5:30 LRN Newscast January 20

Governor John Bel Edwards visited Shreveport today for the announcement of a $100 million investment by American Electric Power to develop a transmission control center in the city. Edwards says the center will create 20 direct jobs with an average salary of $115 thousand.

AEP’s 77-thousand square foot transmission facility will be the first business to move into Shreveport’s Resilient Technology Park.

Cut 7 (9) “…reliable electricity.”

Edwards says the timing of the investment couldn’t be better, after so many experienced lengthy power losses due to weather last year.

The new terminal at Lafayette Regional Airport is no longer on standby. Travelers were welcomed into the $150 million state of the art facility today. Airport Executive Director Steven Picou says this is just the beginning.

Cut 5 (11) “…go that direction.”

Senate Republicans were able to use the filibuster to defeat a voting rights bill that Democratic and civil rights leaders say is needed to protect our democracy. Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, an opponent of the bill, accuses the Biden administration of manufacturing a fake voting crisis to distract from more pressing issues.

Baton Rouge representative Ted James, outgoing chair of the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus, says the bill wasn’t partisan and would have made voting more accessible to millions of Americans.

Cut 12 (11) “…to the polls.”

Today was just the beginning of severe winter weather, with low temperatures expected to remain below freezing for most of the state through Sunday morning.

Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain stresses that owners of livestock exercise the necessary precaution to protect their animals from these frigid temperatures.

Cut 15 (12) “…out of the weather.”