By KELLY P. KISSEL | Metro editor A new Baker High School is in the works, six years after the previous school flooded. Under the current construction timetable, it could be almost another 1.5 years before students return to the historic campus on Groom Road. The community broke ground on the work yesterday. Today is the last day, at least for a bit, on which you can pick up a great deal on the latest news: $1 for six months. Not only will you bypass the annoying pop-ups, you'll be tied in to the largest news-gathering team in Louisiana. There's also the digital replica of the ink-on-paper edition produced in our brick-and-mortar (and glass) building. Check out the details here. When this deal's gone, it's gone until it's back again, but I don't know when that will be. Life expectancy in the U.S. is down again. In the first two years of the pandemic, the estimated lifespan for Americans is down by nearly three years. One has to go back to the 1940s, and World War II, to see a comparable drop. COVID isn't entirely to blame. Education chief tells schools they don't have to follow a Biden administration policy: Cade Brumley says schools are under no obligation to open their girls sports teams or girls restrooms to transgender students. He sent out a letter Tuesday to school districts, saying he had received questions from some of them. | 