“Programs to help people live at home and keep them in a setting that is most preferable, (A) because it’s really where the person wants to be anyway, but also, it’s the most cost effective,” Muhl said.

Muhl says 20% of long-term Medicaid dollars goes towards services so an individual can live at home, while 80% goes to nursing homes. He says AARP is advocating for that ratio to be more like 40/60 so more family caregivers can receive state assistance to keep their loved ones at home.

“It could be bathing, dressing, transportation, cooking, meal delivery; all those different things are what the state could appropriate,” Muhl explained.

AARP is advocating that the state provides an additional 750 waivers so families can take advantage of home and community-based services. Muhl says there are 12,000 individuals on a waiting list seeking this state assistance.

“They can’t receive those services at home because the state isn’t appropriating enough money for them to do so. So we’re constantly talking to lawmakers about the importance of living at home,” Muhl noted.

It costs $85,000 for an individual to live in a nursing home, while home care is $40,000.

“Remember when we heard these ads touting how they had reduced income tax? They had flipped the bad taxes off of business and industry. They lowered insurance with their reform legislation,” Pinsonat said.

Pinsonat says the Landry Administration is not interested in rocking the boat with the governor set to run for re-election next year.

“We’re just going to kind of fix things if they come up, but we’re not going to create any controversy because we claim that the state is better off than it was two or three years ago. And that’s what we promised, and that’s what we’re delivering,” Pinsonat explained.

Pinsonat says the most emotional debate of the legislative session so far was over a bill to prohibit the use of eminent domain for carbon capture and sequestration projects. Pinsonat says legislative leaders have made sure that and other controversial bills make it out of committee.

“Limiting carbon capture, that’s the best example. And that’s kind of what we’re seeing. You have the same thing going on with any law reform or anything related to insurance reform,” Pinsonat said.

“I received a phone call from a parent at one of our local high schools, asking us to consider this. And then when I looked into it and what the requirements are to be considered sanctioned, I think there are some safety concerns for me,” Wilder said.

Wilder says he especially noted how hazardous cheerleading can be, given the routines they do on hard surfaces.

“We’re throwing these teenage girls 15 feet in the air, or the cheerleading team is, and there’s no safety protocols for that right now,” Wilder explained.

Wilder says by placing cheerleading under LHSAA authority, along with dance and lacrosse, there could be safety protocols in place to protect the participants.

“When you’re a sanctioned sport, there are certain factors that come into play. A couple of them would be insurance and health & safety requirements,” Wilder noted.

Unlike a bill, a resolution is non-binding. This one is a concurrent resolution, which means if it passes in the House, it will move to the Senate for its approval.

“There’s going to be work where we’re going to need to close ramps, and motorists will need to detour to maybe the next exit to get to their particular destination,” Druilhet explained.

Druilhet says most of the work will be done during the overnight hours.

“We know that I-49 is a very heavily traveled thoroughfare, with a little over 85,000 vehicles per day. So the majority of the work that we’re doing is going to be at night,” Druilhet said.

Druilhet says the parts of the project that would present the biggest disruptions would be reserved for the weekends, when volume won’t be nearly as heavy.

“When it comes to the weekend, when crews are going to be pouring concrete, we definitely will need time for that concrete to pour, so there may be times that we will have a lane that will be closed throughout the entire weekend,” Druilhet noted.

The $43 million project is expected to be completed in the summer of 2027.

Arrambide’s 4 home runs: LSU was down 5-0 in the 5th inning, but Arrambide started the comeback with a solo home run.

Arrambide homered again in the 7th inning as the Tigers went back-to-back-to-back to get within one run. John Pearson and Seth Dardar also homered in that inning.

Arambide homered for a third time in the 11th inning as the Tigers took a 7-6 lead. The Volunteers tied it in the bottom of the 11th inning.

And then Arambide broke the game open in the 12th inning, with an opposite-field home run off the scoreboard to give LSU an 11-6 lead. It was part of a 10-run 12th inning.

