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.

A new app gives Louisiana children and parents tools in the fight against online predators.

A conservation success story is taking flight with efforts to protect the endangered whooping crane.

Plus, Louisiana faces a troubling trend.

We'll look at what new numbers reveal about the state's poverty rate.

Two wheels, winding trails and a whole lot of adventure y mountain bikers are flocking to a state park.

Let's get started.

Hi, everyone.

I'm Christina Jensen, and I'm Victor Howell.

Much more on those top stories in a moment on this week's edition of Louisiana The State We're In.

But first, hurricane warnings are in effect this morning as Ices moves closer to landfall.

As of Friday morning, the storm had intensified to a category three with winds reaching 120mph.

Forecasters say, could continue to strengthen before making landfall somewhere between Mobile and Pensacola.

Here in Louisiana, tropical storm warnings are in effect for Lower Jefferson and Plaquemines Parish.

Plaquemines has issued a voluntary evacuation, saying the storm could bring 3 to 5ft of storm surge.

While ranks near the top in the country for the number of human trafficking cases per capita.

Now a new tool called Play Safe Louisiana could help children recognize potential warning signs and report online predators.

Cyberbullying and appropriate content online predators.

These are just a few of the hidden dangers when kids play interactive games online.

We have put devices, phones and computers and students hands, and we don't talk to them enough about the dangers of the people who are preying on them.

Kim Muzi is the principal of Central Middle School and is dedicated to every student success, both academically and socially.

Although online gaming can be fun, kids face problems with emotional distress, online dangers, and predatory grooming.

Kids can be taken advantage of.

Our kids can give out too much information and be preyed upon, and so we just want to keep our kids safe.

Now, the state has launched a new game designed to help children and parents recognize and report predators to help kids play safe.

It's a free online game by the governor's office to prevent human trafficking and keep the kids safe.

Place safe.

Louisiana puts young people in realistic online gaming scenarios and teaches them how to recognize the dangers.

One of the top priorities of my administration is keeping our children safe.

That's why we're so proud that Louisiana is the first state in the nation to launch a program like Play Safe Louisiana statewide.

Common tactics used by an online stranger may seem natural to kids, and they may not recognize the danger, but play safe.

Louisiana changes that.

In less than 15 minutes.

Kids can gain the tools they need to say safer.

Online predators often use online games as a way to groom children, with the goal of connecting with them in real life, pulling them into the world of human trafficking.

How would you define human trafficking?

Human trafficking is the crime of using force, fraud, or coercion to compel a person into commercial sexual activity or labor services against their will?

Mary Kate Andrew is the executive director at Louisiana's Office of Human Trafficking, which is the lead agency combating the problem.

Play safe.

Is a platform that teaches kids online predator tactics, so that could be the predator can lead to the child sexual abuse system being disseminated and shared or trafficking.

It operates under the nationally recognized for Peace framework prevention, protection, prosecution, and partnerships.

So as.

They're playing the game, they can also chat with the other players on the game, some of which are people they know and some of which are people they don't know.

One of the primary dangers that kids face from predators is called cyberbullying, because the gaming platforms feel like safe places to hang out.

Students often drop their guard, making them highly vulnerable to malicious actors.

Students tend to, you know, go online all the time, and they don't necessarily think anything is dangerous and they just communicate with people.

That is just how their world functions.

Online predators typically masquerade as fellow students or other kids playing the same game.

Strangers may use in-game chat features to praise a student's skills or offer free digital gifts so that unnatural text messages go unchecked with private chatting.

Louisiana is the first state to actually.

Utilize this resource.

Yeah, and certainly there are a lot of prevention education resources out there.

I don't know of any other resource that's like this game, right?

That is interactive, that really simulates an online chatting feature in these online games.

And so it really meets children where they are.

Students have different experiences.

And so some are worldly and some are not.

And so, you know, different kids are going to react differently to different questions that they get posed.

And once trust is established, predators attempt to isolate the students from their parents with private messaging, private photos and physical locations.

Have you ever gotten scared of a message that came through?

Yes.

Some things would they ask, like where you're from, what school you go to?

I try to keep it public, though.

