Republican US Senator David Vitter hopes President Barack Obama calls for an expanded US military effort against the Islamic State terrorist group. The President will spell out a plan tonight on how to deal with ISIS, who has been responsible for numerous killings and beheadings. Vitter says the terrorists in Iraq and Syria are a threat to our security and values…

cut 12 (09) “ISIS threat”

Vitter says he wants to hear a plan from the President tonight that’s focused on improved national security.

Police in Alexandria say a teenager from Texas is charged in the bomb threats that were called in to Rapides Parish Schools yesterday. Lt. Bruce Fairbanks says they do know that 17-year-old Reuben David Byon is from the area but he has been living in Texas for a period of time. Fairbanks says the penalty for calling in fake bomb threats is stiff…

cut 5 (05) “to Louisiana”

He says another bomb threat was called into Pineville High and they are working to determine if Byon could be charged in that one as well.

St. Francis Medical Center in Monroe issued a statement Tuesday saying they plan to cut about 300 jobs. West Monroe Representative Frank Hoffman says the hospital is also considering closing its downtown facility and moving everything to St. Francis North on Highway 165 but there won’t be a final decision on that till the fall. He says it always hurts when you lose jobs…

cut 8 (08) “whole community”

The hospital employs about 2000 workers.

A 12-year-old boy from Pearl River is recovering from a rare alligator attack which took place in Lake Ponchartrain over the weekend. Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries spokesman Bo Boehringer says you should be extra careful if you’re swimming in natural water around a camp or residential development where people may clean or dump fish…:

cut 10 (05) “in a given area”

According to the LDWF Alligator Management Program, this is only the 14th alligator attack since 1966.

Police in Alexandria say a teenager from Texas is charged in the bomb threats that were called in to Rapides Parish Schools yesterday. Lt. Bruce Fairbanks says the schools were cleared and they were able to develop 17-year-old Reuben David Byon of Fredricksburg, Texas as a suspect. He says they have no clue what the motive is at this time…

cut 4 (09) “for that suspect”

Right now Byon faces three counts of communicating false information of planned bombing on school property.

A 12-year-old boy from Pearl River is recovering from a rare alligator attack which took place in Lake Ponchartrain over the weekend. Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries spokesman Bo Boehringer says this doesn’t happen often, but it can happen…

cut 9 (08) “can be encountered”

According to the LDWF Alligator Management Program, this is only the 14th alligator attack since 1966.

St. Francis Medical Center in Monroe issued a statement Tuesday saying they plan to cut about 300 jobs. The hospital employs about 2,000 workers and West Monroe Representative Frank Hoffman says they’ve always provided excellent service…

cut 7 (06) “to do”

St. Francis issued a statement saying they are taking steps to line up their expenses with expected revenue and they are working to continue to be as responsive to a changing health care environment.

Today is the statistical peak of the Atlantic Hurricane season. According to the National Hurricane Center, we’ve only had four named storms so far this season. State Climatologist Barry Keim says if we can hang in there another eight weeks, we probably won’t have to worry about a storm threatening Louisiana at all.

Police in Alexandria say a teenager from Texas is charged in the bomb threats that were called in to Rapides Parish Schools yesterday. Lt. Bruce Fairbanks says around 10:40am Tuesday they were called out to Alexandria Senior High School in reference to a bomb threat…

cut 3 (13) “Bolton High School”

He says the schools were cleared and they were able to develop 17-year-old Reuben David Byon of Fredricksburg, Texas as a suspect later that afternoon. Byon faces three counts of communicating false information of a planned bombing on school property.

St. Francis Medical Center in Monroe issued a statement Tuesday saying they plan to cut about 300 jobs. West Monroe Representative Frank Hoffman says he’s not happy to hear this news but it’s not really surprising…

CUT 6 (08) “have to admit that”

The hospital is one of Ouachita Parish’s largest private employers.

President Obama addresses the nation tonight on his strategy for defeating the ISIS militant group in the Middle East. Republican Minden Congressman and member of the House Armed Forces Committee, John Fleming, says the President should clarify the reason why we need to go after ISIS…

cut 10 (10) “eradicate them”

The President’s address is scheduled for 8PM.

