The dust has barely settled from last week’s midterm elections, but attention is already shifting to next year’s governor’s race. Andrew Greenstein reports.
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The College Football Playoff is officially expanding to 24 teams next season. Kace Kieschnick has more.
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Now that the Midterm elections are behind us – save for a pair of U.S. House runoffs next month – attention now shifts to next year’s gubernatorial election. Pollster John Couvillon with JMC Analytics and Polling says even though last week’s vote has yet to be certified, time is of the essence for those wishing to get into the race.
Couvillon says given the pounding Democrats laid on Republicans across the country – and Jamie Davis’ near-miss against Julia Letlow in Louisiana – Democrats in Louisiana now have to believe that the gubernatorial election is winnable for them; and as such, several high-profile Democrats will likely be considering a run for the state’s top office.
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Of course, Jeff Landry will be running for re-election for what would be a second and final lifetime term, thanks to the passage of Amendment Four last Tuesday. Couvillon says Landry cannot take Republican support for granted.
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The College Football Playoff is officially expanding to 24 teams next season. The CFP and ESPN reached a nearly 1.7-billion-dollar agreement that would kick off the playoffs the second weekend in December and eliminate power conference championship games. LSU Athletics Director Verge Ausberry says LSU supported the 24-team playoffs. One reason was for more playoff games played on campus.
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Each Power Four conference champ will receive an auto-bid as well as the highest-ranked Group of Six team. The top eight teams will receive a first-round bye.
All power conference teams will now be required to play 10 games against other power conference teams. Ausberry says the SEC already had that requirement with a nine-game conference schedule with one non-conference power opponent, but the Big Ten did not.
LSU coach Lane Kiffin says he felt like the SEC had to support a 24-team playoff after moving to the nine-game conference schedule. He says the extra game results in a group of nine-win teams who are good enough to compete for a national title but would have been left out in the 12-team format.
The first 24-team playoff national championship game will be held in the Superdome on January 24 2028.
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A 44-year-old St. Tammany Parish priest is facing theft charges after he allegedly stole funds from an Abita Springs church. Lt. Suzanne Carboni with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office says they began their investigation into Reverend Daniel Okafor after the New Orleans Archdiocese contacted about discrepancies involving the finances at St. Jane de Chantal Parish…
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Carboni says investigators believe Reverend Okafor was diverting 21-thousand dollars in church funds for personal use for more than two and a half years. She says the priest was arrested this morning and faces multiple felony charges…
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Carboni this is an ongoing investigation, and additional charges are possible. Anyone who believes they may have been a victim of financial misconduct should contact the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office…
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14 Grambling football players have been suspended for their involvement in a postgame brawl after the G-Men fell to Arkansas-Pine Bluff 35-32 on Saturday. Moments after the final whistle, both benches cleared and several fights broke out across the field. Tigers coach Mickey Joseph says it was unacceptable.
After Grambling announced the disciplinary actions, the SWAC also suspended 14 Tigers and nine Golden Lions, multiple players received two-game suspensions. Each school also received a 25-thousand-dollar fine.
The initial cause of the fight is unknown, but it is the second straight season in which a massive fight broke out at a Grambling home game. The same happened after halftime of a win over Bethune-Cookman last year. Joseph says it cannot happen again.
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After last year’s fight 18 Grambling players were suspended by the SWAC and the school was fined 40-thoudand-dollars.
Joseph says his players need to learn to control their emotions regardless of what happens on the field. He says that behavior is not what he is teaching in his program.
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State and local officials broke ground this morning on a Buc-ee’s store in Lafayette. The 74-thousand square foot store will be located at the Louisiana Avenue and the I-10 exit. The 82-million dollar project will feature 120 gas pumps and nearly 700 parking spaces. Governor Landry was on hand for the groundbreaking ceremony…
The other Louisiana Buc-ee’s store is already under construction is expected to open in April. The store in Lafayette is expected to create 150 jobs with pay starting at 17-dollars an hour.