An 11-year-old girl with Down Syndrome from DoSoto Parish is making international headlines after a video went viral of her reaction to making the cheerleading squad. Michelle Southern has more….
CUT 1 (31) “I’m Michelle Southern”
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A report finds Louisiana ranks number 47th in the nation for having the least financially secure residents. Emelie Gunn has more….
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Members of Governor Bobby Jindal’s presidential campaign are looking to change the current debate criteria so Jindal will be included in the next Republican presidential debate on October 28th. Eric Gill reports…
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An 11-year-old girl with Down Syndrome from the DeSoto Parish town of Stonewall is making international headlines this year after a video of her reaction to being accepted on the cheerleading squad spread like wildfire. Renee Parker is Lacey Parker’s mother. She says after weeks of practicing difficult cheers and routines, Lacey tried out just like everyone else and eagerly waited for the results while her sister was capturing the reaction on video.
Parker says she’s blown away by all the attention the video is getting and it’s more than 30 million views, but knows this is a feel good story that makes people smile. She says Lacey has made appearances on news sites everywhere and is influencing people all over the world.
Parker says the principal at North DeSoto Middle School called them to ask Lacey to try out for the squad because cheering is about having heart and passion and nobody has more than she does. She says having Down Syndrome has never stopped Lacey from doing anything and she encourages more parents of special needs children to let their kids get involved.
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Louisiana ranks number 47th in the country for financial wellbeing according to a report by Gallup-Healthways. Tulane Business Professor Mark Rosa says he didn’t expect the Bayou State to rank among the least financially secure states but there are reasons why we’re ranked so low…
The report also found Louisiana comes in at number 48th in the nation for residents having enough money for food and 49th for the ability for people to pay for health care. Rosa says there are a lot of low income areas here and we don’t live in a high wage environment.
Entergy and CenturyLink are the only two Louisiana based companies on the Fortune 500 list. Rosa says the lack of major corporations in the Bayou state contributes to Louisiana ranking low on this list.
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Members of Governor Bobby Jindal’s presidential campaign are looking to change the current debate criteria so Jindal will be included in the next Republican presidential debate on October 28th. The campaign argues that basing criteria on national polls is meaningless at this point in the race. Senior strategist Curt Anderson says national polls are predictive of nothing since there is no national primary…
Current Republican National Committee/CNBC criteria requires a candidate average at least 2.5-percent in six different national polls to make a debate. Jindal Pollster Wes Anderson says the governor’s recent surge to six-percent support in Iowa should put him in the main debate…
The campaign says ignoring polls in early primary states does not reflect reality. Campaign manager Timmy Teeple says by doing this, voters are being ignored…
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Republican David Vitter’s latest TV commercial for governor features his wife Wendy, who says her husband has the courage and vision needed to turn around Louisiana. ULM political science professor Joshua Stockley says this is a significant moment in the campaign, because of Vitter’s past scandal involving prostitution…
In the ad, Wendy Vitter also talked about how her husband was the one who authored a bill that led to term limits in the state legislature. Stockley wonders why the campaign decided to have Wendy Vitter talk about this issue…
Stockley says having an ad that features his wife can help Vitter with women voters…
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LSU continues preparations for its top ten matchup with undefeated Florida on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium. While Alabama is consider the Tigers biggest rival, LSU linebacker Deion Jones says while growing up in New Orleans, Florida was always the big game on the schedule…
LSU’s starting quarterback the last five games will not play against LSU. Will Grier has been suspended by the NCAA for one year for taking a banned over-the-counter supplement. Treon Harris will start for the suspended Grier and LSU defensive tackle Christian Lacouture gives this scouting report on Harris…
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The Saints are 1-and-4 and in last place in the NFC South heading into Thursday night’s match-up with the undefeated Atlanta Falcons. Quarterback Drew Brees always has a positive take on things, but admits the losing is eating at him inside…
Cut 18 (11) “something positive”
The Falcons are one of the biggest surprises in the NFL this year. First-year coach Dan Quinn has Atlanta out to a 5-0 start. The Falcons had a losing record last year and Brees says the personnel is not much different from last year…