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.

Snap enrollment is dropping in Louisiana.

What does that mean for families who rely on food assistance?

And bus drivers.

May be taking a back seat in Shreveport.

We'll look at the city's new self-driving busses.

State leaders are looking to change the way public schools are funded.

And we sit down with Billy Cannon's daughter to talk about the new documentary highlighting her dad.

Let's get started.

Let's get to it.

Hi, everyone.

I'm Christina Jensen.

And I'm Johnny Atkinson.

Welcome to the 50th season of Louisiana, the state we're in.

It's a very big milestone for us at LPB, and we are proud to be the state's longest running news magazine.

And that legacy is built on telling the stories of the people and issues shaping our state.

Well, Louisiana is seeing a sharp drop in the number of people qualifying for food assistance.

I dug into the new procedural changes and spoke with the family, who depends on that assistance.

We already weren't being able to sustain ourselves with the monthly amount.

We were getting and then it's been decreased recently.

So it's been a bit rough for us with the food stamps.

For Lisa Morrison.

Snap isn't.

Just a number.

On a benefits card, it's what helps put food on the table for her three children.

The Zachary mother says her monthly snap benefit recently dropped by $50.

Honestly, with three growing children and having to take care of myself as well, it is.

It's not enough these days.

So we put that benefit to the test.

So in front of us we have your grocery store receipt $54.

But realistically, how long will this last you.

Probably just the next couple of days, I would want to say this is all going to be gone for dinner tonight.

This could probably feed just one of my children as a snack.

And it's watermelon spears, which is 389 before taxes even.

And people have to understand that with inflation, $54, you could get a lot more back then in terms of town.

Most definitely.

What I got with $54.

It barely filled up my grocery bag compared to I used to be able to get a half buggy, maybe a full buggy worth of items for that much money.

That's why I was very caught off guard last month, when over only two weeks worth of grocery shopping and my whole complete food stamps is gone.

And for Lisa, the struggle isn't just about how far her benefits stretch.

She's also experienced what happens when those benefits stop.

After leaving a domestic violence shelter, Lisa and her children moved into their own home.

The first month of being on our own, we were not receiving food stamps, and it was a very long process getting all the paperwork in, getting it to the right place at the right time, talking to the right people.

And it was a bit of a struggle.

Lisa says a change of address and paperwork contributed to an interruption in her benefits.

And she's not alone.

According to the Louisiana Department of Health, the number of Snap households fell about 19% over the past year, from nearly 397,000 to about 321,000.

48% of those dropped off of Snap were children 82,000, roughly.

And a lot of these children are associated with households.

We know that hardship has not declined.

We know that families are still hungry.

But the LDH data suggests that these closures closures are due to procedural changes.

A procedural change could be anything from a missed deadline to an incorrect recertification, and or not returning paperwork on time or being processed in the proper fashion.

Roughly three quarters of those cases were closed for procedural reasons things like missing forms, missed deadlines, or incomplete recertification.

Only about 5% were closed because a household failed in income test, and none were attributed to failed citizenship verifications.

Because we have less people that are actually on Snap and receiving Snap benefits, that is putting a little bit of a pressure on our food bank.

The Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank says it can help fill some of that gap, but it can't replace the purchasing power of snap.

That's because the state is about to take on more of the cost of running the program under the new federal law.

Louisiana will take on a larger share of snaps administrative costs.

50% was what it was, and now it's 75% of the administrative costs.

That that means is, however, many people are on Snap.

We have to pay a percentage of that to the federal government.

Louisiana could also face higher cost if its snap error rate doesn't improve.

The state's error rate is currently 8.1%, but that number only tells part of the story.

In August, presentation from the Louisiana Department of Health shows more than half 55% of those error cases were the result of agency errors.

The other 45% were attributed to client errors.

LDH points to staffing shortages and high caseloads, with about 200 Snap positions open.

The agency also cites a weakened review system and a lack of key verification tools for Lisa.

The numbers have a real impact.

Making sure there's enough food on the table while keeping up with the other bills that come with raising three children.

Asking for help not only with the food, but I don't have in my pocket enough money to put out for these extra groceries.

Well, let's take a look at what's going on this week in the world of sports, because we know there is a lot going on.

Yeah.

Correspondent Victor Howell joins us now with more.

Victor the Tigers look great on Saturday.

Yeah, they sure did.

And all.

The stuff we've been talking about on the legal side.

