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The magic of Science

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NATCHITOCHES - A professor is using his time away from the lab to keep the public entertained and spark curiosity in youth via video.

Iota native Michael Scanlan, assistant professor of physics at Northwestern State University, regularly uses the Demons’ social media pages to launch scientific videos. He decided at the start of the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders to create video tutorials on how to perform various science experiments.

LA Housing Authority reports healthy finances

LAKE ARTHUR — The Housing Authority of Lake Arthur showed healthy finances and continues to operate without the need for debt borrowing.

The Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office (LLAO) recently released the results of an annual audit completed on financial statements for the year ending Sept. 30, 2019.

The 46-page report was completed by certified public accountant Mike Estes, P.C., of Forth Worth, Texas.

Federal inmates to be locked in cells for 14 days amid virus

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal Bureau of Prisons is locking all its 146,000 inmates in their cells for the next two weeks in an unparalleled effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, as the focus shifts to a Louisiana compound, where two inmates have died and nearly 20 others remain hospitalized.

Long-term care sites seen as virus ‘clusters’

BATON ROUGE (AP) — As coronavirus cases spike ever higher in Louisiana, the state’s nursing homes, assisted living sites and adult residential care facilities are showing more and more “clusters” of the virus, but the full scale of the outbreak at those sites remains uncertain.

Louisiana’s Department of Health has identified 47 long-term care facilities that it considers a cluster, with at least two apparently related cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. That number has increased steadily, as the coronavirus epidemic has grown across Louisiana.

Trump resists national shutdown, leaving it up to states

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is resisting calls to issue a national stay-at-home order to stem the spread of the new coronavirus despite his administration’s projections that tens of thousands of Americans are likely to be killed by the disease. One by one, though, states are increasingly pushing shutdown orders of their own.

Gun background checks smash records amid coronavirus fears

(AP) - Background checks required to buy firearms have spiked to record numbers in the past month, fueled by a run on guns from Americans panicked about their safety during the coronavirus crisis.

According to figures from the FBI, there were 3.7 million background checks done in March — the most for a single month since the system began in 1998. It eclipsed the previous record, set in December 2015, when 3.3 million checks were conducted.

NASA call for astronauts draws 12,000 spaceflight hopefuls

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Who wants to be an astronaut? More than 12,000 people do, resulting in NASA’s second-largest group of astronaut hopefuls.

NASA said Wednesday that Americans from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and four U.S. territories applied to be part of the space agency’s next astronaut class. The monthlong application period ended Tuesday.

More evidence indicates healthy people can spread virus

NEW YORK (AP) — Scientists offered more evidence Wednesday that the coronavirus is spread by seemingly healthy people who show no clear symptoms, and the federal government issued new guidance warning that anyone exposed to the disease can be considered a carrier.

A study by researchers in Singapore became the latest to estimate that somewhere around 10 percent of new infections may be sparked by people who carry the virus but have not yet suffered its flu-like symptoms.

Nearly 3,000 sailors to leave carrier amid virus outbreak

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly 3,000 sailors aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier where the coronavirus has spread will be taken off the ship by Friday, Navy officials said Wednesday as they struggle to quarantine crew members in the face of an outbreak.

Payton back at work, unsure if Brees plays beyond 2020

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Saints coach Sean Payton said he didn’t mean to insinuate on a television appearance that record-setting quarterback Drew Brees informed him of plans to retire after the upcoming season.

“I’m a big dummy,” Payton said Wednesday during a conference call with media in New Orleans. “I honestly don’t know if it’s his last year. I think the thing he’s done, and we’ve all done, is taking it year by year.”