AM Newscall September 24, 2015

10 years ago today, Hurricane Rita hit southwest Louisiana causing immense damage. Emelie Gunn has more on how we’ve recovered…

CUT 1 (28) “I’m Emelie Gunn”

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Louisiana’s October 24th primary election is one month from today and UL-Lafayette Political Science Professor Pearson Cross says it’s finally starting to feel like election season. Eric Gill reports…

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There is a record number of graduates from Louisiana’s Community and Technical Colleges. Jeff Palermo has more….

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Today marks the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Rita and many remember the destruction it caused only a month after Katrina. Lafayette Congressman Charles Boustany recalls the immense flooding and tornadoes that slammed into southwest Louisiana. He says the only fortunate thing that came out of this tragic event was there were no lives lost.

cut 4  (09)  “leadership”

Boustany says both Cameron and Calcasieu Parishes showed extreme resilience and entrepreneurship after the storm, which destroyed farmland and ruined crops and livestock. He says the recovery proves that after a natural disaster, the people of south Louisiana come back better than before.

Cut 5  (08)  “of opportunity”

Boustany says they learned many lessons after Hurricane Katrina, so the response was much improved. He says coming back, they built stronger and developed a better understanding of storm surge to better prepare for future natural disasters.

Cut 6 (11)  “hurricane damage”

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We’re one month away from Louisiana’s October 24th primary election. For a while, the governor’s race has been lackluster, at best. However, UL-Lafayette Political Science Professor Pearson Cross says it appears the governor’s race is finally starting to heat up…

CUT 7 (08)  “election season”

Cross still expects Republican David Vitter and Democrat John Bel Edwards to emerge from the primary into November’s runoff. He says we’re beginning to see some hostility among the candidates and that’s something everyone’s been waiting for…

Cut 8  (07)  “now gone” 

Cross says we’re at the point in the campaign where issues and negative politics take hold. He says with all four major gubernatorial candidates running television ads and taking shots at each other, it finally feels like election season. Cross says Republican’s Jay Dardenne and Scott Angelle really have their work cut out for them with only one month to go…

Cut 9 (08) “putative front-runners” 

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A record number of students have graduated from the state’s technical and community colleges in the 2014-2015 year. Louisiana Community and Technical College System President Dr. Monty Sullivan says they’ve graduated over 21-thousand students, who have entered the workforce or moved on to universities to pursue bachelor’s degrees.

Cut 10 (07) “across Louisiana”

Sullivan says 70 percent of graduates go directly into high demand jobs. He says by entering into critical economic fields, they’re making wages that are enough to sustain a family.

cut 11 (07) “those jobs”

Sullivan says they’re projecting that they need to produce about 40-thousand graduates to meet the workforce demands for Louisiana in 2020. He says the graduates are entering into a broad range in jobs from computer science to welding as well, as many graduates moving on the universities to study everything from engineering and accounting.

Cut 12 (10) “reflects that”

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Governor Bobby Jindal continues to poll in the single digits in Iowa. Public Policy Polling surveyed nearly 500 Republican primary voters last weekend and four-percent said they would like to see Jindal receive the GOP nomination for President. Polling analyst Jim Williams says Jindal’s four-percent standing puts him in the top ten in Iowa

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Public Policy Polling continues to see Donald Trump leading the state with 24-percent, Ben Carson is at 17-percent and 13-percent are for Carly Fiorina. He says a positive sign for Jindal is that his favorability rating is 59-percent

Cut 14 (08) “in Iowa”

There’s still over four months to go before the Iowa caucus. Williams says they’ve already seen these poll numbers shift dramatically. He says the now departed Scott Walker’s decline is a prime example

Cut 15  (08)  “the race”

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Saints Quarterback Drew Brees is confident that he can play this Sunday against Carolina Panthers. Brees says he’ll put in extra time this week to rehab is bruised shoulder, so he can play against the Panthers. The quarterback says his desire to play is not just because the team is 0-2…

Cut 16  (11)  “be smart”

Brees also remains optimistic that the Saints can turn their season around despite two losses to start the year…

Cut 17 (13) “start cooking” 

Brees’ banged up shoulder has been one of the biggest news items in the state this week. The veteran Q-B says he is a little suprised with all of the attention its getting…

Cut 18 (10) “of a deal”

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Syracuse is planning to start a walk-on junior college transfer versus the 8th ranked LSU Tigers Saturday. Zack Mahoney would be the third different starting quarterback for the Orange as the other two have been injured. Syracuse head coach Scott Shafer likes what Mahoney brings to the field…

Cut 19 (13) “good football player”

So far SEC defenses have not been able to slow down Tiger running back Leonard Fournette this season. Shafer understands the challenge his defense faces, but he’s not the only talented skill position player on LSU’s offense…

Cut 20 (15)  “for one player”