Entergy is proud to support programing on LPB and greener practices that preserve Louisiana.

The goal of our environmental and sustainability initiatives really is to ensure that our kids and future generations can be left with a cleaner planet.

Additional support provided by the Fred B and Ruth B Zigler Foundation and the Zigler 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.

This could be an artifact of climate change, the warmest December on record could hint at a much bigger problem.

That's part of the role it plays is to try and be a watchdog for those dollars.

A new addition to the Public Affairs Research Council.

This pardon is a step in the right direction at 125 year old convict finally pardoned no matter where you are.

No matter what walk of life, there's a way you can help a changing economy exacerbating food insecurity.

Hi everyone, I'm Kara St. Cyr.

Andre’ Moreau is on assignment, though we will hear from him during this broadcast.

Louisiana COVID cases have surpassed yet another record for single day infections.

The Department of Health recorded 14,077 cases just in one day, shattering Delta's peak last summer.

In a press conference yesterday, Dr. Joseph Kantor with the State Health Department said that Macron is more contagious than previous variants.

Currently, this strain makes up 91% of all cases.

Kanter also said that al-Muqrin hospitalizations are rising, but the percentage of people requiring a hospital stay is less than previous waves, which suggests that the variant causes milder symptoms.

The governor also spoke at this conference.

He encouraged everyone to mask up and get vaccinated and boosted, but he did not pass any mandates.

And now to news making headlines across the state.

The oldest living American World War two veteran, Lawrence Brooks, died Tuesday at the age of 112.

As per his wishes, Brooks died in his own bed at home in the central city neighborhood of New Orleans.

He had always said the secret to living a long life was to serve God and be nice to people.

Less than five months after announcing that its long affiliation with Our Lady of the Lake Hospital would end, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center has agreed to share resources with Baton Rouge Generals Pennington Cancer Center.

The new partnership will allow Bragg, a member of the Mayo Clinic's Care Network and MVP, to leverage resources, according to the announcement.

This latest, in a series of shakeups in the capital region's health care market, began when NBP launched a partnership with Nashville based one Oncology, and the league unveiled plans to build a 100 million dollar cancer treatment center.

The State Office of Tourism.

Feed Your Soul floats and wowed fans and judges at the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, on New Year's Day was named winner of the Wrigley Legacy Award.

It goes to the most outstanding display of floral presentation, float design and entertainment.

The float featured 34,000 roses and handmade magnolias, a French quarter style balcony and a bayou shadowed by cypress trees and Spanish moss.

In November, at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York, another distinctive Louisiana float got rave reviews, both being used to spark tourism in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic.

Legendary LSU basketball coach Dale Brown was surrounded by his family, former players, workers and friends for the unveiling of Dale Brown caught at the Maravich Center Tuesday night.

The 86 year old winningest coach in tiger basketball history, humanitarian and advocate for human rights, spoke of gratitude and humbly gave thanks to those players, he said.

Made this all possible.

It was also fitting that LSU beat Kentucky in the battle of nationally ranked heavyweights on this night.

When Brown arrived at LSU in 1972, the Tigers had only beaten the Wildcats twice in their history.

That all changed when Brown established LSU as a national force.

His team's 118 of LSU's total of 28 wins in the series.

We had one of the warmest Decembers on record this year with an average of 63 degrees, almost ten degrees higher than normal.

Louisiana State climatologist Dr Barry Kime says that December's unusual weather is a result of years of climate change and a weather pattern called La Nina.

So thank you for meeting with me, Dr. Barry Kime.

You are the Louisiana state climatologist.

Can you explain briefly what that means?

I am charged with archiving all the weather and climate data for the state of Louisiana and then to make it available to whoever needs it.

And that includes lawyers, second graders for their social studies, projects, state police.

So I provide data for really for anybody.

So speaking of climate and weather, this December was pretty hot.

Normally, I think the average day was in the sixties.

Is this normal for December weather in Louisiana?

Absolutely not.

We've had an extraordinary December.

In fact, it's very likely to be the warmest December we have on record, with our record keeping going back over 100 years.

The data right now were preliminary.

What it looks like right now is most of north Louisiana was somewhere on the order of twelve to 13 degrees above normal.

South Louisiana not quite as dramatic, but more like eight to nine degrees above normal.

But at every location that I examined this past December, December, 2021 was the warmest December on record.

How is this possible, especially whenever other parts of the country are experiencing freezing weather and where, you know, in the sixties or in the eighties in Louisiana?

I think part of the explanation lies in what we call a La Nina.

La Nina is this phenomena that takes place down in the tropical Pacific Ocean, whereby the temperatures become cooler than normal over a vast area of the Pacific Ocean.

