5:30 LRN Newscast November 2

Work to repair Interstate 55 where 168 vehicles piled up during a super fog mix in St. John the Baptist Parish late last month will take another two weeks to complete. I-55 northbound remains closed but Spokesperson Rodney Mallet says contractors will start repairs next week.

Cut 10 (09) “…repave it.”

Mallet says they’ll need to shut down the southbound portion near the crash site for a six-hour period this weekend.

Governor John Bel Edwards and Colonel Lamar Davis officially broke ground on a new $100 million state-of-the-art State Police Crime Lab this morning. And while it’s called the State Police Crime Lab, Governor Edwards says 200 agencies statewide submit evidence in addition to LSP investigations.

Cut 4 (08) “…the state.”

The new facility will replace the existing lab that’s four decades old.

Louisiana First Lady Donna Edwards and the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services kicked off National Adoption Month by honoring 465 families who adopted 619 children during the past year. DCFS Secretary Terri Ricks…

Cut 6 (13) “…their own”

Of the 465 families adopting, 133 are single parents who adopted 175 of the 619 children.

Louisiana remains the epicenter of drought in the country, according to today’s U-S drought monitor.  State Climatologist Barry Keim…

Cut 12 (09) “..this case”  

The weather forecast for next week does not call for any significant chance of rain.