1140 sports 10/29

LSU will play Auburn on the road on Saturday and freshman quarterback T.J. Finley might once again be leading the Tigers offense.  Starting quarterback Myles Brennan continues to deal with the abdominal injury that he suffered during LSU’s loss to Missouri.  Finley seems to have earned the trust of the team after his great performance against South Carolina where he threw for 265 yards and 2 touchdowns, while adding another touchdown on the ground.  Coach Ed Orgeron says that despite the Finley’s good numbers, his poise is what stood out the most.

Cut 20 (09)…”impressed with”

The New Orleans Saints continue to battle injuries of their own as a number of key players have gone down with injuries, including star receiver Michael Thomas, who has not played since week one.  Thomas and fellow Wide Receiver Emmanuel Sanders were both absent for last week’s contest against the panthers and have not yet returned to practice.  Thomas is suffering from a high ankle sprain while Sanders remains on the Covid-19 list after his positive test last week.  Both players are questionable for the Saints’ upcoming game against the Chicago bears.

UL-Lafayette is on the road again this Saturday against Texas State after traveling to UAB and snapping the Blazer’s 21 game home win streak a week ago.  The Ragin’ Cajuns are 4-1 on the season, but head coach Billy Napier says there is still room for improvement.

Cut 16 (23)…”next opportunity”

Louisiana Tech has released its men’s basketball schedule for the 2020-21 season.  The new schedule will consist of 27 games, including nine non-conference and 18 conference matchups.  The Bulldogs’ non-conference schedule includes a number of in-state opponents, including LSU and ULL.  Tech will host UT Arlington at home on Nov. 27 to open the season and also open conference play at home against Marshall on Dec 31.

10:30 AM LRN Newscast Oct 29

The PSC reports 469-thousand are without power in Louisiana in the wake of Hurricane Zeta which made landfall just after 4 PM yesterday near Cocodrie. Entergy spokesperson Brandon Scardgili says the immediate post-storm period can be dangerous and if you see any compromised electrical equipment keep your distance.

Cut 15 (12) “.process”

In St Bernard Parish, Parish President Guy McInnis says winds of 100-miles per hour winds were clocked at their emergency operations as the Category Two hurricane swept over the area. McInnis says there were no serious injuries during the storm and he would like to keep it that way…

Cut 9 (10) “shouldn’t be”

Nearly one million early votes have been cast in Louisiana for the November 3rd Presidential Election. JMC Analytics pollster John Couvillon says the early vote was marginally more Democratic than in past years, showing an increase in Democratic enthusiasm relative to Republicans, but not substantially so.

Cut 5 (12) “…parish”

An LSU-Health Sciences Center Study shows more women in Louisiana are receiving breast cancer diagnoses and treatment because of Medicaid expansion. Lead Author Dr. Quyen (Quinn) Chu says they compared breast cancer rates before and after ACA expansion in 2016 and it’s led to a 27-percent increase in early-stage diagnosis.

Cut 7 (12) “stage three”

9:30 LRN Newscast October 29

Hurricane Zeta delivered a massive punch to southeast Louisiana. According to the Public Service Commission, 531-thousand customers are without power as there are hundreds of utility poles down and widespread wind damage. St. Bernard Parish President Guy McInnis says winds of 100-miles per hour were clocked at their emergency operations center…
cut 8 (11) “….power lines” (2x)
Earlier this week the expectation was for Zeta to be a weak Category One hurricane when it made landfall in southeast Louisiana, instead, it nearly grew to a Cat 3 storm. State Climatologist Barry Keim says there was good reason to believe Zeta would be a tame system…
cut 11 (09) “…back down”
Zeta is responsible for one death in Louisiana. A New Orleans man died after touching a downed power line.

Nearly one million early votes have been cast in Louisiana for Tuesday’s Presidential Election. JMC Analytics pollster John Couvillon says between early voting and mail-in ballots 964,000 votes have been cast, shattering the 2016 record of 531,000…
Cut 4 (09) “mail”

An LSU-Health Sciences Center study shows more women in the state are receiving breast cancer diagnoses sooner due to Medicaid expansion. Brooke Thorington has more.
Cut 2 (30) “…I’m Brooke Thorington”

8:30 LRN Newscast October 29

Hurricane Zeta roared ashore near Cocodrie, Louisiana yesterday afternoon packing maximum sustained winds of 110 miles per hour. Zeta was moving so fast it was able to maintain much of its strength as it crossed southeast Louisiana, leaving hundreds of thousands without power, uprooting trees, damaging property, and killing at least one person.

