LRN PM Newscall June 7

A bill that eliminates jail time and lowers the fines associated with the possession of 14 grams of marijuana or less has passed in the Senate and heads to the governor’s desk. Erik Piccoli has the story…

Cut 1 (30) “ …I’m Erik Piccoli.” 

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The LSU Baseball team will look to keep Paul Mainieri’s coaching career going as the Tigers take on Oregon tonight in the Eugene Regional championship game. Jim Shannon has more…

Cut 2 (30) …I’m Jim Shannon”  

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Louisiana State Troopers are still searching for a vehicle involved in the May 26th fatal hit in run in St. Helena Parish that killed a two-year-old girl and injured three others. Trooper Will Huggins says a family of four was outside of their vehicle on LA Highway 1045 near LA Highway 43 due to a previous car accident…

Cut 3 (7) “…the suspect vehicle”

Physical evidence left at the scene is still being processed by State Troopers. Huggins says the vehicle has been described by witnesses as a light-colored van or SUV

Cut 4 (04) “…driver side mirror”

Anyone with information is urged to contact Louisiana State Police Troop L or online anonymously at la-safe.org by clicking the suspicious activity link. Huggins says Tangipahoa crime stoppers are also seeking tips

Cut 5  (09) “…one thousand dollars”

The victim was laid to rest on Friday at St. Mary’s Missionary Baptist Church.

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The Louisiana Senate has given final legislative approval to a bill that will decriminalize possession of 14 grams or less of marijuana. The proposal needed 20 votes to pass and that’s exactly how many it got as Senate President Page Cortez read the vote tally…

Cut 6 (10) “…the table”

The penalty for possession of 14 grams was decreased from 300 to 100 dollars, which eliminates jail time, and lets the court decide if the possessor is capable of paying the fine. Alexandria Senator Jay Luneau led the effort in the senate and says the legislation is a common-sense bill…

Cut 7 (7) “…the fines”  

The bill is expected to decrease the number of inmates in local jails. Luneau says this will help cut costs since the state pays for most of the expenses…

Cut 8 (6) “…than anything else” 

The proposal heads to the governor’s desk. If signed into law, a person caught with a small amount of pot would not face jail time.

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The Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s office says 27-percent of the pandemic-related unemployment insurance claims they reviewed had inconsistent or missing information. State auditor Ricky Rodriguez says that should have been a red flag that the claimant might not be eligible for the benefits

Cut 9 (12) “…those payments.”

The Louisiana Workforce Commission says the agency was facing unprecedented challenges but still thwarted two large-scale fraud attempts.

The report also finds that L-W-C employees may have been improperly compensated by about 786-thousand dollars through a paid leave program when there’s an Act of God. Rodriguez says some employees were paid double the amount of time they work

Cut 10 (10) “…80 hours”

LWC Secretary Ava Cates says for the first three weeks of the pandemic, their employees were pushed to the limit during a State of Emergency and were paid in accordance with LWC policy. But Rodriguez says employees should have only been paid under the special leave provision if they could not show up for work

Cut 11 (08) “…compensated for.”

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Louisiana Tech’s dream season ended yesterday with a loss to North Carolina State, but LSU is still alive in the NCAA Baseball Tournament after beating Gonzaga and Oregon yesterday. In the four to one win over the Ducks, Gavin Dugas homered and also took a trip around the bases when he banged a pitch off the wall and Dugas says he was not stopping when he got to third

Cut 12 (12 “…go from there”

Another Tiger batter that’s seeing the ball well is Dylan Crews, who has 10 hits and three home runs in regional play.  Dugas says he loves playing with a guy with Crews’ ability.

Cut 13 (10) “…he’s awesome”

LSU will play Oregon again tonight and after playing four games in three days, the Tigers will need to get production out of their bullpen.  Coach Paul Mainieri says his pitching staff needs to have a good performance.

Cut 14 (9) “…chance to win”

The winner of this game will advance to the super regional against Tennessee in Knoxville.