Louisiana

Layering best way to prevent hypothermia

Published

1 year ago

December 15, 2024

Layering best way to prevent hypothermia

It’s time to talk about cold weather.

Oh, not the kind of “dry” cold our Yankee brethren face, but the kind of wet, bone-chilling conditions we face across our beloved Sportsman’s Paradise.

It doesn’t take freezing temperatures to bring on hypothermia, and while we will not be facing plummeting late-fall thermometer readings during the next couple of days, it’s that dip into the lower 30s next weekend that’s a signal to get smart while in a duck blind or on a deer stand.

Humidity and wind are prime factors around here, and if temperatures fall into the 20s, then you hunters — fishermen, too — better know how to layer clothing and the other things that will bring you home safely.

Wind-chill charts are good guidelines to the danger outdoors on a particular day, but those only list temperature and wind and Louisiana outdoors folks have to contend with a dampness factor.

It’s been 35 years since that bitter winter blast that killed two Louisiana hunters and left three more with lengthy hospital stays and even longer recoveries, but that doesn’t mean hypothermia will not have victims around here this winter.

Understanding hypothermia is easy: It happens when your body releases more heat than it has stored and can ingest from external sources. Hypothermia’s onset comes when a body’s core temperature falls to 95 degrees and becomes life-threatening at 85 degrees.

It’s here we need to mention that consuming alcohol is not the answer. Hot liquids like broth and chocolate (carried in a Thermos) help to ward off hypothermia’s first signs — a chill that leads to shivering, then prolonged shivering, which is your body’s attempt to contract muscles to keep blood flowing to your extremities. Slurred speech and drowsiness come later.

And, what young hunter doesn’t like hot chocolate!

Layering clothing helps. Base layers, then heavier pants and shirts are the next step. Outerwear that keeps wind and moisture away from clothing is a must. And, do not wear so much clothes that it constricts movement.

Be careful not to wear cotton. It absorbs sweat and will start a chill next to your skin.

With so many parents wanting to expose their sons and daughters to the thrill of the hunt or a marsh fishing trip, know that youngsters are unable to deal with bitterly cold temperatures as well as adults. Limit their exposure to open, windy conditions and limit the time spent in blinds, deer stands and boats.

Because most of our hunting involves water, always wear a serviceable life jacket over all that hunting outerwear when you’re on the water.

Then, if you feel these symptoms coming on, get back to the camp or landing. You need indirect heat to begin warming. Don’t use heating pads or jump into a hot shower. Try to drink warm, not hot, fluids like warm apple cider and warm lemonade. Avoid caffeine and alcohol, the latter will slow your body’s recovery response.

And, please, file a trip plan with someone at home. Give your hunting location, a boat landing, the make and model of your vehicle and your boat, and an expected time of return. Also list your cellphone number and the number of the local sheriff’s department.

Fishing

Saltwater and freshwater species are beginning to show signs of find deeper water now that we’ve had our first tastes of cold temperatures and rising barometers.

The best catches of trout and redfish are coming from holes near the intersections of bayous and deeper-water canals.

Bass and sac-a-lait have found the depths, too, but “depths” in south Louisiana often mean the deeper bends of bayous and off the deeper sides of points where two waters meet, either a bayou/river into a canal or two canals. In places like Toledo Bend, finding old sloughs and creek beds are the most productive now.

Those patterns hold the first days after a cold front passes. For days like this weekend and leading into Tuesday, the warmer conditions usually find trout, reds and bass moving into shallower areas to feed on more active baitfish and shrimp.

Checking the barometer will help, too. When the barometric pressure hits 30.30 inches, it’s probably a good time to stay home. The fish won’t be very active.

Shrimp

With a lone exception, most of our state’s inshore shrimp season will close at sunset Monday.

The exception is in Shrimp Zone 1 in the Pontchartrain Basin, the Biloxi Marsh and Breton and Chandeleur sounds. The map of this open area can be found on the agency’s website: wlf.louisiana.gov

This means all the other locations in Zone 1 and all of Zones 2 and 3 will be closed.

State biologists close the inshore season when the count of white shrimp in each area rises above the 100-to-the-pound count in their test trawls.

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Louisiana

How Trump’s AI executive order impacts Louisiana

Published

3 hours ago

December 20, 2025

Press Room

How Trump’s AI executive order impacts Louisiana

ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) – The federal government is building a nationwide standard as the United States competes in a global A.I. race, much the same as the Space Race of the 20th century.

Last week, President Trump signed an executive order aimed at establishing a uniform federal regulatory framework for artificial intelligence in the United States.

The order emphasized a need for AI companies to be allowed to innovate without hinderance from excessive regulations, so that the system would not become fragmented.

Marva Bailer is the CEO and founder of Qualaix, which works to improve productivity and innovation with AI through conversations. She said this framework a step towards realizing an untapped potential in the United States for innovation and productivity through AI.

“We are leading the AI race,” said Bailer. “What is getting people’s attention is there are areas that we could be a lot stronger and lean in a lot faster.”

We spoke with KALB political analyst Greg LaRose to learn how this new framework might impact Louisiana’s development.

Since 2024, the construction of multiple AI data centers has been announced across the state, with each new center estimated to be worth billions of dollars and promising new jobs and growth for Louisiana.

According to LaRose, the executive order should not realistically confine any of the state’s major AI projects.

