PM-Newscall October 7th, 2014

The US Drug Enforcement Agency has reclassified hydrocodone-based drugs, such as Lortab and Vicodin, into a new, more restrictive category. Eric Gill has more…

CUT 1 (30) “reporting”

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The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is offering a $7,000 reward for information about the shooting death of a black bear. Michelle Southern reports.

CUT 2 (31) “reporting”

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The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is seeking leads in the illegal killing of a black bear in Concordia Parish. Spokesman Adam Einck says this bear was part of their Black Bear Restoration Program and was radio collared to track her movements. He says the bear was normally tracked in the Turnbull Island area…

CUT 3 (11) “September 1st”

Authorities believe the female bear was killed in Concordia Parish and thrown in the river where the body floated downstream. A fisherman found the bear, badly decomposed, in the Atchafalaya River in St. Martin Parish. Einck says they are asking for the public’s help in finding those responsible…

CUT 4 (13)  “442-2511”

LDWF is offering a reward of up to $7,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible. Einck says there has been a number of hunter-black bear incidents in the past few years and information from the public has been helpful…

CUT 5 (12) “that information”

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Drugs like Lortabs and Vicodin will now be much harder to obtain through your pharmacy. The US Drug Enforcement Agency has put hydrocodone-based drugs in a more restrictive category. LSU Health’s Emergency Medicine Chairman, Dr. Tom Arnold, says the federal government is trying to reign in an epidemic of prescription drug abuse…

CUT 6 (13)  “in the past”

Under the new rules, doctors will only be able to prescribe a 30-day supply, with no automatic refills. You will also not be able to call a prescription in to the pharmacy. Arnold says the intended purpose of these new rules is simple…

CUT 7 (06) “unintended purposes”

He says the US uses 99% of the world’s hydrocodone and the federal government is doing what they can to try to get the problem under control. But Arnold says as these prescription drugs are becoming harder to obtain, there has been an uptick in heroin use across the nation, even in Louisiana…

CUT 8 (09) “within our borders”

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If you’re a fan of checking out rare events in the sky, you’ll be in for a treat tomorrow morning. On October 8th a total eclipse of the moon is going to take place while the sun is rising. Louisiana Tech astronomer Lee Sawyer says we get lunar eclipses each year, but what makes this event rare for us is where we’re located…:

CUT 9 (09)  “in the east”

Sawyer says the total eclipse is going to start at close to 5:27 for us…:

CUT 10 (04)  “in the morning”

Sawyer says viewers will have between 2-9 minutes to simultaneously see the sun rising in the east, while the eclipsed moon is setting in the west. He says what makes this so cool is that you’ll actually be able to see the shadow of the earth as it starts to go across the moon during the partial eclipse…:

CUT 11 (12) “be able to see that

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Even though it’s not even Halloween yet, retailers are already reporting they expect this Holiday shopping season to be the best in three years. The National Retail Federation says they expect sales in November and December to be up 4.1 from 2013. These Louisiana residents we spoke with say they’re ready to spend…:

CUT 12 (04) “ready for it”

The NRF says consumer confidence is high this year as key economic indicators like retail sales, jobs and housing data are seeing improvement. But these Louisiana residents say they aren’t among those planning to shell out lots of dough this Christmas…:

CUT 13 (06) “in the next year”

Shop.org says online shopping is expected to up as much as 11% this year. Some Louisiana residents we spoke with said they’d not even thought about shopping yet, but others say they’re halfway done…:

cut 14 (07) “up yet”