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.

Economists warn that President Trump's tariffs will lead to soaring prices for many everyday products.

And it's early education month.

Coming up, we'll look at the wide range of learning resources LPB offers for family.

Louisiana is dealing with yet another cold snap.

I will share some tips to help your garden thrive even after the freeze.

And it's carnival season.

And that means King cakes.

We'll look at the seasonal treats, history, and how to make your own.

You're ready?

Yep.

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, a political standoff between Governor Jeff Landry and New York's governor appears to be headed to court.

Earlier this week, Governor Landry signed an extradition warrant for Doctor Maggie Carpenter.

She's charged with violating Louisiana's abortion ban by shipping pills used for abortions to a woman in West Baton Rouge Parish.

According to Governor Landry, the woman's teenage daughter was forced to take the pills, ending her pregnancy.

New York's governor says she won't sign Landry's extradition order.

President Donald Trump avoided a trade war with Mexico and Canada, but escalated one with China.

Last week, the Trump administration levied a 10% tariff on many Chinese goods.

China is the world's manufacturing superpower, with a global trade surplus of $1 trillion.

Here's a look at how the trade wars could affect consumers caught in the crossfire.

China is the world's largest exporter of cars.

The dominant producer of drones and solar panels, and the source of many affordable electronics that power daily life.

President Donald Trump levied a 10% tariff on many Chinese goods to correct a trade imbalance with the United States in an escalating trade war with China.

So trade wars.

Actually, two countries that are coming together and basically trying to negotiate based on they trade back and forth.

They do that through tariffs.

And I know that we hear about tariffs, but tariffs really are taxes on imported goods.

So goods that are coming from other countries into our country or into the domestic country.

They do that basically as negotiating tools.

Doctor Dorian Williams is the dean of the College of Business at Dillard University and an associate professor of economics.

The current trade wars are a top topic of conversation and instruction in the classroom.

The Trump administration threatened, then backed down from imposing a 25% tariff on imported goods from Canada and Mexico, which leaders say would have been catastrophic for the economies of both countries.

As I have consistently said, tariffs again against Canada will put your jobs at risk, potentially shutting down American auto assembly plants and other manufacturing facilities.

They will raise costs for you, including food at the grocery stores and gas at the pump.

The Trump administration did go forward with tariffs on Made in China goods, according to the latest data from the United States Census Bureau.

In 2024.

U.S. exports in China totaled $143.5 billion, while imports from China were approximately $438.9 billion.

Is it so bad that the U.S. imports so many items from China?

So the idea is that we're not creating jobs in the United States in which individuals could potentially work, right?

So it starts to affect our unemployment rate.

The other idea is that if that's the case, we have businesses that may move out of the country to be able to provide those goods.

Right.

So does it hurt?

It can potentially hurt.

I think it's a combination of both the demand side, supply side or consumers and businesses.

Right.

The whole idea is for businesses to make a profit.

The other ideas of the spectrum in which consumers are buying goods that they need at cheaper prices, we have to find what we consider to be the equilibrium price in which both are not necessarily fully happy, but they are equally happy.

The 10% tariff ultimately passes on to the consumer who pays higher prices for made in China goods.

E-commerce will also feel the pinch of higher prices in two ways.

The 10% tariffs and the potential elimination of de minimis, a provision that eliminates imported goods valued under $800 from customs duties.

Mega discount retailers, including Sheehan and Tim, who rely on this provision to sell and ship products online to consumers.

So when you start looking at Amazon and you start looking at places like, you know that that provide that access, we're going to see them be affected and have to change their plan of how they get goods to individuals, or how do they market to these individuals.

There has been a cooling off of inflation in the U.S., but some economists expressed concern that Chinese tariffs will heat up the economy again for a small period of time.

You will see economic growth.

But then when we start looking at cost going up, as cost goes up, we start to see individuals become discouraged because of the prices or what we now hear inflation beginning to to really hurt our consumption of other goods.

The Trump administration's 10% tariff on Chinese imports took effect February 4th, 2025.

In response, China announced to retaliatory tariffs of 10% and 15% on select U.S. goods.

Effective February 10th, 2025, the trade wars continue with the consumer caught in the crossfire.

From hashtags to headlines, here's what's trending this week.

The New Orleans Saints are looking to the future with a new head coach.

That is right.

And what a breath of fresh air this is for everyone involved.

Now, they signed a deal with former Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.

Now he's fresh off of a Super Bowl win.

Congratulations Eagles.

And that happened right here in New Orleans.

Now Moore had a six year run with the Cowboys and Detroit Lions mostly as a backup quarterback.

Yeah.

And guess what.

At only 36 years old that's crazy.

He is the youngest head coach in the NFL.

Moore has a long road ahead of him.

