A new independent poll conducted on the 5th District Congressional race shows Democratic Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo with a slight lead in a very tight field.  Scott Carwile reports…

CUT 1 (29) “reporting”

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According to analysis done by The Wesleyan Media Project, the US Senate race in Louisiana is the most negative campaign in the nation. Jeff Palermo reports…:

Cut 2 (27) “reporting”

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The State Department of Health and Hospitals says a case of rabies has been confirmed in a dog in the West Monroe area. Michelle Southern reports.

Cut 3 (32) “reporting”

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A new independent poll conducted on the 5th District Congressional race shows Democratic Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo with a slight lead in a very tight field.  The poll was conducted by Cygnal (signal) and surveyed just over 500 voters in the district.  Pollster Brent Buchanan says the results are not surprising…

Cut 4  (09)  “of the pack”

Mayo polled 19-percent of the vote, followed by Republicans incumbent Vance McAllister with 17-percent, Zach Dasher with 13-percent, and Dr. Ralph Abraham with 11-percent.  But Buchanan says there is still a lot up for grabs…

Cut 5  (05)  “at this point”

Over 20-percent of the voters polled said they were undecided at this point.  Buchanan says, with less than a month to go, this election is still too close to call…

Cut 6 (11)  “make a runoff”

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According to analysis done by The Wesleyan Media Project, the US Senate race in Louisiana is the most negative campaign in the country. The Wall Street Journal found that 0% of the ads run by Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu and Republican Congressman Bill Cassidy, over a two week period, were positive. Erica Franklin Fowler is the co-director on the Wesleyan Media Project:

CUT 7 (13)  “the opposing candidate”

Fowler says since this race could go a long way in determining which party would control the US Senate, it’s not a surprise that Landrieu and Cassidy are going the negative route. She says for the most part, negative ads contain more concrete material than positive ads…:

Cut 8 (13)   “a vote choice”

Fowler says campaigns across the country this year are more negative this year than they were in 2012 or 2010, but she says in Louisiana BOTH Landrieu and Cassidy have opted against puppies and families in their commercials…:

Cut 9 (05)  “positive spots” 

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The State Department of Health and Hospitals says a case of rabies has been confirmed in a dog in the West Monroe area. Last month a cat in Washington Parish also tested positive for rabies and so was a dog in Lafayette Parish in January according to DHH. State Veterinarian Dr. Gary Balsamo says this is an unusual occurrence…:

Cut 10 (12)  “their animals”

The state is reminding residents that, by law, anyone who owns a dog, cat or ferret over three months old must have their animal vaccinated by a licensed veterinarian. Balsamo says, unfortunately, some people seem to be downplaying the seriousness of vaccinating for rabies, especially for pets who always remain indoors:

cut 11 (13)  “vaccinated”

Balsamo says people should make sure their pets avoid stray animals and report them to animal control. He says your animals need to avoid contact with wildlife, especially skunks and bats. Balsamo says if you think your animal has rabies, you should call your vet immediately.:

cut 12 (13)  “Cujo lookin’ dog”

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It looks like this year’s most popular movies and television show characters will be knocking on your doors looking for Candy October 31. Spirit Halloween is one of the season’s largest retailers in North America and spokeswoman Lisa Barr says you can’t expect to see plenty of Disney’s “Frozen” characters…:

Cut 13 (12)  “this year”

Barr says also in their top 10 costume trends for the coming season are the usual Superheroes including Batman, Captain America, Spiderman and Transformers. She says DIY is a big trend this year with themes around Burlesque, Punk and Leopard. Barr says there is a huge demand for costumes featuring characters from HBO’s Game of Thrones…:

Cut 14 (12)  “different looks for Khaleesi”

Barr says you can also expect to see nostalgic characters trick or treating this year like Dr. Seuss’s Cat in the Hat and Where’s Waldo. She says by far one of the hottest costumes this year, as in years past because of a popular AMC show, zombies will be out in full force…:

Cut 15  (11)  “this year”

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Louisiana Tech men’s basketball is the favorite to win the Conference USA title. That’s based on a vote by the league’s coaches. Coach Michael White says winning a league championship and reaching the NCAA Tournament are two big goals this year…

Cut 16  (18)   “NCAA Tournament”

The Bulldogs return four starters from last year’s team that earned a share of the league title, three of those players….Kenneth Smith, Alex Hamilton and Raheem Appleby…have received preseason all-conference honors. White says Appleby is once again healthy after missing most of C-USA action last season due to an ankle injury

Cut 17  (17)   “out of em”

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The LSU Tigers are 0-and-2 in the SEC for the first time since 2001 and many Tiger fans are wondering when they’ll win again. NFL Analyst Mike Detillier believes it will happen this Saturday at Florida. Detillier says this young team will figure out a way to get a “W”….

