Two Louisiana chefs are travelling to Japan today to cook gumbo for the US Ambassador of Japan, Caroline Kennedy, and others as part of the Mississippi River Country reception. Samantha Carroll and her husband, Cody, own Hot Tails in New Roads and Sac-a-Lait restaurant in New Orleans. Carroll says this will be a great opportunity to get Louisiana products in the hands of chefs abroad…:
cut 4 (12) “in Louisiana”

Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser announces the Louisiana Office of Tourism has been named the 2016 State Tourism Office of the Year by the Southeast Tourism Society. He says they want to get more people involved in promoting the Bayou State to tourists…:
Cut 13 (08) “their own”
This is the second time the Louisiana Office of Tourism has won this award.

An Acadia Parish woman is fighting to get her spider monkey back after he was seized by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Justine Quinn of Church Point says she has owned Darwin, the monkey, for over 13 years. A state law was passed in 2006 requiring a permit to own exotic animals, but Quinn says she was grandfathered in because she owned Darwin before the law was passed. She says he was seized once before in 2014..:
CUT 7 (08) “my care”
Quinn says she is seeking legal action to get Darwin back. L-D-W-F is not commenting on the matter.

LSU has moved up two spots in the AP Top 25 following a late rally for a 23-20 victory over Mississippi State Saturday night. The win moved the Tigers up to #18 in this week’s poll.