According to the Des Moines Register, Governor Bobby Jindal is scheduled to have two closed door meetings with conservative religious leaders in Iowa today. Scott Carwile reports…
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King Cake season is officially underway on this Twelfth Night and it’ll be a short one with Mardi Gras falling so early this year on February 17th. Michelle Southern reports.
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Angola Warden Burl Cain says he has not taken any steps to install a cooling system on death row despite a federal judge’s ruling to reduce the heat levels. Michelle Southern reports.
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Today, Governor Bobby Jindal is scheduled to have two closed door meetings with conservative religious leaders in Iowa. According to the Des Moines Register, the meetings will take place in Cedar Rapids and Des Moines. ULM Political Science Professor Joshua Stockley says Jindal is looking to shore up his support among this group of voters…
cut 4 (08) “presidential nomination”
Jindal is thinking about a presidential run in 2016 and Iowa is important because they host the first primary. Stockley adds that evangelicals and conservatives are also important because of their participation in the primary. He says these meetings are very important to Jindal’s hopes…
Cut 5 (11) “financial backing”
Stockley says these are important meetings to determine how serious of a presidential hopeful Jindal can be. He calls this part of the process the “invisible primary”, where candidates try to win endorsements and backing before the actual contests. He says this will have an important impact on Jindal’s decision to run, or not to run, for president…
Cut 6 (11) “invisible primary”
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King Cake season is officially underway on this Twelfth Night and it’ll be a short one with Mardi Gras falling so early this year on February 17th. Gambino’s Bakery owner Sam Scelfo says the bulk of the pastry cakes they sell go two weeks before Mardi Gras no matter what day it falls in the year.:
CUT 7 (10) “we’re excited about it”
Scelfo says they’ve been selling a bunch of King Cakes so far already this year but they expect to be extremely busy today. He says they typically sell between 70,000-75,000 King Cakes in any given season. Scelfo offers almost 70 different flavors…:
There’s a story in The Wall Street Journal saying King Cakes no longer come with the baby inside due to a concern over lawsuits. But Scelfo says they are traditionalists and leave the baby in the cake but leave plenty of indicators letting people know it’s in there…:
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Doctor Bill Cassidy will be sworn in as a US Senator today giving Louisiana two republicans in the US Senate. What will that mean for the Bayou State? U-L Lafayette Political Science Professor Pearson Cross says Louisiana will have a unified voice on issues that the Senate debates
Cross says Louisiana loses clout in the US Senate, with Cassidy replacing three-term democratic Senator Mary Landrieu. But he says the state can make up for it by having Cassidy and Senior Senator David Vitter working together in a republican controlled Senate…
Cross anticipates since Cassidy has a medical background, he’ll find some issues that he can be an expert on…
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Angola Warden Burl Cain says he has not taken any steps to install a cooling system on death row. A federal judge has ruled that the state needs to take more measures to cool off death row during the hot summer months. The ruling is currently under appeal. Cain says it would be too expensive to add any type of cooling system at the prison…:
Cut 13 (07) “I can’t afford it”
Cain says they couldn’t just reduce the heat levels on death row, it would have to be the entire prison…:
Cain says he’s not aware of any other prison being facing legal action for having extreme hot conditions but Angola seems to be popular place to sue. He says death row was built in 2005 and has a natural ventilation system so it’s not even the hottest part of the prison…:
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Louisiana Tech has lost its defensive coordinator. Manny Diaz has been hired by Mississippi State to be the Bulldogs new defensive coordinator. Diaz helped Tech win the Conference USA western division title and his defense was ranked 22nd in the nation in points allowed and 17th in rush defense. Jonathan Ford, publisher of Bleed Tech Blue, says Diaz gave the Bulldogs’ defense an identity
Cut 16 (13) “find another one”
While Tech loses a defensive coordinator, they add a quarterback. Jeff Driskel, who threw for 34-hundred yards at Florida, is transferring to Tech for his final year of college eligibility. The fifth-year senior is allowed to play in 2015 for the Bulldogs. Ford says Driskel didn’t perform as well as expected at Gainesville, but he’ll bring some much needed experience to the quarterback position in Ruston…
Tech needs to replace fifth-year senior quarterback Cody Sokul, who led the Bulldogs to a victory in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. Ford says Driskel is your likely starter in 2015 and could have a lot of success…