2017 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 46
BY SENATOR APPEL AND REPRESENTATIVE HENRY
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To commend Bill Capo for outstanding service to people of Louisiana and beyond.
WHEREAS, Bill Capo was born and raised in New Orleans, chose his profession
when he was seven and got his first television job at seventeen driving a truck by day to pick
up props and operating a studio camera at night at WWOM-TV; and
WHEREAS, Bill Capo earned a degree in communications with emphasis in
broadcast journalism from Loyola University New Orleans and a certificate in broadcast
meteorology from Mississippi State University; and
WHEREAS, Bill Capo interned at WDSU-TV and anchored a 12-week series that
aired on WYES-TV in college, worked for the NBC affiliate in Mobile after graduation,
returned to New Orleans television as a reporter at WVUE-TV in 1979, joined WWL-TV
in 1980, and was named Action Reporter in 1985; and
WHEREAS, as Action Reporter, Bill Capo fielded about 8,000 calls per year for help
in solving people's problems, including helping them obtain life-saving operations, keep
their homes, remain financially solvent, become homeowners, get medical equipment like
wheelchairs, handicap vans, and mobility products, feed their children, get school uniforms
and supplies for their children, dispute incorrect charges for city services, get potholes and
streetlights fixed, and get road signs to warn of a low clearance at a particularly bad
intersection known for flooding; and
WHEREAS, Bill Capo helped bring support from Louisiana to New York City after
9/11, and supplies to those whose homes flooded or were destroyed by tornadoes in the
Midwest, rebuild a village in El Salvador destroyed by an earthquake, covered the Louisiana
National Guard's aid to earthquake victims in Haiti, and brought help to Louisianians who
Page 1 of 3 SCR NO. 46 ENROLLED
also lost everything in floods and tornadoes; and
WHEREAS, Bill Capo was assigned to do weather as Hurricane Katrina approached,
was on the air as Katrina made landfall in Louisiana, and was also first to break the news of
the levee breaks in New Orleans; and
WHEREAS, Bill Capo spent all of 2006 getting FEMA trailers and helping gut and
rebuild for people so they could come home; and
WHEREAS, Bill Capo worked to get an African American World War II hero his
long-deserved medals, raised support for Honor Air Flights honoring Louisiana's World War
II veterans by transporting them to their memorials in Washington, D.C., and raised funds
and donations to restore the world's only operational, fully functional combat veteran patrol
torpedo boat – the World War II Museum's PT 305; and
WHEREAS, Bill Capo helped raise funds and support for many nonprofits and
service agencies including the United Way, the American Red Cross, St. Michael's Special
School, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Unity for the Homeless, Second Harvest Food Bank,
Easter Seals, the St. Bernard Project, Habitat for Humanity, the World War II Museum, the
Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation, and the Al Copeland Foundation supporting cancer
research at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans; and
WHEREAS, Bill Capo reported some of the most significant stories in the state's
modern history including the crash of Pan-Am flight 759 in Kenner, the papal visit to New
Orleans, the Republican National Convention, presidential visits, the flight of STS-135 – the
last space shuttle voyage copiloted by a Tulane graduate, as well as the New Orleans Saints'
first Superbowl victory from Miami; and
WHEREAS, Bill Capo provided an alternative to drinking and driving over the
holidays with his 35-year series, 12 for the Road, in which he profiled celebrities and shared
their festive nonalcoholic drink recipes; and
WHEREAS, Bill Capo has mentored many young broadcast journalists, helping to
launch reporting careers around the country; and
WHEREAS, Bill Capo is a humanitarian who has been a positive influence, making
a real difference in people's lives by helping them solve problems, whether or not he was
telling their stories.
Page 2 of 3 SCR NO. 46 ENROLLED
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana hereby
commends Bill Capo for his significant contributions to the people of Louisiana during his
42-year career as a broadcast journalist.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
Bill Capo.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Page 3 of 3