AM Newscall 03.20.19

Starting next school year, the Avoyelles school system will adopt a four-day week.  Kevin Barnhart has the story.

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Which gaming console is the most popular in Louisiana? Matt Doyle has the answer…

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Could you be getting a check from the Department of Treasury soon?  Kevin Barnhart has the story.

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Starting next school year, the entire school system in Avoyelles Parish will have a four day week. The decision was made in an effort to recruit teachers to the area. Avoyelles School Superintendent Blaine Dauzat says the Tuesday through Friday schedule hasn’t had a warm reception from everyone.

Cut 4 (10) “…parents and community.”

Mondays were selected as the day off as the school district believes it would be optimal for students in making doctor and dental appointments.

Dauzat says the parish is last in salaries for teachers in the state and an attempt to collect a tax aimed at giving teachers a raise failed a few years ago.

Cut 5 (11) “…we currently have.”

The schedule change means every weekend is a three day weekend and the school days will be extended by an extra hour. Among the concerns about the change is what parents will do for childcare for their kids for Mondays. Dauzat says conversations schools are not in the babysitting business.

Cut 6 (09) “…at this point.”

Caldwell Parish is the only other system in the state to adopt the four day week, doing so eleven years ago and has seen their district performance score rise for nine of those years.

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Louisiana has the highest percentage of PlayStation fans in the country, per a survey by PC Magazine that asked gamers to name their top  console. The poll nabbed 2,000 responses, and let people chose from Xbox, Nintendo, PC, PlayStation, or none. Associate features editor Rob Marvin gives the breakdown on how to Bayou State prefers to game…

Cut 7 (09) “…don’t game”

Louisiana had nearly half as many PC first gamers as the rest of the nation, and less than half the average number of Americans who picked Nintendo as their top system.

Taking a look at the breakdown, it’s not a regional trend, and Louisiana was among only nine states that picked PlayStation as their top choice.

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The survey also got a chance to take a look at how different demographics pick their gaming systems. Marvin says it’s clear men and women have different tastes in gaming.

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The Powerball is up to 550 million for today’s drawing, and as that number rises, so do the amount of people playing, all trying to chase that elusive life changing big ticket. But, Lotto spokesperson Dustin Annison says even if you don’t take home the grand prize, don’t toss out your ticket.

Cut 10 (12) “…check your tickets”

The half billion dollar drawing is the 8th largest jackpot in the history of Powerball, and the 11th highest in American lotto history.

Already this year the Lotto has seen a million dollar ticket go unclaimed, meaning that money is now back in Lotto hands. To avoid another incident like that, Annison says double check your results after the drawings, because statistically, you’re actually more likely to win 50,000 dollars than a couple hundred mil.

Cut 11 (07) “though.”

Most folks play for the big prize, so it’s normal to only see the winning Powerball numbers displayed after a drawing, but Annison says go to the lotto’s website after the drawing to see what else you may have scored before tossing a potential life changing ticket in the trash.

Cut 12 (08) “…prize tiers.”

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The Department of Treasury is mailing out a second round of unclaimed property checks. Just over 44,000 checks are being mailed out this week, totaling $4.2 million dollars. State Treasurer John Schroder says they had some issues with the first wave of checks, with people not believing they had come into a large sum of money.

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The checks range in value and could be worth upon to $1500. Any greater value will result in a claim form being mailed to the recipient.

Schroder says every parish in the state has residents receiving some sort of money.

Cut 14 (12) “…citizens of Louisiana.”

Schroder encourages residents to keep an eye on your mailbox and keep an eye on the department’s website. He adds more money is coming.

Cut 15 (09) “…deal with internally.”

For those that are curious to see if anything has been found in their name, head over to LATreasury.com and click on “unclaimed property” at the top of the page.

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Third-seeded LSU is in Jacksonville getting ready for tomorrow’s first round NCAA match-up with 14th seeded Yale. Junior guard Skylar Mays both teams like to play an up tempo style and that should benefit the Tigers

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Will Wade remains suspended as the team begins their journey through March Madness. Mays say they miss Wade, but the talent on the floor is good enough to reach the Final Four, especially when it comes to guard play between him, Tremont Waters and Javonte Smart…

 cut 17 (09)   “whole thing” 

Mays even though the Tigers didn’t win a game in the SEC Tournament, they remain confident heading into the Big Dance

Cut 18 (13) we play”