RSS Feed

Every operating river-adjacent Louisiana casino took in less money last month than the month before and during the same month last year, according to the newest report to the Louisiana Gaming Control Board.

The state’s river-adjacent casinos collectively were down 27.7% in February compared with February 2020. That total includes DiamondJacks in Bossier City, which is closed permanently, and Isle of Capri Lake Charles, which has not yet reopened after taking heavy damage from Hurricane Laura.

Louisiana’s casino sector, which is a major contributor to state finances, was in decline before the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials said some customers have been reluctant to return since casinos reopened, and casino capacity remains limited as part of the state's efforts to control the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

The Shreveport/Bossier market was down almost 33% last month compared with February 2020, according to the new revenue report. Sam’s Town was down more than 50%, the biggest dip of any property in the state that remains open.

The Lake Charles market was down 27.8% year-over-year, New Orleans was down 27.6% and Baton Rouge dipped 14%.

Harrah’s land-based New Orleans casino, which has its own deal with the state and is reported separately, was the only casino to bring in more money last month than the month before. It still was down more than 40% year-over-year.

Though state government cannot dictate how Louisiana municipalities and parishes use their shares of billions in federal stimulus money, legislators plan to remember how local leaders spent the money when the locals come to Baton Rouge seeking state funds, lawmakers said Monday.
The St Mary government and parish municipalities are in line for more than $20 million in aid under the latest COVID recovery legislation.
“Every town, every city is going to get some [federal money],” Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne told the Senate Finance Committee. “It’s March madness, government style.”
Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration is proposing spending some of the state’s $3 billion-plus in federal money on water and broadband infrastructure and tourism promotion. Local governments collectively will get almost $2 billion and should be able to contribute funds for those same purposes, lawmakers said.
“We’re going to have to put some stipulations on money that’s going directly to local governments so that we have some connectivity [between the state and local governments],” said Sen. Gerald Boudreaux, a Lafayette Democrat.
Local government leaders who don’t spend the money wisely will face a skeptical Louisiana Legislature when they ask for more money later, Boudreaux said.
The administration also wants to consider spending a significant chunk to pay for the state’s cost share of a hurricane protection system in the New Orleans region. It could cost more than $1 billion if paid off in a few years and as much as $3 billion, including interest, over 30 years.
The administration has proposed raising $400 million through a bond sale to make a hefty payment on the debt this year, which could save money but limit the state’s borrowing capacity for other projects. Federal rules about how the money can be spent have not been issued, and Dardenne said Monday he didn’t know whether paying the hurricane protection debt would be an acceptable expense.
Dardenne said the administration has submitted to the federal government more than 100 questions seeking to further clarify how the money can be used. Water and broadband infrastructure and making up for government revenue reductions are among the permissible options.
Sen. Cameron Henry, a Metairie Republican, said parishes directly benefitting from the system should be asked to contribute to the cost.
“We need to ask everybody to chip in a little bit,” Henry said.

