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 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 and.

They had identified a vulnerability with their software that they wanted to make us aware of.

A massive cyber breach leaves millions vulnerable for the state highway system.

It's $18.8 billion.

The price tag for Louisiana's roads and bridges backlog grows.

And what we're finding is that the temperatures in the morning seem to be increasing even more than the afternoon temperatures.

The Louisiana's record heat and humidity brings an uptick in heat related illnesses.

What you need to know, it's a possibly once in a lifetime opportunity for these guys.

Nearly all of Louisiana's death row inmates request clemency.

Hi, everybody.

I'm Kara St. Cyr here, and.

I'm here on the.

Block.

We are 23 days into hurricane season with a name storm brewing in the Gulf and another one following right behind it.

And Tropical Storm Bret is headed toward the Caribbean at 70 miles per hour.

The National Weather Service issuing advisories for Tropical Storm Bret over the eastern Caribbean.

Now, we do have another storm that's also brewing in the Gulf.

This one is called Tropical Storm Cindy.

And the National Weather Service is issuing advisories over the central Atlantic.

So we'll keep you posted as these storms develop.

And now on to other news making headlines across the state.

Ochsner Health just began a ten year pact with the University of Texas, MD.

Anderson Cancer Center that will give Louisiana patients access to cutting edge treatments.

Usher announced this week that local cancer doctors have been certified by M.D.

Anderson and will follow M.D.

Anderson treatment protocols.

Honor Seven cancer centers across New Orleans and Baton Rouge will begin collaborating on patient care, participate in M.D.

Anderson Center's clinical drug trials and therapies, and receive adjunct faculty appointments to the Texas Center.

LSU football has vacated all 37 wins between the 2012 and 2015 seasons after receiving a notice of allegations of infractions from the NCAA.

LSU received a notice of allegations in March 2022 due to former offensive lineman Vidal Alexander competing while ineligible his entire career.

A four year starter, Alexander played in 50 games with only one absence in 2014.

Alexander wasn't eligible to play because his father was paid 180,000 and funds embezzled by former head of the Our Lady of the Lake Foundation, John Paul Funes.

Hundreds of southwest Louisiana homeowners in flood prone areas are getting help, with approximately $300 million earmarked to elevate homes in Calcasieu Cameron and Vermilion Parishes.

The Southwest Coastal Project will use the funds to reduce storm and hurricane surge damage risk to structures.

Nearly 4000 structures are identified for assistance.

Qualifying residential structures will be raised approximately five feet on average.

Funding for the project comes from the Federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

In a federal, state and local project partnership.

A massive cyber attack in the Louisiana OMV left 6 million people with Louisiana licenses vulnerable.

While it's not clear why the hackers chose this particular location goes up is asking people to take precautions.

I spoke with Casey Stengel, the director of Go Set, about updates on the breach and also how to stay safe.

So can you tell me a little bit more about the cyber event that happened last week?

So we were notified by a third party vendor that the state utilizes as well as a number of other states, federal agencies and private sector, that they had identified a vulnerability with their software that they wanted to make us aware of at the time that they made us aware, which was May 31st.

They did not have a fix yet for the software, but wanted to alert the state that there was potentially an issue with their piece of software.

So at that point, the state locked down the software and immediately began an investigation and into what potentially could have been impacted by that issue at the after that investigation was moving forward.

The software vendor announced a patch and so the state immediately patched the software so that it could be brought back up to current state.

And in the meantime, the investigation continued through thousands of files to see what was potentially impacted.

And then late last week or middle of last week, the state identified a file that had the motor vehicle records that we announced last week that had been potentially impacted by that attack.

And so that's when we made notification to the state through a press release on Thursday and the press conference that we held last Friday.

Is it is there any way to know why this particular file was targeted?

We don't believe it was targeted.

We believe that what was the vendor was the vulnerability in that particular software was something more general in nature.

And so we don't have reason to believe that Louisiana in particular was targeted, that this data was in particular targeted.

We believe this was part of a much larger vulnerability that crosses all of our clients that utilize that particular software.

So we don't know exactly why they targeted these files.

You said it's likely they weren't even trying to.

And we don't necessarily know all the groups that were involved, even though we have an idea.

But where does Louisiana go from here?

Where regular people go from here, you know, knowing their information is possibly out there?

That was the important part of making the public notification last week when we did.

So, as soon as we realized that that those potential those particular motor vehicle records had been accessed, we wanted to make the public aware of that as quickly as we possibly could, because really that's the focus of our efforts right now moving forward is what can the public do for themselves, having been made aware of this as we continue to continue the investigation?

And so a lot of that guidance is on next steps, that DOT.

And so we would direct the public to that website.

We are keeping that updated with additional information as we know it.