“Through the Louisiana lens at that executive order from President Trump, I’m not really seeing anything that really confines what’s going on in the state.”

The majority of the state’s laws are concerned with deep fakes.

In October, Louisiana governor Jeff Landry issued his own executive order which banned, “Communist Chinese AI platforms’ from systems within state government.”

While it is unclear how Louisiana will enforce Landry’s order, LaRose said the state does face other concerns.

“I think they’re more concerned about giving China access to the data that is used to create, say, a Louisiana-based deep fake or any type of issue,” said LaRose. “For example, like transcription software that people are increasingly using to make record-keeping a lot easier. I think the idea is that that type of information be kept out of hands that we don’t want it in.”

This, as the global AI race heats up heading into 2026.

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Louisiana

Third inmate who escaped from southern Louisiana jail captured, officials say

Published

15 hours ago

December 20, 2025

Press Room

Third inmate who escaped from southern Louisiana jail captured, officials say

December 19, 2025 / 11:28 PM EST
/ CBS/AP

The last of two inmates who had been on the run since escaping from a jail in the southern Louisiana city of Opelousas earlier this month has been caught, officials said Friday. A third inmate who was also part of the escape died by suicide after being caught by police, authorities previously said.

Keith Anthony Eli II, 24, was taken into custody in Opelousas, St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz said in a news release. Opelousas is located about 25 miles north of Lafayette.

Guidroz said Eli was captured by narcotics detectives and a SWAT team thanks to a tip.

At the time of his escape, Eli was held on an attempted second-degree murder charge.

The three men had escaped the St. Landry Parish Jail on Dec. 3 by removing concrete blocks from an upper wall area, Guidroz said at the time.

Authorities said the inmates then used sheets and other materials to scale the exterior wall, climb onto a first-floor roof and lower themselves to the ground, Guidroz said.

Escapee Jonathan Joseph, 24, was captured on Dec. 5. He is in custody on multiple charges, including first-degree rape.

Joseph Harrington, 26, faced several felony charges, including home invasion. On Dec. 4, one day after the escape, he was recognized by a tipster while pushing a black e-bike. Police found the e-bike at a neighboring home and heard a gunshot while trying to coax him to leave the building. He had shot himself with a hunting rifle, Port Barre Police Chief Deon Boudreaux said by telephone to The Associated Press.

The escape came more than seven months after 10 inmates broke out of a New Orleans jail. All ten of since been captured.

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Louisiana

MS Goon Squad victim arrested on drug, gun charges in Louisiana. Bond set

Published

1 day ago

December 19, 2025

Press Room

MS Goon Squad victim arrested on drug, gun charges in Louisiana. Bond set

Eddie Terrell Parker, a victim in the “Goon Squad” case, was arrested in Louisiana on multiple charges.
Parker was stopped for traffic violations and allegedly found with several narcotics and at least one firearm.
The charges include possession with intent to distribute several drugs and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Parker and another man previously settled a $400 million lawsuit against Rankin County after being tortured by former officers.

Eddie Terrell Parker, one of two men who settled a civil lawsuit against Rankin County and the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department in the “Goon Squad” case, was arrested Wednesday, Dec. 17, and is being held in a northeast Louisiana jail on multiple charges.

Louisiana State Police Senior Trooper Ryan Davis confirmed details of the incident to the Clarion Ledger via phone call on Friday, Dec. 19.

Davis said Parker was traveling east on Interstate 20 in Madison Parish, Louisiana, when a trooper observed Parker committing “multiple traffic violations.” Davis said the trooper conducted a traffic stop, identified themselves and explained the reason for the stop.

Parker was allegedly found in possession of multiple narcotics, along with at least one firearm.

Parker was booked around 8 p.m. Wednesday into the Madison Parish Detention Center in Tallulah, Louisiana, on the following charges, as stated by Davis:

Possession of marijuana with intent to distribute
Possession of ecstasy with intent to distribute
Possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute
Possession of cocaine with intent to distribute
Possession of drug paraphernalia
Possession of a firearm in the presence of a controlled substance
Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon

Details about the quantity of narcotics found in Parker’s possession were not immediately available.

Davis told the Clarion Ledger that Parker received a $205,250 bond after appearing before a judge.

Parker, along with another man named Michael Jenkins, was tortured and abused on Jan. 24, 2023, at a home in Braxton, at the hands of six former law enforcement officers who called themselves “The Goon Squad.” Parker and Jenkins filed a lawsuit in June 2023 against Rankin County and Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey.

Each of the six former Mississippi law enforcement officers involved in the incident are serving prison time for state and federal charges. Those officers were identified as former Rankin County deputies Brett McAlpin, Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke, and former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield.

Court documents show U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III issued an order on April 30 dismissing a $400 million lawsuit brought by Jenkins and Parker, saying that the two men had reached a settlement with the county and Bailey. Jenkins and Parker sought compensatory damages, punitive damages, interest and other costs.

According to court records, the case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled. However, the order stated that if any party fails to comply with settlement terms, any aggrieved party may reopen the matter for enforcement of the settlement.

Jason Dare, legal counsel for the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department, stated the settlement agreement totaled to $2.5 million. According to Dare, the settlement was not an admission of guilt on the county’s or the sheriff’s department’s part.

Pam Dankins is the breaking news reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Have a tip? Email her at pdankins@gannett.com.

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