ULM Warhawks fans are gearing up for the game against LSU this weekend. Michelle Southern reports…

cut 24 (30) “reporting”

President Obama will address the nation tonight speaking on his strategy for defeating the ISIS militant group in the Middle East. The President recently returned from a NATO summit where the US and nine allies agreed to take on the militants. Republican Minden Congressman and member of the House Armed Forces Committee, John Fleming, says the United States should do one of two things to deal with ISIS…

cut 12 (16) “one of them”

Fleming says he would prefer the latter. President Obama’s address is scheduled to begin at 8PM.

Alexandria Police have charged a Texas teenager in the bomb threats that were called in to Rapides Parish Schools yesterday. 17-year-old Reuben David Byon of Fredricksburg, TX faces three counts of communicating false information of planned bombing on school property. Authorities are working to determine if Byon could be charged in the threat phoned in to Pineville High as well.

Republican Louisiana Senate candidate Representative Bill Cassidy is getting some criticism for saying Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid is running “the Senate like a plantation.” The comment appeared in an interview with E&E Publishing. Fellow Republican Senate candidate Rob Maness has called for Cassidy to immediately apologize for the comment since it includes a term that is “incredibly offensive to many Americans.” Political analyst Clancy Dubos says this is a good move on the part of Maness…

cut 14 (12) “a real race”

Cassidy said he thinks the leadership style of Reid is more offensive than his analogy.

St. Francis Medical Center in Monroe is planning to cut about 300 jobs before the end of 2014. In a statement, the hospital said it would offer those employees a compensation package that would voluntarily end their employment. St. Francis is one of the largest private employers in Ouachita Parish.

US Republican Senate candidate Congressman Bill Cassidy is getting criticism for saying Majority Leader Harry Reid is running the US Senate “like a plantation.” Scott Carwile has more…:
CUT 3 (31) “reporting”

A Texas teen has been charged in connection to bomb threats at four Rapides Parish schools. Alexandria Police say they’ve arrested 17-year-old Reuben David Byon. Each count carries a max 20 years at hard labor and APD says additional charges are possible as they continue work on the case.

September 10th is the statistical peak of hurricane season which means, on average, in the past half of hurricanes happened before today, half after. State Climatologist Barry Keim says if Louisiana can hang in there another eight weeks we’ll probably continue to see these non-tropical conditions…:
CUT 9 (09) “so far so good”
He says in 4-5 weeks the window for a major hurricane should be gone.

ULM fans are gearing up for the trip to Baton Rouge this weekend to watch the Warhawks take on LSU. This is the first of three SEC games the Warhawks will be playing in the 2014 season and Athletic Director Brian Wickstrom says these contests help their athletics department in a substantial way. He says those games mean a total of about $3 million dollars pumped into their department.
CUR 6 (10) “it’s great for us”
The game kicks off at 6pm.

President Obama will address the nation tonight speaking on his strategy for defeating the ISIS militant group in the Middle East. Eric Gill reports…:
CUT 2 (29) “reporting”

The Alexandria Police Department says a teenager from Texas is charged in connection with three bomb threats that were called in to area schools Tuesday. Police say 17-year-old Rueben David Byon is arrested and charged with three counts of communicating false information of planned bombing on school property. Alexandria detectives says additional charges are possible.

US News and World Report has released its latest rankings of the top schools in the country. In state, LSU rose a few spots and Tulane University and Louisiana tech fell on the list which measures academic excellence. Tulane is the best ranked university in Louisiana coming in at NO. 54 which is down from 52 last year according to the stats. LSU went from 135th to 129th and Louisiana Tech slipped from 190th to 201.

As the ULM football team prepares to travel down to Baton Rouge for the big game against the Tigers this weekend, Athletic Director Brian Wickstrom says there is a lot of excitement from the Warhawk Nation. He attributes some of the added interest level in the in-state game this season to the fact that ULM is 2-0 and coach Todd Berry has had success with SEC teams…:
CUT 5 (09) “exciting for our fans”
The game kicks off at 6pm.

President Obama will be addressing the nation tonight at 8 to talk about his strategy to defeat the middle east militant group ISIS. Minden Congressman John Fleming says the President needs to tell Congress what he wants…:
CUT 11 (13) “war with ISIS”
Fleming says from here the US either needs to hold off for the time being or to go after ISIS shock and awe style.

