Today is the first full day of winter. Don Molino has more on what you can expect weather-wise this season…
______________________________________
Fewer people are choosing to hook up costly broadband to their homes for internet and are instead only using their smartphones. Jeff Palermo reports…:
______________________________________
An alcoholic version of the famous Abita Root Beer is hitting stores this week. Michelle Southern reports…:
Cut 3 (30) “I’m Michelle Southern”
______________________________________
Today is the first full day of winter. Winter officially began at 10:49PM last night with the winter solstice. State Climatologist Barry Keim says the seasonal forecast is kind of gloomy…
He says this winter will bring cooler and wetter than normal conditions to Louisiana. Keim says, despite a forecast for cooler temperatures, you shouldn’t expect a lot of freezes across Louisiana this winter…
He says those who enjoy the cold during this time of year will be disappointed for much of the season. Keim says El Nino will keep many arctic air intrusions into Louisiana at bay, but not all of them…
______________________________________
Fewer people are choosing to hook up costly broadband to their homes for internet and are instead only using their smartphones. That’s according to a recent study by the Pew Research Center on home broadband adoption between 2013-2015. Senior Researcher John Horrigan says, today, 67% of Americans have broadband at home…:
Horrigan says while fewer people are getting internet for their homes, more consumers are becoming “smartphone only” — mainly because residential broadband service is becoming more expensive. He says smartphone only people rely solely on their cellular devices for online access…:
Horrigan says they are seeing this happening mostly among low income Americans, but they also found a number of incidents of this pattern among lower-middle income users…:
______________________________________
Governor elect John Bel Edwards is taking steps so low-income adults do not lose food stamp benefits in January. The Jindal administration took action to prevent certain able bodied adults from receiving food stamps. But Julie Baxter Payer, spokesperson for Governor-elect Edwards, says he will seek to remove the work requirement, so an estimated 31-thousand adults can still access food stamps
Payer says Edwards wants to provide food stamp benefits for abled bodied adults for at least one-year, until they improve state worker training programs. She says until that time, these individuals should continue to receive this federal assistance…
Governor Jindal’s spokesperson, Mike Reed, says the best way to break the cycle of poverty is for individuals to get a job and get off of government assistance. But Payer says Edwards believes these adults face significant barriers to employment and they’ll look to extend a waiver that Jindal allowed to expire
_____________________________________
An alcoholic version of the famous Abita Root Beer arrives in stores this week. Abita Brewing Company Brewmaster Mark Wilson says the hard root beer will be the first product in its line of “Bayou Bootlegger” hard sodas. He says it only made sense to come up with an adult take on the same old-fashioned Abita Root Beer recipe made with pure Louisiana cane sugar…:
Wilson says fans of Abita Root Beer have been asking for an alcoholic version and now is the time to give it to them. He says the flavors in the Abita Root Beer deliver aromas of wintergreen, vanilla, sassafras with hints of close and anise…:
Wilson says the Bayou Bootlegger Hard Root Beer is brewed to achieve a 5.9 percent alcohol by volume and is all natural and gluten free. He says they hope the hard root beer is eventually as popular as the original…:
Cut 15 (10) “that would be great”
__________________________________
Three Louisiana college baseball teams are ranked in the first preseason poll. Collegiate Baseball has UL Lafayette ranked sixth, LSU is ranked seventh and Tulane is ranked 19th. Tigers Coach Paul Mainieri says it’s nice to see his team ranked in the top ten
Cut 16 (11) “everyday players”
LSU reached the College World Series last season and return one of the top pitchers in the country in Alex Lange. However, they must replace eight of nine everyday starters from last season’s batting order. Mainieri says he’s excited that Lange and veteran left hander Jared Poche will anchor their pitching staff in 2016…
LSU’s incoming class was ranked seventh nationally by Collegiate Baseball. Mainieri says they’ll count on a couple of those players right away….