Louisiana crosses the 100,000 total COVID positive test mark today after adding another 2,300 cases, but in some good news, we’re seeing the first single-digit increase of hospitalizations in over a week. 11 percent of all tests reported today were positive, above the ten percent problem level.

Ochsner plans to double its COVID testing capacity over the next six weeks in an effort to reduce test result wait times to 24 hours. Ochsner Chief Medical Officer Dr. Robert Hart says they’re currently running 2,500 to 3,000 tests a day, but its taking two to four days to get results back to patients.

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A tropical depression in the gulf that’s headed for Texas is expected to dump a lot of rain on south Louisiana. State Climatologist Barry Keim says  along with three to five inches of rain the system will bring a bit of a reprieve from the hot, still air we’ve experienced this past month.

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Seven candidates for Louisiana’s 5^th Congressional District seat qualified on Wednesday. Kevin Barnhart recaps some of those that got on the ballot.

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In a statewide poll commissioned by House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, 76-percent of the state’s residents support the governor’s mask mandate and 61-percent say the public health emergency in Louisiana should not be canceled. U-L Lafayette Political Science Professor Pearson Cross says the Remington Research Group surveyed 36-hundred Louisiana residents…
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Democratic Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins is at the Secretary of State’s office qualifying to run against U-S Senator Bill Cassidy in the November third primary. It was unknown if Cassidy would face a serious challenger. Political analyst Bernie Pinsonat says Perkins’ entry is good for voters…
cut 30 (08) “….of issues”

A tropical depression in the gulf that’s headed for Texas is expected to dump a lot of rain on south Louisiana. State Climatologist Barry Keim says the soon-to-be Tropical Storm Hannah will make for a wet next few days.
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The National Hurricane Center projects the depression will strengthen into a tropical storm in the next 24 hours and make landfall Saturday between Houston and Brownsville, Texas.

Louisiana High School Athletic Association executive director Eddie Bonine has sent a letter to parents and student-athletes letting them know they have no intention of canceling fall sports unless the pandemic dictates it’s not safe to play. Bonine says they are committed to conducting fall sports…
cut 9 (12) “…safe manner”

Seven candidates for Louisiana’s 5^th Congressional District seat qualified on Wednesday, looking to fill the position currently held by Ralph Abraham who is not pursuing an additional term.  Republican Ouachita Police Juror Scotty Robinson announced his bid for the position last November and says the traits he has picked up in local government and constituent accessibility are what set him apart from his opponents.

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Alexandria Representative Lance Harris, also a Republican, says he sees a bunch of career politicians in DC and touts his balance of holding elected office and being a business owner as the reason voters should cast a ballot for him.

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The primary election is scheduled for November 3^rd.

Democratic Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins will challenge Republican Senator Bill Cassidy in the November 3rd election. Before he got into politics, Perkins served in the Army and is a former student body president at West Point and Harvard. Political analyst Bernie Pinsonat says Cassidy cannot underestimate Perkins.

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Perkins says Washington’s poor handling of the coronavirus outbreak persuaded him to jump into the Senate race.

A Remington Research Group poll commissioned by House Speaker Clay Schexnayder shows wide and bipartisan support for the Governor’s mask mandate and public health emergency declaration. 76 percent of those surveyed last weekend support a government mask mandate. UL Lafayette Poli Sci Professor Pearson Cross…

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A statewide poll commissioned by House Speaker Clay Schexnayder has found that 76-percent of the respondents support the governor’s mask mandate and 61-percent oppose canceling the state’s public health emergency declaration. U-L Lafayette Political Science Professor Pearson Cross says that’s blow to a Republican-led effort to revoke the governor’s coronavirus order….
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U-S Senator Bill Cassidy will face a serious challenger in his re-election bid as Democratic Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins will officially enter the race today when he files his paperwork at the Secretary of State’s Office. Political analyst Bernie Pinsonat says Perkins enters the race as an underdog…
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The election is November third.

Seven candidates for Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District seat qualified on Wednesday. Kevin Barnhart has more from the Secretary of State’s Office…
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Governor John Bel Edwards will give a COVID-19 briefing today at 2:30. The state is expected to surpass 100-thousand total coronavirus cases today.

A tropical depression moving south of Louisiana is expected to bring the Bayou State a lot of rain over the next few days. The system is expected to make landfall in Texas on Saturday, but two to four inches and possibly six inches of rain is expected to fall across south Louisiana through Monday…
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National Weather Service Forecaster Donald Williams says the system could be a tropical storm when it makes landfall in Texas on Saturday.

Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins is scheduled to qualify at the Secretary of State’s office today to run against U-S Senator Bill Cassidy in the November third election. We were not sure if a major Democratic challenger would run. Political analyst Bernie Pinsonat says Perkins’ entry into the race is good for voters…
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Seven candidates for Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District seat qualified on Wednesday, looking to fill the position currently held by Ralph Abraham who is not seeking reelection. Among them is Abraham’s former Chief of Staff Luke Letlow, who says his campaign will not just run on the record and accomplishments of Abraham…
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Scotty Robinson, Matt Hasty, Lance Harris and Allen Guillory are the other Republicans who have qualified. Two Democrats have qualified, including the Chief Operating Officer at Grambling State, Martin Lemelle Junior…
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Small business owner Candy Christophe of Alexandria has also qualified for the race. Qualifying ends at 4:30 tomorrow.