And that lack of energy affects the circulation patterns all around the globe.

And it affects the United States, obviously, and in our particular case.

Dawn La Nina winters in particular, the storms tend to track further towards the north, and it leaves us drier than normal.

And December was drier than normal, I might add.

But more importantly, we're affected by air flowing off of the Gulf of Mexico, and as a result, it's hot and humid and we're not getting many as many polar excursions.

So does climate change play any role in this at all?

This could be an artifact of climate change, but I think the the signature, the fingerprints, if you will, are more La Nina fingerprints, which which could be exacerbated by global warming.

So for us to actually see climate change and to say, definitely this is climate change, what would that have to look like, especially in the state of Louisiana?

There's a lot of factors at play that we have to sort of sift through and try to understand what is having the biggest contribution.

So I think the biggest contribution this December was La Nina.

Now it may have been augmented.

These warm temperatures may have been augmented by by global climate change.

In fact, that that's very likely.

So if this warm weather were to continue certain diseases, things that are transmitted by mosquitoes when we have these mild winters.

I mean, I would argue that that's a better opportunity for for certain organisms like mosquitoes to to to proliferate into the spring and be very robust by the time we get into the summer.

So there are certainly issues like that.

You were saying that we were experiencing milder winters and that's been occurring for how long, at least the last 50 to 100 years.

I mean, as we've progressed through time and the globe has warmed, winters have become milder here and we have pretty good evidence of that.

So how come that's not considered climate change or global warming?

Well, it is OK.

It is.

So you know what?

So this is an artifact of climate change and we are seeing some impacts of that.

I guess you're sort of stemming back to one of your original questions on climate change about this past December.

It's just really hard to say that any specific event or one month really tells you a whole lot about climate change is just because of the unusual configurations that the atmosphere can take for short periods of time.

But when you start seeing patterns over longer terms over 50 or 100 years, then you could start saying that that you know that something's happening.

And that is certainly happening with our reduction in overall winter climate and the lack of freezes that we've been seeing here in Louisiana.

Is there anything every day people can do to try to keep those changes from happening over a long period of time?

We all should be stewards of of the environment.

And part of that environment is is, you know, our atmosphere and having a clean atmosphere, having clean air to breathe clean.

Water to drink and things like that are should just be no brainers.

I mean, these are things that we should all strive to do and and reducing greenhouse gas emissions is also a no brainer.

I mean, global climate change is just one of a whole myriad of reasons on on why we should be shifting to renewables.

Dr Kime says it's likely the warm weather will continue throughout the remainder of this winter season, with fewer cold fronts than usual.

The Public Affairs Research Council, PA is working under new leadership now.

Steven Procopio, just a couple of months ago in November, took over as President Robert Travis Scott retired and also Melinda DeLong, who has been a bulldog of an AP correspondent for years, has come on board with Barr as the research director.

So with that in mind, I want to welcome in Steve Procopio, talk to him and and hear how the transition will be going.

Welcome to you.

With changes such as this and a transition, does that mean we see new things coming out of the Public Affairs Research Council?

Absolutely.

I mean, some things are going to stay the same.

We're going to set the same high quality nonpartizan research and recommendations.

We always do, but we're definitely going to try and get, in addition to our regular research, gets things that are easily digestible, shorter, more often so that citizens can read them and use them as we try and digest what's going on with the Legislature as a whole.

Now you've got the Legislature coming up, and there are a number of things that are still on the minds of Louisianans insurance problems from those who suffered from hurricanes.

Big problem there.

COVID continues.

Right.

And also with COVID an influx of a lot of money that people are going to be wondering how it gets spent.

So just that right there gives power a lot to deal with well beyond.

Yes, absolutely.

Yeah.

You know, all that money that's coming in, it's I think it's wonderful.

It gives us a great opportunity to not just rebuild but build better.

On the other hand, is also a great opportunity for waste, which unfortunately every government has.

So that's part of the role it plays is to try and be a watchdog for those dollars, make recommendations of their best use and make sure that none of it gets sidetracked to, let's call it less optimal uses.

Yeah, you know, there are a number of government entities and watchdog groups, several of them in the state.

What sets Parr apart, though, from some of the other groups that make policy changes?

Advocate for that and kind of watch how our money spent?

Yeah, absolutely.

You know, we've been doing this for over 70 years.

We've been a fierce, independent, nonpartisan watchdog.

We started, you know, watchdog in Governor Earl Long back when he wouldn't tell the Legislature and other stakeholders what was in the budget.

And so that's when people decided we need something like, Ah.

And so we've been doing this, you know, we have we had great experience looking through fiscal matters and we have even more experience now, Melinda coming on board.

And so people can trust that we're trying to watch after their interests and also inform them so they can watch out for themselves.