I got stuck.
A week ago today, I got my first shot of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. A feeling of tardiness accompanied the injection because eligibility had been expanded to include me — a 63-year-old, obese, smoking diabetic — weeks before.
But Louisiana still has a way to go. The latest report from the Louisiana Office of Public Health says about 1.6 million does, equal to about a third of the state’s population, have been administered, and more than 611,000 people have received either a second shot of mRNA vaccine (Moderna or Pfizer) or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Polls continue to show what is known as “vaccine hesitancy” among Americans. About 30% of Americans say they don’t want the shot, according to a Pew Research Center poll in February. Nearly 40% of African Americans, a group hit especially hard by COVID-19, don’t intend to get the shot. Republicans (56%) are even more hesitant to get vaccinated.
But there’s less hesitancy than in previous polls, as more and more people get the vaccine without keeling over or growing gills. Nearly 11% of St. Mary and Assumption people have gotten the shot, according to the Office of Public Health, and about 8% of St. Martin people.
Maybe you’re still deciding. Here’s what it was like for me:
First, you need an appointment. The rumor mill said appointments can be tough to get, but I scored on the first call to a nearby Walmart pharmacy. The appointment was made about a week before vaccination day.
The Office of Public Health website has a form you’re supposed to download and sign, attesting to the fact that you have at least one of the 23 health conditions that make people who are over 55 eligible for the vaccine. (Eligibility has since been expanded to those over 16 with one or more co-morbidities, and then to adults with jobs deemed essential.)
I filled out my form and took it with me to Walmart on the appointed day.
There, I waited in line 20 minutes to find out I was in the wrong line. It turns out I was supposed to go to the window helpfully labeled “Drop Off.”
More waiting.
When my turn arrived, I handed the form to the lady behind the window.
“Nah,” she said. “We don’t need that.”
Dude. They ignored my form.
The lady then proceeded to ask me for the information that was on the form. She also wanted my ID and my insurance card.
The ID request was understandable. We’re all supposed to get vaccinated eventually, but we don’t want anyone getting safe before it’s their turn, do we?
But why the insurance card? There was no charge to me, or so I was told. No co-pay or deductible or anything.
Still, nothing about health insurance ever makes sense. We pressed on.
After collecting information about my health shortcomings, the lady finally said to wait for the shot in chair No. 3.
Not chair No. 2, or chair No. 4, but chair No. 3. They couldn’t put up a sign that says “COVID shots here,” but all the chairs were numbered.
After about 15 minutes, a young woman led me behind one of those office cubicle partitions for the actual shot.
You’ll be happy to know that medical science continues to advance. Now, instead of giving you the shot and then putting a little round Band-Aid on your arm, they put the Band-Aid on first and stick the needle through it.
The shot itself didn’t hurt. Afterward, the young woman handed me a digital timer set for 15 minutes and told me to have a seat outside the pharmacy windows until the time ran out.
Lacking specific instructions, I went for chair No. 4.
They say a watched pot never boils. But if you want to slow down time, try staring at a 15-minute timer when you’re sitting with a bunch of people who think they need COVID shots.
My time finally expired — an ominous phrase under the circumstances — so I turned in my timer, got my “got my shot” card and set up the appointment for the required second dose.
By the way, I learned why the pharmacy window was labeled “Drop Off.” I went home, had a bite of lunch and then dropped off for the next 12 hours.
Experts say different people experience different mild side effects. Aside from some soreness in the arm where I got the shot, my reaction was a deep sleep.
My wife said later she tried to wake me up to say she was going to the store. I have to take her word for it.
My mom, who is 82 and lives in Missouri, said she also experienced some drowsiness after her first Moderna shot. Another person in Morgan City said he and his wife wondered if they got a sugar water injection because they experienced no side effects at all.
Others have reported fatigue, minor headaches and the medical condition technically known as “blah.”
Anyway, nothing on the list of side effects outweighs the feeling you get from knowing you’ve done your part, that you’ve moved Louisiana a little closer to mask-less gatherings, visits with relatives, open bars and sit-down meals in restaurants.
And maybe you'll even get to catch up on your sleep.
Bill Decker is managing editor of The Daily Review.

The Louisiana Sea Grant College Program is growing. In March, the new Department of Education and Engagement was added to build more integrated impacts in effective environmental literacy, outreach and education programs.
The goal is for this new department to find greater synergies between existing departments and find new and impactful ways for Louisiana Sea Grant to continue to support its stakeholders.
The Education and Engagement unit will not be just a cross-cutting department, but a cross-connecting one.
The challenges facing Louisiana are complex—a highly engineered landscape, rapid rates of coastal wetland loss, vulnerability to storms and flooding, fishing industries dealing with chronic and emerging threats—and require a concerted approach.
This department will provide strong educational support and stakeholder engagement about issues facing our coast and research attempts to address these challenges.
The program will be managed by Dani DiIullo, who is no stranger to Louisiana Sea Grant. For the last five years, DiIullo has served as communications coordinator with the organization, overseeing and growing both the LaDIA, or Louisiana Discovery, Integration and Application, research engagement program and the Watch the Delta Grow youth education modules. She has taught both in the classroom and in outdoor education; has worked with universities, state agencies, non-profits and museums.
“Dani has a strong ability to translate science to multiple audiences,” said Robert Twilley, Louisiana Sea Grant executive director. “She has worked with researchers; she has worked with agencies; she has worked with teachers. For Louisiana to meaningfully address its coastal challenges, we need people with experience working across multiple disciplines—and Dani has that experience.”
In this new role, DiIullo will oversee a staff of four to deliver many historically popular programs while looking to expand into new opportunities. The new Department of Education and Engagement would continue promoting the long-term impactful programs such as Ocean Commotion, Coastal Roots, LaDIA, Watch the Delta Grow, EnvironMentors and field-based teacher professional development workshops.
DiIullo will push to include new initiatives, including community science as a tool to enforce place-based engagement; providing new, innovative ways to support teachers given COVID-19 classroom challenges and expanding workforce development opportunities.
“Louisiana has the best coastal classroom,” DiIullo said.
“We are surrounded by incredible tools to teach about wetlands, fisheries, water quality, geology, climate and engineering. I look forward to building these experiences into new environmental literacy and workforce development opportunities.”
Louisiana Sea Grant, based at LSU, is part of the National Sea Grant College Program, a network of 34 programs located in each of the coastal and Great Lakes states, Puerto Rico and Guam.
Sea Grant programs work individually and in partnership to address major marine and coastal challenges.
Since its establishment in 1968, Louisiana Sea Grant has worked to promote stewardship of the state’s coastal resources through a combination of research, education and outreach programs critical to the cultural, economic and environmental health of Louisiana’s coastal zone.