The number of substance-exposed babies born in Louisiana has tripled since 2008, according to the Department of Children and Family Services. Halen Doughty reports it’s led to a greater demand for foster families to take care of these children….
CUT 1 (31) “I’m Halen Doughty”
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A statewide poll shows Republican State Treasurer John Kennedy has a large lead in the U.S. Senate race, which is five months away. Emelie Gunn has more…
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Sixty percent of teen crashes involve some sort of distraction, according to the AAA Foundation. Jeff Palermo has more…
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According to the Department of Children and Family Services, the number of babies born addicted to drugs has tripled since 2008, as there were almost 15-hundred substance-exposed babies born in 2015. DCFS Regional Administrator Michelle Faust says that’s due in part to hospitals doing a better job of reporting these cases, and also because more people are addicts.
cut 4 (11) “through withdrawals”
Faust says when a baby is born with drugs in its system, DCFS performs an investigation to assess the danger for the child and see if it should be placed in foster care. She says DCFS is having a hard time finding foster families for these babies, because it’s a lot for a foster family to deal with 24/7.
Faust says over 4-thousand children are in foster care in Louisiana, and DCFS desperately needs more foster parents. She says prevention is essential to keep the number of foster children and children born addicted to drugs from growing.
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The U.S. Senate election is five months away and Republican State Treasurer John Kennedy has a large lead in a Southern Media and Opinion Research poll of 500 likely voters. Pollster Bernie Pinsonat says Kennedy drew 32-percent of first choice votes followed by Republican Congressman Charles Boustany with 10-percent. He says the poll shows Kennedy’s favorable rating is at 62-percent…
Democratic candidate Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell follows at 9-percent when all other candidates are at 5-percent or lower in the poll. Pinsonat says in last year’s Governor’s race, David Vitter had a big lead early on but Kennedy is a different kind of candidate.
32-percent of those polled are undecided. Pinsonat says there is a good chance a democrat could make it into the runoff. He says Democratic candidates Foster Campbell and Carolina Fayard, who comes in at 4-percent, are still unknown to many voters.
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The bill to allow domestic violence victims to carry a concealed weapon with an expedited permit has received final legislative passage. Denham Springs Representative Valerie Hodges says women who feel threatened can get this temporary permit if they receive a protective order from a judge.
Hodges says the permit is only good for 45 days, and women can only get the permit if they pass a background check. She says they can get the permit before they complete the concealed carry class.
Hodges says many concealed carry classes have a wait list, and it can take several weeks to get into the class and then get the permit. She says women could be attacked or murdered during these few weeks.
The measure now heads to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.
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According to the AAA Foundation, 60% of teen crashes involve some sort of distraction. AAA spokesperson Don Redman says this is important information to note as we’re entering the 100 deadliest days for teen drivers.
Over 5,000 people have been killed in crashes involving teen drivers during these 100 days in the past 5 years. Redman says on average over one thousand people die in crashes involving teen drivers each year. He says teens are most commonly distracted by their passengers or their cell phone.
AAA found that about 15% of crashes involving teen drivers were due to talking to passengers, and 12% were due to phone usage. Redman says the most dangerous day in the next 100 days will be the Fourth of July. He advises parents to talk to their kids about driving safety.
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Several LSU Tigers will experience postseason play for the first time on Friday when the Tigers take on Utah Valley in the NCAA Tournament. Antoine Duplantis, the Jordan twins, Chris Reid, Cole Freeman and Greg Deichmann have never played in a Regional at the Box. Junior shortstop Kramer Robertson says the atmosphere is definitely different…
Utah Valley is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance. Wolverines Head Coach Eric Madsen hopes his team can adjust quickly to the south Louisiana heat and the big crowd that’s expected in the Box for the regional opener…
Utah Valley brings a seven-game winning streak into the regional and they’ve won 11 of their last 13. Madsen says his guys are playing sound baseball…
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Southeastern Louisiana is back in the NCAA Tournament after a one-year absence. The Lions played in the Baton Rouge regional in 2014 and this weekend they’ll be back at the Box to take on Rice. Senior Pitcher Kyle Cedotal says the won a game two years ago, but they’re looking to perform better this time around…
Cedotal says they’re looking forward to a home field advantage on Friday night against Rice…