I don't want to get into anything personal.

Do you think now after playing this game, you might react differently if, you're communicating with someone online.

I feel like it showed me how instead of having to wait to be cautious, what I can do to notice, like kind of weird behavior and how I can kind of take a step back and realize like, whoa, this is weird.

It shows you what you can do.

Options like you can report something, you can tell your friends like, like, or if you like if you should leave it alone, but you shouldn't leave it alone.

It allows you to see from like a different perspective on how you can be safe and how if you choose one wrong move, a lot of things can change and happen.

Well, let's take a look at what's going on this week in the world of sports.

Victor, what's happening a lot basically in the fall.

You know, of course we know.

We got football season.

You went to Monroe last year for the hockey story, right?

So fun.

Minor league hockey is about to start up, but we're gonna start some basketball because we had some early October basketball here in Louisiana.

Yes, I know we are in the heart of football season, but let's go to the hardwood for the feel good basketball game that took place Thursday night in Lake Charles.

You might remember we interviewed Will Wade here on the state we're in.

Back when he left McNeese for the job at NC state.

Well, unless you've just completely tuned out sports, you know, Wade has returned to Louisiana and LSU.

But he told us back then he would never forget McNeese or the Lake Charles community for the opportunity they gave him.

Thursday night, he gave back Wade and his Tiger team, played an exhibition game against the Cowboys in Lake Charles, and all of the money went to the cowboy basketball program.

Tiger fans have been wondering just how many players does Wade have on his team?

Well, he had ten in uniform for this one Thursday night.

Neither one of these teams are anywhere near even early season four, but that didn't stop a capacity crowd from turning out the result irrelevant.

In the end, the Tigers did win 63 to 60, but it was a positive night all the way around.

Well, don't talk too much football in the Big Easy right now.

On Monday night, the Saints biggest rival rolled into town and made it look way too easy in front of a national audience and beating up on the Saints.

It was supposed to be a celebration for the Who Dat Nation.

20 years after the return from Katrina, and Steve Gleason's kicked six block and score for the win.

Well, the Falcons weren't interested in celebrating Monday night, so they ran for over 200 yards and beat the Saints 45 to 24, leaving an energetic fan base booing at times and a team that's looking for answers.

Yeah.

Locker rooms disappointed.

Frustration.

You know, these guys put a lot into this.

And for us not to not to have a game like we had expected, there's a lot of frustration in that.

And so, you know, our guys just had to come together to stick together.

That's that's the path of the NFL.

There's highs and lows in the league.

You know, these are challenging circumstances when you're dealt, you know, 1 in 3 start, with the energy that our guys have and the, the goals that our guys have.

And, we just got to keep going.

And, you know, you get to use these things as as big time growth opportunities, as challenging as they are and as frustrating as they are for everyone, fans, players, coaches, everyone, a part of this thing, we just gotta move on and keep getting better.

And we can't ignore this game.

We have to learn a ton from this game.

And you know, we're going to be back here on Sunday with one more opportunity in this little stretch.

And finally, on the college level, we have four state teams that are on a buy this week.

But of the teams that are in action, there's a big one taking place in Ruston on Saturday night inside the A, the Raging Cajuns from Lafayette are headed north to take on Louisiana Tech in Tech's debut in the Sun Belt Conference.

These two teams used to be conference rivals when they were both in the Big West Conference back in the 90s.

The Bulldogs left conference USA after last season and will make their SBC debut Saturday night at home in this renewed rivalry should be a great atmosphere and we will have a big preview of that game coming up Saturday morning on game notes.

Christine, it's great to see you.

They were so excited about coming back to the Sun Belt Conference because of the built in rivalries with you on Monroe right down the road.

And Louisiana kicks off tomorrow night.

It should be fun.

It's going to be a fun weekend indeed.

All right.

Thank you vector.

Well let's talk some.

More good news.

Once near extinction, Louisiana's whooping crane population is making a comeback.

Wildlife experts estimate there are now roughly 84 whooping cranes in the wild across the state.

But the work isn't over to ensure their survival.

If you've seen the movie Fly Away Home, you may remember a young girl teaching a flock of geese how to migrate.

