Author Archives: Jeff Palermo

05.28.25
by

LRN PM Newscall May 28

In a ceremony in the governor’s mansion. Governor Landry signed six auto insurance reform bills into law. Andrew Greenstein reports.

Cut 1 (32) “…I’m Andrew Greenstein.”

___________________________________________________

A poll shows strong support for the App Store Accountability Act which requires approval from parents for minors to download apps.  Sean Richardson has more.

Cut 2 (35) “…I’m Sean Richardson.”

___________________________________________________

With just over two weeks left in the legislative session, several bills dealing with the soaring cost of auto insurance in Louisiana have made their way to Governor Landry’s desk; and this morning, he signed six of them into law in a ceremony in the governor’s mansion. Landry said insurance companies make more money in Louisiana than in other states.

Cut 3 (13) “…in the country.” 

So to help rein in those costs, one bill that Landry signed is the one that grants the insurance commissioner the authority to reject rate increases regardless of market conditions. It’s a bill that the state’s current insurance commissioner, Tim Temple, opposed.

Cut 4 (12) “…break their promises.”

Another bill that Landry signed is the one that bars drivers who are at least 51-percent at fault for a crash from collecting damages to cover the cost of their injuries. It’s something that the business community has been screaming for for years.

Cut 5 (09) “…fulfill that promise.”

Landry also signed a bill barring undocumented immigrants who are injured in crashes from collecting damages.

________________________________________________

A statewide poll shows strong support for the App Store Accountability Act which requires parental approval for minors to download apps on their smart devices. Louisiana Family Forum CEO Gene Mills says the legislation seeks to protect children from harmful content, misleading ratings and exploitative contracts…

Cut 6 (12) “…40 apps a week.”

The App Store Accountability Act is House Bill 570, authored by Mandeville Representative Kim Carver. The House voted 99-0 on the bill and it still needs Senate approval before the legislative session ends June 12.

Mills says passing HB 570 will hold app stores accountable and prioritize family safety.

Cut 7 (11) “…parental consent.”

Mills says 88-percent of the parents polled by JMC Analytics supported the App Store Accountability Act.

Opponents of the legislation say the bill creates new data privacy and security problems and it doesn’t address the fact that children can access harmful content on websites as well as apps. But Mills says parents want Big Tech to put technology in place to make sure they approve their kids app store downloads…

Cut 8 (11) “…not with my child.”

The Senate Commerce Committee is set to hear the App Store Accountability Act this afternoon.

________________________________________________

A person who infects another person with a sexually transmitted disease could be charged criminally under a bill approved by the House Criminal Justice Committee. Monroe Representative Pat Moore has spent the last six weeks trying to get this proposal out of committee…

Cut 9 (08)  “…incurable diseases.”

Moore’s measure calls for a person to be charged with a felony if one person infects another with an incurable STD without that person’s knowledge of the disease. Moore says current Louisiana law only addresses HIV and her bill would include all sexually transmitted disease that are incurable and a prison sentence of six months or more is possible

Cut 10 (10) “…want to.”

The charge would be a misdemeanor in cases where the STD is curable. The bill passed on a seven to five vote. Meghan Garvey from the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers testified against the proposal…

Cut 11 (11) “…someone’s word.”  

Garvey doesn’t see how you can prosecute Moore’s proposed law…

Cut 12 (12) “…what first”

Moore’s bill heads to the House floor. But with the legislative session set to end on June 12th, there’s not a lot of time for this bill to get both House and Senate approval.

__________________________________________________

A Senate bill that restricts exit polling outside of voting locations to “bona fide news gathering organizations” received approval from the House on a 57-38 vote. It returns to the Senate for final approval of House changes.  Destrehan Representative Beth Anne Billings says the bill creates clear boundaries…

Cut 13 (09)  “…nondestructive manner.”

Billings says this means a college student, blogger, or influencer would not be able to conduct their own exit polling

Cut 14 (04) “…in this bill.”

Billings says organizations will have to get approval from the Secretary of State’s Office…

Cut 15 (12) “…collect information.”

05.28.25
by

11:40 LRN Sportscast

LSU is getting ready to host its 28th Regional this weekend. The Tigers are 30-and-5 at home and their offense has looked better at Alex Box Stadium than on the road. Tigers designated hitter Ethan Frey says that’s not a coincidence…

Cut 18 (18) “….looks like so”

Jackson Wells is Little Rock’s ace and he’ll pitch Friday against LSU. He’s 3-6 with a 5.24 ERA.  Wells threw a complete game in his last start, allowing one run on six hits and struck out eight against Southern Indiana.

It’s been a historic season for LSU Shreveport and the Pilots can make more history today. If LSU S wins tonight, it will be their 57th straight victory which will tie the all-time college win streak set by Howard College in Texas. LSU-S will play Southeastern from Florida at 8:30 central time in Lewiston, Idaho.