Historically speaking, today is the statistical peak of the hurricane season. State Climatologist Barry Keim says half of all hurricanes form before today, half after. He says we’ve seen almost zero tropical activity in the US this season like last year…:
CUT 8 (06) “major hurricane”
He says another eight weeks and we probably won’t see anything at all.

US Congressman Bill Cassidy responds to the backlash from leaders claiming his statement saying Majority Leader Harry Reid is running the Senate like a plantation. Cassidy said in a statement that the leadership style of Reid is more offensive than the comment. Political analyst Clancy Dubos on how this should impact the US Senate race between Cassidy and main challenger Senator Mary Landrieu
CUT 15 (10) “comulative effect”
Cassidy made the statement during interview with E&E Publishing.

The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s office says they’ve arrested a 22-year-old man from Arkansas who is accused of trafficking at least two women and forcing them into prostitution. They say Emmanuel Bailey was busted when one of the women was arrested in a sex for money exchange at a hotel and that’s when she told them what was going on. Apparently the suspect was using the site backpage.com and detectives found the ads. Bailey was charged with human trafficking Tuesday.

Today is the statistical peak of the Atlantic Hurricane season. State Climatologist Barry Keim says that means, historically, half of all the hurricanes in the season occur before September 10th and then half occur after…:
CUT 7 (13) “of that average range”
Keim says so far so good but we are in the smack dab middle of the season but hanging in another eight weeks means we probably won’t see tropical activity in Louisiana at all.

President Obama will address the nation tonight speaking on his strategy for defeating the ISIS militant group in the Middle East. Republican Minden Congressman and member of the House Armed Forces Committee, John Fleming, says the President should clarify the reason why we need to go after ISIS…:
CUT 10 (10) “eradicate them”
The speech will air at 8pm.

Republican Louisiana Senate candidate Representative Bill Cassidy is getting some criticism for saying that Democratic Majority Leader Harriy Reid is running the US Senate “like a plantation.” The statement was made in an interview with E&E Publishing. Political analyst Clancy Dubos is not sure how quickly the backlash will blow over due to the racial connotations of the comment…:
CUT 13 (08) “Mary Landrieu”
Fellow Republican Senate candidate Rob Maness has called for Cassidy to immediately apologize for offending many Americans.

Fans of the ULM Warhawks are getting geared up for the game against LSU this weekend in Baton Rouge. Michelle Southern reports.

CUT 1 (30) “reporting”

______________________________________

President Obama will address the nation tonight speaking on his strategy for defeating the ISIS militant group in the Middle East. Eric Gill reports…

Cut 2 (29) “reporting”

______________________________________

Republican Louisiana Senate candidate Representative Bill Cassidy is getting some criticism for saying Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid is running the US Senate “like a plantation.” Scott Carwile has more…

Cut 3 (31) “reporting”

______________________________________

As the ULM football team prepares to travel down to Baton Rouge for the big game against the Tigers this weekend, Athletic Director Brian Wickstrom says there is a lot of excitement from the Warhawk Nation. He says lots of the Monroe college football fans are scooping up tickets for the LSU game…:

Cut 4  (12)  “for our fans”

Wickstrom says they’ve sold about 3000 tickets from their office and they get more requests coming in everyday. He attributes some of the added interest level in the in-state game this season to the fact that ULM is 2-0 and coach Todd Berry has had success with SEC teams…:

Cut 5  (09)  “exciting for our fans”

This is the first of three SEC games the Warhawks will be playing in the 2014 season and Wickstrom says these contests help their athletics department in a substantial way. He says those games mean a total of about $3 million dollars pumped into ULM’s sports programs which is a huge help:

Cut 6 (10)  “it’s great for us”

______________________________________

Today is the statistical peak of the Atlantic Hurricane season. State Climatologist Barry Keim says that means, historically, half of all the hurricanes in the season occur before September 10th and then half occur after…:

CUT 7 (13) “of that average range”

Keim says really we’ve seen almost zero tropical activity in the United States this season which is following almost exactly what we saw last year…:

CUT 8 (06)   “major hurricane”

Keim says if we can hang in there for another eight weeks we probably wouldn’t have to worry about a storm threatening Louisiana at all…:

CUT 9 (09) “so far so good”  

______________________________________

President Obama will address the nation tonight speaking on his strategy for defeating the ISIS militant group in the Middle East. Republican Minden Congressman and member of the House Armed Forces Committee, John Fleming, says the President should clarify the reason why we need to go after ISIS…

cut 10 (10)  “eradicate them”