Of course we all know first he's got to rebuild the Saints coaching staff.

And then of course the team's struggling offense.

Well he's got a big job ahead of him.

We'll be watching and rooting him on.

That's right.

And congratulations to you sir.

Two times.

All right.

Superstar LSU gymnast and influencer Libby Dunn will lead the crew of Endymion Parade in New Orleans now.

And Damian's captain says she's perfect.

She's a perfect fit for the grand marshal because her spirit and energy reflect that of Mardi Gras.

Yeah, the Super Crew hasn't announced its king and queen.

Yeah, but they're known for featuring big time celebrities now in Damien roles.

The Saturday before Mardi Gras on March 1st.

Now, here's an interesting story.

Scram.

That that dog that is like a social media sensation tells of the fabulous groom.

Right?

So he's another celebrity that he's going to be featured in several Mardi Gras parades.

Now, we told you about scram before.

Now he's the dog that's known for his Whodini act.

Oh my goodness, he escaped from his rescue home twice, once by jumping off a second story balcony, and he was finally recaptured this week.

A little banged up but healthy.

Karen Grimm has been named the grand marshal of the New Orleans crew of Barkers.

I mean, I'll say they won't be in the parade, but they will push along a big statue of him.

Now there will also be a scrimmage theme float, actually, several floats in this weekend's crew interview parade and another in the crew of muses parade getting get some good stuff.

We're looking forward to this season.

Scram is everywhere.

Well, yes, well on to some good news.

After Louisiana's historic snowstorm and freeze last month, a lot of people's yards are probably not looking so good.

But don't panic.

There are some things you can do to help your plants recover and thrive.

I spoke with experts for tips on how to nurture your gardens back to health.

Chances are your grass is greener on the underside of those brown dried blades.

When you look at this, you normally say, oh, it's all dead and it really isn't.

But if you rub it really hard, you can actually see that it's still alive.

It's right now this is zoysia grass, and zoysia grass is very cold tolerant, so it just needs to shed its dead blades of grass because you've got this.

Exactly blades underneath the record-setting snow that blanketed much of Louisiana froze many lawns and plants.

The good news all that snow insulated the roots of many plants, minimizing frostbite.

If your azaleas, camellias, crape myrtles, irises, and roses look like they've lost their blooms, LSU AG Center horticulturalist Ed Bush says chances are they'll sprout new buds in due time.

Case in point this azalea plant, you know, the temperatures got down to a single digit in Baton Rouge, which is really is in common.

But what I'm seeing here is, is, is the flowers were burned and damaged.

Actually, they died, but the leaves are perfectly fine.

So.

So yes, we did lose our flowers.

We probably won't get another bloom till later or next year, but the plant is fine.

So we're just going to leave the plant alone.

And we're going to wait until probably February, and then we're going to prune and all those unsightly flowers will fall, and new leaves and flush will fertilize it.

It'll be a 100%.

It is taking me on a tour of the LSU AG Center Botanic Gardens at Birding Museum and Gardens to share tips for helping plants survive and thrive after Louisiana's recent snowstorm in general, did most Louisiana outdoor plans and Shrubbery fair okay.

In general, many did.

Tropicals didn't.

Some tender citrus like, like limes and lemons and even satsumas may have had, critical damage, but overall it came out pretty good, mainly because it was a wet cold.

And having that blanket of snow really makes a difference.

So it almost work like an insulator.

That, and also in this situation, if we look up, you can see the trees and we call this a microclimate.

It's early February, less than two weeks after Louisiana's snow fall, and much of the garden grounds look brown with color peeking through the landscape is a mix of freeze damaged and hardy plants.

So let's talk about tips to winterize your plants and your landscaping.

Because winter's not over, there could be another cold snap for all we know.

One thing I really suggest to people is if you can, you can mulch, but the next thing is to water before or freeze.

A dry cold is really could be a lot more damaging than a wet cold.

So I always tell people water before you wrap your your faucets water.

Really?

Well, if you can bring in tropicals, bring them inside or in a garage, that's really good.

And then if you can't and if you have something like a citrus tree or something that's tender and could freeze, maybe if you could cover it or protected in some kind of way that that would help the plant survive.

The snow froze, camellia blooms canceling the annual Camellia Show, held in early February and hosted by the Baton Rouge Camellia Society.

The southern ornamental plants survived, but growers didn't have flowers to compete in the annual Camellia contest.

So here we have a camellia japonica.

It's a little more call sensitive.

We call it tender, which means it's a little more susceptible to cold.

And you can notice that we unfortunately, we lost a few of the flowers and and we it's really upsetting a little bit when you wait all year and they're blooming and it freezes.

But it's okay because here we have a new bud coming.

So we probably lost these buds for 2 or 3 weeks, but then we're probably going to see some new buds and there may be a little speck or two on it.