Arrambide had four homers coming into the game; he doubled that total in one game.

Homer Happy: LSU took advantage of the small dimensions at Lindsey Nelson Stadium by hitting seven home runs on Sunday. Stevan Milam, John Pearson, and Seth Dardar also homered.

LSU scored 24 runs in the series. Twenty of their 24 runs were scored as a result of home runs.

Other heroes: Arrambide is the main story, but there were other heroes.

Josh Brown’s infield single on a 1-2 count in the bottom of the ninth inning was a big at-bat.

Great pitching performances from Zac Cowan and Gavin Guidry. Cowan pitched four innings without giving up an earned run.

Gavin Guidry was the winning pitcher. Guidry was listed as the starter for game three of the series, but Coach Jay Johnson went with Grant Fontenot instead, who allowed three unearned runs in 2.2 innings.

Guidry (4-3) coming out of the pen was really good as he allowed just one earned run in 5.1 innings.

Sunday Funday: LSU has played three SEC games on Sundays, and they’ve scored 49 runs.

Comeback Tigers: LSU pulled off some minor miracles during Holy Week.

Sunday, March 29: Kentucky led 7-0 in the 3rd inning, came back to win 17-10

Tuesday, March 31: Southern led 6-1 in the 3rd inning, came back to win 16-6 in 7 innings.

Friday, April 3: Tennessee led 4-1 in the 8th inning, came back to win 7-5.

Sunday, April 5: Tennessee led 5-1 in the 7th inning, came back to win 16-6 in 12 innings.

Jay Johnson didn’t see the end of this one: Arrambide went 5-for-6 with four home runs and 7 RBIs. The one-time Tennessee got him out was on a questionable called third strike that looked low. Johnson quickly came out of the dugout to let home plate umpire Eric Goshay know it was a ball. Johnson got right in Goshay’s face. It was a short argument, but it got the Tigers fired up as LSU was still able to push across the tying run in the ninth inning.

What it means: LSU is 5-5 in SEC play with another road series coming up next week at Ole Miss. The Tigers have shown the ability to come from behind, they score runs in bunches, and there’s plenty of pitching for this team to make a deep run.

Need to clean up the defense! Four more errors on Sunday as only one of Tennessee’s runs was earned

This team deserves credit for consistently battling back and never giving up, regardless of setbacks.

State Police have charged 57-year-old Todd Landry of Jeanerette with driving while impaired, open container, careless operation and 18 counts of first-degree injuring.

The Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office  says 19 people watching the Lao New Year Parade in Broussard were elevated and treated at area hospitals for injuries. Seven of those individuals were admitted to the hospital and three are still in the ICU. According to IPSO, all patients are in stable condition.

Troopers say Landry showed signs of impairment and a breath sample showed he had a BAC of 0.137. The legal limit is .08.

Acadiana Ambulance says they transported a total of 11 patients by ground and two victims by air. Four of victims reportedly suffered critical injuries.

The parade is one of the highlights of a three-day New Year celebration in the Lanxang Village, a Laotian neighborhood near New Iberia with hundreds of families, and near the Buddhist temple grounds of Wat Thammarattanaram.

The event features Southeastern Asian food, music, a parade and plenty of family friend activities that attract thousands each year.

Governor Jeff Landry released the following statement.

“Sharon and I are praying for all those affected, and are grateful for the first responders who have responded to the scene,” he said.

The plan consists of three main pillars. Dr. Donna Williams, the associate director for the LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center says the first one is prevention through the HPV vaccine.

“We’ve had a very safe, an extremely effective vaccine for over a decade now, for HPV, which is a cause of 99% of cervical cancers or more,” Williams said.

The plan aims to increase HPV vaccination rates among Louisiana girls between the ages of 13 to 17 from the current 67-percent to 80-percent by 2035.

Dr. Williams says the second pillar is screening and early detection.

“We have a new test that’s been available for about a year now, and that’s a self collection test that woman can do it any doctor’s office, they don’t have to be at the gynecologist to get the test anymore,” Williams said.