ISIS has beheaded two American journalists in recent weeks and Fleming says they’ve threatened to do a lot more. He says currently there is no pending legislation that could jump start military operations against ISIS, but there are discussions. But Fleming says it’s really up to President Obama to tell Congress what he wants…

cut 11 (13)  “war with ISIS” 

The President recently returned from a NATO summit where the US and nine allies agreed to take on the militants. President Obama’s address is scheduled to begin at 8PM. Fleming says the United States should do one of two things to deal with ISIS…

cut 12 (16)  “one of them”

______________________________________

Republican Louisiana Senate candidate Representative Bill Cassidy is getting some criticism for saying that Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid is running the US Senate “like a plantation.” The statement was made in an interview with E&E Publishing. Political analyst Clancy Dubos is not sure how quickly the backlash will blow over due to the racial connotations of the comment…:

Cut 13 (08)  “Mary Landrieu”

Fellow Republican Senate candidate Rob Maness has called for Cassidy to immediately apologize for the comment since it included a term that is “incredibly offensive to many Americans”. Dubos says this is a good move on the part of Maness…

Cut 14 (12)  “a real race”

In a statement regarding criticism over the remark, Cassidy said he thinks the leadership style of Reid is more offensive than his analogy. Dubos says, at the end of the day, he doesn’t see this issue as a game changer…

Cut 15  (10)   “cumulative effect”

__________________________________

LSU sophomore wide receiver Travin Dural is developing into an explosive playmaker for the Tigers. The former Breaux Bridge star already has 291 receiving yards, which is the most ever by an LSU player after two games. Dural says he’s been able to develop a strong chemistry with starting quarterback Anthony Jennings

Cut 16  (15)   “paying off”

So far this season, LSU has shown the ability to make big plays through the air, even the offense features new quarterbacks and several freshmen receivers. Dural says they knew what was expected out of them this year

Cut 17  (16)   “everyday”

______________________________________

The Ragin Cajuns football team is trying to regroup, after an ugly loss to in-state rival Louisiana Tech this past Saturday. The Bulldogs beat the Cajuns 48 to 20  on their home field. Coach Mark Hudspeth says looking back at it, he believes his team wasn’t focused on Tech, instead they were worried about the big picture

Cut 18 (17)  “at the end”

The Cajuns face a tough test this Saturday as they attempt to get back in the win column. U-L Lafayette will visit 14th ranked Ole Miss, who has outscored their two opponents by a score of 76-16. Hudspeth is glad to be taking on one of the best teams in the SEC….

cut 19 (16)  “Ole Miss”

The Louisiana Democratic Party announced its endorsement of Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo today as he seeks to represent Louisiana’s Fifth Congressional District. Mayo is the only Democrat in the ten person field and state Democratic Party Chairman Karen Peterson says the endorsement will provide Mayo with the resources he needs to run an effective campaign…

cut 11 (10) “November fourth”

Mayo ran in last year’s special election in the 5th District and finished third in the primary.

Alexandria Police are investigating bomb threats called in to three schools earlier today. Students from Alexandria Senior High School, Bolton High School, and Scott M. Brame Jr. High School were evacuated and the area was secured. All facilities were searched and, at this time, no suspicious devices have been located. APD with assistance from the FBI and US Marshal’s Office are moving forward with the investigation. Pineville Police says a threat was also received at Pineville High School. PHS was cleared and students returned to class.

Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne unveils the next round of Louisiana’s out of state “Pick Your Passion” ad campaign. He says this year the marketing focused on Louisiana culture and next year the ads will concentrate on food in The Bayou State…

cut 6 (10) “doing so with music”

He says the marketing efforts are working well and they just learned this week that there is a 7.6% increase in hotel occupancy so far this year.

The Caddo Parish Sheriff’s office says a man is in jail for allegedly shooting his brother over a debt. Spokeswoman Cindy Chadwick says detectives believe that 24-year-old Cardarrio Watson shot his brother, 28-year-old LaMichael Watson, in the stomach. She says they found that the two got into this altercation over an extremely small amount of money…

cut 5 (10) “shooting his brother”

Cardarrio was booked on a charge of aggravated second-degree battery. LaMichael Watson was taken to a local hospital.