11:40 LRN Sportscast August 3

Saints Quarterback Drew Brees is set to begin his 15th season with the Black and Gold. In preparation for what will be a unique season, the 41-year-old has worked on not licking his fingers as he normally does throughout a game…
cut 7 (12) “…of the habit”
The Saints begin conditioning work today. So far zero players have tested positive for COVID-19.

LSU football season ticket holders will receive an online form from the university this week asking them if they want to attend games in Tiger Stadium this season. LSU ticket manager Brian Broussard says if fans choose to opt-out, they have three options as to what can happen with the money they already paid…
cut 30 (12) “….a full refund”

Nicholls will not have the opportunity to play LSU in Tiger Stadium in October, because the SEC’s new conference only schedule. Colonels athletic director Jonathan Terrell says he’s disappointed for their student-athletes…
cut 17 (16) “…national champions”

Meanwhile, ULM will need to find two new opponents to replace Arkansas and Georgia since the SEC will play a conference only schedule this year. Warhawks athletics director Scott McDonald says they still plan to play 12 games…
cut 15 (10) “…those slots”

10:30 LRN Newscast August 3

We are three months away from election day and Congressman Clay Higgins is facing three challengers in his re-election effort. Matt Doyle spoke with each…
cut 1 (43) “….I’m Matt Doyle”

The state has reported 58-more people died in Louisiana from COVID-19 since Friday. The number of coronavirus patients in the hospital dropped by a dozen.

LSU football season ticket holders will receive an online form from the university this week asking them if they want to attend games in Tiger Stadium this season. LSU ticket manager Brian Broussard says if fans choose to opt-out, they have three options as to what can happen with the money they already paid…
cut 10 (12) “….a full refund”

Saints Quarterback Drew Brees is set to begin his 15th season with the Black and Gold. In preparation for what will be a unique season, the 41-year-old has worked on not licking his fingers as he normally does throughout a game…
cut 7 (12) “…of the habit”
The Saints begin conditioning work today. So far zero players have tested positive for COVID-19.

9:30 LRN Newscast August 3

The Louisiana Health Department reported 58 more COVID-19 deaths on Sunday. The number of people hospitalized since Friday has declined slightly. The state is expected to surpass 120-thousand cases today and Governor Edwards is expected to announce tomorrow that Louisiana will remain in Phase two , as the current order expires Friday.

The Louisiana Health Department has looked back at the deaths of pregnant women in 2017 and finds most of them were preventable…
Cut 3 (31) “…I’m Brooke Thorington”

The SEC’s decision to play only conference games this season leaves ULM with two holes on their football schedule and the school will miss out on a reported three-point-two million dollars. That’s how much the school would have received for playing Arkansas and Georgia. ULM athletic director Scott McDonald still wants to talk with those schools
Cut 14 (11) “…their obligations.”
McDonald does not believe ULM will lose out on that money.

The Saints have reportedly completed their intital rounds of COVID-19 testing and there were zero positive tests for players. So that means conditioning work begins at the team’s training facility. Quarterback Drew Brees is ready to begin his 15th season with the Black and Gold…
cut 6 (09) “….good at”
Brees says he’s been able to break a habit of licking his fingers, because of COVID-19.

8:30 LRN Newscast August 3

Southwest Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins is facing three challengers on the November ballot as the Republican Representative seeks a third term in office. One of his challengers is Mount Olive Baptist Church Pastor Braylon Harris. The Democrat says Higgins temperament is not a good fit for the current times and he says his background in community work has trained him to be diplomatic…
cut 5 (11) “…direction”
Higgins says his constituents know him well and he’s got a record of being unwavering about his core conservative principles since winning the seat in 2016…
cut 7 (13) “….or not”

LSU football season ticket holders are being asked for their feedback on attending games at Tiger Stadium this fall. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
Cut 2 (30) “…I’m Kevin Barnhart”

A state health department study finds that most pregnancy-related deaths of women in 2017 were preventable. State Perinatal Medical Director Dr Veronica Gillispie-Bell says 65 total deaths were reviewed and 80-percent could have been prevented.
Cut 11 (09) “…system side.”
The most common cause of death that that was not pregnancy-related was homicide, followed by motor vehicle crashes and accidental overdose.

7:30 LRN Newscast August 3

Southwest Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins is facing three challengers as he seeks re-election in November. There are two Democratic challengers. One of them is former oil driller Rob Anderson, who criticizes Higgins for opposing renewable energy funding. Anderson says Louisiana could lead the way in green energy…
cut 4 (08) “….fuels”
The other Democratic candidate is Mount Olive Baptist Church Pastor Bryalon Harris. There’s also a third-party candidate, Libertarian Brandon Leleux. He’s running on Libertarian like ideas
cut 6 (08) “….they want”
Higgins calls the November election a crucial turning point for our country as he says the left keeps pushing a socialist agenda.