Tropical plants didn't fare so well during the freeze.

This banana plant looks lifeless, but Ed advises having patience with pruning the dead leaves because it could prematurely cut off viable tissue stunting growth.

Plus, the remaining stems help protect plants from more cold weather damage.

These are very tender.

They're tropical, the ornamental types and some of them are really collector's items.

They have some hybrids that that worth a little bit of money.

So, in the future, don't be shocked if you get cold.

Damage is very common.

We end our tour at a flower bed unscathed by the snow.

It's an example of strategic plant purchasing, planning and cultivation.

I love their bed preparation.

They mounded it up good drainage.

They selected really good species that are really tough.

And look at the flowers.

This is after snow and ice and and these are adopted.

This is what happens when you choose the right plants for for the location.

And they mulched it well they have irrigation.

So I look at all those things.

And when you do that you're going to get the most bang for your buck.

And that's what I like.

I like choosing plants that are well adapted for the site that you plant them.

In a few weeks, it's time to prune the rose bushes, and soon spring arrives, greening gardens and lawns again.

The growing cycle reminds us all that every plant has a season and cold snaps.

They can be mother Nature's way of keeping it all in balance.

The call wasn't wasn't a bad thing for all plants that we really needed some chilling hours, like for blueberries and for persimmon and and peaches and those plants, they need something called chilling hours.

And without those, we may not get fruit.

So it wasn't all bad.

You may not have felt good to us.

We might have had fun playing at it.

But for plants is actually essential for some species.

So, yeah, some.

We got some damage on some plants, but for some plants, it actually was a good thing.

February is early education Month in Louisiana, and one of LP's main missions is providing learning opportunities for young kids.

With the wealth of educational programs and resources, we want to make sure kids have the tools they need to grow and thrive.

Here's a look at some of the educational tools we provide.

I'm here with Nancy Terrain, and she is our education director here at Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

How are you, Nancy?

Doing great.

Thank you for having me.

Oh, thank you so much for being here.

I'm so excited to talk to you.

Now, Nancy, this month is early childhood education Month, and I'm so excited about the work that we do here with living with education being such a big part of our mission.

Talk to me about what we do and how do we help these kids.

Well, Early Education Month is every day for us is weird 24 seven 365 days of the year.

You know, we have the PBS kids 24 seven channel that is available to all kids statewide, all families, and that they can get that whether they have Cablevision or not.

So that's free over the air 24 over seven.

So that's a really exciting thing for families in Louisiana.

PBS kids offers resources for children ages 2 to 8, and they offer it anywhere, any time, so you can access these resources whether you're online, broadcast, or on your mobile device so kids can get these resources in their hands at any time.

Awesome.

Well, I love that one of the programs do we have for the little kids?

Well, we offer five times a year, something that we call our play and learn, and these are little 15 minute videos that we produce for families to watch together, to learn how to play and learn together.

So it usually consists of a hands on activity.

We do cooking, we read books.

We might play a PBS kids game, or we'll watch a little video clip.

So we we learn lots of things during our playing learns.

And it gives families something to do during the holidays when kids are bored.

Now, I love that because early childhood education or early education is really crucial for our little kids.

It talks to them or teaches them cognitive skills, physical activities.

It also helps them to better associate and communicate with their peers.

So I love that we have so many programs to help them during those crucial developmental stages of their lives.

We also have newsletters that we send to parents and educators each month, and we also highlight early childhood resources in the newsletters for parents and teachers.

And we also have a texting program from parents called Bright by Text.

Okay.

And you can access right by text by going to lpb.org/bbt and parents can sign up their kids.

It's according to their age and the zip code, and you get developmental text messages on your phone about your child.

So it might be a message about health, or it might be a message about something local going on in the community.

It might be an educational resource, but we have thousands of parents who use this service in Louisiana, and parents really appreciate the text that they get to help them be better parents.

I love that utilizing technology in this digital age to engage parents in our students that we're serving and learning.

I love that now, I know that we are heavily involved with early childhood education, but we have some programs for the bigger kids to talk to me about those.

We have developed some family and community learning workshops around our puppet show, Ziggy's Arts Adventure.

And, these workshops enable families to come and have fun together and learn all around Ziggy, all around the Ziggy themes.

So we're really excited that we've developed these workshops.

We've partnered with the Louisiana Department of Education, to try and facilitate those who go out in their communities and do these workshops with families.

And we are expecting to have 750 families experience these workshops.

So we're very excited about this.

Yes.

And we also have created content on PBS Learning Media, which is a digital educational library, for teachers, for parents and for students.

Okay.

And, we've we have content from our documentary while Louisiana ain't Mississippi.

Oh, tell me about that.

We have a collection of videos up.

