8:30 LRN Newscast March 21

LSU basketball faces Yale at 11:40 today in the NCAA Tournament. Governor Edwards agrees with the decision to suspend Will Wade after the coach was reportedly caught on an FBI wiretap discussing improper payments to a recruit…
cut 8 (11) “…questions”
But Edwards says he does not echo a statement from former Board of Regents Chairman Richard Lipsey, who said that both LSU President F. King Alexander and Atheltics Director Joe Alleva should be fired.

New Orleans police say two people were killed when a vehicle smashed into a beauty salon last night in the Broadmoor neighborhood setting off a three-alarm fire. Authorities say the two people that died were in the vehicle. A woman rescued from the building suffered serious burns. Authorities say they believe the vehicle was stolen and accelerated after officers tried to stop the car.

Research from staffing firm Robert Half indicates March Madness activities can be beneficial in the workplace. Jeff Palermo has the story.
Cut 1 (30) “I’m Jeff Palermo.”

Today is the first full day of spring. So what can we expect from the weather for the next few months? State Climatologist Barry Keim… .
Cut 13 (06) “…conditions for Louisiana.”
Keim says we’re currently in a weak El Nino which has the tendency to produce thunderstorm activity off the Texas coast near Houston and thunderstorms usually drift over Louisiana.