AM Newscall 02/04/2020

Louisiana officials are seeking 150 million dollars in federal funding to help construct an elevated roadway heading to Port Fourchon. Matt Doyle has the story.

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Congressman Ralph Abraham’s remarkably small reelection war chest has rumors flying that he will not seek a fourth term in office. Matt Doyle has the story.

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A new study from Yale University shows the ketogenic diet may not be beneficial if followed for more than a week.  Kevin Barnhart has the story.

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Northern parishes are preparing for the possibility of severe weather with a cold front that is moving into the state tonight and into tomorrow morning.  National Weather Service Shreveport meteorologist CS Ross says along the front, a band of showers and thunderstorms have developed.

Cut 4 (10) “…front, near freezing.”

Ross adds that a light wintry mix has not been ruled out for late Wednesday night, into early Thursday morning.

A significant storm system moved through the state in early January that resulted in a deadly tornado outbreak, but Ross says while the possibility of tornado outbreaks exists, this isn’t the same scenario and is only considered a marginal risk.

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Although the risk is still present in other parts of the state, Ross says it decreases the further south the front travels.

Cut 6 (05) “…tornado or two.”

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Louisiana is pushing the feds to give 150 million dollars in matching funds to the state to help construct an elevated roadway on LA Highway 1 from Golden Meadow to the Leeville Bridge in Lafourche Parish.

Louisiana Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson says the plan is to construct a several mile-long bridge structure over the marshlands to guarantee safe passage to Port Fourchon.

Cut 7 (10) “…marshland.”

Louisiana has already pumped over 300 million dollars into projects along that vital stretch of highway.

It doesn’t take much to make the current drive through that several mile stretch precarious, and Wilson says that’s not acceptable given Port Fourchon’s economic importance to the oil industry, and…

Cut 8 (11) “…disasters.”

House Minority Whip Steve Scalise is currently lobbying US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao for the funds.

HB 578 last year OK’d 150 million dollars in state funding for the project that Wilson says was planned as leverage for getting the federal matching funds. He’s optimistic about their chances.

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There’s about 400 million dollars of work left to do, so if the federal matching funds are approved the state would still need to find some additional gap funding to finish the job.

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Congressman Ralph Abraham, fresh off a primary loss in last year’s gubernatorial race, only has 21,000 dollars in his reelection war chest, sparking speculation he’s considering not running again this year.

ULM Poli Sci Professor Joshua Stockley says 21,000 dollars is a remarkably low number for someone to run a reelection campaign with…

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Abraham ran in 1st place during last year’s gubernatorial primary within his congressional district.

One item that may be holding Abraham back from running for a fourth term is a campaign promise he made not to serve more than three terms. However…

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Stockley notes that would be two pledges broken if so, the other being a promise to donate his congressional salary to charity.

If Abraham were to sit it out there’s no real fear by the GOP the seat could go blue, but Stockley says it would attract massive interest from Republicans…

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Abraham has two challengers so far, Republican Ouachita Parish Police Juror Scotty Robinson, and Democrat Sandy “Candy” Christophe. Neither has over 20,000 dollars on hand.

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The keto diet may be all the rage in trying to drop pounds before the summer, but new research from Yale University show that you might not want to be on the diet for too long.  LSU Health New Orleans Professor of Public Health Melinda Sothern says after rodents were on the diet for a week, researchers discovered an increase in delta gamma t-cells.

Cut 13 (10) “…to be eliminated.”

After a week, Sothern says the rodents would eventually begin to eat more fat than they could metabolize and then store fat after a week.

Cut 14 (10) “…a higher diabetes risk.”

Sothern says perhaps the keto diet has health benefits if dosed properly, adding more research needs to be done on humans to see if the same response occurs with delta t-cells versus those in animals.

Cut 15 (12) “…a longer response.”