Briefs
Advocacy groups want emergency election plan from Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin
Twenty-eight advocacy groups, including the NAACP, Voice of the Experienced and the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice sent a letter to Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin last week asking that he develop a election emergency plan that will allow for maximum voter participation amidst the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. In their letter to […]
Louisiana small businesses can now seek reimbursement for pandemic-related costs
Louisiana Treasurer John Schroder announced Tuesday that Louisiana’s small businesses can now apply for grants that the Louisiana Legislature established to help them survive the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Main Street Recovery Program is funded with $275 million the Louisiana Legislature set aside during this year’s regular session to help the state’s small businesses. Republicans […]
Teachers hold protest in front of Baton Rouge school district office
Teachers protested the reopening of schools in front of the East Baton Rouge Parish School District Office on Wednesday. Educators and concerned parents and students gathered wearing masks and red attire. Protesters held up signs that read “I can’t teach Algebra 2 from my grave,” and “Educators essential but not expendable!” “Now is not the […]
Southwestern Athletic Conference postpones fall sporting events to spring 2021
The Southwestern Athletic Conference will postpone all scheduled fall sporting events, which impacts men’s and women’s cross country, football, women’s soccer and women’s volleyball, until the 2021 spring semester. The conference said in a statement released on Monday that “this action was necessary out of growing concern for the health, safety and well-being both mentally […]
Louisiana sets up rental assistance program for people affected by economic slowdown
Louisiana has set up a rental assistance program for people who are in jeopardy of losing their housing. The program is starting out with $7 million in federal funding, and is expected to grow to at least $24 million. Officials said they are also searching for more financial support. The assistance is available on a […]
Louisiana’s $250 front-line worker payment may run out by the end of the week
Louisiana’s supplemental $250 payments for front-line workers looks likely to run out in the next day or so. Gov. John Bel Edwards encouraged people who qualify to file their applications in a matter of hours if they want to receive a payment. The state has already received 125,000 applications for the $250 payment since the […]
Technical issues plaguing revenue department as Louisianians apply for aid
The Louisiana Department of Revenue says in a press release that between midnight and 7 a.m. 14,000 residents applied for money set aside for front-line workers who stayed on the job during the pandemic. But since then a “network connectivity issue has affected all applications on the Louisiana Taxpayer Access Point portal, including the frontline […]
Louisiana’s front-line workers can apply for $250 COVID-19 rebates Wednesday
During the recently concluded special session, Louisiana lawmakers passed a bill introduced by Rep. Sam Jenkins (D-Shreveport) that allows essential employees who kept working through the COVID-19 pandemic to apply for $250 in aid. The application process, the Louisiana Department of Revenue has announced, begins Wednesday. Louisianians who earn less than $50,000 annually and who worked […]
BESE meets Tuesday afternoon to discuss new COVID-19 guidelines
The Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, July 14 to create emergency rules and guidelines that “provide minimum standards, policies, medical exceptions and regulations to govern the reopening of the schools for the 2020 school year,” said BESE President Sandy Holloway.” The meeting is being held […]
Health equity task force to create dashboard to provide COVID-19 data
The Louisiana Covid-19 Health Equity Task Force is creating a dashboard that will allow Louisiana residents to access information related to racial inequities in the state’s health care system. That dashboard, which was discussed at a Friday afternoon meeting of the task force, is meant for residents, policymakers and community leaders and will, its members […]
Vice President Mike Pence to visit Baton Rouge Tuesday to discuss Louisiana’s COVID-19 response
Louisiana, especially the Baton Rouge area, has seen a disturbing spike in COVID-19 cases, which has caused the federal government to make the capital city one of three cities nationwide where it’s adding 5,000 COVID-19 tests a day. Vice President Mike Pence, who leads the federal government’s coronavirus task force, will travel to Baton Rouge […]
Sen. Bill Cassidy encourages Louisianians to wear masks and keep their distance
U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy posted a COVID-19 update on his campaign website Friday that calls for Louisianians to wear masks to help slow down the spread of the novel coronavirus and decrease the number of people getting sick. Cassidy is a gastroenterologist who worked and taught at the charity hospital in Baton Rouge and co-founded […]