PM Newscall, March 20th, 2015

The National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Watch for northwest Louisiana through most of the weekend. Eric Gill reports…

CUT 1 (30) “reporting”

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The Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival poster is getting a lot of attention this year as some are calling it beautiful art and others feel it’s offensive and racist. Michelle Southern reports…:

CUT 2 (30) “reporting”

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The National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Watch for northwest Louisiana through most of the weekend. The watch will remain in effect through Sunday morning. Meteorologist Michael Berry says scattered showers began moving into the area this morning…

CUT 3 (08)  “Saturday night”

He says that rain is expected to increase in coverage and intensity through Saturday night. Berry says these weekend showers and thunderstorms will bring a significant amount of rainfall to the area…

CUT 4 (11)  “six inch amounts”

Berry says they’re expecting rainfall amounts of two to four inches, with some areas possibly getting six inches of rain. He says there is definitely a threat of flooding with high waters in rivers and lakes across north Louisiana. Berry adds that the ground in northwest Louisiana is already soaked…

CUT 5 (07)  “through the weekend”

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The Assumption Parish Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting death of two horses in Bertrandville. Sheriff Mike Waguespack says they were contacted by the owner after he discovered his horses lying on the ground. Waguespack says when officers arrived they found that the two horses had been shot multiple times…

CUT 6 (08)  “gunshot wounds”

He says one horse was dead when officers arrived and the other had to be euthanized due to its injuries. The horses were reportedly in their stable when they were shot. Waguespack says it appears that the horses were shot at close range…

CUT 7 (09)  “shoots them”

Waguespack says they are working on this case with agriculture and livestock investigators to get to the bottom of this case. He adds that reward will be offered in this case soon. Waguespack says this is an alarming case…

CUT 8 (07)  “animal cruelty”

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The Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival poster is getting a lot of attention this year as some are calling it beautiful art and others feel it’s offensive and racist. The painting depicts two faceless black children surrounded by strawberries. Festival spokeswoman Shelley Matherne says art is subjective and interpretive…:

CUT 9 (04)  “strawberry industry”

But the Greater NAACP of Tangipahoa Parish says the poster is a reminder of blackface performers and is offensive and distasteful. The painting is by Kalle’ Siekkinen and Matherne says the depiction is meant to build a bridge between cultures..

cut 10 (07) “she is everybody”

Some on social media are saying they will boycott the festival because of the poster and others are calling for it to stop being sold. There are reports that the controversy surrounding the poster has put it in extremely high demand and the Ponchatoula Kiwanis Club had to order more — there is no plan to stop printing. Matherne says Siekkinen’s intent was to pay tribute to the festival and southern heritage…:

cut 11 (06)  “and laughter”

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According to state officials, Louisiana casinos brought in $224.1 million dollars last month which is 6.8 percent higher than February the year before. Casino Association Executive Director Wade Duty says while the revenues are up, this isn’t an accurate year-to-year comparison because of the mid-December opening of the Golden Nugget in Lake Charles…:

cut 12 (10)  “being reported”

Shreveport-Bossier City was up 1 percent. Opelousas and Evangeline Downs was up by 1.7 percent. Baton Rouge’s riverboat casinos brought in 8.9 percent more in February this year compared to last year. Duty also says they also believe the big gains can be attributed to the lower gas prices…:

cut 13 (09)  “increase visits”

Lake Charles saw the biggest gain with a 28 percent increase from February 2014…the difference likely inflated by the brand new Golden Nugget which opened in December. Duty says so far things look promising for the new southwest Louisiana Golden Nugget site…:

cut 14 (10)  “good things from it”

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