10:30 LRN Newscast February 13

Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser is celebrating Mardi Gras, he’s just not in Louisiana. He’s helping to promote the state’s new travel tourism slogan “Louisiana: Feed Your Soul.” The new brand is being promoted in several states, including the nation’s capital…
Cut 7 (12) “the world.”
Louisiana-wrapped food trucks will also serve Mardi Gras king cakes in Houston, Dallas and Atlanta.

An invasive species of snail is posing a threat to crawfish harvests. The apple snail is indigenous to South America, and can devour vegetation crucial to the development of Louisiana crawfish. An abundance of apple snail shut down a 220 acre farm in Acadia Parish. LSU Ag Center Agent Mark Shirley says so far, there is no solution to the problem.
Cut 14 (06) “just yet”
The invasion is being blamed on aquarium owners who decided to dump the snails into the water way.
The Baldwin Police Department was heavily damaged in a fire yesterday afternoon. State Fire Marshal Butch Browning says an inmate was severely injured in the blaze.
Cut 3 (07) “burn injuries.”
Browning says the investigation is in its early stages and they are still trying to determine the exact location where the fire started.

There’s a big Mardi Gras celebration in Houma as four parades roll. Houma Vistors Bureau Communications Director Joey Pierce says Houma offers the fun of a New Orleans parade, minus the massive crowds. But while there may not be as many people, there may be just as many beads…
cut 13 (08) “….Gras throws”
Big parades in Lafayette today as well, and plenty of Mardi Gras activities in Shreveport as well today.