PM LRN Newscall Feb 23

Central Louisiana leaders are celebrating the news that an aluminum alloy manufacture plans to build a mill that would employ nearly 15-hundred workers. Jeff Palermo has the story…

CUT 1 (30) “reporting”

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Winter weather conditions in north Louisiana is causing ice accumulation on roadways and hazardous driving conditions for motorists. Eric Gill has more…

CUT 2 (29) “reporting”

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The city of Pineville is ecstatic over the news that American Specialty Alloys has announced they plan to build a two-point-four billion dollar aluminum mill where the International Paper mill once operated. Pineville mayor Clarence Fields says the project is expected to create nearly 15-hundred new jobs

CUT 3 (06)  “surrounding communities”

Fields says the average salary for those direct jobs is 70-thousand dollars and operations at the facility are expected to begin late next year. He says American Specialty Alloys estimates it will take two-thousand construction jobs to build the mill…

CUT 4 (07)  “we’re excited”

A-S-A officials say they considered building the plant in several southern states, when they announced plans last November to build a “mill of the future.” Fields says a 34-million dollar performance-based grant from the state and central Louisiana hospitality helped convince them to build the plant in Pineville…

CUT 5 (10)  “visit areas”

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Winter weather conditions in north Louisiana have caused the closure of several roadways and exit ramps. These conditions can cause ice accumulation on roadways and hazardous driving conditions for motorists. Trooper Michael Reichardt says driving conditions are far from optimal and not getting any better…

CUT 6 (10)  “of your house”

Reichardt says it would be best if motorists could avoid driving in these conditions. He says the state DOTD is working to keep I-20 open by pre-salting the roadway. Reichardt says, if you do need to need to drive, you should use extreme caution and make really smart decisions behind the wheel…

CUT 7 (11)  “for your safety”

If you do need to drive in these conditions, Reichardt says you should definitely slow down and give yourself plenty of time to get to your destination safely. He says, from the information he’s gathered, these conditions could continue to impact the area for a couple of more days…

CUT 8 (08)  “prolonged event”

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Due to the recent rash of measles outbreaks, the Centers for Disease Control is recommending adults between the ages of 57 and 43 get a measles shot, even if they were already vaccinated. Dr. Frank Lopez, with LSU Health New Orleans Infectious Diseases, has the specifics on the CDC recommendation…

CUT 9 (10)  “vaccinated appropriately”

He says anyone born between 1957 and 1971 should be evaluated by their primary care provider to make sure you were vaccinated appropriately. Lopez says there was some kind of vaccination gap between those years…

cut 10 (11)  “become available”

He says the gap resulted in people either not being vaccinated against the measles or receiving a vaccination that isn’t as effective as the current vaccine. Lopez says you should discuss this with your doctor since medical information from 40 to 50 years ago is limited…

cut 11 (07)  “primary care provider”

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Governor Bobby Jindal has declared a state of emergency as a result of winter weather that’s impacting Louisiana.  State Climatologist Barry Keim says Shreveport-Bossier is under a winter storm warning, a winter weather advisory is in effect for the Monroe area and Lake Charles and Alexandria are under a freezing rain advisory until noon tomorrow…

cut 12 (10)  “warm up sufficiently”

The state department of transportation has closed a portion of I-49 in Caddo Parish, so is I-220 in Bossier and Caddo Parish and several on and off ramps of I-20 in Ouachita Parish have been shut down. Keim says freezing rain could be a problem for most of the state today

cut 13 (05)  “very, very careful”

Keim says over a tenth of an inch of ice is forecasted for the northern half of the state, including Alexandria. He says Lake Charles could also see icy conditions…

cut 14 (07)  “big question”