And then recommendation signs that we find.

We issued another press release this week as we updated that website with some additional information.

So we direct everybody there on that website.

They will find a few things that we're recommending that everybody do and for first and foremost is to lock down your credit with all three credit bureaus.

We know that that can be a little bit of a tedious task, but it's an important best practice regardless of whether we have this incident or not, To regularly review your credit file and be aware of what may be on there to see if any fraudulent accounts have been opened in your name.

We're not aware at this time that this data has been utilized to do any of that and should we become aware of that, will make that known.

But monitoring your credit, changing passwords is another best practice.

We don't believe passwords were included in this.

We know that passwords were not included in this data, but that's another best practice.

But looking out for any unusual activity on your accounts, new credit cards, your Social Security benefits, all of that information is on next steps.

Dot L.A., dot gov.

And right now, I mean, what is the state doing to ensure that this never happens again?

Well, there's a lot of work that's going on behind the scenes.

First and foremost, the investigation into this incident remains ongoing as we look out and find the potential vulnerabilities that were involved.

All of that will be a part of an after action report that we will conduct to ensure that we don't have issues like this happen in the future.

Obviously, cybersecurity and cyber attacks are ongoing and cybersecurity is the responsibility of all of us.

And the states takes that very seriously.

All right.

Well, thank you so much for taking the time out.

I know you guys have been really busy in the last couple of days, so thank you.

Thank you.

Louisiana is experiencing an unseasonably hot summer.

Normally this time of year temperatures hover in the low nineties.

Weather experts say Louisiana has had an excessive number of days, with scorching temperatures soaring into the upper nineties, coupled with above normal humidity levels and the mercury rises, E.R.

and hospital visits increased for heat related illnesses.

Here's what you need to know to keep cool and stay safe.

So far this summer has seen some fierce weather.

Record heat and humidity and strong thunderstorms.

Some behaving like microburst.

Others with hail.

It's been pretty obscene, obviously.

We're in an El Nino, for starters.

They just officially declared it a couple of weeks ago, Noah.

But what happens during El Ninos?

Is it kind energize is what we call the subtropical jet stream.

And the subtropical jet has been very active over in particular over north Louisiana.

And what south Louisiana has been affected, too.

Now, on sunny days when the temperatures soar.

People are getting sick from the heat.

The Louisiana Health Department is tracking the stats and has a decade of health data on emergency room and hospital visits for heat related illnesses.

So looking at all Louisiana hospital records done 2010 to 2020 for any heat related illness diagnoses as well as any that are related to worker's comp or occurring on the job.

And then we calculated rates by your age, sex rates and by the parish.

The data helps the health department better monitor and assess the needs of Louisiana residents, and it's available to climate experts.

And so we want to use this data to inform climate resilient policies and practices.

And then also to identify or highlight and vulnerable populations.

We're trying to collaborate and work together and try to best understand what's happening with emergency room visits, for example, in temperatures and humidity on top of it.

The report says on average annually, 3000 people in Louisiana are hospitalized or treated in an emergency room for heat related illnesses.

It pinpoints North Louisiana with the highest rate of workers with heat related illnesses.

What are those trigger points that suddenly starts leading to people needing to go to the hospital?

Heat related illness happens when the body can't cool itself.

High temperatures and humidity can hinder the body's ability to sweat.

The main cooling mechanism that reduces core body temperature.

So once our internal production exceeds heat loss or our ability to sort of get rid of that need that we're generating, we'll eventually reach a point where we can no longer maintain that thermal regulation.

And then that's when the water temperature rises and heat stroke occurs.

Symptoms of heat related illness can start with muscle cramps and progress to weakness, dizziness, nausea and vomiting.

So at that point, symptoms can increase, but only general logical dysfunction.

So it's injuries and trauma, as well as the failure of other major organ systems to prevent heat stroke.

Experts say pay attention to the heat index.

But one thing to remember about that is that it's taking in washing the area.

So you're indirect sunlight.

You you have to actually think in terms of it's going to feel very much higher than Houston, Texas.

And what we're finding is that the temperatures in the morning seem to be increasing even more than the afternoon temperatures.

So there's kind of this asymmetry in how temperature is responding to all the pollution and greenhouse gases and things that we're putting into the atmosphere.

If the heat index is high, stay cool, stay hydrated and avoid rigorous physical activity.

Those are the basic precautions.

But above all, listen to your body.

The Louisiana legislature from its budget surplus is sharing some of that extra cash to fix roads and bridges.

Lawmakers earmark more than $1,000,000,000 to amplify 6 billion in federal dollars coming to the state from the bipartisan infrastructure law.

I sat down with lawmakers and transportation officials to find out how the dollars will drive transportation improvements.