The Louisiana Department of Health finds that 80-percent of pregnancy-related deaths of women are preventable. L-D-H reviewed 65 deaths in 2017 and the most common causes of deaths were homicide, cardiovascular and coronary conditions, motor vehicle crashes, and accidental overdose. State Perinatal Medical Director Doctor Veronica Gillispie-Bell says pregnant women need to have better access to care and guidance to seek resources…
cut 12 (10) “…community resources”

LSU will attempt to find out this week how many fans want to watch games in person if fans are allowed in Tiger Stadium. LSU ticket manager Brian Broussard says they are sending an online questionnaire to their season ticket holders…
cut 9 (13) “….fans get tickets”
But the governor’s office says it’s purely speculative at this point on what the capacity guidelines might look like when the season kicks off in late September.

6:45 LRN Sportscast August 3

After getting blown out by the Clippers on Saturday, the Pelicans will try again tonight to get a win and it’s a must-win contest against the Grizzlies, the team they are chasing for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. In two games since the NBA re-started, Zion Williamson has played 34 minutes and admits it’s hard to get in a groove when only playing 17 minutes a game…
cut 19 (15) “…it’s for me”
The Pelicans say they don’t want to play Williamson a ton of minutes after missing 13 days of practice time because he had to attend to a family matter outside of the bubble.

The Saints have released nine players as they need to get their roster size down to 80 by August 16th. Wide receiver Tommylee Lewis was one of the cuts. The team also released former LSU Tiger and offensive guard Adrian Magee.

U-L Lafayette is mourning the death of offensive line assistant coach D-J Looney who died Saturday morning following a heart attack during a team workout at Cajun Field. He was just 31-years-old. Head Coach Billy Napier says they lost a tremendous coach, leader, and person, who sincerely cared for others.

The SEC’s decision to play only conference games this season leaves ULM with two holes on their football schedule and the school will miss out on a reported three-point-two million dollars. That’s how much the school would have received for playing Arkansas and Georgia. ULM athletic director Scott McDonald still wants to talk with those schools
Cut 14 (11) “…their obligations.”
McDonald does not believe ULM will lose out on that money.

Former Warhawk and Philadelphia Eagles Coach Doug Pederson has tested positive for COVID-19.

6:30 LRN Newscast August 3

Southwest Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins is facing three challengers as he seeks re-election. Matt Doyle spoke with each candidate…
Cut 1 (43) “I’m Matt Doyle”

The state has reported 58-more people died in Louisiana from COVID-19 since Friday. The number of coronavirus patients dropped by a dozen.

LSU is asking its season ticket holders if they want to watch football games inside Tiger Stadium this season. LSU ticket manager Brian Broussard says they plan to have fans in attendance but to get an idea on how many season ticket holders want to attend games this year, they are sending them an online questionnaire this week.
Cut 8 (12) “…up of tickets.”
The governor’s office says it would be purely speculative to say how many fans will be allowed in Tiger Stadium when the season starts in late September.

Meanwhile, ULM will need to find two new opponents to replace Arkansas and Georgia since the SEC will play a conference only schedule this year. Warhawks athletics director Scott McDonald says they still plan to play 12 games…
cut 15 (10) “…those slots”

4:45 LRN Sportscast July 31

LSU head football coach Ed Orgeron is excited about the SEC moving from a normal 12-game regular-season schedule to a ten-game format with conference-only opponents. Orgeron says he’s still waiting on an exact schedule…
Cut 9 (11) “…gonna be ready.”
The season will kick off September 26th instead of September 5th and Orgeron anticipates the two additional conference opponents will come from the SEC East. Media reports say the Tigers will play Kentucky and Tennessee, along with South Carolina, Florida, and their SEC West rivals.

LSU will no longer play Nicholls as the Colonels were looking forward to their first visit to Tiger Stadium. ULM will lose two nonconference and big paychecks since they will not play Georgia or Arkansas.

The Pelicans had a 16 point lead last night but couldn’t hold on and lost to the Utah Jazz 106 to 104. Brandon Ingram’s three-pointer to win the game in the final seconds rimmed out. Coach Alvin Gentry on B-I’s missed shot just before the buzzer…
cut 19 (19) “…move on”
The Pels will play the Clippers tomorrow. Zion Williamson only played 15 minutes last night and Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffen says that’s because he just missed 13 days to attend to a family emergency…
cut 30 (13) “…find that”

LRN PM Newscall July 31

Former Klan leader and state lawmaker David Duke is banned from Twitter. Jeff Palermo has the story.