Looks like we can finally put that to bed and get back to football on the field to show the week started with the threat of presidents around the SEC voting to kick LSU out of the conference.

It ended with no action in the Alabama federal courts.

LSU is still in the conference, and now we can actually look towards the action on the field.

But a comedy group had some fun with all of this and pictured life in the SEC without the purple and gold.

The group's name is SEC shorts and they are a must follow if you aren't following them already and listen to how and who they have.

Broadcasting LSU in a world where the Tigers are flying solo.

Hey!

You're late.

You almost missed kickoff.

915 in the morning, miss kickoff.

You're watching Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

Up next, it's LSU versus Akron.

We should have done this years ago.

The pass is complete for a first down.

This tiger first down is made possible by the generous support of the John and Evelyn Boudreaux Foundation of the Arts.

There you go.

How about that, a little LPB.

Love is your hypothetical home for LSU football games.

You can follow SEC shorts, by the way, on Facebook and on Instagram.

Yes, there will be football back in Tiger Stadium Saturday night when for the second straight year, Louisiana Tech makes the four hour drive from Ruston to face the Tigers in another sold out Tiger Stadium.

The Bulldogs are coming off hanging 80 points in their win last week, carrying a lot of momentum into the big challenge they will face in LSU, and head coach Sonny Cumbie knows mistakes has to be minimal.

And against an opponent like this that you know those opportunities when they come by, you have to maximize them, you have to take advantage of them and and you have to play clean football.

And so the margins very, very, very thin in terms of each snap.

But I think it's a great challenge and I think that our players will be dialed into it.

You know, with everything we've had going on with college football, we haven't talked about the black and gold.

This is also week one in the NFL.

And the New Orleans Saints will start the season in the Motor City Sunday afternoon to face the Lions.

Here's second year head coach Kellen Moore on his young quarterbacks, led by starter Tyler Shuck.

I just say.

I mean, our quarterbacks are still young.

You know, Tyler is obviously you know, the guy, but it's still a young group.

There's still plenty of football to learn and grow from and improve from a fundamental and technique standpoint.

And so we're still on a journey of growth.

And I don't think that stops anytime soon.

Tyler's nothing really good job of applying himself all off season.

But we still got we still got opportunities to grow and we'll continue to do that.

And finally, in case you missed it earlier this week, the class of 2027 for the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame was released this week.

And once again, it is a stacked deck of talent.

Congratulations to the nine inductees announced so far.

They span the sports of football, basketball, baseball and horse racing.

Some of the honorees LSU football standouts Leonard Fournette, Patrick Peterson, Lisa Ingram, who led up Monroe women's basketball to the 1985 Final Four.

High school football coach Hank Tierney, who was 50 years on the sidelines and still coaching in New Orleans, and LSU baseball standouts Aaron Hill and Ryan Terrio amongst all of the inductees.

The full class of 12 will be announced later on this year, and you can see all the action and the inductions June 24th through 26, in Natchitoches, because we look forward to having again here on LP.

But join us there in person.

Book your hotels now.

And I like how you said let's get back to football finally.

Yeah.

How much fun everybody had.

Right?

So let's go Tigers.

And I know Southern's playing as well.

This is not a big one because they're over in Texas.

They're taking on the Houston Cougars.

So go Jags.

Go.

Big football.

Weekend indeed yesterday.

All right well Shreveport is rolling into the future with new self-driving busses.

High tech vehicle hit streets recently.

And I caught one of the inaugural rides.

The city of Shreveport first started their operation on public transit way back in the 1870s.

Shreveport has a long history of very robust public transportation system.

They first took the streetcar.

Horse drawn or mule drawn.

Residents were taken from downtown Tre Port to the developing neighborhoods.

Then the city upgraded to the electric operations around the start of the 1900s.

And they went to motorized, and they went to what they called the trolley, which was the electric line that ran on rails.

The trolley busses wrote alongside the traditional rail cars, rapidly moving pedestrians around the city.

In 1965, the city of Shreveport finally converted to standard motor busses.

And with the rise of automobiles in the new interstates, bus riding dropped in the city stepped in to buy out the bussing system.

Today, Shreveport again, is one of the world leaders when it comes to public transit innovation.

We have seven electric busses here operating in the cities of Shreveport and Bossier.

The driverless bus is the newest innovation in Shreveport.

Public transit system is a historic step in public transportation with fully electric busses and no drivers.

It started when sports Ran applied for a grant from the U.S.

Department of Transportation.

