AM Newscall for March 20

The Spring Equinox occurs later today at precisely 5:45pm our time, marking the end of winter and the very beginning of Spring. Michelle Southern reports…:

CUT 1 (30) “reporting”

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A survey by MarblePort Polling shows it could come down to Republican US Senator David Vitter and Democratic state representative John Bel Edwards in a runoff. Eric Gill reports…

Cut 2 (30) “reporting”

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Crawfish season is in full swing in Louisiana and it looks like this weekend will be prime for a boil. Michelle Southern reports…:

Cut 3 (30) “reporting”

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The Spring Equinox occurs later today at precisely 5:45pm our time, marking the end of winter and the very beginning of Spring. State Climatologist Barry Keim says this past winter will go into the record books as a cold and dry one in Louisiana…:

cut 4  (09)  “past three months”

Keim says as far as the Spring outlook, expect more precipitation over the next couple of months than we usually get because of the current El Nino…:(Keim says it would be great if the El Nino would stick around through summer because they tend to mitigate the opportunity for Hurricane activity.)

Cut 5  (10)  “rivers in Louisiana”

Keim says The Bayou State has been getting a lot of rain over the past few weeks and it’s setting the stage for what we can expect this spring. He says the good news is that the Climate Prediction Center says we should have normal temperatures throughout the season…:

Cut 6 (08)  “much much welcome”

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A survey by MarblePort Polling on Louisiana’s governor’s race shows Republican David Vitter leading the field with 34-percent of the vote. Democrat John Bel Edwards is close behind with 31-percent, followed by Republicans Jay Dardenne with 14-percent and Scott Angelle with 7-percent. MarblePort Founder Ethan Zorfas says the early picture in this race is clear…

CUT 7 (09)  “those Republicans”

The automated phone survey polled just over 1000 Louisiana residents. Zorfas says there appears to be a bit of a resurgence of the Democratic Party. He says Edwards is getting support from White Independent voters and looks to be sitting pretty good for a runoff spot…

Cut 8  (08)  “Mary Landrieu did” 

Zorfas says there is still time for Dardenne and Angelle to make an impact in this election. He says both candidates will need to work hard to expand their name recognition and message…

Cut 9 (06)  “media markets”

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Spring is in the air and crawfish season is in full swing in Louisiana. Gulf Seafood Institute Chairman Harlon Pearce says they expected a substantial change in the price of the mudbugs once we got those crazy early March winter temperatures out of the way and you’ll certainly see it this weekend…:

Cut 10 (06) “that’s normal”

Pearce says you could easily see boiled crawfish this weekend at about $3.50 a pound…:

cut 11 (07) “I would believe”

Ray McClain is an aquaculture professor with the LSU Agcenter Rice Research Center in Rayne and he says not only will the prices be down this weekend, there will be plenty of mudbugs out there. He says when the temperatures are up, the catch is up…:

cut 12 (04)  “holds up”

McClain says this could be one of the better crawfish seasons that Louisiana has seen in the past several years…:

Cut 13 (10)  “a good supply”

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The Louisiana National Guard says they’ve gotten 10 bids from companies with ideas on ways to get rid of the 15 million pounds M6 propellant at Camp Minden. The EPA agreed to delay an open tray burn of the explosives and said they would entertain alternative methods. Col Pete Schneider says these 10 companies have all submit proposals on what should be done…:

Cut 14 (10) “these proposals”

Schneider says in addition to various state agencies, area residents who opposed the open tray burning will also be part of the team formed to evaluate the situation…:

Cut 15  (10)  “was on it” (2x)

Not many details are being released about the bids themselves or the ideas being presented. Schneider says based on analysis of all the proposals by all committee members, hopefully a recommendation will be made…:

Cut 16  (11)  “process is thorough”

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The LSU men’s basketball team’s season ended in heartbreaking fashion last night as the Bayou Bengals blew a 16-point lead and lost 66-65 to North Carolina State. LSU missed its last 12 shots from the field and six free throws in the final four minutes to allow the Wolfpack to steal the victory. Head Coach Johnny Jones on the missed free throws

Cut 17 (12)  “tonight”

LSU’s leading scorer was Tim Quarterman, who had 17 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. But the sophomore from Georgia says they were just one play away from advancing to the round of 32….

Cut 18 (14) “tonight’

Jarell Martin and Jordan Mickey each posted double-doubles, but Mickey was four of nine from the free throw line and missed a lay-up with 22 seconds left that would have given LSU a three-point lead. Martin finished with 16 points in what could be his last game as a Tiger…

Cut 19 (10)   “great shot”