Support for Louisiana.

The state we're in is provided by.

Every day I go to work for Entergy.

I know customers are counting on me.

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

Together.

Together.

Together we power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred Bea and Ruth B Ziegler Foundation and the Zeigler 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 we go back to the Fifth Circuit or another port and say, Will you please order EPA to comply?

Louisiana refineries topped the lists of the worst water polluters in the country.

I don't believe that public safety concerns are going to impact the passion that people have for Mardi Gras.

Extra precautions will be taken to ensure a safer carnival season.

They'll brown ruffled some feathers and there's no doubt that people have been gunning for him for years.

The Dale Brown court at LSU may have a new name when we get all the markers up.

We're hoping to develop the trail head.

Louisiana's contributions to the civil rights movement immortalized with the trail.

A bill to alleviate the skyrocketing cost of homeowners insurance in Louisiana is advancing to the final stages all week.

A special session of the legislature has met.

Yeah, they sure have.

Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon has been leading this effort and lawmakers pitched a bill for a $45 million relief fund as an incentive for insurance companies.

The legislation advanced to the Senate floor.

They're expecting a decision before the end of the day, and lawmakers are calling it a Band-Aid solution.

It's already passed the House 90 to 8.

That's right.

And now other news making headlines around our state.

Lafayette is putting an end to late night Mardi Gras festivities.

A city ordinance was just passed requiring bars to close at midnight when Fat Tuesday.

The new rule was a collaborative effort between the Guillory administration and the Lafayette Police Department.

Both say it's a step forward for public safety and may give taxpayers a break.

The police department says more officers are on duty working overtime during Mardi Gras.

Closing bars may reduce the money spent.

Another Louisiana legend has earned their place in the College Baseball Hall of Fame coach Roger Cade.

War was inducted after years of coaching the Southern Jaguars from 1984 to 2017.

February 3rd is now dubbed coach Roger Cade, or day in the capital city.

New talent will lead the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra after 17 years.

Carlos Miguel Prieto is stepping down.

Matthew Kramer is set to take his place in mid-September.

Kramer comes to Louisiana from Indiana, where he was the music director of the orchestra.

Indiana.

He's worked with big stars like Idina menzel, and he says he's ecstatic to join the New Orleans cultural fabric.

Potential poisoning of the ecosystem for decades.

Of the top ten worst refineries in America for toxic wastewater discharge, eight of them are in Louisiana.

The Environmental Integrity Project did the study and they released the findings.

Marathon Petroleum and Gary Neville ranks fourth and Phillips 66th in Lake Charles seventh for the release of Nickel.

ExxonMobil in Baton Rouge ranks 10th.

I talked with the EPA executive director Eric Schaefer.

What are the top reasons that you're having these findings, which aren't not acceptable?

That's that's an excellent question.

That was the question.

We that was the second question, really.

We wanted to answer.

The first was what's in this slew of wastewater?

And the second was, how are they regulated or limited, if at all?

And we found that most of them are EPA roads industry wide standards, as the Clean Water Act requires.

They do that apply to refineries way back in the early 1980s.

You have to think back to Ronald Reagan's first term, and the standards were set based on what was considered to be the best wastewater treatment methods available at that time.

But even then, they only applied to a handful of pollutants.

How often or the mechanical aspects, the things that make these things run?

How often are they updated?

Once every five years?

You kind of you are required as EPA to look at whether wastewater treatment methods have moved forward and to tighten the limits that they have.

And we're now 40 years past these standards, and EPA hasn't done that once.

And this isn't the only industry where that's a problem.

What kind of blowback are you getting from the companies themselves who are listed that we're hearing so far anyway, from Exxon in Illinois?

We're in compliance with the law.

Yeah.

And that is yeah, you know, it's pretty easy to comply with standards that are 40 years old and that don't apply that 90% of the pollutants that you discharge.

That's that's a pretty low bar.

And that's not really the question we looked at.

