Louisiana
SUN Bucks summer EBT for Rapides parish
ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) – The State of Louisiana is set to participate in the federal Summer EBT Program “SUN Bucks,” aiming to provide summer meal options for students.
The Department of Children and Family Services made the announcement earlier this year.
SUN Bucks, also known as Summer EBT, provides grocery-buying benefits to low-income families with school-aged children when schools are closed for the summer. Each eligible child will receive a single payment of $120 for the summer, with benefits being issued in multiple phases beginning in June. Most eligible families will get SUN Bucks automatically, but some parents will need to apply.
The meal sites for Rapides Parish can be found HERE. The meals are free to children 18 years and younger, and the children must come into the cafeteria to eat the food provided.
Who’s Eligible for SUN Bucks?
Eligible children in the following categories will receive SUN Bucks automatically, without need for an application, beginning in June:
- Children whose families received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Family Independence Temporary Assistance Program (FITAP) benefits during the 2023-24 school year
- Children receiving Medicaid
- Children who applied and were individually approved to receive free or reduced-price school meals through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP)
Additionally, children in the following categories may be eligible to receive SUN Bucks but will need to apply:
- Children experiencing homelessness
- Migrant children
- Children who receive free or reduced-price school meals but did not complete an NSLP application (for example, if the child attends a Community Eligibility Provision school where all students are provided free or reduced-price meals without applying)
How Will Benefits Be Issued?
Benefits will be rolled out in three phases, beginning in June with children who received SNAP during the 2023-24 school year. Benefits for these children will be added to their household’s existing Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card. Other eligible children who do not have an existing EBT card will be issued one when their benefits are issued.
What If I Need to Apply?
For children who are not streamlined eligible and need to apply, information about the application process will be provided soon on the new Louisiana SUN Bucks website.
How Long Do SUN Bucks Last?
Under federal regulations, SUN Bucks must be used within 122 days from the date the benefits are issued, or they will be removed from the card. Once the benefits expire, they cannot be added back on the card. To stay up-to-date on the latest news about SUN Bucks in Louisiana, visit sunbucks.la.gov.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION HERE.
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Louisiana
Why Louisiana is one of the most mosquito infested states in the US
Project aims to curb dengue by releasing millions of mosquitoes
Google-backed researchers are taking an unusual approach to fighting mosquito-borne diseases: releasing more mosquitoes. The effort, known as Debug, is designed to reduce populations of mosquitoes that spread illnesses such as dengue fever by using specially bred male mosquitoes that cannot produce viable offspring.
Fox – 35 Orlando
Bug spray is an everyday necessity in Louisiana, as mosquitoes in the state are active year-round.
Mosquitoes thrive in Louisiana’s climate, as ample rainfall and bodies of water provide optimal breeding grounds and the insects favor humidity and mild winters.
All of these factors contribute to the state’s high mosquito population, abundant number of mosquito species and high volume of West Nile cases reported annually.
Louisiana and mosquitoes
While the exact count of mosquitoes in Louisiana is impossible to calculate, the state is estimated to have the fourth highest mosquito population in the U.S.
The 10 states with the most mosquitoes, according to World Population Review:
- Alabama
- Florida
- Georgia
- Louisiana
- Montana
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Virginia
The 10 states with the least mosquitoes, according to World Population Review:
- Arizona
- California
- Delaware
- Hawaii
- Nevada
- West Virginia
- Alaska
- Arkansas
- Colorado
- Connecticut
Louisiana has the fourth highest number of mosquito species. How many does the state have?
Louisiana is home to a total of 68 species of mosquito, making it the state with the fourth most species. The three most common species of mosquito in Louisiana include southern house mosquitoes, Asian tiger mosquitoes and floodwater mosquitoes, says J&J Exterminating.
Here’s how Louisiana compares to other states in terms of mosquito species, according to World Population Review:
- Texas: 85
- Florida: 80
- New York: 70
- Louisiana: 68
- Georgia: 63
- South Carolina: 61
- Alabama: 60
- Kentucky: 60
- New Jersey: 60
- North Carolina: 60
- Oklahoma: 60
- Pennsylvania: 60
- Ohio: 59
- Delaware: 57
- Iowa: 57
- New Mexico: 57
- Wisconsin: 56
- Arkansas: 55
- Indiana: 55
- Michigan: 55
- Connecticut: 54
- Illinois: 52
- Massachusetts: 51
- California: 50
- Idaho: 50
- Maryland: 50
- Minnesota: 50
- Mississippi: 50
- Missouri: 50
- Montana: 50
- Nebraska: 50
- Oregon: 50
- Utah: 50
- Virginia: 50
- Rhode Island: 46
- Colorado: 45
- Maine: 45
- Vermont: 45
- Wyoming: 45
- New Hampshire: 43
- South Dakota: 43
- Arizona: 40
- Nevada: 40
- Washington: 40
- North Dakota: 38
- Alaska: 30
- West Virginia: 26
- Tennessee: 9
- Hawaii: 8
- Kansas: 2
Louisiana among states that report the most cases of West Nile virus. How many cases were reported in 2025?
A total of 1,941 cases of West Nile virus were reported in the U.S. in 2025 and 64 were reported in Louisiana the same year, making the state rank ninth for total cases of West Nile reported in 2025.
West Nile virus has been actively spreading throughout Louisiana since its first detection in the state in 2002, says the Louisiana Department of Health.
