Department of Children and Families celebrates finding permanent homes for 893 foster care children over the last year. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
Cut 1 (29) “I’m Kevin Barnhart.”
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Seven Republicans are in runoffs for seats that could result in the House having a GOP super-majority. Matt Doyle has the story.
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A study predicts more oil rigs will populate the gulf in the coming years, but it won’t necessarily lead to more jobs for Louisianans. Matt Doyle has more.
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Department of Children and Families is celebrating having found 893 foster care children permanent homes over the last year. The number is the second highest on record, slightly trailing last year’s total of 912. DCFS Secretary Marketa Garner Walters highlights a 22 percent rise in teen adoptions, which can be a tough age group to find homes for.
The state also had a two percent increase in the adoption of sibling groups. Walters credits the rise in adoption rates in those groups to the state’s partnership with the Dave Thomas Foundation, which pays for the department to have recruiters in every region of the state.
Cut 5 (11) “…made the difference.”
Records had been set for adoption in the three previous years. Walters credits the state’s 2016 transformation of its approach to foster care and adoption for the high numbers.
The children found homes with 661 families.
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Republicans already hold a super-majority in the Senate, but House runoffs between Democrats and Republicans could see five seats come to the GOP side. resulting in a super-majority for both chambers. Political analyst Bernie Pinsonat says that scenario looks favorable.
Seven Republicans are in runoffs that could determine a super-majority in the House.
Two House runoffs see Republicans up against Independents Raymond Harris Jr. in District 50 and Roy Daryl Adams in District 62. Pinsonat says the GOP is putting an emphasis on the importance of those seats as well.
Cut 8 (11) “…running against Democrats.”
Pinsonat says if Governor Edwards is reelected, unless he pushes an agenda that Republicans favor, it is questionable how much he will get done.
Cut 9 (12) “…the first session.”
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The LSU Center for Energy Studies is projecting employment in the oil and gas sectors will remain flat even as the industry as a whole sees expansion in the coming years.
Study co-author, LSU professor Greg Upton, says because of changes in technology, Louisiana will likely never see the kinds of oil industry employment it had in the 70s, or even six years ago…
Upton says Louisiana saw peak industry employment in the 70s at 100,000, but that fell to 50,000 a few decades later, and roughly 30,000 after the 2014 crash.
But Upton says much of the loss of traditional oil sector jobs is being made up for in gains in the refining/manufacturing/export sector, which now employs people than oil production.
The Gulf of Mexico is expected to take on a larger share of U.S. oil production, rising from 66 percent of the nation’s production to 70 percent over the next decade, per the Advocate.
But these numbers could be upended by factors outside of the state’s control. Upton says because so much of Louisiana’s energy sector is export-based…
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We’re just over two days away from a potentially season-defining game between no. 1 LSU and no. 2 Alabama, a game that could get QB Joe Burrow a Heisman.
Despite playing three other top ten teams this year, there’s no doubt this is the biggest game of the year, every year for the Tigers. Burrow says they aren’t letting that get to their heads.
The Purple and Gold were embarrassed 29-0 in front of the home crowd last year by Saban’s Crimson Tide. Burrow says this year’s team is a lot more experienced and prepared.
It’s been eight straight losses in the rivalry for LSU, but Burrow says the weight of history isn’t pressing down on this team.
Kickoff is at 2:30PM.
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The Saints face their biggest rival for the first time this season when they host the Falcons at noon. Atlanta is a dreadful one and seven, but they lead the NFL in passing yards. Coach Sean Payton says the Dirty Birds are still explosive…
After missing the last two games with a high ankle sprain, Saints running back Alvin Kamara is expected to play Sunday. Latavius Murray did well filling in for the injured Kamara. Payton says they’ll be smart with how they use Kamara, but they have two backs they can count on…
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La Tech will look to win its eighth in a row when they host North Texas for homecoming tomorrow. The Mean Green are 4-and-5, but Bulldogs Coach Skip Holtz says they have one of the best players in the league, Q-B Mason Fine…
Louisiana Tech is coming off a bye and they are receiving votes in the AP and Top 25 coaches poll. The Bulldogs are in a position to win the West division, but Holtz says there are still four games left…
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Turnout remains strong as the first four days of early voting has resulted in 295,000 showing up to the ballot box. JMC Analytics pollster John Couvillon says he would not be surprised if nearly 500,000 total votes are cast when early voting wraps up. That’s a boost from the primary.
Cut 9 (06) “…in the primary.”
Campaign finance reports are out for the late September to late October fundraising period and Eddie Rispone has seen a fundraising explosion since entering the run-off. Rispone pulled in 2.9 million dollars during the period. Political analyst Bernie Pinsonat says you’ll start to see a lot more local Republican money pour into the race because donors won’t have to fear playing favorites like in the primary.
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Edwards raised 5.2 million during the period.
The Traveling Tigers are hitting the road tomorrow for the most anticipated game of the season. Brooke Thorington has more.
Cut 1 (29) “…I’m Brooke Thorington.”
In NFL action, Saints Coach Sean Payton said today that he fully expects Alvin Kamara will play this Sunday against the Falcons. Kamara missed the last two games because of a high ankle sprain. The first two games of his career that he’s missed because of injuries.