We do have some information about violations that refineries.

But we say in the report there are so few limits for this very large industry that the question really isn't are they complying or not?

It's where are the standards?

Where's Waldo?

How is there at some point somebody's doing something and saying enough is enough, Let's take care of this.

EPA, I think, has a responsibility to take these these old standards up and bring them up to date.

If they don't, they can be sued and people can go back to the Fifth Circuit or another court and say, will you please order EPA to comply and get these standards up to date?

And again, our thanks to Eric Schaeffer for that interview and rename Dale Brown Court.

A statement I received from Governor John Bel Edwards indicates that's the plan.

What are we talking about here?

To discuss it, I bring in Jim Inkster, who is the president of Louisiana Network, and also Trent Andrews, who is the head of Acadian House Publishing and so much more.

Let me just first ask you, the court was named in an official ceremony of the Kentucky game last year.

Why a renaming?

Jim?

Well, this goes back to the old axiom that the passions are so high in academia because the stakes are so low.

And on the surface it's a trivial matter.

But for Coach Brown and for those who followed him, it's a it's a big with a big banner.

He has not been honored in 26 years after being the greatest basketball coach and perhaps the most revered coach all time at LSU, the godfather of LSU basketball.

No doubt about it.

When he arrived, there was one black player in the history of the school.

Five years later, an all black starting lineup.

He went to Two Final Fours, won four SCC titles in the conference during the regular season and only records 2 minutes and also a second winningest coach in SCC history after Adolph Rupp.

That is right And he beat Kentucky 18 times right Sue Garner was a great lady and a good coach but in 22 years never won an SCC regular season title and never coached in the Final Four.

And she has already been honored with a bust at the assembly center.

And some are asking why and some have surmised that maybe this is an effort to give LSU the luck of being progressive in a time in which it's about to go to court, being charged with harassment and mistreatment of women who were back at the university and were students there.

And by the way, of you both have already written articles about this, you have an upcoming book that will come out against Dale Brown, about Dale Brown, about his legacy.

So your thoughts on this, the movement that is afoot to change the name of Dale Brown court to Mary Brown gone to court and is motivated, as far as I can tell, as a as a reporter and as a writer by President Tate's program for inclusion, diversity and civil rights.

He figures, as does his followers, that by having the woman's name to it would balance it.

However, what he's not realizing and this is huge is that Dale Brown is one of the foremost civil rights leaders in the history of Louisiana.

The Board of Supervisors was explicit, clear and loud when they voted no.

Add Sue Gunther's name to the court because Brown, in short, completely changed the complexion of LSU basketball and what it was, what it was thought of and what it became.

It became a household name.

It became a year in and year out contender for the NCAA tournament and potential national title.

That had never happened before.

It's never happened since either.

And the question is, why has it taken 26 years to honor him, right when he finally does get honored?

12 board members who voted to name it, the Dale Brown court, most of them will have to switch their votes.

So rather foolish by doing so in order to name it the Gunter Brown Court or the Brown country.

Have you ever seen the court that his named unnamed unless something horrific happened with that person whose name was on the court?

No, this is not a matter of scandal.

It's a matter of convenience.

And Dale Brown was basically asked to come to a restaurant here in Baton Rouge on his 87th birthday to meet with President Tate.

And President Tate informed him that he had basically changed his mind, that he thought who Gunnar's name should be on the court with his.

And Coach Brown, of course, didn't react well.

And now we're headed for a February 10th meeting.

Unless something changes the way in which this will come up for a vote next week.

So let's talk about what's all else is going on behind this.

Who where's the governor?

Why is he fit into this?

One of his mentors, if you will, was a great man, Buddy Leach, a former congressman who's the father of Mary Werner.

So he has great reverence for the Leach family.

And they have been extremely benevolent toward LSU through the years, and they have been honored as they should help with their money that is relevant to the elect and Mary Werner is a worthy adversary because she has through to her tenacity and resilience.

