11:30 Newscast August 5, 2015

Governor Bobby Jindal has joined the viral video craze that other Republican presidential candidates are participating in. In a video produced by Buzzfeed, Jindal is in a push-up competition against “the issues” which are taxes, Obamacare, hyphenated Americans, and Jindal’s own widely panned response to the State of the Union in 2009. Political analyst Bernie Pinsonat isn’t sure how this will get him more support…

cut 6 (06) “would hope not”

GOP presidential hopefuls Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, and Rand Paul have also taken time from their campaigns to shoot offbeat videos as a way of getting attention.

Baton Rouge State Representative Alfred Williams has died. Williams passed away Tuesday night following complications related to a recent knee surgery. Representative Pat Smith of Baton Rouge says she was shocked to hear the news and Williams will be missed…

cut 9 (08) “he represented”

Williams was 64-years-old.

State police say an 18-year-old, who was pushing a friend’s disabled SUV out of the roadway in Ascension Parish, was struck and killed by a suspected drunk driver. Trooper Bryan Lee says 41-year-old J Thomas Bowers was traveling on the road and failed to stop before striking Richard Billingsley, Jr…

cut 3 (07) “second offense”

Lee says that Bowers was also traveling at speeds faster than allowed along the highway.

The Baton Rouge Fire Department says a 58-year old man died in a Monday night fire that is believed to have been started by a child. They say 58-year-old Martin Osigwe died after going back inside the home to fight the fire. Three children were able to escape the blaze. Authorities say one of the three children who was playing with a lighter likely started the fire. The child, who is under the age of culpability, will not be charged.

10:30 Newscast August 5, 2015

The ACLU of Louisiana releases a report which shows it’s a common practice here to jail people who are too poor to pay a fine. Michelle Southern reports…:

cut 2 (30) “I’m Michelle Southern”

The Beauregard Parish Sheriff’s Office says a high-speed chase led to the arrest of a man charged with fourth offense DWI. Authorities say they attempted to stop 26-year-old Kyle Johnson of Pitkin for reckless driving when the pursuit ensued. They say Johnson was stopped after they deployed spike strips, but not before he struck several police cars with his truck. Johnson is charged with DWI – Fourth Offense and flight using a motor vehicle.

Governor Bobby Jindal misses the cut and will not participate in the first formal Republican Presidential debate Thursday night on Fox News. ULM political science professor Joshua Stockley says missing this debate is a blow to the Jindal presidential campaign…

cut 13 (11) “few points”

Jindal did not poll well enough in recent national surveys to be among the ten candidates invited.

The Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office arrests a 26-year-old man who allegedly locked up a convenience store clerk in Sulphur and raped her in a storage room. Spokesperson Kim Myers says the woman tried to resist James Domingue of Sulphur but he knocked her to the ground and raped her. She says Domingue made the clerk give him goods from the store and then let himself out…

cut 11 (12) “was identified”

Domingue was arrested on charges of rape, kidnapping and false imprisonment.

09:30 Newscast August 5, 2015

Governor Bobby Jindal did not poll well enough in recent national surveys to be among the ten candidates who will square off tomorrow night on Fox News in the first formal Republican Presidential debate. ULM Political Science Professor Joshua Stockley says Jindal may need to change his campaign strategy…

cut 15 (07) “traction”

National polls have the governor only getting only one to two percent of the vote.

Researchers have determined the size of the “Dead Zone” in the Gulf of Mexico has grown to the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium executive director Nancy Rabalais says in order to reduce the size, more needs to be done by farmers to reduce the amount of nutrients that’s running off their fields into the Mississippi River and then into the Gulf…

cut 6 (10) “2015″

She says the “Dead Zone” is 28-percent larger than last year.

Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office arrests a man in the brutal rape of a convenience store clerk in Sulphur. Emelie Gunn has more…

cut 3 (30) “I’m Emelie Gunn”

This Friday and Saturday is Louisiana’s Annual Sales Tax Holiday. During the holiday, the 4% state sales tax on the first 25 hundred dollars of each item a customer buys will be waived. Local sales taxes will still apply to purchases unless the local taxing authority has created its own exemption. Exceptions do apply. More info can be found at revenue-dot-louisiana-dot-gov-slash-taxholiday.