Well, when I heard Louisiana was using a similar approach, I wanted to see how it actually works.

There was a movie years ago.

They were teaching geese a migration route, and.

But we've done the same thing with whooping cranes.

Sarah Zamoyski is a wildlife biologist with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

I met her at the White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area, where she oversees the state's whooping crane reintroduction project.

The numbers sound small, but we had ten chicks that fledged, which is our highest ever.

Now ten chicks.

It may not sound like a lot, but for a bird that once came within a breath of extinction, every chick matters.

At their lowest, there was only 21 of them left.

So they've made a remarkable comeback.

But there's still a lot of work left to be done.

At one point there were only 21 of them left.

By then, the whooping crane had already been on a long decline.

In 1967, the bird was listed as threatened.

Three years later, it was listed as endangered, and in 1973 the Endangered Species Act became law.

More than 50 years later, the whooping crane is still federally listed as endangered.

From the historical record, we think that there were 10,000 whooping cranes, maybe more, but there were never hundreds of thousands of cranes.

They were just a species where there was always less of them.

And then when their habitat was lost, primarily wetlands were drained and converted for agriculture.

Not just in Louisiana, but across all of North America.

Those small numbers of birds could not adapt and the justice quickly.

Today, there are a little more than 800 whooping cranes.

The largest wild population still migrates from Canada to the Texas coast.

But for this species, recovery also means spreading the population out.

If there was a storm or some kind of disease outbreak or something that would impact the population, if we only had one population in one location, we would be at risk of losing the whole species again.

And that's where Louisiana comes in.

These birds have a history here.

They're native to the state.

It's one of the reasons that this area was selected for the reintroduction is because from the historic records, we know that this was actually the last place that we had whooping cranes in Louisiana.

In 2011, L.W.

F started its reintroduction program in Vermilion Parish with just ten young cranes.

Today, 84 call Louisiana home.

Alligators and bald eagles and brown pelicans who are all doing well today.

Alligators really, really well.

But at one point, all of those species were threatened or endangered in the state of Louisiana, and the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has worked to help recover and restore those, those species.

And so we hope that the whooping crane can be sort of the next species on that list.

And now you can actually see that recovery playing out across the state.

We wanted to see them for ourselves.

So I hit the road with Sarah.

But more likely they're going to be a little bit weary.

And there they were, a pair of whooping cranes out in the landscape they now call home.

And even from the road, I could see just how big these birds really are.

They can stand nearly five feet tall, making them the tallest bird in North America.

A lot of our birds have transmitters, and so we monitor that transmitter data as well.

So it's a combination of factors that allows us to keep track of them.

Keeping track of them takes more than a transmitter.

Landowners and farmers also help report where the birds are.

And then there are the hazards these birds have to navigate.

We contacted Entergy about installing some markers on that line, and the markers make the line more visible so that the birds will hopefully see it in lower light or foggy conditions.

And if they can see it, then they can avoid it.

But protecting these birds is only part of the challenge.

They also have to be prepared for life in the wild.

And that process can look a little like something out of a movie.

One of the first programs, they put roofing crane eggs into sandhill crane nests.

And what happened is that when those Santo crane hatched, those chicks, those whooping cranes grew up, but they were improperly imprinted.

That experience forced wildlife managers to rethink how these birds were raised, so they could develop the behaviors they would need to survive in the wild.

Sort of a big, baggy white dress.

Essentially, we have a hood that covers the head, and it just disguises the fact that we're a person.

And the results are starting to show up in the wild.

Today, 32 of the whooping cranes in Louisiana were born in the wild.

And this year, two of those wild born cranes became parents, producing one of the ten chicks born this season.

Every one of those chicks is important because that's another wild bird that's here in Louisiana.

After they almost disappeared from Louisiana decades ago.

Whooping cranes are once again part of this beautiful landscape.

Nearly 1 in 5 people in Louisiana live below the federal poverty line, nearly double the national average.

And that's according to a new report from the U.S.

Census Bureau.

I sat down with John Mueller from Invest in Louisiana to dig into this issue.

Joining me now is Yann Mueller, CEO of Invest in Louisiana.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you for.