About a quarter of Louisiana's roads are in poor condition.

A recent report card by the American Society of Civil Engineers gives Louisiana a D-plus for its rough ride on highways and byways.

Bad roads are bad for business.

Contribute to higher car insurance rates and pose safety hazards.

One of the main things driving the cost of high cost of automobile insurance is bad roads also out of your control and my control.

So obviously, you know, warning legislators, elected officials to secure funds to improve roads would go a long way to reducing the cost.

I've seen estimates in recent years that suggest on average, Louisiana families are spending upwards of $600 a year on automobile repairs due to bad roads.

It's a problem decades in the making.

So what is the current backlog?

When we talk about roads and bridges and maintenance for the state highway system, it's $18.8 billion, $18.8 billion.

Historically, how did we get to this point with such a backlog?

Well, there's been a chronic underinvestment in transportation for decades.

And so when you're under-investing on an annual basis, the backlog of needs simply grows and grows and grows.

So it's not something recent.

It's been known for a long time, and it's reached the point of 18.8 billion.

Now, some of that 18.8 billion is the recent inflation or construction costs have increased approximately 70% in two and a half years.

The news flash here is the federal cash coming to the state to chip away at the burgeoning backlog.

This is a game changer for Louisiana.

U.S.

Senator Bill Cassidy helped push the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure law, which will funnel $6 billion for roads and bridges over a five year period.

So for Louisiana, the bipartisan infrastructure bill helps us catch up where we should be in 2023, but it builds our economy for 2050.

What do I mean by that?

Well, there's billions for coastal restoration, billions for mitigating risk of flooding.

There is Louisiana now that's going to be spread across the nation.

But Louisiana will get the lion's share of both of those.

On face value, 6 billion for the state's roads and bridges seems like a lot, but let's put it into context.

What's not said in the $6 billion number is that if we simply continued the regular federal transportation program for five more years, we would have gotten 4.8 billion anyway.

So the net increase for Louisiana is really only about 1.2 billion, which is not a small number by any means, a couple hundred million dollars a year, which is great, but it's not 6 billion that people were expecting 6 billion on top of what we are already getting.

And the state is prioritizing more than 180 transportation projects for federal funding.

Most of that is for bridges.

And we scored very well in the in the federal bridge program.

And and so we intend to make good use of that money.

We've been able to ramp up our what we call our on system bridge program, which is bridges that are owned by the state.

And we've also been able to ramp up our off system bridge program, which is bridges that are owned by parishes and municipalities.

I can go through a list of the projects I-49 North in Shreveport, I-49 south in Lafayette, the Calcasieu Ship River Bridge six Lane in completing the six lining of I 12 through the Florida parishes.

Road construction for the airport in New Orleans.

And addressing the issues of the Mississippi River Bridge and Baton Rouge.

By the way, there's also an i-14 interstate highway now authorized in central Louisiana, going east and west, connecting Fort Polk, Alexandria and other communities with those east and west.

That's authorized in this bill as well.

Some federal funding requires matching state funds.

Lawmakers have allocated one time funds from this year's budget surplus for transportation projects.

It's got to be to the tune of about a billion, because when you look at the numbers that we agreed to spend on one time projects, you know, that's what you approach and you pay at the pumps for roads, maintenance, a 20% fuel tax on gasoline and diesel that goes into the state transportation trust fund.

But a lot of people don't realize is all the gas tax goes into a transportation trust fund and about two thirds of that pays for the department salary, benefits, pensions, that type of stuff.

The bipartisan infrastructure law isn't a permanent fix to Louisiana's roadway woes, which begs the question and the quest to find a sustainable source of funds.

And one of the problems we have with hybrid vehicles and now electric vehicles is you're getting less and less from a sales a gas tax.

So it's not a ton of money.

It's used for some maintenance projects and then certainly to match federal dollars.

But we need more to really do the job.

And so a couple of years ago, we passed a bill that dedicated some vehicle sales tax.

I think that's a great way to do it.

There's going to have to be something to replace the fuel tax over the long term.

And so those are discussions that will have to be had at the state level and at the federal level, for that matter.

You know, there can be additional sales taxes or what's called a road user charge or a vehicle miles traveled charge.

Ultimately, the road to a smoother ride calls for sustainable funding sources.

The bipartisan infrastructure law ignites a larger conversation about how to maximize federal dollars in state dollars to drive road maintenance and improvement.

A conversation sure to surface in the next legislative session.

We're digging from a pretty big hole, but the good news is people are starting to see that and are open to doing other things to support construction.

Encouraged by Governor John Bel Edwards opposition to the death penalty.

Nearly all inmates on death row applied for clemency last week.