08:30 Newscast August 5, 2015

Governor Bobby Jindal will not be one of the ten republican presidential candidates who will appear in a primetime debate on national TV Thursday night. Jeff Palermo has the story….

cut 1 (28) “I’m Jeff Palermo”

Louisiana’s Annual Sales Tax Holiday takes place this Friday and Saturday. During the holiday, customers will not have to pay the 4% state sales tax on the first 25 hundred dollars of each item they buy. Local sales taxes will still apply to purchases unless the local taxing authority has created its own exemption. You can go to revenue-dot-louisiana-dot-gov-slash-taxholiday for more information.

A report on incarcerating the poor by the ACLU of Louisiana indicates there’s a common, unlawful practice of jailing people who don’t have enough money to pay court-ordered fines. Executive Director Marjorie Esman says by bringing the report to light she hopes that courts will learn what the law is and realize that jailing people because they are poor is counter-productive…

cut 9 (10) “on with their lives”

She says a 1983 US Supreme Court ruling states judges must hold hearings to determine someone’s ability to pay before assessing a fine

The Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office arrests 26-year-old James Domingue of Sulphur for allegedly locking up a convenience store clerk and raping her in a storage room. Spokesperson Kim Myers says this seems to be a random act from Domingue, who has a criminal background…

cut 12 (07) “in 2011″

Domingue faces charges of rape, kidnapping, and false imprisonment.

07:30 Newscast August 5, 2015

Governor Bobby Jindal will not participate in Thursday’s Republican Presidential debate. Jindal did not poll well enough in recent national surveys to be invited by Fox News. ULM Political Science Professor Joshua Stockley says while missing the primetime debate is a blow to Jindal’s chances in gaining the republican nomination, its still early…

cut 14 (10) “front-runner”

National polls have the governor only getting one to two percent of the vote.

The ACLU of Louisiana has released a report on incarcerating the poor and it indicates there’s a common, unlawful practice of jailing people who don’t have enough money to pay court-ordered fines. Executive Director Marjorie Esman says this practice often sends financially stressed individuals into a downward cycle of incarceration…

cut 7 (08) “regular basis”

Esman says people who can afford the fines assessed against them don’t run the risk of incarceration.

The Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office arrests a 26-year-old man who allegedly locked up a convenience store clerk in Sulphur and raped her in a storage room. Spokesperson Kim Myers says James Domingue of Sulphur entered the business and locked the door unbeknownst to the clerk, then lured her to the back of the store pretending to search for an item…

cut 10 (12) “the face”

Myers says Domingue was arrested on charges of rape, kidnapping, and false imprisonment.

Researchers have determined the size of the “Dead Zone” in the Gulf of Mexico has grown to nearly 17-thousand square kilometers. Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium executive director Nancy Rabalais says that’s 28-percent larger than in 2014….

cut 5 (09) “oil spill”

The “Dead Zone” is now the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined.

06:30 Newscast August 5, 2015

Governor Bobby Jindal misses the cut as he will not participate in the first first formal Republican Presidential debate. Jindal did not poll well enough in recent national surveys to be among the ten candidates who will square off tomorrow night on Fox News. ULM political science professor Joshua Stockley says missing this debate is a blow to the Jindal presidential campaign…

cut 13 (11) “few points”

Jindal will be able to participate in a debate featuring secondary candidates Thursday afternoon.

Researchers have determined the size of the “Dead Zone” in the Gulf of Mexico is nearly the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium executive director Nancy Rabalais says the dead zone is bigger than anticipated, because more fresh water and nutrients flowed out of the Mississippi River basin than anticipated…

cut 4 (07) “30 years”

The dead zone is an area of low oxygen in the Gulf, where sea animals are unable to live.

An ACLU of Louisiana report on incarcerating the poor indicates there’s a common, unlawful practice of jailing people who don’t have enough money to pay court-ordered fines. Executive Director Marjorie Esman says in 1983 the US Supreme Court ruled that judges must hold hearings to determine someone’s ability to pay before assessing a fine…

cut 8 (11) “a month’s rent”

Esman says these practices hurt communities by separating children from their parents, costing people their jobs, and they lead to needless fear.

17:30 LRN Newscast August 4

Governor Bobby Jindal will not participate in a primetime republican presidential debate on Thursday. The governor failed to poll high enough in five recent national polls to be one of the ten candidates to appear in the Fox News debate. Jindal will have the opportunity to take part in a debate of second tier candidates, which will take place Thursday afternoon in Cleveland.