Early voting has wrapped up in Louisiana and nearly a million votes have been cast ahead of Tuesday’s election. Matt Doyle has the story.
Cut 1 (30) “ I’m Matt Doyle”

A forthcoming LSU Health Sciences Center study finds that the Medicaid expansion in 2016 resulted in many more women getting breast cancer screening which led to a 27-percent increase in the early-stage diagnosis of breast cancer. Lead author, Doctor Quyen Chu says Medicaid expansion also lowered the uninsured rate for the state below the national average of eight percent…
cut 8 (11) “…is 17.7 percent”

Getting back to Hurricane Zeta, many are surprised by how fast it was able to strengthen, climbing from a tropical storm to nearly a Category Three hurricane when it made landfall. State Climatologist Barry Keim says the truth is forecasters are not very good at predicting how powerful a system will become…
cut 10 (07) “…years”

7:30 LRN Newscast October 29

Hurricane Zeta steamrolled through southeast Louisiana yesterday destroying property and uprooting trees. Zeta is responsible for at least one death in Louisiana. A person was electrocuted in New Orleans’ Gert Town neighborhood. The Orleans Parish coroner says a 55-year-old male died as a result of electrocution from downed power lines.

48 hours ago forecasts projected Zeta would be at a category one, but when it made landfall near Cocodrie yesterday afternoon it was nearly a Cat 3. Matt Doyle on what happened…
Cut 3 (29) “…I’m Matt Doyle”

Hundreds of thousands are without power. Entergy is reporting more than 400-thousand outages and spokesperson Brandon Scardigli warns there could be prolonged outages…
cut 13 (11) “….range”
Scardigli says they have 45-hundred workers trying to restore power.

An LSU Health Sciences Center study finds more women in Louisiana are receiving breast cancer diagnoses sooner and better access to care and treatment since Medicaid was expanded in Louisiana in 2016…
cut 9 (08) “…impact lives”
That’s the lead author of the report, Quyen Chu, who says because of Medicaid expansion, 91-thousand women in Louisiana received breast cancer screenings, many for the first time. Eleven-hundred were diagnosed with breast cancer.

6:45 LRN Sportscast October 29

It looks like freshman TJ Finley will get another start at quarterback for the LSU Tigers on Saturday against Auburn. Coach Ed Orgeron says Myles Brennan continues to struggle to recover from his injury….
cut 19 (10) “….our second”
On the other side of the ball, defensive tackle Apu Ika is reportedly looking at entering the NCAA transfer portal. Ika’s playing time has declined this season in LSU’s four-three defense.

In football recruiting news…the nation’s number one safety, Sage Ryan of Lafayette Christian, has announced he will make his college decision on Saturday. LSU, Clemson and Alabama are his top three choices. 24-7 sports reports Ryan will likely commit to the Crimson Tide on Nick Saban’s 69th birthday.

St. Thomas Thomas More receiver Jack Beche has de-committed from Vanderbilt after receiving an offer from LSU.

Now that Hurricane Zeta is out of here, the Saints will continue preparations today for Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears. The Bears are 5-and-2 and they’ve defended the pass well this season. Coach Sean Payton says Chicago has an excellent secondary…
cut 18 (16) ” and they are smart”
No precipitation in Sunday’s forecast, but highs will be in the 30s and it will be very windy inside Soldier Field.

The Saints top three wide receivers did not practice yesterday. Michael Thomas remains out and Coach Sean Payton did not provide an update on his injuries. Rookie Marquez Callaway missed yesterday’s practice with an ankle injury and Emmanuel Sanders remains on the reserve-COVID-19 list. Payton is not saying if Sanders can play Sunday.

The Bears best receiver and offensive playmaker Allen Robinson is questionable as he’s in concussion protocol.

