 50th anniversary, they wanted us to bring it, and they put them side by side.

It was Mark Ingram who won it that year.

And so they put marks right next to my desk.

And you can you can visibly tell the difference at that point.

But yeah, it's it's it's all sterling silver.

Your dad, I know married early in life and was having all of this success before you and your four siblings came around.

What was it like for your mom to see all the success that was coming to him?

Obviously it meant a lot.

She's kept it cedar at 70 degrees.

Yeah, but from the Heisman to all the trophies we saw there and a ten times the amount that we don't even see here.

What did that mean for your mom to go on this journey?

Oh, it meant the world to her.

She was at every event, every sporting event.

She had all the kids in tow.

When he won the Heisman, he had his third child, his third daughter.

Like, two months before that, he won the Heisman.

And so they had three kids.

They lived on Chippewa Street.

I mean, they just, you know, they got married right out of high school.

And, she's been on this journey ever since he was in junior high.

Unfortunately, I'm not old enough to have been here when he was playing, but, when you read about and hear about one of the things you read is that he was a very quiet man on the field.

He was loud and his game played it, but he.

But he kept to himself a lot.

Did he?

Do you know where that came from?

I think he was a loner at heart.

I don't know where it came from because I don't think any of his I don't think his parents were like that, but I think he was in the public eye all the time.

And back then, you know, Baton Rouge, he was the hometown hero.

Now we have Burrough and we have Daniels, but they're not here.

And so everywhere he went to get gas, he was always on.

And his solitude was to be alone, be with his family or to be really with his horses.

He would call it God's country and Saint Francis ville, and he would be with his horses all the time.

He didn't.

He would sit in a he had a recliner out there in the barn, and he would sit there and he would just watch him.

And that was that was his solitude.

That was part one of Victor's story on Billy Cannon's life.

Be sure to watch the state we're in next week for the second half.

That's our show for this week.

Remember, you can watch anything LPB any time.

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 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.

For.

You.

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 Ziegler Foundation and the Ziegler 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.