She has gotten this before the board again and unless something changes, she may win this battle.

But this is at the expense of Dale Brown, and he's the last person who should be a sacrificial lamb and he will not play part in any of this.

By the way, there have been moneys even proposed to pay for this.

And even that has been said it's not quite enough.

I have a brief story to tell you also about our family, my father, Al Moreau, who equaled the world record several times and was a top hurdler in the world in the 1930s, later, arguably the best track coach in college during his tenure at LSU, where he won eight SEC championships in 15 years.

Several years back, LSU's athletic director brought our family together for a meeting, saying we would love for Bernie Moore Stadium to be named Al Moreau Track at Bernie Moore Stadium.

This was a big orchestrated meeting, and he concluded the sentence for a price of $2.5 million.

Our family looked at him, said, Thank you very much.

We walked out that was the end of that matter.

So money is often a precedent in this, but in this case, money is not part of this, it seems.

Well, and because Dale Brown brought winning basketball to LSU, no money changed hands and it shouldn't have.

Skip Vermont brought winning baseball to LSU and we have skipped bourbon field.

No money changed hands on merit based on merit.

It's appropriate as it would be with my father.

Jim, some final thoughts on this as we are a week away from the board meeting and possibly doing something Well, Dale Brown ruffled some feathers and there's no doubt that people have been gunning for him for years.

And this is an opportunity to get some retribution for those who don't like him.

But most people love him and revere him and for good reason.

He had 160 players, 114 have graduated, and many of them from some of the most impoverished areas of this country, many from across the world, came to play for Dale Brown, and he led the basketball program to heights that's never seen before, since he had 255 sellouts in his 25 years.

Steve Garner had one in her 22 years.

So there is no comparison as far as their coaching abilities.

And then you and I were at LSU in the late seventies and early eighties.

We saw it and in the heyday and there was nothing like it.

The fans were so plentiful that they had an overflow at the gym armory all the time.

John Bel Edwards is a good man and I think he has been a solid governor.

He went to West Point.

Mary Warner did not go to LSU.

They were not here when you and I were here.

They don't have the appreciation, in my view, of others who were there and saw it and felt it and know what a contribution not only from games and losses, wins and losses perspective.

Dale Brown had, but also from a social perspective.

We will see.

Thank you so much for talking about this.

Thank you.

Thank you for.

The schedules have been in flux since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.

Now New Orleans City officials say it's time to return to traditional parade routes, but some fear the recent surges in car break ins and violence could make this carnival season a dangerous one.

Walter Lage with New Orleans and Company shares their plans to foster a safe Mardi Gras season.

All right.

Well, obviously, hospitality is a really big part of New Orleans and one of the biggest hospitality events is Mardi Gras.

Do you know how many tourists that event pulls in?

We know that roughly a million people a year celebrate Mardi Gras with us here in New Orleans over the course of the whole season.

Of course, those those numbers swell on some of the bigger parade days that final weekend and into Mardi Gras Day itself.

But it is a major economic impact for our city and for our state.

And it's part of it's part of what defines the city of New Orleans in the minds of people all over all over the world.

Are you expecting the same number of tourists coming in this year?

Because we've got we've we've had COVID, we've got a long recovery period.

And between that, do you expect the same numbers?

So we know that numbers were a little bit lower last year than they were in previous years.

Certainly, it's been a recovery period for us in a lot of different ways.

So it's hard to know exactly, but it does seem like the excitement has returned and we're expecting to see a big crowd once again, certainly visitors from other parts of the country.

But also we know that that families gather from our region to to celebrate New Orleans here in the city.

And we're expecting to have pretty large crowds.

We're prepared for it.

And are ready.

So there are a lot of people that are excited for Mardi Gras.

I'm one of them that haven't been in years.

But there's also another side that's a little concerned because crime in New Orleans has spiked.

Is that a concern for tourists coming in celebrating Carnival this year?

