President Trump is back in Louisiana for his third visit of the election cycle, hoping a rally tonight in Bossier City can push GOP gubernatorial challenger Eddie Rispone across the finish line…
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The Advisory Council on Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education releases a report showcasing Louisiana’s progress in fighting the opioid epidemic. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
Cut 2 (30) “…I’m Kevin Barnhart.”
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A film airing this Saturday on the Lifetime Channel showcases New Iberia, but locals will get a first viewing of the film tonight. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
Cut 3 (30) “…I’m Kevin Barnhart”
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President Trump is once again in Louisiana tonight, where he’ll rally Republicans at the CenturyLink Center in Bossier City to vote for Eddie Rispone in Saturday’s run-off.
Political analyst Bernie Pinsonat says Rispone won’t win unless he can get enough conservative votes in north Louisiana, and this is his chance to get it done…
It’s the President’s third trip to the Bayou State for the campaign, having previously visited Lake Charles before the primary in October, and Monroe last week.
The visit is part of a last-second voter turnout effort that may be the deciding factor in the run-off.
A recent Edgewater poll shows an incredibly tight 49-49 race.
Trump is expected to tear into Governor Edwards once again at the rally, and despite a salvo of brutally partisan attacks, Edwards has not returned fire. Pinsonat says it’s the right move politically…
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The Advisory Council on Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education releases a report showcasing Louisiana’s progress in fighting the opioid epidemic. Council chair Dr. James Hussey says Louisiana doctors wrote 90,000 fewer opioid prescriptions in 2018 compared to the previous year.
Cut 7 (08) “…deaths in Louisiana.”
In 2018, there were 455 opioid-related deaths, accounting for 34% of the state’s overdose deaths. Jefferson Parish had the leading number of deaths with 137. In addition to fewer prescriptions, Hussey says there is an increase in the number of prescriptions for drugs to get users off of opioids, but there is more to do.
Cut 8 (08) “…management for people.”
There has been an increase in the number of people enrolled in substance abuse treatment. Hussey says there is a stigma that comes with dealing with opioid addicts from both the perspective of caregivers and the addicts themselves.
Cut 9 (10) “ …into the stigma.”
Overdoses involving prescribed opioids are down for the first time in five years. The increase in overall deaths is attributed in part to illegal fentanyl pouring into the state.
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A movie called “Christmas in Louisiana” showcases New Iberia to a national audience this Saturday night on the Lifetime Channel. Mayor Freddie Decourt says tonight they are having an event to premiere the film for locals.
Production from the movie took place in August. The plot involves a young woman who returns home to New Iberia from Boston for the Sugar Cane Christmas Festival and has a romantic twist with an old flame.
Decourt says filmmakers were incentivized to film in the area because off city facilities to be used at no charge. Plus many building owners also put up their properties at no charge.
Decourt says the many of the locals were cast as extras in the production and it stimulated the economy of the area.
The premier takes place at 6pm at the Steamboat Pavillion.
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The Legislative Auditor warns 18 towns, cities, and villages on this year’s list of Fiscally Distressed Municipalities are on the edge of budgetary disaster.
Director of Local Government Services Brad Cryer says unless these 18 locations change course, they could be headed for bankruptcy and state-run Fiscal Administration of their finances. This is a warning.
Three of the locations mentioned already have a negative budgetary balance, four of them have Rural Water Infrastructure Concerns, and the rest are being monitored closely.
Cryer says bad fiscal management isn’t always the biggest culprit in these situations.
It’s not just small villages that have been named. Grambling, Tallulah, Jonesboro, Winnsboro, Baldwin, Clinton, Ball, and others made the list. Cryer says difficult decisions in those places will have to be made.
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Top ranked LSU is 9-0 heading into Saturday’s game at Ole Miss. The Tigers will bring the nation’s fourth highest scoring offense to Oxford. Quarterback Joe Burrow says they plan to keep doing what they’ve done all season…
Burrow and LSU running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire are the co-SEC offensive players of the week. Edwards-Helaire accounted for four touchdowns against Alabama. Burrow says Edwards-Helaire is so important to their offense…
The Rebels are 4-and-6. Burrow says they’ve been successful on defense this season…
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Saints QB Drew Brees was full of praise for the number 1 ranked Purple and Gold, in particular former Saints offensive assistant and now Tigers passing game coordinator Joe Brady.
Brees says there’s a lot of Black and Gold in LSU’s high-flying offense. Brees says he was watching the Florida game with Brady’s friend and Saints Director of Sports Medicine Beau Lowery…
Brees says Brady is blessed to have such an embarrassment of riches on offense, and even gave a special shout out to running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire…