Louisiana

Louisiana ranked No. 2 in US for STI rate, No. 1 for chlamidyia rate

Published

2 weeks ago

April 18, 2024

Louisiana ranked No. 2 in US for STI rate, No. 1 for chlamidyia rate

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) – New research shows that sexually transmitted infections are on the rise in Louisiana.

The CDC ranks Louisiana seventh in the U.S. for cases of congenital syphilis, number three for gonorrhea and No. 1 for chlamydia cases.

Overall, the Bayou State sits at No. 2 for the highest STI rate in the country.

To put it in perspective, per 100,000 people, more than 1,200 have been diagnosed with one or more sexually transmitted infections.

“At Access, we see gonorrhea, chlamydia testing every single day. It’s actually way more frequent than most people actually realize,” Access Urgent Care Nurse Practitioner Samantha Marceaux said.

Marceaux and her team have treated thousands of patients for these infections.

“Two to five per day, we’re open seven days a week. I mean, it’s a pretty significant number, especially for how small Southwest Louisiana is,” Marceaux said.

Marceaux believes one of the main reasons Louisiana has continued to climb the ranks is due to the lack of education like in other states such as Vermont, which has the lowest rate of STIs.

“I think you know some people just truly understand STDs. I think we take maybe the lack of education for granted. I think, you know, that education should start in school-age kids because kids are having sex at a very young age right now, and I don’t think they’re mature enough to do so,” Marceaux said.

Some of the symptoms aligned with these infections are visible or physical, but that’s not always the case.

“You can be completely asymptomatic and not necessarily know that you have it,” Marceaux said.

Medical professionals said don’t let the stigma around these issues prevent you from treating them.

“You can get very serious, very serious infections, you know, women or men, from sexually transmitted diseases, so it’s definitely something that you want to treat as soon as you have those initial symptoms or as soon as you know about the exposure,” Marceaux said.

These infections are mostly preventable with the appropriate measures. Untreated STIs can lead to complications that may be deadly.

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Louisiana

Louisiana congressional map ruling appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court

Published

7 hours ago

May 1, 2024

Press Room

Louisiana congressional map ruling appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) — The Louisiana NAACP, the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice and nine individuals appealed a ruling on Louisiana’s congressional map to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday (May 1).

A Louisiana public service commissioner told KSLA News 12 they filed the appeal because they are going to keep fighting to have two majority-minority districts since one-third of the state’s population is African-American.

Read the appeal:

On Tuesday, a federal three-judge panel overturned the map that includes a 6th Congressional District that stretches from Shreveport to Baton Rouge.

[ Louisiana won’t immediately get a new majority-Black House district after judges reject it]

“The court’s decision yesterday puts us in complete flux because we have elections coming down in November. The state has argued they need a congressional map by May 15,” District 3 Public Service Commissioner Davante Lewis said Wednesday. The Democrat is one of the plaintiffs in the case.

Earlier this year, a judge asked Louisiana lawmakers to create a new congressional map because the previous one violated the Voting Rights Act.

A Louisiana state senator said he supports the court’s decision to overturn the latest map.

“What the court said is that the racial component would be a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment protection laws that are provided under the United States Constitution,” said District 38′s Thomas Pressly, who is a Republican.

The Louisiana Democratic Party issued the following statement:

“Despite this ruling, it remains evident that a second Black majority district is essential for ensuring fair and equitable representation for Black voters in Louisiana. We are steadfast in our commitment to advocating for the fundamental rights of Black Louisianians whose voting influence has consistently faced significant dilution.”

A Shreveport resident told KSLA News 12 it is important for the state of Louisiana to have fair representation with the congressional map.

Another person who identified herself only as Mrs. Peggy had a different thing to say. “I am neutral.”

They say they only have 14 days to have the district boundaries set in place, and the qualifying period for the fall election is in mid-July.

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Louisiana

Wealthier and Whiter: Louisiana School District Secession Gets a Major Boost

Published

14 hours ago

May 1, 2024

Press Room

Wealthier and Whiter: Louisiana School District Secession Gets a Major Boost

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A recent decision by the Louisiana Supreme Court handed a decisive win to backers of a long-running campaign to create a new, overwhelmingly white Baton Rouge-area school system, further concentrating poverty in the remaining, majority-Black part of the district.

When finalized, the secession will likely cost East Baton Rouge Parish Public Schools 10,000 students and 25% of its $700 million budget, school board President Dadrius Lanus estimated.

“This is all rooted in institutional racism,” he said in an interview. “It’s about what white, middle-class people want for their kids.”

Barring complications, it will be the fifth time in nearly a quarter-century that part of the district has broken off and formed its own school system. Currently, the district — Louisiana’s second-largest — has 40,000 students. Ninety percent are impoverished.

