Over 56,000 voters showed up to cast their ballots Saturday for the first day of early voting. Matt Doyle has the story.
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The Louisiana Tumor Registry adds a new interactive data visualization tool to their website. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
cut 2 (30) “…I’m Kevin Barnhart”
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The Saints defense came alive in the Black and Gold’s 12-10 win last night over the Dallas Cowboys holding the formerly prolific Dallas offense to just 257 total yards.
The Black and Gold will need to reform around a defensive identity with Drew Brees out and the offense struggling. Defensive end Cam Jordan says with or Brees or no, they’re on a mission.
The D has been particularly effective in the first halves of games, only allowing ten points in the last two contests.
Star linebacker Demario Davis says last night’s defense performance it’s an incredible achievement, in 2019.
Star Dallas running back Zeke Elliot was held to just 35 yards rushing on 18 carries last night, making it three weeks in a row the team has held star running backs to under four yards a carry.
The Teddy Bridgewater led offense has not lived up to the usual sky-high offensive expectations of Saints fans. Safety Von Bell says they’re comfortable carrying the team while the offense works out some of the kinks.
The D will need to stay locked in as the new look Bucs head to New Orleans Sunday on the heels of their 55-40 win over the Rams.
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So far early voting turnout for the primary is nearly double that of the 2015 election, and state officials say it could indicate higher than average interest in this year’s election.
Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin says the early results are incredibly promising as people packed polling stations Saturday.
He says when you add absentee ballots, the total number of votes skyrockets to nearly 77,000 total first-day votes.
Ardoin suspects the timing of the LSU/Florida game on October 12th is partially responsible for the surge in early turnout. He says it’s been on the front of several campaign’s minds.
That being said, Ardoin says the early voting totals for today are expected to outpace last year’s day two as well.
Ardoin says the 2015 election only saw turnout in the upper 30s, but if these numbers hold we could be in for noticeably better numbers.
If turnout does hit the mid-40s Ardoin says they’ll still have plenty enough stickers. He says they printed 3.2 million, more than the total number of registered voters.
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The Louisiana Tumor Registry adds a new data visualization tool to their website. Registry spokesperson Lauren Maniscalco says it is a new resource for everyone in Louisiana to better understand the burden of cancer.
Cut 9 (08) “…specific parish.”
Maniscalco says the tool is very interactive in breaking down data on the types of cancer, parish by parish. She adds having the tool may lead to targeting areas for awareness of specific cancers.
Cut 10 (11) “…promote screening.”
Maniscalco says the tool has been in development for about a year and will see continued advancements.
Cut 11 (10) “…add additional features.”
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25 years after the first riverboat set anchor in Baton Rouge the market is now struggling as revenues are cratering in one of the biggest gaming regions of the state.
Chairman of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board Ronnie Jones says unfortunately today’s milestone is also a reminder of a prolonged slump casino revenues for the area that need intervention.
The Belle was the first to open in the now troubled market.
Baton Rouge peaked in the fiscal year ending June 2017 at $308.8 million and has slumped the last two years. Revenue has fallen to nearly one-fourth to $235.6 million for June 2019. Jones says new smoking bans had a major impact.
In New Orleans market, Jones says casinos saw a 20 percent drop in business after the smoking ban was implemented.
Jones says all 20 casinos across the state has seen a decline in the last five years, and the commission is looking at potentially switching the location of some licenses.
Jones says the gaming indusrty peaked after Katrina has since been on the decline.