Democratic Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins will officially qualify for the US Senate race today, challenging Republican incumbent Bill Cassidy.
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Tropical Depression eight is moving through the central Gulf of Mexico heading towards Texas. Donald Williams with the National Weather Service says the system is not expected to develop into a hurricane and at most may become a weak tropical storm…
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The system is expected to bring rain to south Louisiana.

Seven candidates have filed their paperwork at the Secretary of State’s office in Baton Rouge seeking to replace Ralph Abraham as Louisiana’s fifth district congressman. Republican Lance Harris is looking to jump from the state legislature to the U-S House of Representatives. Harris is a businessman from Alexandria..
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Harris is one of five Republicans to qualify. The others are Allen Guillory, Matt Hasty, Luke Letlow and Scotty Robinson. Two Democrats have qualified. Clinical social worker Candy Christophe is also from Alexandria and she’s entered the race to create change…
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The other Democrat in the race is Martin Lemelle of Ruston. Qualifying ends tomorrow at 4:30.

Democratic Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins will challenge Republican Senator Bill Cassidy in the November 3rd election. Before he got into politics, Perkins served in the Army and is a former student body president at West Point and Harvard. Political analyst Bernie Pinsonat says Cassidy can not underestimate Perkins.
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Perkins will file his official paperwork at the Secretary of State’s Office at 11 AM.

Tropical Depression eight has formed in the central Gulf and it could dump rain on south Louisiana on its way to Texas. National Weather Service forecaster Donald Williams…
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The National Hurricane Center’s forecast says the depression will develop into a Tropical Storm tomorrow.

In a statewide poll commissioned by House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, 76-percent of the state’s residents support the governor’s mask mandate and 61-percent say the public health emergency in Louisiana should not be canceled. U-L Lafayette Political Science Professor Pearson Cross says the Remington Research Group surveyed 36-hundred Louisiana residents…
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Schexnayder opposes an effort by a group of Republican lawmakers to revoke the governor’s coronavirus emergency order.

Governor John Bel Edwards will hold another COVID-19 briefing today at 2:30. The state reproted an addition 60 deaths yesterday. The highest one day total since May 1st.

Democrats are lining up to take on Senator Bill Cassidy in November with a number of newly announced candidates saying they’ll file paperwork this week. Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins was the highlight, but Baton Rouge progressive activist Antoine Peirce, the first candidate to announce for the race, is also going to be on the ballot after filling in the paperwork today.

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The National Hurricane Center is giving a tropical wave in the central Gulf of Mexico a high chance to develop into a tropical cyclone over the next two days. State Climatologist Barry Keim says this disturbance will have a more immediate impact on the state.

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There’s also Tropical Storm Gonzalo in the Atlantic, which is expected to reach the Caribbean on Saturday.

Louisiana has added nearly 1,000 COVID hospitalizations since moving into Phase Two June 5th. Assistant Health Secretary Dr. Alex Billioux says that’s concerning healthcare providers who are already dealing with an influx of patients who weren’t being treated during the stay at home order.

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We now have 1581 COVID hospitalizations, nearly triple our low point of 542 June 13^th.

Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell files paperwork seeking a fourth term in the office representing northwest Louisiana. Campbell is one of the state’s longest-serving elected officials, first elected to the State Senate in 1975. Campbell says he wants to continue his work serving the working people of the state.

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The state reports 60 new COVID-19 fatalities today, the highest daily addition since May 1. Total statewide death toll: 3,558. The state also added another 2,800 cases and is on course to surpass 100,000 total cases tomorrow. 62,456 are presumed recovered.

Statewide COVID hospitalizations are nearly triple what they were at our low point on June 13^th. Matt Doyle reports healthcare providers are worried about hospital capacity again

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Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins has announced he will run against Republican Senator Bill Cassidy in the November 3rd election. Perkins will officially qualify tomorrow. John Paul Bourgeois from Gretna was the first person to sign up to challenge Cassidy. Bourgeois is an epidemiologist and public health librarian. The Gretna resident says he’s running against Cassidy because he tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act…

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Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell files paperwork seeking a fourth term in the office representing northwest Louisiana. The Louisiana Political Hall of Famer says if given another term he will continue to fight for more rural broadband access and against predatory utility practices.

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Over 2,800 new COVID positive tests are being reported today along with a startling 54 person increase in COVID hospitalizations. The state is nearly back to where it was in late April when it comes to hospital bed usage, and several regions of Louisiana are now actively working to move ICU patients into less slammed areas. Some have called the recent concern over ballooning cases hysteria caused by higher overall testing but Assistant Health Secretary Dr. Alex Billioux says that’s false, and the state now has an over ten percent positive rate for COVID tests.

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We now have 1581 COVID hospitalizations, nearly triple our low point of 542 June 13^th.

The National Hurricane Center is giving a tropical wave in the central Gulf of Mexico a high chance to develop into a tropical cyclone over the next two days. State Climatologist Barry Keim…

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The Democrats managed to find a big-name candidate to take on Senator Bill Cassidy after months of hand-wringing over a lack of candidates with fundraising appeal. Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins has announced he will run Perkins says he decided to run because America and Louisiana are at a crossroads

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Cassidy says he’s done a lot during his five years in the U-S Senate and plans to run on that record…

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Perkins gives Cassidy a major challenger from the Democratic Party, but Cassidy holds a huge fundraising advantage. John Paul Bourgeois of Gretna and Baton Rouge progressive activist Antoine Peirce also sighed up to run against the Senior Senator.