You've got a lot of issues, though, as we mentioned coming up redistricting, right?

This is going to be a big, hot battle.

And what role will you guys play in making sure that this comes out as fair as possible?

You know, I think our main role is to make sure citizens are informed of the overall what the resulting process is, what it involves, what it doesn't, what the rules are, also what the big issues are going to be.

You know, certainly looking at things like potential additional majority minority districts, what's going to happen with the two northern congressional districts making sure that the resources citizens need to have to follow everything?

This is a lot of tools online right now, so we're going to try and make sure they are informed.

And of course, we want the whole thing to be transparent.

Right now, they've done a pretty good job with their road shows and everything else.

But when they get into the thick of it and things change quickly, how informed of this is going to be, and that's what we're going to be looking for.

There's a note on your website which says why Louisiana needs.

And I think just in this discussion, we've answered that have a way.

I like to think so, and we always continue to do that to make sure someone is watching out, you know, just being a watchdog, you know, following what the Legislature is doing, although with the administration is doing and making sure the citizens do not for our own benefit, but also making sure it's there for the citizens so they can make informed decisions.

Civic congratulations to you on taking over as president.

Robert Travis Scott, who had been in that position for years as retired.

So you're at the helm now.

And Melinda, the lot is on board.

So some new faces, some new energy, perhaps as we go forward with Barr.

So look forward to working with you.

Thank you so much.

Always a pleasure.

And the landmark Supreme Court case, Plessy versus Ferguson.

The court ruled in favor of legal segregation under the doctrine separate but equal Homer Plessy the case his namesake boarded a white train car to protest racial segregation.

He was arrested and charged by the New Orleans District Attorney's Office and forced to pay a 25 dollar fine.

He will live out the rest of his days as a convict until he died in 1925.

Now, over a century later, Plessy, his name has finally been cleared.

Governor John Bel Edwards signed, plus his pardon in front of all of his descendants.

In 1892, a mixed race man will become permanently etched in America's civil rights history.

Homer Plessy was only an eighth black, but he used his color to purchase a ticket for a seat in the white section of a railroad car in New Orleans.

His identity was discovered almost immediately and he was arrested, thus beginning a long battle over the legality of segregation.

You may know it as Plessy versus Ferguson.

Plus, his fight to end segregation ended in failure.

The doctrine of separate but equal prevailed for 58 years following the Supreme Court's decision.

But 125 years later, Louisiana is seeking forgiveness for being complicit in upholding a racist doctrine on behalf of Mr. Homer Plessy.

We have voted favorably today and this is footage of the Louisiana Board of Pardons from November twelve.

Each member voted to expunge his record, freeing him of the conviction he's carried since the 1896 Wednesday.

The final step in the pardon process was completed.

Now, therefore, our John Bel Edwards, governor of the State of Louisiana, recognizing the heroism and patriotism of his unselfish sacrifice to advocate for and to demand equality and human dignity for all of Louisiana citizens do hereby grant a full posthumous pardon for the above listed offenses to homer a Plessy governor John Bel Edwards signed, plus his pardon in front of the remaining ancestors of key players in the case during a special ceremony.

The stroke of my pen on this pardon, while momentous, it doesn't erase generations of pain of discrimination.

It doesn't eradicate all the wrongs wrought by the Plessy court or fix all of our present challenges.

We can all acknowledge we have a long ways to go, but this pardon is a step in the right direction.

Keith Plessy, Homer's first cousin, three generations removed so that this pardon was a step toward full racial equality and a chance at redemption for the City of New Orleans.

This is truly a blessed day for the ancestors and the elders, for our generation today, for our children and for generations that have yet to be born.

I feel like my feet are not touching the ground today because the ancestors are carrying me, Keith found out about the history of his family and how the burden of racism had affected them late in his life.

It was his mission to bring the past back to the forefront, but he wouldn't have gotten to this point without Phoebe Ferguson.

She's the great great granddaughter of the Louisiana judge who ruled against Homer Plessy.

Her grandfather is one of the namesake of the landmark case.

The two descendants bonded over a shared connection of a painful history.

Together, they formed Plessy and Ferguson, an organization dedicated to promoting civil rights and education.

The efforts of both Ferguson and Keith culminated in Wednesday's pardon.

We come here as descendants of both sides of the Plessy versus Ferguson case in the true spirit of reconciliation and healing.

We cannot undo the wrongs of the past, but we can and should acknowledge them and learn from them.

To some, Wednesday ceremony was a symbolic stand against racism.

But to others, like Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams, it was a chance to reconcile.

I did not submit this pardon, asking for a homer plessy to be forgiven.

I submitted it, asking for us to be forgiven.