How Louisiana compares to other states in terms of West Nile virus cases reported in 2025, according to World Population Review:
- Colorado: 283
- Illinois: 136
- Minnesota: 112
- Texas: 104
- California: 98
- North Dakota: 86
- South Dakota: 86
- Pennsylvania: 80
- Louisiana: 64
- Arizona: 63
- New York: 56
- Oklahoma: 53
- Nebraska: 52
- New Mexico: 51
- Iowa: 49
- Utah: 48
- Michigan: 46
- Ohio: 44
- Indiana: 38
- Kentucky: 35
- Missouri: 34
- Mississippi: 32
- Kansas: 29
- Maryland: 27
- Wisconsin: 26
- Virginia: 25
- Alabama: 24
- Arkansas: 24
- New Jersey: 21
- Tennessee: 16
- Georgia: 15
- Wyoming: 14
- Montana: 11
- Idaho: 9
- Massachusetts: 9
- North Carolina: 9
- Connecticut: 6
- Florida: 6
- Washington, D.C.: 4
- South Carolina: 4
- Delaware: 3
- Oregon: 2
- Rhode Island: 2
- Washington: 2
- West Virginia: 2
- Maine: 1
Presley Bo Tyler is the Louisiana Deep South Connect Team reporter for USA Today Network. Find her on X @PresleyTyler02 and email at PTyler@Gannett.com
Louisiana
Louisiana pastor ordered to stay away from home of man he attacked
A Louisiana pastor who assaulted his church’s neighbor last month has been ordered to stay at least 50 yards away from the young man’s home.
Mark Anthony “Tony” Spell, 48, pastor of Life Tabernacle Church near Baton Rouge, was arrested for second-degree battery in June, Roys Report (RR) previously reported. A video of the attack shows Spell punching his 20-year-old neighbor more than 30 times. Spell also threw the man to the ground, sat on top of him, jerked the man’s neck and twisted it, then stood up and kicked him.
A protection order against Spell was issued Friday in Commissioner Kory Tauzin’s Courtroom, reported the Baton Rouge-based Advocate. Tauzin works in the 19th Judicial District Court as a quasi-judge, a person who exercises court-like powers but is not a judge.
The order states that Spell must stay more than 50 yards away from the home of the family that lives across the road from the church, unless he is checking the mail. Spell must also not contact the family in person or electronically, including through social media, the Advocate reported.
RR requested a copy of the protection order from the district clerk but didn’t immediately receive the document.
Your tax-deductible gift supports our mission of reporting the truth and restoring the church. Donate $50 or more to The Roys Report, and you can elect to receive our featured offer, “Kiss and Tell: The Innocent Moment That Shattered Mark Driscoll’s Cult” by Vince Manuele – click here.
RR also emailed Spell at his church for comment, but he didn’t immediately respond.
Spell previously said the 20-year-old neighbor threatened to rape his wife and grandchildren, which the neighbor denied. The two families have been feuding since 2020, when Spell’s church defied COVID-19 lockdown orders.
Scott Sherwin, father of the man Spell punched, had allowed federal authorities to install cameras on his property to surveil the church, RR previously reported. Life Tabernacle is a Oneness Pentecostal church located 14 miles northeast of Baton Rouge.
The elder Sherwin called police on June 25 — two days after Spell’s arrest, according to a police bodycam video obtained by WBRZ-TV Ch. 2, an ABC affiliate in Baton Rouge.
In the police video, Sherwin told police Spell was mowing the church’s lawn at 4 a.m. within 50 yards of his residence. Sherwin told police about a protection order that was in process. Sherwin also said he believed Spell was disturbing the peace and trying to “intimidate” his family by mowing his lawn so early.
“He’s got a protective order and he’s doing this on purpose to keep me and my family awake and drive us insane,” Sherwin told police in the video.
The video next shows police confronting Spell, who was sitting on his mower in the church’s yard. Spell then called Sherwin’s 20-year-old son an anti-gay slur, according to the TV station, which redacted it from the video.
“He’s just sore because I beat the crap out of his f—-t boy,” WBRZ reported Spell saying in the video. “And he’s next if he comes over here and harasses these boys.”
Some teenagers were in the video with Spell holding weed trimmers.
The June incident was at least the second time Spell was arrested for assault, RR previously reported. Spell allegedly backed a bus toward a man who was protesting the church’s decision to stay open during the pandemic. This was also caught on video. Those charges were later dismissed, RR previously reported.

Louisiana
New Louisiana waterway cleanup initiative aims to start in September
Love Our Waterways, a new statewide waterway and shoreline cleanup initiative, will take place throughout Louisiana in September.
Under the auspices of Keep Louisiana Beautiful and Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, the program will involve volunteers, businesses, schools, civic organizations, and community groups in removing litter and debris from Louisiana’s rivers, lakes, bayous, beaches, and shorelines.
World Cleanup Day will take place on Sept. 20, with September globally recognized as Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup Month. Love Our Waterways will serve as a registered effort supporting both initiatives.
Registration is now open at LoveLaWaterways.org. Volunteers can register for a cleanup event or find opportunities to participate. Participants can clean shorelines, clean out drains and ditches, clean by paddle or motorized boat, promote on social media, and/or donate to amplify the impact. Keep Louisiana Beautiful will provide supply boxes for the first 200 groups to register.
Volunteers will also help collect important litter data by documenting the types of debris removed and identifying larger abandoned items, including derelict crab traps, abandoned vessels, and other marine debris. This information will be shared with partner agencies to support future removal efforts.
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