Shreveport competed.

And won close to $1 million to have the first autonomous bus in the history of this great state.

Zavala is assistant secretary for Research and Technology, and she served as featured guest speaker at the unveiling of the first automatic public transit bus.

The pilot program is intentionally designed to allow sport trans workers and riders to evaluate to evaluate technology in a real world environment.

One of the standout features in Shreveport public Transportation network is the Zero fare program.

We're also probably one of the few where there is no fare on a straightforward bus.

So it.

Is free writing.

For everyone.

It is free ride for everyone.

The free bussing system started as a temporary service during Covid in 2022, but there was then a staggering increase in ridership of 350%.

We take about 5 million rides a year around the city, which is the second highest capacity for the state of Louisiana as New Orleans Shreveport.

Sports are.

And busses today have no hidden fees, no transfer costs, and no special pass requirements.

Passengers can simply board or get off at any designated stop and new services are still being introduced.

We have implemented programs such as sport train on demand.

Sport training on demand is similar to Uber and Lyft.

We have an app.

You can request a vehicle to that sign.

It will take you to the closest bus stop to the destination that you request.

The transit vehicle riding around the city has a licensed professional safety operator who simply sits in the driver's seat.

Do people have safety concerns without having an actual driver?

Well, I think that's part of the reason that we're doing this.

This test is for for people to see what it's about and to see what concerns they might have.. If the AI bus encounters an unpredictable road hazard, a construction zone or heavy Louisiana storm.

That operator can take immediate control of the bus.

The bus may act differently than a normal human driver.

For example, you don't tailgate behind the bus.

Typically you don't try and merge ahead of it.

And these are things that we need to understand now, the human behavioral aspect of what it means to pick up and deliver people, goods and services in this environment.

Expectations are high as officials expect the electric automated busses to dramatically lower operational and fuel costs, and it will deliver a cleaner, zero emission commute to improve air quality.

This is a grant for this bus for us to see how it works and to help understand what needs to be done.

What else needs to be developed on the software?

What are the safety concerns?

The city of Shreveport has a 25% smaller population in Baton Rouge, but its transit system handles roughly 3 to 4 times the volume of passengers.

These are new innovations.

It'll take time to work out the kinks in the innovations, and also take time for public perception to of safety.

This will become maybe a blueprint for the success of automated busses in the United States.

So the first sports fan bus is now rolling through downtown with 360 degree sensors and the shoulders, a high tech computer that never blinks, never gets lost, and always delivers on time.

This makes Shreveport, Louisiana, one of the most eco friendly leaders of public transit in the world.

Louisiana is overhauling the MFP, the formula that funds public schools for the first time in decades.

So what could change?

And what does it mean for your child's school?

Joining us now is Barry Erwin with leaders for a Better Louisiana.

Joining me now is Barry Erwin, chief policy officer for leaders for a Better Louisiana.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Glad to be here.

Well, we are here to talk about the Minimum Foundation program or MFP.

Why is it so important?

It's important because it is the mechanism the state uses to provide state aid to public schools across the state.

It's complicated.

It's got a lot of pieces and parts, but at the end of the day, it's a formula that tries to look at pupils and pupil needs, student needs, the cost of educating different kinds of students, the relative ability of local school districts to raise local tax dollars the size of local school districts, put them all together and then distributed it equitably, I should say, across the state to districts.

Why is it now in the headlines?

Really?

I think because the frustration the legislatures had about teacher pay raises.

So we've had a couple of items on the ballot the last couple of years that would have provided permanent pay raises instead of the stipends that teachers have been getting.

Those both failed.

One of them failed during the legislative session.

So legislators have not had the recurring dollars.

They want to provide a permanent raise.

So I think what they're trying to do now is look at the MFP, which is the biggest part of our state general fund budget, $4 billion plus.

And see if looking under the hood, there is a way to restructure it in some way that would be able to provide a permanent, sustainable pay raise for teachers.

Was there any money taken out of the MFP to fund those temporary stipends for teacher and staff?

Well, the governor pastor issued an executive order right after the legislative session to actually make a cut in the MFP portion of it, $168 million, kind of take it out of there and then reallocate it to teacher stipends.

But their one time stipends, again, just for the rest of the year.

So they're not permanent.

But it's really, I think, an important thing that the governor actually took money out of the MFP, which we've never really done that before.

Again, it's staying in education with teacher salaries, but it was a cut to the districts in terms of the operational things and the things they usually use that money for.