The fight for racial equality will likely persist for years following this pardon, but to everyone involved, it's a necessary step toward progress.

Keith Plessy says the next phase for him and Ferguson is to get a medal of honor for Homer Plessy.

I so honored now to be joined by Claire Babineau Fontana, the CEO of Feeding America, a native of Louisiana.

We spoke one year ago and now two years into the pandemic.

Claire, where do things stand now with the food insecurity problem that we face in our country?

Well, first, let me thank you for having me back.

one of the most important things that I think we can do in addressing this food crisis is making certain that people know that they exist.

So to your point, before the pandemic began, according to the USDA, we've made some progress against food insecurity in the country.

It had gotten down to the lowest rate in decades at somewhere around 35 million people.

We would all agree that 35 million people too many.

Unfortunately, during the pandemic in 2020, 60 million people turned to the terrible food system for health.

60 million people in this country.

The good news, if there is a silver lining in this is that as a result of all of the interventions that we've had, including the support of your audience, by the way who I think I'm so grateful for the support that we received in the state of Louisiana because of those interventions.

The most recent food insecurity rates show where about 38 million people were food insecure.

As you can see, that's a 3 million person increase, which is certainly regrettable.

But I do have hope inside of those really big numbers.

My hope is that we will use the things that we know that works and will continue to make progress in ensuring that no one in this country survey.

A few things have happened during the pandemic.

We've seen food prices soar and we've seen the ability to get food to where they need to go greatly strapped.

And so glad you asked the question, and maybe maybe your audience doesn't have visibility into how our network works, or maybe I can take one step back and then I'll get to the answer to your question.

So we're a network of 200.

In fact, over 200 food banks across the country, over 60,000 agency partners, so many of our agency partners, they don't have the label on them.

That's just Feeding America, but they're part of our network too, because we provide food to them and we serve tens of millions of people every year.

And we've been doing that for quite a while during the pandemic, as an example between last summer of 2020 and the summer of 2021.

We provided 6.6 billion meals to people 6.6 billion.

So ours is a huge network.

No other network is like it in the country, the food banks, as I've said.

But we are a really sophisticated distribution network as well.

We're practice in getting food from where it is to where it needs to be.

On the side of food prices you just mentioned in the middle of the pandemic, our numbers have had to increase the amount of food that they're buying because the need has been so great.

So on average, we increase food purchases by 50%.

During the period of time that food prices have never been this high in over 50 years, and when I first started in the role, I knew that one of our biggest hurdles to success was that people weren't even aware that hunger exist here, not in America.

I mean, we have so much abundance, and so many of us, like myself, have been the beneficiaries of that abundance.

It's hard to think about America as being a place where kids don't have enough to eat or seniors don't have enough to eat.

But it's true and it's definitely true in the state of Louisiana.

Regrettably, one of the things that I hope your audience has come to realize is that once you get to know what our who our network is and that we exist and what we do, and I hope you feel proud of the work that is being done of the efficiencies of the work that we do across the state of Louisiana.

We have five good.

They are all extraordinary organizations led by exceptional leaders.

one of the things I'm really proud of that I want your audience to be aware of is they've started a first for a network, which is a collaboration across the whole state where they're asking themselves, what if we didn't look at ourselves as having boundaries or territories in the state?

How do we solve for hunger across the whole state of Louisiana?

And that's what they're doing.

We say that the three things that we need for full funds and friends, and we absolutely need it now as much as we ever had.

There's another part that I want to make sure that I speak to.

There were a lot of people out there who need us.

Yeah, and there's a lot of stigma attached to needing help.

I want anyone who can hear my voice and or see my face to know we are here for you to.

You belong to the same place Feeding America or put in your zip code in that group locator.

And there is going to be a team of people who will be there to step up and help you when you need them.

And then hopefully you'll get on your feet and you'll step up and help your neighbor when they need you to.

I know I've needed help in my life.

I know I wouldn't get to be here right now, talking to you if people had reached your hands out and helped me in the past, I'm trying to be a part of helping other people now.

I know about the compassion for the people of the state of Louisiana.

This is no matter where you are.

No matter what walk up like, there's a way you can help.

And if you need our help, we are here to help you until you are on your feet and then you get to help your neighbor to.

And that's our show for this week.

Remember, you can watch anything, LPB anytime, wherever you are with our LPB PBS 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 like us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for everyone at Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

I'm Kara St. Cyr.

Until next time, that's the state we're in.

Entergy is proud to support programing on LPB and greener practices that preserve Louisiana.

The goal of our environmental and sustainability initiatives really is to ensure that our kids and future generations can be left with a cleaner planet.

Additional support provided by the Fred B and Ruth B Zigler Foundation and the Zigler 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.