US crude oil prices went up slightly today to $45.55 a barrel, but crude prices have fallen 20 percent in the past month. LSU economist Doctor Loren Scott says this is having a negative impact on jobs tied to oil and gas. Scott says it’s difficult to forecast oil prices but he expects the price of crude to turn around in the near future…
cut 8 (08) “…back up again’

The Colorado State University hurricane forecast team has released their updated forecast for the 2015 hurricane season and it’s not much different than their June forecast….
cut 1 (30) “…reporting”

Terrebonne Parish deputies arrest a mother in Houma for allegedly leaving her 2-year-old unattended at a car wash. Major Malcolm Wolfe says they got a report about a small child walking alone in the parking lot and apparently the child was previously left alone in the vehicle.…:
CUT 9 (09) “alone”
The mother, 33-year-old Sumer Boudloche is charged with child desertion.

16:30 Newscast, August 4th, 2015

Common Core standards see another school year kicking off this week and next in Louisiana. The department of education has a portal on its website that’s taking public comment on Common Core and a hearing is set for August 19th. The president of the Louisiana Association of School Superintendents, Hollis Milton, would like to see the PARCC test go saying he believes the Aspire exams are a better standardized test for third through eighth graders…:
CUT 15 (10) “in the nation”
He adds he doesn’t want to see major changes to Common Core.

St. Bernard Parish President Dave Peralta was indicted by a grand jury today on 22 counts which include malfeasance, extortion, obstruction and more. Peralta is accused of using parish employees to help him stalk his ex-wife and other offenses. He is charged with crimes in two other jurisdictions.

In its updated predictions, the Colorado State University forecast team still says the 2015 hurricane season is well below-average. Researchers originally predicted eight named storms with three hurricanes and one major hurricane. Lead author, Dr. Phil Klotzbach, says this update actually lowers those numbers…:
CUT 3 (09) “or five hurricane”
They attribute the numbers to an El Nino which creates strong vertical wind shears that tend to break up storms.

A woman killed when she was run over by a train this morning near the Lincoln/Bienville Parish line has been identified. Bienville Parish Sheriff John Ballance says the Kansas City Southern Freight engineer sounded the horn, but 31-year-old Kanisha Womack was still too close…:
CUT 12 (03) “deceased”
The accident is under investigation.

 

15:30 Newscast, August 4th, 2015

Crude oil prices continue to fall and it’s wreaking havoc on economies in Louisiana. The current price for a barrel of US crude is just $45 — the lowest in 4 months. LSU economist Dr. Loren Scott says job losses are spread throughout the oil and gas industry and believes as we get into the fall, there will be a drop in oil production in the US..:
CUT 7 (06) “in the shale play”
He says while it’s difficult to predict what crude will do, he expects the price to turn around soon due to low supply increasing demand.

The Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office arrests a woman who is accused of leaving her 2-year-old in a hot vehicle was she was inside a Houma car wash. He was later seen running around the parking lot. Major Malcolm Wolfe says once deputies spoke to the mother, she slurred her speech and seemed to be on drugs…:
CUT 10 (09) “car asleep”
33-year-old Sumer Lynn Boudloche is charged with child desertion.

The Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office says they’ve arrested a man who is accused of raping a store clerk late last night. The cashier was in the store by herself and investigators believe 26-year-old James Domingue of Sulpher coaxed her into the back where he beat and raped her. He was located a few hours later and charged with rape, kidnapping, and false imprisonment.

The Colorado State University forecast team releases updated predictions for the 2015 hurricane season and it still looks below-average. Eric Gill reports…:
CUT 1 (30) “I’m Eric Gill”

 

14:30 Newscast, August 4th, 2015

It’s back to school time and another year of Common Core standards. The public does have an opportunity to suggest changes to the standards with a hearing set for August 19th. The president of the Louisiana Association of School Superintendents, Hollis Milton, says one change he suggests is to dump the PARCC standardized test for Aspire, which is associated with the A-C-T exam…:
CUT 14 (06) “political football”
The department of education has a portal on its website that’s taking public comment on Common Core.

The Colorado State University forecast team’s latest prediction for the 2015 Atlantic Hurricane Season remains below-average. But author Dt. Phil Klotzbach says that doesn’t mean a storm won’t impact Louisiana:
CUT 5 (10) “the United States”
The new forecasts calls for five more named storms, two hurricanes, and one major hurricane.

The price of US crude oil has fallen to its lowest price in four months and LSU economist Dr. Loren Scott says it’s having a negative impact on economies in Louisiana. Jeff Palermo reports…:
CUT 2 (30) “reporting”

The 42nd Annual Bayou Classic will air on the NBC Sports Network on Saturday November 28th. The game will once again be played in the Mercedes Benz Superdome and kickoff at 4pm. The NBC Sports Group has been the home of The Bayou Classic since 1991.