Yeah.

Is that a concern that cut the 168 million?

Yeah.

I mean, if you look back historically, I don't think we have ever cut the MFP.

The Constitution has some safeguards, quite a few to make it sort of the last resort when you get into budget cuts to cut the MFP, even during the general years when we were, you know, facing really tough budget situations and went through a lot of budget cuts.

We didn't cut the MFP.

So so this is kind of unprecedented where we are.

Again, the money stayed in education, but it did come out of those everyday needs that school districts use.

So you know that is a concern.

We would hate to see that is a continuing basis going forward.

So the task force is now given like five months to make a recommendation.

Is that timeline doable to take a look at the MFP?

Well, I think it's probably going to be doable because they created that timeline and they're probably going to stick to it by the end of the year.

I will say they the task force can only make recommendations so they can look at it.

They don't have to rewrite the MFP.

They just have to look at it and make recommendations.

So they have until the end of the year to do that.

Ultimately, it's Bessie, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education that develops it and submits it to the legislature.

So they have a little more time.

They have to march.

So my hope is, is that while the task force is doing its review, Bessie will start on one right now, as they've kind of indicated.

They will.

And hopefully, you know, the two shall meet and will end up coming up with something that might be feasible.

Yeah, that was my next question.

What if the task force and Bessie, of different recommendations.

Well, the Constitution and everything sort of foresees that in some cases, I think what's going to happen is that probably the task force will come up with recommendations.

Bessie doesn't have to follow them, but it is coming from the legislature that funds it.

And the governor will probably certainly weigh in on it as well.

So what my thought is, is that probably Bessie will be doing a review, hopefully a big comprehensive review, and the two groups can come together and come up with something.

I do think ultimately, there will be a lot of political pressure on Bessie and everybody else to come to some kind of agreement.

So hopefully they will number one.

And number two, it'll be a formula that we can either live with for a while or maybe temporary that we can come back and revisit in short term.

Your organization recently held a conference in Lake Charles.

Was this topic discussed?

Yeah, we had a session on the MFP.

We had some national experts coming in talking about school financing around the country.

You know how our MFP kind of compares to others.

Really good conversation.

I think what we got out of it was there are some really good pieces to our MFP that are pillars that you see as best practices in other states.

We want to make sure that we retain those.

At the same time, there probably are some improvements or tweaks that we can make.

We haven't had a comprehensive review and really 30 years.

So I think coming out of it, the feeling was we've got a pretty good foundational formula, but if we want to make some tweaks, there are some things we could do that would probably be able to make it a little better.

What would a successful MFP look like for Louisiana schools?

I think at the end of the day, one, I guess maybe we could hope that there is a way to find teacher pay raises out of there.

But number two, I think a review probably needs to look at the cost that really does cost.

We haven't really reviewed that in a long time to educate a student in Louisiana.

So to get a better handle on what the actual real cost is to make sure that it's able to be distributed equitably around the state.

And at the end of the day, that it encourages districts and students and, you know, all of our policymakers to do things that will improve student outcomes, because that is the bottom line.

That is the way we fund education.

And at the end of the day, it should be improving student outcomes.

And hopefully that's what we'll see.

Well, this was a very insightful discussion.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Oh, thanks for having me.

Bonnie cannon knows the story of her father, LSU legend Billy Cannon, better than most.

Ahead of LP's new documentary Circles The Life of Billy Cannon, she reflects on the fame, fall and redemption of one of Louisiana's most iconic sports figures.

Here's Victor Howell.

Well, it is so exciting and great to be back visiting with Bunny Cannon.

We visited one year ago at the museum downtown Baton Rouge, and we were talking about the exhibit there for her dad.

And it's great to see you here.

Thank you.

Good to be here to talk more about Billy Cannon, of course.

Circles the Life of Billy Cannon will be debuting next week here on LP.

We'll talk about that in a moment.

First of all, how are you doing?

It's great to see you.

When we last visited, we were downtown Baton Rouge at the museum.

I want to ask you how that went, because then it moved.

But how was that for you?

It was great.

It was really good to see people of all ages come and see and learn about the story of Billy Cannon and figure out who he was, or try to learn about who he was and what he did throughout his life, not just at LSU, which is a big part of it, but he did a lot more than that.

You had the museum exhibit, and then it moved to to Natchitoches has been an overriding reaction of people saying, oh, I didn't know that.

I didn't see that.

And what was that?