6:30 LRN Newscast October 29

Hurricane Zeta didn’t last long in southeast Louisiana after making landfall in Terrebonne Parish yesterday afternoon, but the Category Two storm still produced a lot of damage. Zeta ripped off roofs, toppled trees, and knocked down power lines. Entergy says 426-thousand of its customers are without power and spokesperson Brandon Scardigli says with a Category Two storm, it could take up to ten days before power is fully restored…
cut 14 (10) “…two”
Zeta just kept getting stronger as it approached Louisiana’s coast yesterday and nearly made landfall as a Category Three storm. Early projections had Zeta making landfall as either a Cat one or a tropical storm. State Climatologist Barry Keim says forecasters were at least right on a projected landfall…
cut 12 (07) “….at that”

An LSU-Health Sciences Center study shows more women in the state are receiving breast cancer diagnoses sooner due to Medicaid expansion. Brooke Thorington has more.
Cut 2 (30) “…I’m Brooke Thorington”

Make sure you leave the house today with a jacket as it will be a chilly and breezy day.

LRN AM Newscall Oct 29

Early voting has wrapped up in Louisiana and nearly a million votes have been cast ahead of the November 3rd election. Matt Doyle has the story.

Cut 1 (30) “   I’m Matt Doyle”

________________________________

An LSU-Health Sciences Center study shows more women in the state are receiving breast cancer diagnoses sooner due to Medicaid expansion. Brooke Thorington has more.

Cut 2 (30) “…I’m Brooke Thorington” 

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48 hours ago forecasts projected Zeta would be at a category one when it made landfall. It made landfall near Cocodrie yesterday as a near cat 3. Matt Doyle asks a climatologist what happened…

Cut 3 (29)  “…I’m Matt Doyle”  

_______________________________

Nearly one million early votes have been cast in Louisiana for the November 3rd Presidential Election.

JMC Analytics pollster John Couvillon says between early voting and mail-in ballots 964,000 votes have been cast, shattering 2016’s record of 531,000. He says there’s a number of reasons why…

Cut 4 (09) “mail”

146,000 of those early votes were by mail. Couvillon anticipates about another 40,000 mail-in ballots have yet to be counted which would put us above a million total early votes cast.

Couvillon says the early vote was marginally more Democratic than in past years, showing an increase in Democratic enthusiasm relative to Republicans, but not substantially so.

Cut 5 (12) “…parish”

Early voting ended on Tuesday.

Couvillon estimates that we could see 73 percent total participation for the November 3rd election. He disagrees with analysts who say early voting isn’t indicative of total participation.

Cut 6 (07) “turnout”

That would put early votes at 45 percent of the total vote.

_____________________________

An LSU-Health Sciences Center Study shows more women in Louisiana are receiving breast cancer diagnoses and treatment because of Medicaid expansion. Lead Author Dr. Quyen (Quinn) Chu says they compared breast cancer rates before and after ACA expansion in 2016 and it’s led to a 27-percent increase in early-stage diagnosis.

Cut 7 (12) “stage three”

Chu says the data is additional evidence that Medicaid expansion works. Chu says the national average of uninsured is 8.9-percent, after ACA expansion in Louisiana the uninsured rate for the state is below the national average at 8-percent.

Cut 8 (11) “…is 17.7 percent.”

The study compared breast cancer data among women in Louisiana from 2012 to 2018. It showed after Medicaid expansion in 2016 more than 91-thousand women received breast cancer screenings for the first time and more than a thousand were diagnosed with breast cancer as a result.

Cut 9 (08) “impact lives”

Chu says they plan to compare data of other common medical conditions before and after Medicaid expansion.

________________________

Zeta’s rapid and unexpected strengthening caught a lot of people off guard, going from an expected weak category one at landfall on Tuesday forecasts to a near cat three by landfall Wednesday.

State Climatologist Barry Keim says the truth is forecasters just aren’t very good at predicting how powerful a system will become.

Cut 10 (07) “…years”

Keim says there was good reason to believe Zeta was going to remain a relatively tame system.

Cut 11 (09) “back down”

Keim says despite missing the call on how strong Zeta would be forecasters did nail the fact that it would make landfall in southeast Louisiana as far back as this weekend when it was in the Caribbean.

Cut 12 (07) “at that”.

___________________

500-thousand are without power* in Louisiana in the wake of Hurricane Zeta which made landfall just after 4 PM yesterday near Cocodrie.

Entergy spokesperson Brandon Scardigli warns there could be some prolonged outages.