We have six videos that are taken from the documentary that have educational purpose to them.

We have lesson plans.

We have student guides that go with them.

And these are all accessible on PBS Learning Media for free for teachers and families.

Well, I love that Nancy.

It was such a pleasure speaking to you today and finding out all of the fantastic things that we do right here at LPB for our students across the state.

And like you said, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Some of that airs in other states too.

So we're impacting more than just Louisiana.

Absolutely.

Yes, I love that.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Take care.

King cakes are a key part of carnival season.

If you don't want to wait in long lines for your favorite brand, why not make one at home?

I visited Eloise Bakery in Baton Rouge to learn how to make King cakes and learn more about their history.

Following Christmas and New Year's, it might feel like a lengthy wait until the next holiday filled with enjoyable meals or desserts.

Then we recall Mardi Gras, particularly their King cake.

Even those who haven't visited New Orleans have likely spotted king cakes in their local bakeries starting in early January.

Although we often link Fat Tuesday and King Cake with beads and booze, the cake tradition actually originates from Three Kings Day, a celebration that occurs 12 days after Christmas.

But what exactly is a king cake and what is its history?

Allow me to explain.

I spoke with Madeline Burr, owner of Eloise Market, and she gave me all the details and even walked me through how to make a king cake of my own.

The King cake actually represents the kings that brought the gifts to baby Jesus for the epiphany.

So it's only celebrated after Kings Day, which is January 6th every year.

You'll notice that it's in the shape of an oval.

Typically, that's because that's the part that the three wise men.

So to distract King Herod when they found baby Jesus.

There's also always a little baby figure hidden inside that represents the baby Jesus as well.

And then we eat this all the way through until Ash Wednesday, which begins lent, where we begin fasting and praying and preparing for Easter.

King cakes originated in Europe to celebrate the Catholic epiphany, a day that commemorates the visit of the three wise men to baby Jesus, who brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

In the 1870s, the French brought the tradition to Louisiana, and today it is closely associated with the French Quarter.

Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, and everything else we cherish about New Orleans.

Now that we know the history of the King Cake, let's make one.

We have our sweet dough here and it's already been risen on the first rise.

So what we need to do is we need to take it down.

We're going to.

And we're going to roll it out.

And we also want to flour this as well.

So just the same thing a pinch and kind of just rub that around to make sure it doesn't stick to a rolling pin.

Okay.

Then we're just going to simply start back and forth taking our time.

And I'm just going to give you one big roll.

Okay.

Now I know I practice a lot.

Okay.

All right.

Now that we've done that we're going to add our cinnamon sugar.

So we have our cups right here.

Right here we've got equal parts white sugar brown sugar and cinnamon because we love really cinnamon and king cakes here.

So what we do is we put the entire thing.

All right.

It seems like a lot.

But you got to trust me here.

All right.

We're just going to spread that around.

Now that we've got that spread around, we're going to roll her up.

But the very most important thing is that we get the longest log possible.

So we want to start at the long edge.

And we're just going to.

Roll over just like so.

And you'll notice you're losing some on the way.

Which is why we put so much.

Now we need to do we need to shape our pancakes.

So we're going to do a little oval today okay.

And then all we're going to do is we're going to tuck one side under.

Ryder says to have a nice little oval.

And then we're going to let them sit for about an hour, hour and a half on the counter, wrapped up real nice so that they can start to rise again.

We're going to bake them at 350 for about 20 to 30 minutes.

So now they've come out the oven.

We're going to go ahead and put our baby in.

Okay.

So what we need to do is we're just going to lift them up gently, and we're just going to shove that baby right there.

Yeah.

And there they go.

Now we're going to start icing them.

So you'll grab your spatula.

And we're just going to you'll notice that the icing is very thick.

The king is super warm.

So they kind of work really well together letting it gently melt off.

So now we've got our sprinkles.

So it's got a set of sprinkles.

Yep.

We've got all the colors here.

So we've got our yellow signifying our power.

Yes our right.

So I like to do some stripes.

Oh but you can do it however you like.

It's your king cake.

Of course.

Now we've got our birthday girl King cake.

Mardi Gras mom?

Yes.

There you go.

And that is our reward.

Yeah, that's our Louisiana king.

King?

So you ready?

Yeah.

Makes me wonder.

Oh, darn.

Oh, really?

Do.

So, Dorothy, was it hard to make.

Be honest.

You know, it honestly wasn't hard.

But I think if she were not right there it would have been a lot harder.

Oh but it was so good.

I'm pretty.

Very pretty.

I love it.

Save me a piece.

I got you next time.

All right, girl.

Well, that's our show for this week.

Remember, you can watch anything.

LPB, any time, wherever you are, with our L.P app.

That's right.

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.

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.