| Good Morning, Easily attracting the most attention this week is the state’s $2.3 million lotteries to entice Louisiana residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19. A total of 160,376 people signed up in the first five hours Monday to participate in Louisiana’s “Shot At A Million” campaign for the cash prizes, scholarships, and a $1 million grand prize. As of Monday, 1,566,120 of Louisiana’s 4.65 million residents – 2.8 million are over the age of 16 – had been vaccinated. Given the numbers, "Shot At A Million" registrants are at least three times more likely to win by getting a shot than to win the regular lottery. At the beginning of the pandemic, the rate of positive COVID-19 cases increased in Louisiana at a world-topping rate. Louisiana now has among the fewest residents in the nation willing to get the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine or begin the two-shot Pizer or Moderna regime. Four in 10 Republicans nationwide have said they won’t get vaccinated, according to a recent poll. And it’s the GOP-dominated states in the Deep South and Mid-West that have the lowest rates of vaccinations in the country. Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi are right at the bottom of the list. It’s the red states also where the federal Centers of Disease Control and Prevention has found a growth in the more easily transmitted and harsher symptoms variants, like the Delta, which crippled India a few weeks ago, and Gamma variants. In other news, farmers’ fear being crowded out by solar companies wanting to lease rural land to erect vast fields of panels that create sun-powered electricity. Several parishes have issued moratoriums on utility-scale solar projects. Up in northwest Louisiana, LSU Health Shreveport Chancellor Dr. Ghali E. Ghali announced he would resign as head of one of the university’s two medical schools – less than 24 hours he had been reinstated to the post. He had been suspended while being investigated for retaliating against whistleblowers of sexual harassment complaints made by students. Ghali said the probe cleared him to continue as chancellor, but he wanted to work as a physician and faculty member, so stepped down. His contract with LSU expires in December. The state paid out $8.57 billion in unemployment benefits to 721,887 individuals in the year following the height of the pandemic. Turns out that $1.08 million of that amount was paid to 374 deceased individuals. As always, check throughout the day for the latest Louisiana political news at theadvocate.com/politics or NOLA.com/politics and on Twitter at @MarkBallardCNB, @tegbridges, @samkarlin, @blakepater, @WillSentell. Here are a dozen articles, commentaries and editorials that will catch you up for the week to come. One last item: Thank you to our subscribers. Your support means a great deal to us. If you're not yet a subscriber, we’ve got a special offer you can check out here. – Mark Ballard | 