Cut 13 (11) “range”

Scardigli says they have 4,500 workers springing into action to bring the lights back on and hopefully those worst-case projections won’t be true for most.

Cut 14 (10) “…two”

Scardgili says the immediate post-storm period can be dangerous and if you see any compromised electrical equipment keep your distance.

Cut 15 (12) “.process”

_______________________

After ending UAB’s 21-game home winning streak last Friday, U-L Lafayette is back on the road this Saturday for a matchup with Texas State. The Cajuns are 4-and-1 on the season, but Coach Billy Napier says there is still room for improvement…

cut 16 (23) “ next opportunity”

Texas State comes into the game with a 1-and-6 record and their only win came against ULM. They play two quarterbacks, Tyler Vitt and Brady McBride. Napier says McBride started his college career at Memphis

cut 17 (25)   as well”

_____________________________________________________

Now that Hurricane Zeta is out of here, the Saints will continue preparations today for Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears. The Bears 5-and-2 and they’ve defended the pass well this season. Coach Sean Payton says Chicago has an excellent secondary…

cut 18 (16) ” and they are smart” 

No precipitation is in the forecast for Sunday, but it’s expected to be very windy inside Soldier Field on Sunday.

______________________________________________

LSU will play the Auburn Tigers on the road Saturday and freshman T.J. Finley may lead the offense again.  Coach Ed Orgeron says Myles Brennan’s injury continues to keep him on the sidelines.

cut 19 (10) “our second

Finley seems to have earned the trust of the team after his stellar performance against South Carolina, and Orgeron says what stood out the most was the poise that the young quarterback showed.

cut 20 (09) “impressed with”

 

9:30 PM LRN Newscast Oct 28

New Orleans EMS reports the first fatality of Hurricane Zeta after a person was electrocuted. There are also reports of levees being breeched on Grand Isle and in St Bernard Parish the Chalmette Ferry broke loose from its mooring and is lodged under a dock. In Lafourche parish reportedly five buildings collapsed in the southern part of the parish. Terrebonne Parish officials say they have received several calls of downed power lines and utility poles. Approximately 500 thousand are without power in southeast Louisiana. Zeta has weakened to a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds at 85 mph.

Governor John Bel Edwards says unfortunately it will be a rough evening for southeastern Louisiana…

Cut 15 (12) “weather aware” 

Louisiana is the first state to have five named storms make landfall in one season.

The family of a mentally ill Shreveport man who died after an incident with police is seeking a 25-million-dollar settlement from the city.

Cut 1 (29) “I’m Matt Doyle”  

The head of State Police is retiring while the L-S-P is the subject of a federal civil rights investigation looking into the death of a Black man while in State Police custody last year. Colonel Kevin Reeves’ retirement is effective Friday. Governor John Bel Edwards praised Reeves’ tenure…

Cut 6 (06) “…going forward”

8:30 PM LRN Newscast Oct 28

New Orleans is reporting the first death from Zeta after a person was electrocuted tonight. Zeta begins to slightly weaken as it moves in southeastern Mississippi. However life-threatening surge and strong winds continue to batter southeastern Louisiana.  Zeta continues to hold Category two hurricane status with maximum sustained winds at 104 miles per hour. The National Hurricane Center says Zeta is moving North Northeast at 25 miles per hour and Entergy reports 500-thousand customers are without power.

Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser is riding out Hurricane Zeta in Plaquemines Parish, where he once served as parish president. Zeta is the record 5th named storm to make landfall in Louisiana. Nungesser says it’s been a tough hurricane season…

Cut 11 (10) “…over.”

The family of Tommie McGlothen Jr., a mentally ill man who died after being in Shreveport Police custody, is seeking a 25-million-dollar wrongful death settlement from the City of Shreveport. Family attorney James Carter says they have a strong case and notes the Shreveport City Council has requested the Department of Justice investigate SPD for patterns of civil rights violations…

Cut 4 (09)   “.citizens”   

The head of State Police, Colonel Kevin Reeves, is retiring. This announcement comes as a federal investigation is ongoing into the death of a Black Man while in State Police custody last year. But Governor Edwards says Reeves retirement has been in the works…
Cut 7 (07) “…for retiring”

Reeve’s retirement is effective Friday.