Cut 18 (18)  “like that”

But Detillier says this Saturday’s game against Florida is winnable, but it doesn’t get any easier after that…

cut 19 (16)  “moments”

Detillier says the play of the offensive and defensive lines have been the biggest disappointments this season. He says the Tigers have struggled to develop their young defensive linemen…

Cut 20 (15) ” defensive linemen”

The US Drug Enforcement Agency has reclassified hydrocodone-based drugs, such as Lortab and Vicodin, into a new, more restrictive category. Eric Gill has more…

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The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is offering a $7,000 reward for information about the shooting death of a black bear. Michelle Southern reports.

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The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is seeking leads in the illegal killing of a black bear in Concordia Parish. Spokesman Adam Einck says this bear was part of their Black Bear Restoration Program and was radio collared to track her movements. He says the bear was normally tracked in the Turnbull Island area…

CUT 3 (11) “September 1st”

Authorities believe the female bear was killed in Concordia Parish and thrown in the river where the body floated downstream. A fisherman found the bear, badly decomposed, in the Atchafalaya River in St. Martin Parish. Einck says they are asking for the public’s help in finding those responsible…

CUT 4 (13)  “442-2511”

LDWF is offering a reward of up to $7,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible. Einck says there has been a number of hunter-black bear incidents in the past few years and information from the public has been helpful…

CUT 5 (12) “that information”

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Drugs like Lortabs and Vicodin will now be much harder to obtain through your pharmacy. The US Drug Enforcement Agency has put hydrocodone-based drugs in a more restrictive category. LSU Health’s Emergency Medicine Chairman, Dr. Tom Arnold, says the federal government is trying to reign in an epidemic of prescription drug abuse…

CUT 6 (13)  “in the past”

Under the new rules, doctors will only be able to prescribe a 30-day supply, with no automatic refills. You will also not be able to call a prescription in to the pharmacy. Arnold says the intended purpose of these new rules is simple…

CUT 7 (06) “unintended purposes”

He says the US uses 99% of the world’s hydrocodone and the federal government is doing what they can to try to get the problem under control. But Arnold says as these prescription drugs are becoming harder to obtain, there has been an uptick in heroin use across the nation, even in Louisiana…

CUT 8 (09) “within our borders”

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If you’re a fan of checking out rare events in the sky, you’ll be in for a treat tomorrow morning. On October 8th a total eclipse of the moon is going to take place while the sun is rising. Louisiana Tech astronomer Lee Sawyer says we get lunar eclipses each year, but what makes this event rare for us is where we’re located…:

CUT 9 (09)  “in the east”

Sawyer says the total eclipse is going to start at close to 5:27 for us…:

CUT 10 (04)  “in the morning”

Sawyer says viewers will have between 2-9 minutes to simultaneously see the sun rising in the east, while the eclipsed moon is setting in the west. He says what makes this so cool is that you’ll actually be able to see the shadow of the earth as it starts to go across the moon during the partial eclipse…:

CUT 11 (12) “be able to see that“

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Even though it’s not even Halloween yet, retailers are already reporting they expect this Holiday shopping season to be the best in three years. The National Retail Federation says they expect sales in November and December to be up 4.1 from 2013. These Louisiana residents we spoke with say they’re ready to spend…:

CUT 12 (04) “ready for it”

The NRF says consumer confidence is high this year as key economic indicators like retail sales, jobs and housing data are seeing improvement. But these Louisiana residents say they aren’t among those planning to shell out lots of dough this Christmas…:

CUT 13 (06) “in the next year”

Shop.org says online shopping is expected to up as much as 11% this year. Some Louisiana residents we spoke with said they’d not even thought about shopping yet, but others say they’re halfway done…:

cut 14 (07) “up yet”