TRANSCRIPT
You’re listening to Red River Radio News.
Good morning, I’m Jeff Ferrell.
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INTRO:
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission is asking state lawmakers for help to address a significant backlog of applications for public benefits programs.
KERA’s Abigail Ruhman reports:
SOT:
“More than 210,000 Texans are waiting for their Medicaid application to be processed. And more than 150,000 Texans are waiting for an eligibility worker to look at their application for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Diana Forester is with the advocacy organization Texans Care for Children. She says HHSC is asking state lawmakers for the funding to turn more than 600 temporary eligibility worker positions into permanent jobs. “Without these workers, I don’t see a way for them to be able to get through that…It just means that families are stuck waiting too long for healthcare and food.” The positions are funded until the end of the current fiscal year.”
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INTRO:
A new study finds young people who spend six or more hours a day on social media are twice as likely to experience anxiety symptoms and three times as likely to report suicidal thoughts.The study, by researchers at UT-Health Houston, followed more than 1,000 young people for 7-years, from 2018 through 2025.Speaking on Texas Public Radio’s “The Source,” lead researcher Jeff Temple said heavy social media use may contribute to distress through social comparison, cyberbullying, disrupted sleep, and less time for healthy activities:
SOT:
“If you're on it more, you're potentially more distressed, and then the more distressed you are, the more likely you're to be on it more, and then that algorithm feeds that to you, and the cycle, you know, replenishes.”
TAG:
Temple stresses that the research shows an association—not proof - that social media causes mental health problems.
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INTRO:
Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple says the state is still in an insurance crisis because premiums are unaffordable for many.But there are signs that things are moving in the right direction.Temple says thanks to changes in state law, including a measure that gives providers more flexibility to raise or decrease rates, it has helped bring premiums down for many:
SOT:
“I think it’s twelve companies now have taken a rate decrease on homeowners. We’ve had fifty companies take a rate decrease on private passenger auto.”
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Temple says fewer accidents on the road have helped reduce auto insurance premiums by around 400-million dollars.
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INTRO:
The public transit system in Shreveport and Bossier City now has a self-driving bus.
It’s all part of a pilot program funded by a $1 million federal grant.
SporTran CEO Dinero Washington says the buses still have a driver behind the wheel:
SOT:
“Just to give people maybe comfort to maybe ride an autonomous vehicle; understanding sometimes they can take control of the vehicle if they feel something isgoing to happen.”
TAG:
The self-driving bus seats 12 people and it will be used to pick up and drop off passengers in Shreveport’s Medical and Entertainment districts.
While this technology might result in fewer bus drivers, Washington says it will create other job opportunities to run a fleet of self-driving busses, such as remote operators.
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The National Weather Service in Shreveport is calling for:
- A 20% chance of showers & thunderstorms after 4:00 p.m., with those chances extending through the weekend.
- Still, mostly sunny conditions over the next several days, with highs hovering in the mid-90s.
- Then drier, warmer conditions in the upper 90s take over beginning Monday into Tuesday.
- Overall, according to the National Weather Service, above average temperatures are expected to continue for us.
- But we may see an uptick in Rainfall from what is normal during mid to late September.
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