AM Newscall for Dec 26

Jeff Palermo spoke with LSU Marketing Professor Dan Rice for some tips on what to look for in the post-Christmas shopping season…

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Louisiana wins a three year, 11 million dollar a year federal grant to expand early childhood education. Matt Doyle has the story…

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The Vermillion Parish community of Cow Island was blessed by holy water dropped from a crop dusting plane. Matt Doyle has more…

Cut 3 (30) I’m Matt Doyle” 

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You may be loaded up with Christmas gift cards right now, and if you are, you’re in luck because LSU Marketing Professor Dan Rice says the post-Christmas shopping season is a great opportunity for deals.

Rice says popular, big-ticket items may not have major price reductions, but seasonal items, in particular, will likely be sporting major sales as retailers try to make room for spring stock.

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Rice says winter coats, Christmas trees, and holiday silverware or plates will likely have major sales attached to them.

And what does the profile of your typical post-Christmas shopper look like?

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Rice’s only warning for shoppers today is that you understand that if an item is seeing a major sale right now, it’s likely because it didn’t sell as well as expected so…

Cut 6 (06) “…want”

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The Bayou State is ending the holiday week with unseasonably warm temps for this time of year. The average is highs in the mid-60s and lows in the mid to upper 40s for Louisiana. State Climatologist Barry Keim explains why temps are above average right now.

Cut 7 (11) “…Gulf of Mexico”

Keim says expect temperatures in the morning in the mid-50s to lower 60sacross the state and rising into the mid-70s as we finish out the week.

Cut 8 (06) “…time of year”

As for what we should expect going into the new year Keim says it should remain warmer than usual winter for the state with normal precipitation.

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Parishioners in Cow Island had their small Vermillion Parish community blessed Sunday by 100 gallons of holy water dispersed from a crop-dusting plane courtesy of St. Anne Catholic Church.

St. Anne Reverend Matthew Barzare says the idea came from a congregant who wanted to pull the community together with a millennia-old tradition.

Cut 10 (09) “…harvest”

Cow Island is an unincorporated territory about 40 miles south of Lafayette and is within the Lafayette Archdiocese.

The plane blessed the church, the school, the grocery store, and other prominent community landmarks along with crop fields. Barzare says the plane’s owner usually does pesticide spraying, and…

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The water was provided by the local community and the plane’s operator, and then blessed by Barzare.

The blessing has been a hit on social media, pulling in hundreds of shares, and inspiring other agricultural communities to ask their local church to do the same.

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Barzare says they plan on making this an annual event, and hopefully utilizing the plane’s full 300 gallon capacity in the future.

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600 more children up to the age of three will be in early childhood education centers in 2020 thanks to a three year grant from the feds.

Louisiana Department of Education Assistant Superintendent Jessica Baghian says the state will receive 11 million a year during that period to help fix a long-running problem for Louisiana’s youngest…

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The state has received this grant twice in the past, pulling in more than 40 million since 2014.

Baghian says it’s not just about giving young kids a strong educational foundation, investing in early childhood education has a reported return of seven to 13 dollars per dollar spent.

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Baghian says a Blue Ribbon Commission has determined the state needs an 86 million dollar investment to guarantee access for all, so grants like these are helpful, but only a start…

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The Legislative request for 86 million in the first year is known as LA B to 3.

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LSU’s defense finally looked like it’s old dominant self in the regular-season finale and in the SEC championship after an up and down year. Defensive Coordinator Dave Aranda says a key was building up depth in the secondary, which allowed Grant Delpit and Jacoby Stevens to make plays…

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Aranda says he’s proud of this defense because they strived to get better despite all of the team’s success…

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There were reports after the SEC Championship game that Aranda was interested in a head coaching job at UNLV. Aranda admits to speaking with UNLV and says he wants to be a head coach one day…

cut 18  (18) than that”  

La Tech can defeat a Power 5 school today as the Bulldogs face the Miami Hurricanes at 3 PM in Independence Stadium in Shreveport. The Canes are led by head coach Manny Diaz, a former defensive coordinator for the Bulldogs. Tech Coach Skip Holtz knows they’ll face a well-coached team…

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The winner in a lot of bowl games is usually determined by the team who is more excited to play in that game. Holtz says there are several reasons why his team is fired up to play in the Indy Bowl……

cut 20 (18) “them play”