LRN AM Newscall November 28

After losing to Southern Illinois 35-0 on Saturday the Nicholls State football team got stranded in the airport for 22 hours. Brooke Thorington has more.

Cut 1 (33) “…I’m Brooke Thorington.”

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Black Friday holiday shopping has ended and numbers show shoppers spent nearly $10 billion in online sales in the U.S. on Black Friday. Teiko Foxx has more…

Cut 2 (33)  “…I’m Teiko Foxx.”

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If you have an old Google account, make sure to log in this week. Colleen Crain has the details…

Cut 3 (32) “…I’m Colleen Crain.”

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After losing to Southern Illinois on Saturday, the Nicholls State football team was stranded in a small airport for 22 hours. Nicholls’ Athletic Director Jonathan Terrell said first it was a pilot issue with the chartered flight, then the next flight was canceled. But he says they made the best of it and finally made it home Sunday night.

Cut 4 (11) “…that happened.”

Terrell says the restaurants closed overnight in the small airport, they had no transportation and were unable to book a hotel last minute due to the size of the party.

Cut 5 (10) “…140 people.”

The players, cheerleaders, and staff ended up sleeping on the floor and in chairs at the small airport.  Terrell says it was a frustrating situation made worse when they weren’t able to get any answers from Eastern Airlines, the charter flight company.

Cut 6 (10) “…for us.”

The team arrived back to campus Sunday night just before 9:30.

Because it was a playoff game the NCAA is in charge of coordinating travel.

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Black Friday sales show online holiday shopping increased by seven percent growth compared to last year. Holiday shoppers spent nearly $10 billion in online sales in the U-S on Black Friday. LSU Marketing Professor Dan Rice says holiday shopping is starting to normalize following post Pandemic surge in shopping.

Cut 7 (12) “…percent -ish.”

The National Retail Federation predicted a three to four percent growth. Consumers appear to be planning on spending more this holiday season but buying less in terms of the number of items according to the NRF.

Rice says many large retailers marketing use to excite shoppers to begin Black Friday shopping at midnight for the best prices. But now marketing trends encourage pre-Black Friday shopping.

Cut 8 (11) “…one day.” 

Online revenue growth during the next two months is expected at nearly five percent compared to a year earlier which is well below the average annual rate of 13 percent growth before the pandemic according to Adobe Analytics.

Rice says Cyber Monday is a bigger spending day compared to Black Friday. But he points out that more shoppers still enjoy the experience of brick-and-mortar stores.

Cut 9 (09)  “…bigger online.”

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Republican John Nickelson, a candidate for Caddo Parish Sheriff, has filed a lawsuit seeking a new runoff election against Democrat Henry Whitehorn, who won after a recount by one vote. Political Analyst Scott Hughes says a district court judge is set to hear the case Thursday and a ruling could be made the next day.

Cut 10 (10) “…in court.”

Out of more than 43 thousand votes, 7 thousand mail-in ballots were rescanned by the Caddo Board of Elections. After recounting all the ballots, an additional three ballots were tallied for each candidate.

Hughes says mail-in votes did not arrive until the Friday before election day He says at least two voters who voted absentee went to check on Election Day and they were allowed to vote a second time…

Cut 11 (13) “…legal challenge.” 

If the district court’s ruling is appealed, Hughes says the case will be heard by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal. He says attorneys for both candidates and several members of the public watched the recount in person.

Cut 12 (11) “…Mr. Whitehorn.” 

If the appellate court’s opinion is appealed, the case would advance to the Louisiana Supreme Court.

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If you have an old Google account you want to keep, Haggai Davis of Tech Gumbo Podcast says you need to log in by the end of this week…

Cut 13 (08) “…delete that account”

Google’s updated inactive-account policy was announced in May and Google will begin a phased-approach beginning Friday

Davis says, if you’ve logged in to YouTube, g-mail, or your Google Drive associated with the account, you’re ok. He says, Google is concerned about security, not data space.

Cut 14 (09) “…security risk.”

If you have old accounts with other email and cloud providers, Davis says to watch for their inactive account policies to be updated as well.

Cut 15 (07) “…kind of thing.”

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After a bad loss on the road to Atlanta, the hot seat is getting warmer for Saints Coach Dennis Allen. New Orleans is 5-and-6 on the season and fans are expecting more and they would like to see more emotion from Allen, especially after the team plays poorly

Cut 16 (20) “..sense of urgency.”

Saints running back Alvin Kamara said after the game, the team does not have an identity and they are consistently inconsistent. But Allen has more of a glass-half-full perspective of the team’s identity.

Cut 17 (19) “…defense.”

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ULM Athletics Director John Hartwell is searching for a new head football coach after firing Terry Bowden following a two-and-ten campaign. Hartwell says after watching the Warhawks lose to the Ragin Cajuns on Saturday, he decided a culture change was needed…

Cut 18 (18)  “…to lose.” 

Hartwell hopes to hire the next head coach of ULM football within seven to ten days. He has this message to the players and recruits who might look elsewhere…

Cut 19 (18) “…to that.” 

ULM has the smallest athletic budget out of all FBS Schools and there are some who suggested the Warhawks should drop down to the FCS level. But Hartwell plans to compete for championships in the Sun Belt…

Cut 20 (16) “…what we all want.”