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Hear the latest from the WWNO/WRKF Newsroom.

Louisiana Considered: The Pandemic’s Effects On Industries And Arts, Pollution And Algal Blooms In Lake Pontchartrain And The Gulf Of Mexico

Funk band Galactic purchased Tipitina’s shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
WWNO
Funk band Galactic purchased Tipitina’s shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
  • A&S Transportation General Manager Brad Kerrigan tells us about the effects the pandemic has had on his company’s business, especially regarding operation of school buses for charter schools nationally and in South Louisiana.
  • Galactic bassist Robert Mercurio updates us on the band and their operation of Tipitina’s as the state loses progress in the fight against COVID-19.
  • WWNO/WRKF lead coastal reporter Tegan Wendland reports that the Gulf of Mexico’s “dead zone,” an area where runoff fertilizer enables algal blooms to rob water of oxygen and kill plant and animal life, is larger this year than expected by scientists.
  • Pontchartrain Conservancy Water Quality Program director Dr. Brady Skaggs tells us about the Conservancy’s work to treat Lake Pontchartrain’s water and prevent pollution of Louisiana’s largest lake.
Karl Lengel worked at New Orleans Public Radio for more than two decades before leaving the station in 2023.
Aubry is a reporter, producer and operations assistant in Baton Rouge.