Cut 1 (30) “…I’m Jeff Palermo”  

____________________________

LSU football coach Ed Orgeron looks forward to playing a ten-game SEC schedule this season. Kevin Barnhart has the story.

cut 2 (32) “I’m Kevin Barnhart”  

_____________________________

Governor Edwards tells Louisiana residents not to expect major changes with the Phase Two coronavirus guidelines as he expects to extend the mask mandate and bar closure order next week. The current order expires next Friday and Edwards it will likely be extended for another two weeks

Cut 3 (11)  “…current data”  

Edwards has been encouraged that the number of COVID-19 patients in the hospital has declined over the week, but he points to Louisiana ranking number one for per capital cases. The governor says the mask mandate is part of the new normal

Cut 4 (11)_ “loved ones”

Edwards has faced criticism from some Republican lawmakers over the restrictions that have been put on businesses during this pandemic. But Edwards says he’s following the guidance from the White House’s Coronavirus Task Force

Cut 5 (12)  “…need to do”

______________________

Twitter has banned the account of former KKK leader and state lawmaker David Duke for violating the platform’s rules on hate speech.  The site has recently banned tens of thousands of extremist accounts, and Tyler Bridges, Author of The Rise and Fall of David Duke, says it was inevitable Duke would get hit as well.

Cut 6 (08) “…mainstream.”

The official release from Twitter about the ban says Duke “has been permanently suspended for repeated violations of the Twitter rules on hateful conduct.”

Bridges says Duke frequently posted comments about Jews.

Cut 7 (08) “…issues’”

Duke was already banned from Youtube and Bridges says…

Cut 8 (12) “twitter”

Duke famously ran for Governor against Edwin Edwards in 1991, and last ran for office in 2016, getting 58,000 votes in a campaign for the Senate seat that was won by John Kennedy.

____________________________________________

LSU head football coach Ed Orgeron is excited about the SEC moving from a normal 12-game regular-season schedule to a ten-game format with conference-only opponents. Orgeron says he’s still waiting on an exact schedule, but the shakeup does not take the wind out of his sails.

Cut 9 (11) “…gonna be ready.”

The season will kick off September 26 instead of September 5th and Orgeron anticipates that the two additional conference opponents will come from the SEC East, but the team will be ready.

Cut 10 (11) “…three extra weeks.”

Orgeron says the team has a great testing system in place with a great protocol and believes the team feels very safe with the virus spread mitigation efforts in place, adding that whatever comes, the team will be ready.

Cut 11 (05) “…adapt and adjust.”

___________________________

A Franklin Parish traffic stop leads to the discovery of a dead body in the trunk of a bullet-riddled car.

Court records show a trooper pulled a suspect over for speeding, saw bullet holes in the driver’s side door, and smelled pot coming out of the car. Master Trooper Michael Reichardt…

Cut 12 (07) “…car.” 

That traffic stop led to the arrest of 18-year-old Michael Mitchell Jr. who claims he and 19-year-old Cameron Powe were robbing the victim, Michael Robinson, when Powe shot Robinson and put the body in Mitchell’s trunk. Powe was arrested later that night.

Reichardt applauded the arresting trooper.

Cut 13 (11) “…street” 

But says the trooper was a little shook up by the incident.

Cut 14 (12) “…going”

11:40 LRN Sportscast

The SEC has joined the other major conferences in agreeing to only play conference football games this season, with the ten-game season set to kick off September 26th. Tiger Rag Editor Ron Higgins says the decision makes sense from a scheduling and healthcare perspective.
Cut 16 (15) “health-wise”
The SEC Championship Game will be held on December 19th in Atlanta. The revised 10-game schedule has yet to be announced and it’s unknown how many fans will be allowed inside Tiger Stadium. LSU has sent a letter to its season ticket holders asking them if they want to retain their 2020 tickets.

ULM is reportedly missing out on three-point-two million dollars because its games against Arkansas and Georgia will not be played.

The NBA returned last night with a couple of nail bitters inside the league’s bubble. New Orleans fell short to Utah 106 to 104 as Brandon Ingram missed a game-winning three-pointer in the final seconds. Ingram led the Pels with 23 points…
cut 20 (15) “…next game”
The next game is Saturday against the Clippers, who lost by two points last night to the Lakers. We’ll see if Zion Williamson sees more time on the floor. He was limited to 15 minutes but still scored 13 points last night.

The Saints have signed a couple of players, veteran wide receiver Bennie Fowler and linebacker Nigel Bradham. Fowler caught 23 passes in eight games with the Giants last season, while Bradham started 12 games for the Eagles last season at middle linebacker.