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.

People living near a plant explosion in tangible hope say they're starting to notice new health problems.

We're going to take a closer look at what's going on and down in Grand Isle, a historic hotel is getting a second chance nearly a century after it first opened.

Plus, a Louisiana representative got the chance to meet with the first American pope.

We're going to talk to representative Mike Barham.

And we're back in the kitchen for quick, hot drink.

Loblaw shows us how to make squirrel gravy.

Let's get started.

Let's do it.

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, the U.S.

Supreme Court heard arguments this week in a case that could eliminate Louisiana's second majority black congressional district.

The sixth district seat was created to more accurately reflect Louisiana's demographics.

A lawsuit was filed saying the state illegally focused on race when drawing the district in anticipation of the Supreme Court's ruling.

Governor Jeff Landry has called a special session beginning next week, focusing on election related issues.

Simone Supply is suing two equipment companies, saying faulty gear and negligence caused the explosion and fire in tangible parish.

People nearby say chemicals from that blast have left them with new health issues.

Here's the latest.

We arrived in Roseland, Louisiana, a small Tangipahoa Parish community still reeling from a massive chemical explosion months ago.

This is our Paradise right here.

We're right here on the water from our back door.

It's 150ft, so the smell is constant.

The smell is in our air conditioning system.

This mini supply site sits quiet now, but the smell in the air lingers.

And so does the concern.

We got dog trails that go all the way around the property so they can run and play and walk and stuff.

And we got, Now when they do go for a walk, we got to go with them to make sure, because there's other cut offs that goes into the river for the families here.

The waiting in the whoring hasn't stopped.

This couple has lived here for years.

They run a small dog rescue and now some of their animals are getting sick.

The dogs.

Because they got it in their mouths, I'm sure, all over their bodies.

They have had a bloody diarrhea and vomiting.

And that's pretty much remained.

We've gotten it a little bit better over the time with us.

We swam in that river.

We use that river to rehabilitate dogs.

Their traumas, their aggressions, their hips, joints, all of that.

And we used we were in that river every day for five years.

The couple is also experiencing what they say are alarming health issues such as brain fog and skin discoloration.

I have been researching cancer, researching anything I can take to try to make sure we don't have cancer.

The EPA says air and water quality are within safe limits.

They found heavy metals, but the agency maintains it is safe for the public.

Test results that have been returned that that all the experts have reviewed tell us that they're in the safe.

Within a safe range.

So we, you know, if we trust them all year round and most of our lives to tell us, you know, to take care of us, you know, I guess we have to we have to do it now, too.

But, the big thing is we wanted to make sure that we were getting the truth.

We were getting the true facts.

Give it to us.

As bad as it can be.

Would much rather have that.

And then back it back down than if it was, you know, then to find out later.

It was.

It was terrible.

Still, for families like this one, reassurance is hard to accept when they say they're experiencing symptoms.

So we went deeper.

Joining an independent test are on private property where water testing and cleanup was underway.

This community in Roseland has been bombarded by mixtures of chemicals with metals like nickel, from soot and ash raining down from the sky in their yards and their pools.

Oil raining down in their pools and products of incomplete combustion dioxin.

So you have all these toxic, cancer causing oil related chemicals, Smith said.

His test results show high levels of dioxins in several bodies of water in Roseland.

Dioxin are industrial byproducts, but can also result from natural disasters like forest fires.

According to the World Health Organization, chronic exposure to dioxins has been linked to various types of cancer.

The agency also says short term exposure can cause skin lesions and discoloration, and that newborns can be more vulnerable to certain health effects.

This pond is clearly flowing right into the township Ohio River.

It's not just oil, it's other chemicals and a variety of other things called products of incomplete combustion, like dioxin.

At another pond, crews were using airboats, a standard cleanup technique to break up surface oil.

But what we saw next raised new questions.

When that airboat powered up.

We could feel particles hitting our skin, and within seconds, several of us started coughing.

Exactly what I'm talking about.

You're right.

You should not be running that any kind of airboats because you're blowing all the contamination in the air.

However, the EPA says these operations are tightly controlled and that their air quality readings don't show any cause for concern.

Both Scott and the community hope officials can come together and be more transparent.

I do see some very positive signs of the local elected officials here within the parish, within the mayor and for the benefit of the community.

I will sit down anytime, anyplace with any elected official and go through these details and what they're seeing.

I want to focus on cleaning it up, taking care of our river, those ponds get those people's property back in shape, and then the site where if somebody can come back, they will and they will be held accountable in whatever fashion the state and the federal government needs to.

And then when they start building back, the same, will be held further by the state and us, whoever lets them build back to make sure that they're within all of the guidelines that they're supposed to.

The Environmental Protection Agency has ordered City Supply to take over cleanup efforts at that plant.

LPB requested an interview with the EPA, but they declined.

All right, let's take a look at what's trending this week.

Buc-Ee's.

Who doesn't love Buc-Ee's?

It's breaking ground in Ruston, North Louisiana.

Finally, people have been wanting one in Louisiana.

Now you're going to get it.

Groundbreaking on the store is scheduled for October 24th.

The company says it'll create 200 full time jobs with pay above minimum wage and great benefits.

Are you a frequent buc-ee's stop or if you are on the road traveling?

I love the beaver nuggets.

I'm going to say okay, Beaver chips.

I like the potato chips.

The family likes the trail mix and anything with the beaver and the long road trip.

They have clean bathrooms.

Look, maybe the best in Buc-Ee's is the marketing team, right?

Hey, you got to go.

Just wait.

Next.

Bucky's 194 miles away.

Great marketing scheme, but at Louisiana, they're excited.

It's finally coming to this.

And Lafayette's also going to get one.

And that's going to open in 2028.

Yeah.

Come a little late.

Absolutely.

Hey, how about LSU's baseball team.

Congratulations to them winning the national championship.

They're already starting for practice.

But first yeah they're headed to the white House.

Yeah.

And this is a tradition a lot of championship teams go.

And it's such a great opportunity for them.

They've been doing such a great job.

You know that change of a fantastic season.

Jay Johnson two national titles in the last three years.

They swept Coastal Carolina in the College World Series finals to win the eighth national championship.

That was back in June.

They will be up there to visit the president.

I believe some other national championship teams are gonna make one big visit, but congratulations.

It's a neat honor to be able to go up there.

Yeah, from Omaha to the white House, that's exactly right.

How about the hot sauce trail?

You heard about this one?

This one sounds tasty.

I'm excited for this one.

So they're going to have they're going to highlight 16 factories and restaurants that specialize in hot sauces.

And you can stop at each one.

And places include the Tabasco Factory and Panola Pepper in North Louisiana, which I have paid a visit to.

And it is great over there.

I got to see them making the hot sauce and everything.

All right.

Very good.

Well, visitors can earn points for visiting stops on the trail.

Then you can cash them in for discounts and prizes.

So if you like the hot sauces, hit the trail.

A tasty treat for sure.

Yeah, I say do it.

Yeah.

No, that will be a lot of fun.

All right, let's go down to Grand Isle now, where work is underway to save a piece of Louisiana's coastal history.

The century old Oleander Hotel has withstood decades of storms and flooding, but has fallen into disrepair.

Now, the building has been added to the National Register of Historic Places, offering new hope for its future.

Karen Livermore has more.

Hotel Oleander refuses to relinquish its rightful place in the history of Grand Isle's glory days.

Standing in defiance since 1929 to hurricanes, the island's harsh climate and natural havoc, the 30 room resort with ties to Louisiana Governor Huey Long, once drew international visitors and anchored the island's social scene.

The hotel was built in 1929 by John Ludwick, and it was a challenge from our governor that said, John, if you build a hotel, I'll build a highway to come to Grand, though.

So John took on the challenge, and in 1938, hotel was completed.

And that governor was here alone.

So we have a history of being noted for a resort area, and the, Oleander Hotel was like the mainstay.

The two story, wood framed hotel overlooks the Gulf along highway one.

Governor Huey Long's administration completed the road in 1931, connecting Grand Isle to the mainland, boosting tourism.