The Bayou Blueprint targets an increase in up-to-date cervical cancer screening among Louisiana women ages 21 to 65 from 74% to 80% by 2035.

Williams says the third pillar is follow-up and treatment.

“We want to make sure that every woman who has an abnormal result has access to the doctors and nurses they need to get treated because cervical cancer and pre-cancer is completely treatable and completely curable,” Williams said.

The initiative targes 80% adherence to follow-up care after abnormal screen results by 2035.

Currently, the cervical cancer rate in Louisiana is 8.9 cases per 100-thousand women. Williams says the goal is to reduce that rate to less than three cases per 100-thousand, which would make it so rare that it would be considered eliminated.

“It shouldn’t be public information based upon the possibility of her being targeted, accosted, sought after, it’s just a safety precaution,” Chassion said.

The Public Affairs Research Council opposes the bill because it says the revenue-sharing agreements use public money, and citizens have a right to see how public money is spent. No one voted against the legislation when it was debated in House Education, but Houma Representative Beryl Amedee has a concern.

“This is really broad and I’m concerned that we are expanding confidentiality so much that we are losing necessary transparency,” Amedee said.

Three reporters, including Tiger Rag Executive Editor Todd Horne, recently filed a lawsuit against LSU arguing the revenue sharing agreements should be made public. Louisiana Radio Network and Tiger Rag are owned by the same company, Kingfish Communications.

LSU says releasing the information puts the athletic department at a competitive disadvantage and infringes on the privacy of student athletes.

Chaisson, whose daughter was a walk-on on the UConn women’s basketball team during the 2020-21 season, says for safety reasons, what a student makes from the university should not be made public.

“So my daughter being a college athlete, I don’t want anyone knowing what my daughter made in terms of revenue-sharing, I don’t want anyone targeting my daughter,” Chaisson said.

“In the last couple of years, with the cocoa market and where it’s been, it has been crazy. We’ve seen prices triple for us in just a couple of years,” Nelson said.

According to InvestorsObserver.com, Easter Candy prices have increased 67% 2020. But Nelson says it still has been good year for Elmer Chocolate.

“Sales were up in dollars, a little bit down in units just with the price of cocoa, which is what we thought, and then the shorter Easter season. But sales at retail seem to be very brisk,” Nelson explained.

Nelson says their Gold Brick Egg and Heavenly Hash continue to be among the most popular Easter candies in the Gulf South.

“It’s an unusual anomaly to have such a brand that is so big regionally. There’s nothing else like it in the country,” Nelson noted.

Nelson says next year they plan to introduce new flavors for Gold Brick Egg and Heavenly Hash next year. If you go to Elmer’s social media channels, you can choose what you would like to see next year or give a suggestion.

“I will tell you that they are vetted. They do not come up to us with the ‘everybody should’ spiel. We’ve got to know that they’re at the end of their life,” Westcott said.

Louisiana’s two-month window for medical early release is the shortest in the country. Wescott says by giving the state an additional two months, it allows the department more time to adequately determine the appropriate care for an inmate very close to death.

The bill’s author is state representative Jerome Zeringue. The Houma Republican calls himself a tough on crime legislator, but compassion can be shown to an inmate’s family in this situation.

“The important thing to recognize is that the incarcerated also have families who are affected by the incarceration and may be considered victims in their own right. And this is called to offer some compassion and maybe some solace to those family members as well,” Zeringue said.

Westcott says three inmates have received medical parole this year. Ten were released last year. The secretary says if an inmate is released under medical parole, the inmate can be returned to state custody if his or her health improves.

“If they get better; if all of a sudden, they have a miracle, because there is some; I returned one on December 16th. We returned them back to custody,” Westcott noted.

The House Criminal Justice Committee unanimously approved the bill, and the measure heads to the House floor. If approved, the measure could save the state money; because once an inmate is released because they are terminally ill, Medicaid picks up the cost of their health care.