Cecilia Kappel, an attorney and Sister Helen Prejean, hope the influx in clemency requests will force the state to reexamine the system.

Take a look at what they had to say.

A lot of people, when they look at this picture, all these women dressed in white, they say, oh, they nurses, they're women on death row in Texas.

This is Francis who was executed in Texas.

Carla Faye Tucker executed.

The other two women are still alive.

Sister Helen Prejean is a well-known anti-death penalty advocate.

She's a Catholic nun who ministers and supports death row inmates over the course of 40 years.

She's seen most of them die.

This is Richard Glossip with his wife, Leah and me.

He had three last meals for 26 years.

The state of Oklahoma has been trying to kill him.

He just got a unanimous decision in the Supreme Court for a stay of execution.

Sister Prejean, an advocate for decades, keeps pictures of the inmates she's worked with on the wall of her apartment as a reminder.

But there's one picture missing, Manuel Ortiz.

For 20 years, she's ministered Manuel and provided support as this execution date is decided.

Did take one person at a time.

And I had met Manuel on one of the earlier visit.

He's a Catholic.

I'm a Catholic.

He said, Sister, would you take me with you?

Would you be my spiritual adviser?

I said, Yes.

I never know.

When I take somebody on death row how long it's going to be.

I'm going to see him through whatever it is going to be.

But there's hope that he may never meet this fate.

He's one of 51 inmates on death row asking for clemency before Governor John Bel Edwards tenure ends after seven years in office.

The governor publicly voiced his opposition to the death penalty during the legislative session for the first time.

I'm calling on the legislature to end the death penalty in Louisiana.

Cecilia Kappel is an attorney representing 13 of the clemency requests.

We decided to do this because the governor's public statements against the death penalty gave us an opportunity where we had an opening to potentially request that the pardon board commute the sentences and the governor would, we hope, sign off on those commutations.

And this opportunity is something that we're not going to see for probably a long time.

Having a Democratic governor that is open about his opposition to the death penalty in his Catholic faith.

It's just it's a possibly once in a lifetime opportunity for these guys.

So what's the process of filing for clemency?

We file a written application with a bunch of required materials to the pardon board and Baton Rouge, and the pardon board reviews those applications and decides whether to grant a hearing.

And ultimately, it's a five member board and they will make a decision whether to recommend to grant or deny clemency for this person.

And that if they grant that recommendation goes to the governor's desk and he can decide whether to sign it or not.

The likelihood of an inmate receiving clemency is low.

For context, only two governors have pardoned an inmate in the state of Louisiana.

But it's also rare for an inmate to be executed.

Only 28 have been put to death since 1983.

The last execution was in 2010 when Gerald Bordelon waived his appeals and requested his death sentence be carried out.

We're not asking for the death penalty to be abolished in Louisiana.

Of course I would like that to happen.

But what we're asking is for the board to take a second look at these people.

And these are individuals, most of whom who have served decades in prison.

They've had a lot of time to be rehabilitated within the system.

These people on death row are not asking to be released.

And in all likelihood, they will not be.

Some people on death row are actually innocent.

And we've seen nine people exonerated from death row just in the past 24 years.

And that leads to the highest exoneration rate in the country from death row.

And so we hope this board cannot continence having a person that's potentially innocent executed in Louisiana.

The death penalty is also extremely expensive.

A 2019 study from Loyola University found that taxpayers shelled out more than 200 million on the death penalty system in the last 15 years.

And the more you look at the system and see how broken it is, you understand why Sister Helen Prejean knows the road to grant man.

While clemency is a long one, that could end in heartbreak for her.

We'll see what happens.

But what do you do when you're working for justices?

You work for the principle end of it, and then you leave the success up to God and the people.

Right now, 51 of the 57 inmates on death row have applied for clemency.

Capital is hoping to increase that number so that eventually all of the inmates will have applied.

Now, on to lighter news.

I'm sure you guys have noticed we have a new face with us here in the studio.

This is Karen Lichtblau.

She is our new anchor for the state we're in.

Tell us about yourself.

Yeah, well, it's great to be back.

I was born and raised in Baton Rouge, went to school here, graduated from LSU, started my journalism career here.

And so it's really fascinating for me to be here covering the newsmakers I grew up with and back telling meaningful stories about the people in the place I so Dear Love.

And you've definitely come at a good time.

We've got a lot coming up.

This is an election year, so you will be busy.

Oh, have I ever.

Politics is my jam.

So there's going to be a lot of great stuff to cover during the gubernatorial elections and.

We're very excited to have you.

And that's our show for this week.

Remember, you can watch anything lpx anytime, wherever you are with our Lpx app.

I and you can catch be 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 Kara St, Cyr.

I'm Karen LaBlanc.

Until 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 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.