It’s going to be a spectacular line of fire along the banks of the Mississippi River Christmas Eve. Andre Champagne explains.
Cut 1 (33) “…I’m Andre Champagne.”
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Data center mania has gripped Louisiana, with construction getting underway on one in Central Louisiana this month. Colleen Crain reports.
Cut 2 (32) “…I’m Colleen Crain.”
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The Sugar Bowl matchup is now set. Andrew Greenstein reports.
Cut 3 (33) “…I’m Andrew Greenstein.”
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On Christmas Eve, dozens of bonfires will be lit along the banks of the Mississippi River. St. James Parish President Pete Dufresne says the lighting of the bonfires is a tradition that has gone on for centuries.
Cut 4 (07) “…St. James Parish.”
Dufresne says the majority of the bonfires takes place on the east bank of the Mississippi River.
Dufresne says the bonfires start on the levees of Gramercy and make their way up all the way to St. John the Baptist Parish.
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It’s a game-changer for West Feliciana Parish, as construction is now underway on the Hut 8 data center. Even though it won’t be up and running until 2027, Hut 8 has already secured its first tenant in A-I safety and research company Anthropic. Parish President Kenny Havard says the data center will triple the parish’s tax revenue.
Havard says not only will the Hut 8 data center create tax revenue, but it will also create jobs.
Cut 8 (08) “…15-hundred construction jobs..”
One of the big concerns about data centers is about the massive energy required to power them. Havard says the Hut 8 data center won’t be pulling any water off the aquifer.
Cut 9 (06) “…or whatever with.”
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The arrests of 67 people in a month-long sex offender sting underscores the fact that the battle against child sex predators is never ending. During the month-long operation last month, agents from more than 30 departments joined forces to arrest sex offenders using social media to commit additional crimes against children. Franklin Parish Sheriff Kevin Cobb says it doesn’t matter where a child lives, all it takes for a child to become a victim are a device and access to the internet.
West Monroe Police Chief Jason Pleasant says last week, unrelated to Operation Access Denied, his officers arrested a man on child porn charges, with the count number mind-boggling.
Cut 11 (09) “…of video voyeurism.”
Attorney General Liz Murrill says this operation focused on North Louisiana, and her office will try to replicate it in other parts of the state – and as such, she has a stern message for child sexual predators everywhere.
Cut 12 (13) “…violating the law.”
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Georgia now knows its Sugar Bowl opponent – and it’s a familiar one. Ole Miss won its way to the Sugar Bowl Saturday after beating Tulane in the first round of the College Football Playoff, 41-10. The two teams met in Athens October 18th, with Georgia winning in a shootout, 43-35. Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley says the fact that this is an all-SEC matchup does not take away from the luster of the game.
Cut 13 (09) “…with that league.”
Hundley says fans of both teams will pack the Superdome New Year’s Day – especially Georgia fans, who have become somewhat accustomed to making the trip to New Orleans to ring in the new year through the years.
Cut 14 (11) “…football team too.”
And as Bulldogs and Rebels fans take in all the sights and sounds of the Big Easy, they can take in some special Sugar Bowl events the day before the game.
This matchup for Ole Miss means the Rebels will play in rematches for the first two rounds of the College Football Playoff. The winner will advance to the Fiesta Bowl to face the winner of the Cotton Bowl between Ohio State and Miami.
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Second verse, same as the first – Tulane’s rematch against Ole Miss in the first round of the College Football Playoff went nearly identically to their matchup from exactly four months earlier, with the Rebels trouncing the Green Wave, 41-10. Tulane head coach Pat Sumrall said after the game the team dug itself an early hole that it could not dig out of.
Cut 16 (14) “…the whole game.”
The loss not only ends Tulane’s season, but it also ends Sumrall’s two-year stint in New Orleans, as he now moves on to Gainesville to become the head coach of the Florida Gators. Sumrall had a message for his team in the locker room after the game.
Despite the lopsided loss, Sumrall said the 2025 Tulane Green Wave football team will walk together forever.
Cut 18 (14) “…phone call away.”
While Tulane ends its season 11-and-3, Ole Miss moves on to what will be an all-SEC Sugar Bowl against Georgia New Year’s Day.
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The Saints are building momentum for the future. Behind 308 yards passing from Tyler Shough, the Saints pulled away in the second half and beat the Jets, 29-6, in their home finale of the season. It was the Saints’ third win in a row and their fourth in their last six games. Shough also threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Chris Olave late in the third quarter to pad the Saints’ lead to ten points. Shough said that was the play that started to break the game open for the Saints.
Olave also caught a 38-yard touchdown pass from Taysom Hill with less than two minutes left in the game. In all, Olave had 148 yards on ten receptions, including those two touchdown catches. This season, Olave has 1,044 yards receiving and eight touchdown catches, five of which after Shough replaced Spencer Rattler as the starting quarterback. Olave says this season has been a 180 from last season.
Taysom Hill became the first player in the Super Bowl era to achieve one-thousand yards rushing, one-thousand yards receiving and one-thousand yards passing in a career. The Saints will try to make it four in a row Sunday in Nashville against the Titans.