Qualifying for the U.S. Senate and U.S. House closed primaries begins today. Jeff Palermo reports the race to watch is the Republican Senate primary.
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State and local officials in the greater New Orleans area have formed a task force to combat the exploitation of children through the internet. Colleen Crain has the story.
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A new statue and museum exhibit celebrates the life and career of the late Governor Kathleen Blanco. Andrew Greenstein reports.
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Qualifying begins today for Louisiana’s new closed party primary elections for U.S. Senate and U.S. House. State Treasurer John Fleming told the Louisiana Radio Network he will file his paperwork at nine this morning. LaPolitics Publisher Jeremy Alford says Fleming is hoping to be a factor in the Republican Senate Primary headlined by Incumbent Bill Cassidy and challenger Julia Letlow.
Will a well-known Democrat qualify between now and when qualifying ends on Friday afternoon? Alford says former Governor John Bel Edwards and State Senator Gary Carter have said they will not run. He says it’s likely the winner of the Republican Senate Primary will face a Democrat who does not have name recognition.
Cassidy is seeking a third term; and with Letlow receiving support from President Trump, Alford says Cassidy is in for the political fight of his life.
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Several law enforcement agencies in the New Orleans area have teamed up to form an Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. It’s housed at the Kenner Police Department. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill says the task force became operational at the beginning of the year, and the public should expect to see numerous arrests in the next several weeks.
Murrill says there’s already a statewide task force in place, and it received 30 thousand cybertips that resulted in more than 500 arrests. The A-G says the problem is only getting worse. She says in January, the statewide ICAC Task Force received more than nine -thousand cybertips. Murrill says sextortion and extortion are becoming more prevalent.
Chris Masters, the supervisory special agent at the Louisiana ICAC Task Force, says the task force is equipped with the latest technology to address the rising numbers of tips related to child exploitation in the area. Masters urges parents to watch what their children are doing on the internet.
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For the fourth semester in a row, McNeese saw its enrollment increase. For the spring semester, its enrollment went up 5.3-percent – its biggest spring enrollment increase in 16 years. Interim President Kedrick Nicholas says enrollment has increased steadily since taking a major hit during the pandemic.
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That’s a far cry from the 2010s, when McNeese consistently had north of eight-thousand students – at one time approaching nine-thousand. Nicholas says the school would like to get back to maintaining an enrollment of seven-thousand students, and he says there’s a four-year strategic plan to get there.
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Nicholas says after recovering from the effects of the pandemic, McNeese has honed in on morale and culture.
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A new exhibit celebrating the life and career of the late former Governor Kathleen Blanco opened this past weekend at the Bayou Teche Museum in her hometown of New Iberia. The exhibit includes a bronze statue of the governor, which was also unveiled during the opening. Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser was among those who attended the event; he said Blanco was passionate about Louisiana and its people.
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Nungesser says he will especially never forget Blanco’s leadership during Hurricane Katrina.
Nungesser was elected parish president in Plaquemines Parish the year following Katrina, and he noted how Blanco got every community the money that they needed following the storm, including his.
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Blanco served a single term as governor from 2004 to 2008, opting not to seek re-election. She died in 2019 at the age of 76.
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NFL free agency begins in just a month, and the Saints will be looking to build around quarterback Tyler Shough. Ross Jackson, the host of the Locked On Saints Podcast, says he could see New Orleans focusing on a few offensive positions during free agency.
The Saints picked up a fifth-year option on receiver Chris Olave’s rookie contract last offseason, and Jackson believes New Orleans may try to extend him for the next several years this summer.
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One of the key Saints testing the free agency market is cornerback Alontae Taylor. Jackson says if Taylor does not return to New Orleans, then the Saints will have to look to add at the defensive back position.
Cut 18 (17) “…into the inside?”
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Lane Burroughs enters his 10th season as Louisiana Tech head baseball coach. The Bulldogs were picked to finish second in Conference USA behind Dallas Baptist, but Burroughs says Tech is looking to do big things this season.
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Tech begins its season on Friday at home against Houston Christian at 4 p.m., and the Bulldogs will have two new players in the starting rotation.
Dahl is a junior right-handed transfer from Seminole State College in Oklahoma, and Rowan is a junior left-handed transfer from Florida State.