The double height screened porch and lush landscaping are all gone, but Hotel Oleander remains a Grand Isle landmark and its hold on local hearts endures.

My husband and I used to come here and have breakfast on weekends.

We fish all night, come here for breakfast.

And it was just so busy.

Hustle and bustle.

And you always met a lot of different people who came to Grand Isle just to finish.

We are standing in the hotel lobby at the guest check in desk.

Liotta, a lifelong resident of Grand Isle, leads me into what was once the restaurant to share her vision for assisting in the restoration.

Most of these windows are Cypress.

This old screen door.

I can't wait.

I can't look at this thing.

You don't see too many of this.

This is probably a side window or something.

Rick is a pain free pain.

And a lot of it is glass, too.

If this is the original glass, you can look at it and it's kind of beveled.

In 2025, Hotel Oleander joined the National Register of Historic Places as one of the few remaining examples of Louisiana coastal vernacular architecture.

This wall shows us some of the original wood that was recycled from New Orleans buildings in New Orleans, and was brought here by a paddlewheel of steamboat.

And this wood was like 1928, 29.

And in the building was built with all recycled wood from New Orleans.

And this is what we're going to restore back.

That's correct.

To it.

To its bone.

That's correct.

Look beyond the peeling paint, the tattered curtains, broken windows and layers of debris.

And imagine the hotel in its heyday.

An outdoor dance pavilion hosting live jazz music, art deco glass, doorknobs and beadboard ceilings.

Elegant decor elements that exuded a coastal glamor.

What would the restoration of the Oleander Hotel mean for modern day Grand Isle?

Wow, that's a big question.

I think people could come here and hopefully capture the ambiance of the way it was back then.

I hope that when they do restore it, that it falls into that area again.

Whoever works here, you know, to kind of bring you back and let you feel what it was really, really like.

Restore.

Grand Isle is a nonprofit raising funds to purchase Hotel Oleander from private owners and restore its authentic architecture.

When the Restore Grand Isle finishes with the building, it's going to be donated to Grand Isle, the town and Grand Isle.

And it'll be a functioning facility without tourism, art galleries, art studios, museums, kitchen, coffee shop, rooms to rent.

So we'll have it back in business, back in shape and back to where it was as social and cultural heartbeat of Grand Isle exactly as it was.

That's a good way to put it.

Of the 17 hotels that once populated Grand Isle during its peak resort tourism years from the early to mid 20th century.

Hotel Oleander is the sole survivor, waiting for its second act.

Most people look at this and see an old abandoned structure that should be torn down.

What do you see?

I see all the potential of having something that history left for us.

It's going to be a part of Grand Island history.

An international trip to remote Louisiana led to a once in a lifetime experience for State Representative Mike Barham.

The Saint Bernard Parish representative got the chance to meet with Pope Leo the 14th, the first American pope who also happens to have ties to Louisiana.

I sat down with Representative Barham to talk about the trip.

Joining me now is representative Mike Barham.

Thank you so much for joining us.

So let's talk about your amazing trip overseas.

You got to meet a very important person.

You got to meet the pope, got to meet Pope Leo was a tremendous honor of, been to several papal audiences over the years.

I've met presidents and I've met prime ministers.

I've even, met a, sovereign, a queen.

But I've never met a pope.

And that was really special, particularly with this one being our first American pope and someone with roots to the New Orleans area.

How did this come to fruition?

During the legislative session, we, Pope Francis had passed away and they had elected a new pope.

They had a lot of people thinking it was going to be an Italian pope or, one from another country.

No one was thinking an American pope.

And when they announced it, it was, you know, I mean, it was just tremendous.

And I was very excited.

And, so immediately, with the new pope, I met with the drafting, folks at the state Capitol said, I want Louisiana to be the first state to pass something congratulating our new American pope on his election.

So when you met him in person, you gave him a copy of that Louisiana House resolution?

Yeah.

We, presented him with, we'll call it the the pretty version, which is on parchment.

Nice folder.

And we made reference to his roots in the New Orleans area.