Well, you know, I mean, we work with cities all over the country and other destinations that are competing for business against the city of New Orleans.

And one thing that we recognize is that there are challenges with public safety across the country.

Our city is not immune to those challenges.

And so we're not we are not alone when I think people are taking additional giving additional thought and taking additional precautions when they travel these days.

But I don't believe that public safety concerns are going to impact the passion that people have for Mardi Gras and the desire to come together with family and friends and celebrate.

I think that we, as usual, have we've we've worked with and partnered with the city as they talk about things that they need to do in order to continue to put on the biggest, quote unquote, free show on earth that the people in New Orleans put on for for the world.

And so we're very confident, as usual, with the excellent work that our that our city does to be prepared for complex events like Mardi Gras and to deliver on those so that people can have a good time and be safe doing it.

The city of New Orleans is fortunate this year that we're able to partner with sheriff's departments around the state to provide additional support to NOPD to ensure that there's sufficient officers on the street as the parades return to their historic parade routes as And that will only lend additional, I think, comfort and also belief that everything can can be pulled off in the way that we've always pulled it off, which is, you know, a lot of fun and safer for our families and friends and visitors to to gather and for the people that don't know, why weren't the parades on their traditional routes?

Yes.

So last year, as we were emerging from COVID, the the city of New Orleans restricted some of the routes in order to ensure that there was sufficient police officer coverage and other city services were able to be provided.

Trash collection and other things associated with hosting major complex events like this one were able to go forward.

And so I think it's a very positive sign that we're able to return to our traditional route just a little bit longer than they were last year and will allow people to spread out a little more along the parade route.

And with the assistance of sheriff's departments around the state, support and supporting NOPD and ensuring that they can adequately accomplish the mission.

All right.

So the goal is really just to make sure that everything is back to normal.

Everybody has a good time.

Are there any other preparations besides bringing in additional law enforcement just to make sure that everybody safe?

Well, you know, I mean, I think the law enforcement presence is one thing.

I think there are some interesting efforts that the city's undertaking, and we're doing it in partnership with them this year to improve the quality of the experience along the parade route.

It's called Recycle, that it's a sustainable Mardi Gras push where there's going to be efforts to collect bead debris as well as aluminum cans and other recyclable materials along the parade route.

Our building here is actually going to be a hub for the collection of those materials.

And then the recycling of them.

You know, in years past, the Mardi Gras was measured, the success of Mardi Gras was measured by how much garbage was collected.

And so the idea that we can shift our focus to really trying to be as sustainable as we can be and and undertaking recycling efforts, I think it's another move by the city and us and other partners across the community to just improve the experience and allow the people of the city to to assist in that effort as they participate in Mardi Gras.

All right.

Well, thank you so much.

Thank you.

Louisiana has had many contributions to the civil rights movement and now markers across the state teach visitors about the brave men and women who sacrificed their safety to secure a better future.

The Office of Tourism Civil Rights trail is expanding.

And here to talk about that with me is Sharon Kalpoe with Louisiana Byways.

Thank you so much for joining us.

So thank you so much for inviting me.

Of course.

So let's talk about the civil rights trail and how this got started.

You've been with it since its infancy.

How did it get going?

The lieutenant governor attended a meeting in Phenix and Alabama, was talking about their civil rights trail and Mississippi was talking about their civil rights trail.

And he asked the assistant secretary of tourism, Does Louisiana have one?

And the answer was no.

So January 2019, he pulled together a meeting in his office, and we had his African-American studies experts.

We had historians.

We had different groups and people with the Office of Tourism and Historic Preservation.

And we discussed the development of a civil rights trial.

From that, we held 22 meetings around the state.

We traveled 3000 miles across the state.

And these meetings were to gather information on civil rights trail history that we were not aware of, because when we started this, there was no folder anywhere that said, Here's Louisiana's civil rights history.

So this is all organic and it was all from the grassroots up.