In Destin, Florida at the SEC meetings, Commissioner Greg Sankey said the league’s coaches are in favor of a five plus 11 model for the college football playoff. That would mean the five highest ranked conference champions would receive an automatic berth into the 16-team playoff starting in 2026 and then there would be 11 at-large bids. It’s believed this format would result in more SEC teams getting into the C-F-P. But SEC athletic directors would like to see more automatic qualifiers, which would lead to a nine-game conference schedule.

A decision on the college football playoff for 2026 and beyond needs to be made by the conference leaders and Notre Dame by December 1st.

05.28.25
by

9:30 LRN Newscast

In the next hour, Governor Jeff Landry will hold a bill signing ceremony on tort reform legislation designed to help bring down auto insurance rates. Yesterday, the Louisiana House delivered Governor Jeff Landry a victory by approving a bill that would allow the insurance commissioner to reject rates without justification. Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple says the measure will push insurers out of the state.

The Louisiana House has approved a bill that makes it a crime to possess and distribute kratom. Covington Republican Peter Egan objected, he said the herbal substance can help treat chronic pain and mental health issues….

Cut 15 (13) “….that consumes it”

Despite Egan’s opposition the bill passed 87-6, sending it to the governor’s desk. During committee testimony, one family testified on how kratom drove their son to kill himself because the addiction is so bad.

There are more questions than answers when it comes to Sunday’s power outage that lasted several hours impacting nearly 100-thousand Louisianans. MISO, which is responsible for planning and coordinating generation and transmission of electricity, ordered a load shed after nuclear power plant shut down. Yvonne Capel Vickery is with the Alliance for Affordable Energy…

Cut 9 (13) “…how this happens”

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network held a Cancer Action Day at the State Capitol. Louisiana Government Relations Director for the A-C-S CAN Alice Kline says they are urging legislators to sustain funding for the Louisiana Breast and Cervical Cancer Program and the Louisiana Tumor Registry…

Cut 12 (10) “…each year”

05.28.25
by

6:45 LRN Sportscast

I’m Jeanne Burns and this sports cast on the Louisiana Radio Network is brought to you by the Louisiana Department of Health, when gambling is more than a game, no one wins…

LSU Baseball is hosting its 28th Regional this weekend and its first since 2023. Designated Hitter Ethan Frey from Rosepine was a freshman on that team and is excited to experience postseason baseball at the Box once again….

CUT 17 (12) “….every game”

LSU pitching coach Nate Yeskie was a guest on Tiger Rag Radio last night and talked about what has made Kade Anderson one of the top pitchers in college baseball…

Cut 22 (15) “…top of the list”

LSU hosts Little Rock to begin the Regional on Friday.

 

It’s been a historic season for LSU Shreveport and the Pilots can make more history today. If LSU S wins tonight, it will be their 57th straight victory which will tie the all-time college win streak set by Howard College in Texas. LSU-S will play at 8:30 central time in Lewiston, Idaho.

In Destin, Florida at the SEC meetings, Commissioner Greg Sankey said the league’s coaches are in favor of a five plus 11 model for the college football playoff. That would mean the five highest ranked conference champions would receive an automatic berth into the 16-team playoff starting in 2026 and then there would be 11 at-large bids. It’s believed this format would result in more SEC teams getting into the C-F-P. But SEC athletic directors would like to see more automatic qualifiers which would lead to a nine-game conference schedule.

 

A decision on the college football playoff for 2026 and beyond needs to be made by the conference leaders and Notre Dame by December 1st.

05.27.25
by

4:45 LRN Sportscast

The LSU Tigers are a six national seed in the NCAA Baseball Tournament and will host a Regional this weekend and the super Regionals if they win the Baton Rouge Regional. LSU is 30-5 at home this season. And the Tigers offense can use some home cooking to get the bats going. The Tigers had just two hits in the final 15 innings at the SEC Tournament. Coach Jay Johnson says SEC pitching can lead to struggles at the plate…

Cut 19 (18) “…back to work”

LSU will open the Regional on Friday by hosting Little Rock at 2 PM. The Trojans have the lowest RPI out of the 64 teams in the tournament. The other two teams in the B-R Regional are Dallas Baptist and Rhode Island.

 

LSU-Shreveport was victorious again last night as the Pilots won six to three over the defending NAIA Champions, Hope International to stay in the winner’s bracket of the NAIA World Series. L-S-U-S is now a remarkable 56-and-0 on the season. Draven Zeigler led the way on the mound, by striking out ten over seven innings and Ian Montz drove in two runs. LSU-S will play again tomorrow night.

