Head Start is a federal program that provides child care and early learning for low-income families. But the ongoing government shutdown has caused some programs to close, while others are taking out loans. 

WWNO’s education reporter Aubri Juhasz tells us what this looks like in Louisiana.

Three property taxes will be on the ballot in Baton Rouge next week. They’re all renewals, but they’ve been made a bit more complicated by a series of budget shortfalls, one of the largest reasons being the incorporation of breakaway city of St. George, a city that now collects its own property taxes. The tax renewal for the local library system has been getting the most attention, as it fights to keep its funding, while the city-parish aims to skim a little off the top.

Report for America corps member Alex Cox helps break down the ballot. 

Every year for the past four decades, a ship has gone out into the Gulf with a crew of scientists on an expedition to measure how much oxygen is in the water. It’s called the hypoxia cruise and it's put on by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It’s an integral component in measuring the “dead zone” to find out how much the lack of oxygen in the water caused by Mississippi River runoff is affecting marine life.

Associate professor in LSU’s department of oceanography and coastal sciences and chief scientist for NOAA’s annual hypoxia cruise, Cassandra Glaspie, tells us more about the 40th voyage. 

___

Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Adam Vos. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber. We get production support from Garrett Pittman and our assistant producer Aubry Procell.

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It’s available on Spotify, the NPR App and wherever you get your podcasts. Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you!

Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you’re at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you’d like to listen to.

Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!