A complicated tangle of laws governs the creation of new school districts, with the most straightforward path being the formation of a new municipality corresponding to the area seeking to break away. A decade ago, residents of the affluent southeast quadrant of the parish began campaigning to create a new city, St. George.

In 2019, 54% of the area’s residents voted to incorporate as a standalone municipality. Baton Rouge leaders sued, and in late April the state’s high court ruled in favor of the new city’s proponents. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry will now appoint St. George’s first mayor and five city council members.

The St. George area is represented by East Baton Rouge School Board member Nathan Rust, who backed the breakaway. Rust could not immediately be reached for comment, but his campaign website includes a statement decrying the condition of local schools.

“Our schools in District 6 are overcrowded and fraught with violence, disruption and an exodus of quality teachers,” it states. “After 20 years of Board Tenure, how is this the best public education offered to our children?” Many parents, it adds, “resort to spending their hard-earned money on private schools because they have no better option.”

In 2109, The 74 published a deep dive into a decades-long school integration scheme that shaped the district, the first four secessions and the potential implications of a St. George breakaway. Under the terms of a desegregation order — no longer in force — many East Baton Rouge students attend magnet schools that are spread throughout the district. Consequently, many children who live in the most impoverished neighborhoods — many still devastated by recent floods — attend schools in the St. George area.

According to Lanus, the existing district has 90 days to “annex” the 10 existing schools and two properties where it had planned to build schools within the new city’s boundaries — all of which were purchased or built by parish taxpayers. St. George residents would then have a choice: pay to build their own schools, or attempt to buy existing school facilities and lots from the East Baton Rouge district. As yet unknown is whether the district would be willing to sell and, if not, how many students would be bused into the new city to attend existing district schools.

The secession would also shift an unknown but significant amount of local tax revenue to the new city, further straining the East Baton Rouge district’s coffers. Lanus estimates the district will lose some $150 million in per-pupil state and federal aid, plus money that is supposed to flow to children in poverty, magnet school students and those receiving special education or gifted-and-talented services.

“I can’t tell you how many calls I’ve gotten from parents saying, ‘What’s going to happen to my kids?’ ” said Lanus. “We don’t have any time to waste.”

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Louisiana

Louisiana police clear out anti-Israel encampment at Tulane University, arrest 14 protesters

Published

21 hours ago

May 1, 2024

Press Room

Louisiana police clear out anti-Israel encampment at Tulane University, arrest 14 protesters

Louisiana State Police cleared out an encampment of anti-Israel protesters from Tulane University early Wednesday morning, making 14 arrests during the operation.

As with campuses across the country, protesters had occupied Tulane’s lawn for days ahead of the police action. Police first attempted to disperse the crowd at 3 a.m. local time. Many protesters remained seated and refused to leave, however, and police ultimately arrested eight women and six men, according to NOLA.com.

The encampment was cleared by 4:30 am.

Tulane University administrators and police held a press conference Wednesday morning after police cleared out the area. New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpartrick said police waited two days before taking action.

TRUMP SAYS 4 WORDS ABOUT ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES AS ARRESTS SKYROCKET

Louisiana State Police cleared out an encampment of anti-Israel protesters from Tulane University early Wednesday morning, making 14 arrests during the operation. (AP Newsroom)

“We wanted people to be able to have voice and yet not create a violation of the law,” Kirkpatrick said. “This is protected property. We wanted to give them an opportunity to peacefully remove themselves and not violate the rights of others as well.”

The operation at Tulane occurred the same night that the New York City police cracked down on anti-Israel protesters who broke into and occupied a building on Columbia University’s campus.

VIRGINIA TECH POLICE PHYSICALLY CARRY AWAY ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS AMID EFFORT TO RESTORE PEACE ON CAMPUS

Columbia had also made efforts to tolerate the protests for as long as possible, but administrators said they were left with “no choice” once protesters broke into Hamilton Hall.

Counterprotesters with an Israeli flag stand across the street from anti-Israel agitators at Tulane University in New Orleans. (AP Newsroom)

UT-AUSTIN PRESIDENT DEFENDS SHUTTING DOWN ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS: ‘OUR RULES MATTER AND THEY WILL BE ENFORCED’

Universities across the country are resorting to more direct measures to end student protests as major end-of-year events approach. Columbia has reaffirmed its commitment to hold commencement ceremonies despite the unrest. The event is scheduled for May 15.

Not all universities have been so confident, however. The University of Southern California canceled its main graduation ceremony last week.

Anti Israel demonstrators in New Orleans

Anti-Israel demonstrators gather in front of Tulane University in New Orleans, Monday night. (AP Newsroom)

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Columbia had initially tried negotiating with student protesters, but the school’s president, Minouche Shafik, announced in a statement earlier this week that the talks had gone nowhere.

Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.

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