The part that they don't understand is what happens.

They don't even know what happened after football, which amazes me.

I thought everybody knew about the counterfeiting because it was so public.

And so they just thought that he was just a, you know, a football player that just went about his business, became an orthodontist, and they didn't think much of it.

But what's amazing is what he did at Angola, that's been the biggest thing for us is to see people see the whole progression of his life.

So where did the idea of circles the life of Billy Cannon come from?

I understand there were lots of offers and interest to want to tell a story, and it never got told.

So why now?

There were there were people who came to my father when he was alive, and they wanted to do the story of his life, but he was always afraid to tell the the bad, you know, the good was not a problem, but it was the I think he just still felt that he didn't really want to talk about that, and he didn't want people to take it and tell it the wrong way.

And so he would always laugh and tell me, Bunny, wait till I'm dead.

You can do it.

What?

You can do whatever you want.

When I'm dead, I'm like, yeah, but you're taking the fun out of it, right?

It'd be more fun to do it together.

But he got his way.

And so Jay's been a good friend of mine for a long time, and was talking to Linda midget through a mutual friend, and they were interested, but I don't think they fully saw the depth and breadth of it all until they saw the museum opening.

I think my dad and his brother were such community people that I think that the reason this is working out so well is because they would have done it this way.

They would have wanted it to go to LPB because he would want Louisiana stories told by Louisiana people.

When you talk about your dad not wanting to do a movie or a feature about him, what's interesting is that you're sitting here talking about how the totality of the story is what's so meaningful.

Was he afraid that people wouldn't accept him or like him, or remember him because of the downfall?

No.

I think what a lot of people don't realize, because he was such a public persona, is by nature, he was a loner.

Like, if he's in Tiger Stadium, he's going to sign every autograph.

He's going to talk to every person.

But in his downtime, all he wanted to be was with his family, with his horses.

So how much were you involved with the making of circles?

I know it's been more than a year for us, and certainly you came to them, as you mentioned, through a mutual friend with Linda.

You knew Jay.

But as they got going, have you started discovering other things, or did you try to step back and let other people tell the story?

I wanted them to tell the story, and I wanted them to interview who they wanted to interview and get the information the way they needed to get it.

I didn't want to have a hand in it.

Our family tells our side of the story, but it was important for us, for them to go find the information for themselves.

And so I still haven't seen the final product.

Okay.

I was going to ask you about that.

I haven't seen it.

I've seen just bits and pieces.

And I think they're doing that on purpose.

But everybody who has seen it says it's it's fantastic.

It's real, it's raw.

You kind of hinted that it might happen, but I was going to ask you this anyway.

Now that I know you haven't seen it in its entirety.

Do you think there's a chance you're going to learn something new about your dad?

Oh, absolutely.

There are bits and pieces that I'm learning through all of these interviews that really close the circle.

And it wasn't until we started doing this interview, one of the interviews with Jay, that I realized what happened to his father when he fell off the scaffolding at Exxon and he lost a leg.

He couldn't work anymore, and they became the town charity case, and he had to go out and work.

He had to steal scrap metal and sell it, which was why his bad boy attitude.

But that profoundly impacted him.

And I had no idea until you see the progression of the counterfeiting he didn't want us to have to do, but he had to do so.

I understand a lot more about him now that he's been gone almost a decade than I did when he was here.

You haven't seen the film yet, but when you do see it and when others get to see it.

What do you hope the message will be that people will take away from when they finish seeing?

I hope they see his heart and his humanity and what he did for people.

He did so many things for people.

He gave the shirt off his back.

They don't know who he truly was at his core, and he was a really, really good person.

So I hope they see that.

The program is circles the Life of Billy Cannon.

It will debut Monday night on LP next week.

Here we will talk to Linda midget and Jay Darren, the executive producers of that show, and get their feedback on putting it together.

Bonnie cannon, It's always great.

Thank you.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Enjoy the show.

Thank you.

I know I will.

Good.

Our team has been hard at work on that documentary.

So, like Victor said, make sure to watch Circles the Life of Billy Cannon Monday night at 7:00 right here on LPB.

And I have heard great things, so be sure to tune in.

You guys.

Well, that is our show for this week.

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

And you can catch LPB news and public affairs shows, as well as other Louisiana programs that you've come to enjoy over the years.

And please like us on Facebook and Instagram.

For everyone at Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

I'm Christina Jensen and.

I'm Johnny Atkinson.

Till 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.