Having me.

Well, Louisiana now has the highest poverty rate in the nation, according to new data.

Why do you think that is?

Well, first of all, let's start with the numbers.

19.6% of Louisianans are living underneath the federal poverty line.

That's the highest rate in the country by two percentage points.

It's it's really, I think, worse than that, because we know that the federal poverty line is very low.

You have to make below $17,000 a year as an individual to fall below that line, $33,000 a year for a family of four.

There are a lot of people living below that line, but also a lot of people just above that threshold who are still struggling to get by.

So we know that far too many people in this state, most of whom are working, are just struggling to pay the bills week to week, month to month.

And a lot of that has to do, frankly, with low wages.

We had a lot of people who work who just can't get by on the money that they make, because so many of the jobs in this state don't pay enough.

Don't pay a living wage.

We are one of five states that don't have a minimum wage law on its books, so we default to the federal minimum wage that hasn't been raised since 2009.

So we're now 17 years and counting.

It's lost an enormous amount of its buying power due to inflation.

So many people who are working, sometimes 2 or 3 jobs, just can't make enough money to put food on the table to keep a roof over their head and to keep their family fed.

Which group do you believe is most at risk for poverty in Louisiana?

Well, I can be at risk for poverty, but historically, African Americans in our state have have suffered the most from poverty.

Women, single moms are more likely to live in poverty.

So it's but really it can happen to anybody in any walk of life.

We have a lot of businesses coming to the state space.

That big announcement.

Meta.

Will this help at all with our poverty rate, do you believe?

Well, we're going to see there's kind of two factors that are pulling in opposite direction.

We have all of this private investment coming in with state space and Meta and Hyundai closer to us here in Baton Rouge.

That will be creating jobs.

A lot of construction jobs, certainly in the short term, but also some permanent jobs.

At the same time, we have things taking us in the wrong direction, specifically the cuts that have come down to the Snap program, the food assistance program.

More than 165,000 Louisianans have lost their food benefits over the past year.

We know that similar cuts are coming to the Medicaid program.

So we have a lot of people who are in this poverty, you know, below the poverty line or right above who rely on these public programs for food and medicine, who are going to lose access to that.

So I think for some people there will be access, maybe to higher paying jobs as these investments take root in the next few years.

But there's also going to be a lot of people wondering, having a harder time putting food on the table and seeing a doctor when they get sick.

What could we be doing differently as a state?

Well, I think there's a lot of things, and I don't know if there are any original ideas here, but we should certainly be looking at raising the minimum wage.

But I think philosophically, you know, the state government has taken the approach of let's see how much we can give to the business community by cutting taxes, by giving grants and tax breaks, and then hope that business kind of takes care of the job situation.

We have not done enough to invest in our people and in our communities.

So when I think of Snap, when I think of food assistance, I don't think of that as welfare, but an investment in healthy children.

Children can't learn and thrive if they don't have enough to eat.

Medicaid is not a welfare program.

It's an investment in health, in the health of people and communities.

And so and so is job training.

And we just don't do enough often on the front end to invest in people and communities so that they have the tools and the resources that they need to thrive.

And maybe they can be the ones to create jobs and really build the kind of communities, businesses and jobs that we need to have a thriving community that takes a little longer than giving a tax break to a corporation.

But ultimately, I think that's going to pay off bigger in the long run if we make these sustained investments in people and communities.

We can only hope so.

Before we let you go.

Any last?

Any last thoughts?

Well, I think this I want to just make one note about the census.

The data we're looking at is the census number.

It comes out every fall around this time, and it is a three year rolling average.

But the census data is going to have more Louisiana specific numbers coming in.

Usually it comes out in September.

It's being delayed this year.

It's called the American Community Survey.

That data is going to give us a lot more detailed picture of where Louisiana specifically stands on poverty, health insurance coverage, all these measures of well-being.

But again, we are only just seeing the effects of this one big, beautiful bill that passed at the federal level, which is having huge implications for people with low incomes here in Louisiana.

I hope we can improve the numbers eventually.

Absolutely.

That's what we're working for.

Well, thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you for having me.