And when I presented it to him, he looked at it and said, by the way, we wanted to highlight your connections through your family to the seventh Ward of New Orleans.

And you smiled.

And I appreciated it.

But, I also presented him with a blue, glass oyster shell.

I represent Saint Bernard Parish.

Commercial fishing is a very important part of our heritage and our economy.

And I just wanted to give him a little gift from my community as Saint Bernard.

How do you go in to meet the pope?

Well, you have to pick up a ticket.

Now, there are several different types of tickets.

They have the regular ticket.

They have the special ticket.

And then I guess they kind of.

It's like a quasi VIP ticket.

Not that I consider myself a very important person, but that gets you to a certain area.

But here's the thing.

You, everyone, no matter who you are, has to go through the same line down the line to get through security.

In this case, there's the longest line I've ever seen in any papal audience have attended it, wrapped alongside the outside walls of the Vatican, and it took three hours.

And they said that, well, you know, they hope they open the doors at 730.

The papal audience isn't till 11.

Well, they were at capacity at 8:00.

They had already filled the outside area, courtyard, which was outside the building where the Pope would ended up just walking out, just waving hi.

And, doing some blessings for the folks outside.

But they had.

And in this audience from the Pope, Pope Paul the six audience room is huge.

It's the size of a convention center.

I think I had about, according to the video, the Vatican shot about 58 seconds in the Pope's presence one on one.

So wow.

I mean, that's tremendous.

But, you know, to hear a pope speak English perfectly, American English, you know, is really, that for me, was was the thing that jumps out.

He's also a big baseball fan.

And I did make a little comment about how those white Sox beat my Astros in 2005, and there's a famous, scream, film footage grabbed by him at the World Series in Chicago, wearing his, priest collar, you know, at the game and cheering his White Sox on.

And I was, after Katrina, lost everything.

We had 11ft of water hit where I lived, plus an oil spill.

So, the World Series for me was kind of like my moment of Zen, if you will, whereas just, you know, few months after the storm, you know, my little time where I was trying to just have a little bit of normalcy in life and distract myself from going back home and going through the muck and trying to salvage things, got things.

So, but I did make a little mention about the baseball, World Series, but, he is, cognizant of his Louisiana roots and something really neat that the Archdiocese of New Orleans did under, Archbishop Gregory Aymond.

They painted his family tree on the wall in the archdiocese office that shows his Louisiana relations on this beautiful, impressive family tree.

Representation.

They did.

All right, well, thank you so much for joining us.

What an incredible moment.

Well, thank you for having me.

And thank you for allowing me to share it.

This very, wonderful story.

And it was just a tremendous honor and a privilege to meet our new pope.

All right.

Thank you.

Representative Mike bam.

Well, if you're into the outdoors, you probably know squirrel hunting season is underway in Louisiana, and hunters are hoping to fill their freezers.

Yeah, you probably won't find squirrel on many menus, but it's a traditional form of game.

A lot of people love to cook.

Well, in this week's Or Don't Cook That, Drake Loblaw takes us into the kitchen to try some squirrel gravy.

Oh hey y'all.

I'm Drake Loblaw.

I'm here with my good friend Joe Woodring.

And we're here in Lafayette, Louisiana for this episode of Cooper, which means don't cook that.

But today, we most definitely will.

Joe.

What are we cooking today?

Cooking some wild squirrel.

Wild squirrel.

You ready for it?

I'm ready.

I'm so ready.

Let's do it.

I love squirrel.

So we're making a squirrel gravy, right?

It's in gravy.

Old school, darker gravy, dark gravy.

Like a Tuesday night meal that you eat at home or your grandma may make you after school or something like that.

We're going to make a fire in this black pot here.

This should be in white.

And we're going to brown these squirrel parts in there.

We're going to add some sausage at some point we're going to use very simple trinity of onions bell pepper and garlic.

Eventually we'll cook a little rice and we'll have a nice little supper at the end of it.

Real cooking comes from a place of necessity, comes from a place of what you have available to you, and then what was available to us, or to the hunter that brought this to me.

Was a squirrel.

