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Behind The Lens episode 190:’A big one-time spending spree’

Reporter Nick Chrastil on the state's backlog of inmates awaiting transfer to the state's psychiatric hospital, Joshua Rosenberg on an ongoing Lake Maurepas project and Michael Isaac Stein how the city's managed its federal COVID relief funds.
by Carolyne Heldman

On this week’s episode, the state is struggling to find beds for inmates who’ve been found mentally incompetent to stand trial and are languishing, sometimes for months, in jails instead. 

Local residents and elected officials of the Lake Maurepas area gathered in Baton Rouge on Tuesday evening to voice opposition to a proposed project in which a Pennsylvania-based company would pump millions of tons of carbon dioxide under the lake.

And a new report from the Bureau of Governmental Research finds the majority of the $388 million dollars the city received in Covid relief has yet to be spent.

Our guests this week are Lens reporters Nick Chrastil, Joshua Rosenberg, Michael Isaac Stein and editor Marta Jewson. 

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Carolyne Heldman

Carolyne Heldman Rovira has been in media for 35 years, and is currently the podcast host and producer for Behind The Lens. Heldman served as executive director at Aspen Public Radio, an NPR affiliate, where she launched four weekly news, public affairs, and cultural affairs programs. She has been a guest lecturer at Tulane University, is a frequent guest and moderator for the Aspen Institute, Rocky Mountain Institute, and the American Enterprise Institute.

View all posts by Carolyne Heldman