A documentary dubbed the first comprehensive overview of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and aftermath, will open at the Prytania theater (pre-TAN-ya) in New Orleans today. Michelle Southern reports.

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Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu says goodbye to the Senate. Jeff Palermo has the story…

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The Louisiana Highway Safety Commission announces that DWI patrols will be increased throughout the holiday period as part of their “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign. Scott Carwile reports…

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The Governor’s and Lt Governor’s races are not the only potential hotly contested statewide races next year. It appears as though the race for Attorney General could also be a barn burner after reports that Treasurer John Kennedy is eyeing the seat. Political analyst Bernie Pinsonat says Kennedy ran for the AG’s office in 1991 and lost so it’s not surprising he’d want to take another shot…:

cut 4  (10)  “for Attorney General”

Pinsonat says Kennedy wouldn’t have a problem raising money and he’s become very popular as state treasurer so his entering the AG’s race would narrow the field big time…:

Cut 5  (11)  “one or two others”

Pinsonat says Kennedy, who has been very vocal and transparent in running the state treasury, has become very popular in Louisiana…:

Cut 6 (13)  “one of the candidates to beat”

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A documentary dubbed the first comprehensive overview of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and aftermath, will open at the Prytania theater (pre-TAN-ya) in New Orleans today. The film, “The Great Invisible” is directed by Margaret Brown. She says her family has a house on the Alabama coast and they were sending her pictures of the area after the disaster in 2010…:

CUT 7 (14)  “make a film”

Brown says they began filming when the oil came ashore and explored the lives of those in the coastal region who were most immediately affected by the biggest oil-related disaster in the nation’s history:…:

Cut 8 (12)  “since then” 

Brown says many lives in the coastal South are connected to and are reliant upon the oil industry. She says the documentary looks at how all Americans are connected to oil…:

Cut 9 (07)  “thinking about it”

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Democratic US Senator Mary Landrieu gave a farewell speech on the Senate floor yesterday as her third and final term is coming to a close. Landrieu says it’s been a joy to serve in the Senate these last 18 years…

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Landrieu did not say what her future plans hold. The Senator spoke about her achievements while serving as a US Senator, including helping Louisiana receive billions of dollars in federal aid to recover from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

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Landrieu also touted her efforts when it came to promoting the oil and gas industry and adoption awareness. Her Senate farewell was the first time she spoke publiclly since losing to Republican Bill Cassidy in the Senate run-off and the outgoing senator she’s at peace with what happened

cut 12 (11)  “I accept”

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The Louisiana Highway Safety Commission announces that DWI patrols will be increased throughout the holiday period as part of their “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign. This is a state and national campaign aimed at keeping impaired drivers off the roadways and reducing deadly crashes. Lt. Col. John Leblanc says December is one of the deadliest months on Louisiana roadways…

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Leblanc says 59 people were killed statewide in fatal accidents in December last year and 11 people were killed in the four days comprising the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. He says alcohol use was a factor in more than half of the fatalities. Leblanc says this holiday season, they’re working with over 60 law enforcement agencies across the state…

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Last year in Louisiana, police made over 21,000 DWI arrests. Leblanc says getting arrested for DWI or worse, causing a tragic accident, is not a Christmas memory anyone wants. He says it’s important to have a plan if you are going to celebrate during the holiday season…

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Five more state champions will be crowned in football this weekend. On Saturday afternoon, the Neville Tigers from Monroe are seeking their 11th state title in school history as they’ll face Warren Easton out of New Orleans on Saturday afternoon. Neville head coach Mickey McCarty says his team is peaking at the right time

Cut 16  (16)  “Warren Easton team”

Warren Easton is led by quarterback Deshawn Capers-Smith, who was named Louisiana Football Gatorade Player of the Year. McCarty says his defense will face a big challenge in trying to slow down Capers-Smith

Cut 17  (18)   “our offense”

In the Five-A Championship game on Saturday night, it will be Destrehan versus the defending champs, the Acadiana Wrecking Rams. The Wildcats last won a football title in 2008 and head coach Stephen Robichaux is trying to complete an undefeated championship season in 2014

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Destrehan lost to Acadiana in the semi-finals last year. Robichaux says his team knows what they are up against…

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The National Hurricane Center will begin issuing separate storm surge warnings with next year’s Atlantic Hurricane Season. Eric Gill reports…

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Louisiana is below the national average when it comes to percentage of public high school seniors who fill out paperwork to receive financial aid to attend college or a technical school. Jeff Palermo has the story…

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The National Hurricane Center will begin issuing separate storm surge warnings with next year’s Atlantic Hurricane Season. Storm surge is often cited as the greatest threat to life and property from a tropical cyclone. Storm Surge Specialist, Jamie Rhome, says this has been many years in the making…

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He says the threat from storm surge needed to be put on par with wind and that required a dedicated storm surge warning. Storm surge often strikes at different times and places than a storm’s winds. Rhome says the information in these alerts will be short and to the point…

CUT 4 (06)  “life threatening conditions”

Earlier this year, NHC debuted color coded maps showing where and how high water could rise as storms approach land. Rhome says these storm surge alerts will also give you an indication of when the threat could impact an area. He says a storm surge warning is nothing to be taken lightly…

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If Senator David Vitter is elected governor next year, 4th District Representative John Fleming wants to succeed him in the Senate. In a written statement, Fleming says his focus is on serving the residents of the 4th district, but he would be interested in running for the seat Vitter would vacate. Political analyst Elliot Stonecipher says it’s a little early to start speculating on who will fill Vitter’s Senate seat…

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If Vitter is successful, a replacement will be appointed by the governor to fill out his Senate term. Stonecipher says as we get deeper into the governor’s race the entire picture will become more clear, but it’s still too soon to get a real grasp on the issue…

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Fleming has stated that he’s receiving a lot of encouragement to consider a Senate run in 2016. Stonecipher says there are too many things in the air to make any kind of prediction on whether or not a new Senator will even need to be appointed…

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In a story first reported by LaPolitics.com, Republican State Treasurer John Kennedy may consider a run against Republican incumbent Buddy Caldwell in a race for Attorney General. Editor Jeremy Alford says not only is Kennedy thinking about running for AG, but he’s actively been seeking advice from donors…:

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Alford says should Kennedy switch jobs, money won’t be a problem for him. He says next year Kennedy will report that he has $3.5 million dollars in the bank…:

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Alford says former Congressman Jeff Landry, also a Republican, could be the wild card in the AG race as sources say he’s already had a few six-figure fundraisers this year. He says given all this combined with a dip in popularity, Caldwell could be in trouble next year…:

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State education Superintendent John White is concerned only 44-percent of public high school seniors fill out the paperwork required to receive federal financial aid to attend college or a technical training school. White says Louisiana students are missing out on millions of dollars in federal assistance

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White says all high school seniors should fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which helps determine if a student is eligible for financial aid…

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White says he’ll talk with school systems about ways to improve the application rate. He says in some cases, students don’t know about the form and they are missing out on the opportunity to receive federal aid

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