And of course, we're learning now that Louisiana has contributed a lot to the civil rights movement.

How many markers are up currently?

There are eight markers up right now, and they mostly are designating nationally significa sites, because what people don't know was that Louisiana was a leader in the nation of civil rights movements.

Luis Baton Rouge had the first bus boycott.

You know, you El Al was a university that desegregated almost before the decision of Brown versus the Board of Education.

The four little girls that desegregated the New Orleans school system was the first in the South, and that was Ruby Bridges, Leona Tate, Gail Aton and Tessie Prevost.

So, I mean, there's so much that we contributed nationally and of course, I believe Ruby Bridges was the last civil rights marker that you guys just put up the most.

The latest the latest one at William Frantz Elementary.

So how do you pick which sites are going to go into this trail?

Okay.

All sites are nominated from the public.

And on the Louisiana civil rights trail.

WW BW Louisiana civil rights trail dot com.

There is a button that you can push and the nomination form comes up and you can fill out that information.

And then it comes directly to me when you press submit.

But to figure out what sites as far as markers and those types of things, we have a panel of African American historians and scholars that are helping us make those decisions.

So currently there are eight of these markers up.

Is there a goal, a specific number you guys are trying to reach for this first round?

And I cite first round because there's more information becomes available.

This is a dynamic trial, so it's going to continue to grow.

We have 15 planned, 15 planned across the state.

Whenever you say you want this to continue to grow.

Are there any other directions that the civil rights trail could go in?

Is there anything unique that we can expect?

Well, we're going to keep adding to the website.

We've done the preliminary website.

Now we need to start adding more stories.

And we've thought about more green book locate since we thought about more stories about experiences that people had to make it more interesting.

And of course, all of this is just in the very beginning stages, and we know a lot about the Green Book here.

So if that happens, I'd be very excited.

That'd be great.

But people can go to WD WW Louisiana Civil Rights Trail dot com.

They can look at the website.

One of the things that came out of our 22 meetings is the stories needed to be told in the voice of the people that experienced it.

So I think you will find that on the trail.

Ours is a little different from others.

Right.

And most of the information that you really want to find is on the website.

It is, right, Because there's nothing like hearing those voices directly from the people that experienced it.

We interviewed Leona Tate a year ago whenever McDonnell, 19, was added to the trail because she was one of the little girls that desegregated it.

And that's you know, there's nothing like actually hearing it directly from her.

Right.

And when we put the trial together, we have archived videos, we have archived photographs, we have newspaper articles that when you click a site, you can scroll down and there will be icons and people can learn more even about what they're reading on the trail.

Okay.

So you bring all of this information with you and that's how you experience the trail right now.

Yes.

And when we get all the markers up, we're hoping to develop a trail head.

All right.

Well, is there anything else people should know about this amazing thing Louisiana is doing?

They just need to stay tuned because it's going to continue to grow.

All right.

Well, thank you so much for joining us.

I appreciate it.

Thank you.

Hey, it's that time of the year again and we're excited about it.

LTP is accepting nominations for high school students to be recognized as Louisiana's young heroes.

And we do this program every year, and it's always really exciting to meet these young people.

They truly are exceptional.

And as you know, I mean, a young hero with someone that's excelled academically, who's inspired others through their deeds and strength of character, giving significantly of themselves through public service.

And they've also overcome adversity.

Yeah, absolutely.

These are the best of the best.

Yes.

And they've all done extraordinary things.

The deadline for entries is Wednesday, March 1st.

Educators, family members and friends are encouraged to nominate so visit B Dawgs heroes or more and to submit a nomination online.

Can't wait to see you.

We're going to have fantastic and everyone.

That's our show for this week.

Remember, you can watch anything lv V anytime, wherever you are with our live PBS app, you can catch LBB 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.

One Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

I'm Andre Moreau, and I'm care here.

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 Ziegler Foundation and the Zeigler 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.