For mountain bikers, a state park is becoming a must ride destination in Louisiana.

Its winding trails, hilly terrain, and natural scenery draw riders of all skill levels to the park.

We hit the trails to find out what makes this Louisiana cycling hotspot so popular.

Four state known for rivers, swamps and piney woods, this may not be the kind of Louisiana adventure you expect.

We actually have a mountain bike park that people come from all over the country to ride.

At a state park near Franklinton.

Mountain biking has transformed the way thousands of people experience the great outdoors, and these trails are attracting everyone from first time riders to those looking for their next big challenge.

It's one of the only places along the Gulf Coast for us to have any amount of fun like this at this level.

Anything like this, at this level, we have to go north or further, you know, towards North Georgia North.

It's a long drive.

So locally for us, this is a great place.

Wasn't originally built around mountain biking.

The park opened to the public in 2010, covering more than 1700 acres of forest, swamps, streams and the river.

We started out with about a six mile hike and trail, about ten miles of horse trails, and a few years later we had about three miles of hand-built mountain bike trails.

Its rolling terrain makes the park unusual for south of Louisiana, and eventually that elevation became an opportunity.

It's in a location that you just would not believe that you're that close to Covington in New Orleans.

Whenever you come here, beautiful rolling hills.

We have about 200ft of elevation, and it just makes for a beautiful, beautiful park.

And so it's an ideal place to develop a mountain bike park.

True mountain biking, not just some flat stuff that's normal for Louisiana.

The trails are largely the work of the North Shore Off Road Biking Association, or Norba, and its development coordinator, Toby Cortez, along with a dedicated group of volunteers.

The first few miles of dedicated mountain bike trails opened in 2019.

Volunteers put in more than 1000 hours clearing land, building and marking those original trails, and that small beginning quickly grew.

Today, there are around 23 miles of trails, with everything from hand-cut single track and flowing trails to jumps, rock gardens and complicated technical features like the Tower of Terror.

Each trail is given a difficulty rating green for the easiest, blue for more experienced riders, and black for advanced thrill seekers.

They're all centered around a main community space.

Which you have as a trailhead that has all of the rides that's around the trailhead, and that's very unique in mountain biking.

You don't normally see that, but we have a dual slalom course, a drop zone, a skills course.

We have this pump track right here.

We have this little bitty baby pump track right here.

It's a baby mountain bike playground.

And we got the big boy jumps that go over there.

And so that's what we that was the core of the design was to design this for something for everybody that can have a community atmosphere and come together.

In 2024, had jumped from the seventh most visited state park in Louisiana to one of the most visited parks.

Following the addition of the bike trails, a major competition in 2021 drew an 1100 people from all across the southeast.

All of the trails are named after Louisiana roller coaster.

We have Mega Gator bait, the Flying scooter, the the Wild Mouse.

So they're all named after roller coasters.

So of course we have a bike festival in its name, The Roller Coaster of Love, and it's an annual event that we have people coming from all over the country, and it's the number one fundraiser for Norba.

And all of those proceeds go back into the park.

The trails are also building community groups like the all female Louisiana area single track Sisters, or Less Meat regularly to encourage women to take an interest in cycling and dirt ops, which focuses on getting military veterans together to enjoy the outdoors and year round locals and tourists packed to enjoy the trails, build their cycling skills and enjoy the biking community.

I think the park is amazing.

The folks that who's been involved in the park has done such a great job to provide a sense of community for the kids, the parents, everyone to come outside and have a fantastic time.

I originally came here, went on a roller coaster of love, and it was so much fun because everyone graded each other and was so kind and it just welcomed us.

And I've progressed ever since.

I like mountain.

Biking because it allows me to be outside and and have a hobby that's different from most people.

I've traveled to ride mountain bikes and Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida everywhere.

And this is so unique that you can't even you can't find any place like this.

All right.

Well, that is our show for this week.

Remember, you can watch anything LP anytime, wherever you are with our LPB app.

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, when you have a moment like us on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram.

For everyone at Louisiana Public Broadcasting, I'm Christina Jensen.

And I'm Victor Howell.

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 Visit Baton Rouge and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

And viewers like you.

Thank you.