Then we tell the people how we got to this point in a gravy.

It started to get a little color.

You don't have our gravy juice yet, but we got, like, a basis of it.

So what are the steps of the.

Somebody just caught some squirrels somehow.

Some way.

How do they prepare and make a squirrel?

Great.

Well, you're gonna want to clean the squirrels really well, these were nice and butcher.

So there were cup and the pieces literally within the pot.

Real nice.

So what we did, all we had to do was part of these are right and put it over this like part.

You do what.

Let's do it.

So that's like the glory of cooking in a big pot.

And it makes a really good braise around on the meat.

You wanted a cigar.

You don't want anything ever to burn.

You can forget it and let it burn, or you can add some liquid to it.

Have some sort.

All right.

Which for the wire, it could be the onions and bell peppers that were there an inferior idea to those sweat down and make that more liquid in there.

They could be, oh no, this has got to do a crucial element.

And all I have in my hand is my Coca-Cola or my beer or a little bit out there.

The glazing is what it's called.

We're glazing, so we're making a gravy.

Every time you do that.

And now you see a little bit of that gravy because the onions and the Trinity is cooking down.

We added a little bit of water.

The sausage went in later.

So it has enough time to get a little brown.

It cooks down the gravy.

You get a lot of flavor from it.

You got a lot of seasoning from sausage too, because it's got a lot of seasoning in it.

So your gravy, I don't seasoned the whole lot.

The actual gravy itself was a much later.

Right.

Because picking up from the meats and different things like that, and if you put a lot of that seasoning in, in the beginning, a lot of the dry season and blends will burn, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

You can't put it into or when you still bone them because it won't last.

Yeah.

Ever see of the fire.

It doesn't necessarily stick to the meat doesn't necessarily penetrate into the meat either.

So I put a little bit, you know when I'm browning but I it's not necessarily what's going to season the dish in the air.

Right.

This is the way that we do in Louisiana.

So it sets our food apart from other places is we cook in these types of vessels.

For one, the black pot is holds heat well and it heats up quickly.

And you can cook on high heat with it.

And it makes makes a big difference in the way that things brown and braise.

This is maybe an eight quart.

Yeah.

So the next size up is a 12 quart.

And then the next size up is like a ten gallon, 15 gallon and 20 gallon pot.

So right.

But this recipe would stay the same.

It would be the same process, but it would just be a larger amount.

Sometimes Cajun or Louisiana chefs will say, man, it's really hard to cook for just two people, right?

You know, because it's kind of because of the pot in a way, you know, and we could have filled this all the way up to the top, but we just cooking down in the bottom of it.

Right, right, right.

The.

All right y'all, as you can see, this is the true mastermind behind the squirrel gravy we just made.

If you ever saw the movie.

Right, Stewie, Jack was back here behind us, hot and telling us what to put when.

When the chopped the onions when the brown, the squirrel.

But now we're finally done.

The gravy is done.

We got this nice, beautiful plate.

And.

Yeah, Joey, thanks for having us, man.

Good to have you, drew.

Thank you for coming.

Awesome dish.

I can't wait to try it right here in the heart of Acadiana in Lafayette, Louisiana for this episode of Keeper.

Which means don't cook that.

But today we did the squirrel, the egg.

You know, the best gravy there is out the black pot.

And now I'm going to try some.

Jezebel mug.

Yeah.

So last week it was rabbit.

This week we're talking about squirrel.

I think you're a more ambitious e to than me.

I'm more of a plain eater.

So have you tried squirrel gravy?

I have not, I have not, I just I don't know if I really could and I've been I have never seen it on the menu.

I had it offered to me and I probably I once again, I'm going to stick with what I said last week.

Cooper, please don't do it.

Don't cook that.

All right, well, that is our show for this week.

Remember, you can watch anything LPB, any time.

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 take a moment to like us on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram for everyone at Louisiana Public Broadcasting, I'm Christina Jensen and I'm Victor Hall.

Until next time.

That's the state we're in.

For.

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 Mary Bird Perkins, cancer Center.

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

Thank you.