Loyola of New Orleans run in the NAIA World Series ended yesterday with a  nine to eight loss to the Cumberlands Patriots. The Wolfpack were down nine to nothing at one point, and got within one run in the eighth inning, but could not bring home the tying run home.

The SEC Spring meetings start today. Revenue sharing with student-athletes, a possible nine-game schedule in football and the future of the college football playoff are the big topics. Commissioner Greg Sankey said yesterday he’s not settled on a preferred format for the CFP.

05.27.25
by

LRN PM Newscall May 27

Monroe tourism officials say Phil Robertson brought a lot of attention to the region. Andrew Greenstein reports.

Cut 1 (31) “…I’m Andrew Greenstein.”

___________________________________________________

Nearly 100-thousand  customers in New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana lost power for hours due to a “load-shed” event ordered by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator on Sunday.  Sean Richardson has more.

Cut 2 (34) “…I’m Sean Richardson.”

___________________________________________________

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gave high praise to current Speaker Mike Johnson during an appearance on a Baton Rouge radio morning show. The 81-year-old Gingrich says Johnson is the most remarkable Speaker of the House in his lifetime for how he has led a 435-member body with a slim Republican majority…

Cut 3 (12) “…people complain.” 

Gingrich was a guest on Mornings with Brian Haldane. He said Johnson has been a steady hand in a deeply divided Congress. Gingrich says Johnson did a magnificent job in getting President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” approved in the House…

Cut 4 (09) “…and doing this.”

The “Big Beautiful Bill,” extends and expands existing tax cuts, particularly those enacted in 2017, and includes provisions related to border security, military spending, and social programs.

Johnson was elected in 2016 and became Speaker of the House in 2023. Gingrich is impressed with Johnson’s ability to unify factions within the GOP, something past leaders struggled with.

Cut 5 (11) “…remarkably smart.”

Gingrich does not think Johnson will be a presidential candidate in 2028, because he’s too humble.

________________________________________________

Monroe tourism officials say Phil Robertson and his family provided a huge boost in visitorship to the area. Sheila Snow with Discover Monroe-West Monroe says that was spurred in large part to “Duck Dynasty.”

Cut 6 (11) “…family called home.”

“Duck Dynasty” aired on A-and-E for 11 years, but Snow says the show’s impact on the community has lasted a lot longer.

Cut 7 (09) “…their offerings there.”

Snow says the region took full advantage of its new-found fame that came with the launch of the “Duck Dynasty” TV show.

Cut 8 (13) “…in West Monroe.”

Phil Robertson passed away Sunday at the age of 79 following a battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.

________________________________________________

On Sunday, nearly 100-thousand  customers in New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana lost power for hours due to a “load-shed” event ordered by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator. The outages, affecting 75-thousand Entergy and 25-thousand Cleco customers, were triggered when an Entergy nuclear plant unexpectedly went offline.  Public Service Commissioner Eric Skrmetta says MISO would not give specifics more than that.

Cut 9 (10)  “…that you can’t tell me.”

CLECO says they will investigate the outage and Entergy says they want to understand the directive from MISO.  Skrmetta demands transparency from MISO on why the outages occurred without warning.

Cut 10 (12) “…within 30-minutes.”

Skrmetta calls for better communication, energy efficiency programs, and regional transmission planning to prevent future outages, and says MISO’s lack of transparency is unacceptable…

Cut 11 (07) “…explain everything.”  

_______________________________________________________

Police in Monroe arrest six people, including an Arkansas man, in connection with a brawl over the Memorial Day weekend. Police Chief Vic Zordan (rhymes with Jordan) says Trace Castleberry is facing a second degree battery charge, and Monroe Police are working to bring him back to the city to face charges.

Cut 12 (07) “…lot in Monroe”

Zordan says investigators used surveillance video footage to arrest the six, and more arrests are expected.

Cut 13 (09)  “…on video there.”

This incident comes months after a shooting outside a sporting goods store in which rival gangs went after one another.

05.27.25
by

11:40 LRN Sportscast

LSU is a national six seed in the NCAA Baseball Tournament, which means they will host a Super Regional series if they win their own Regional.

LSU will open the Baton Rouge Regional at 2 PM on Friday by hosting Little Rock. The Trojans won the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament as an eight-seed. Little Rock is 24-32 and have the lowest RPI among the 64 teams in the field. Dallas Baptist and Rhode Island are the other two teams in the Baton Rouge Regional. Pitcher Anthony Eyanson…

Cut 20 (12) “…at a time.”

Who will start Game one against Little Rock, Coach Jay Johnson will not say…

Cut 28 (06) “…knows that”

 

LSU-Shreveport was victorious again last night as the Pilots won six to three over the defending NAIA Champions, Hope International to stay in the winner’s bracket of the NAIA World Series. L-S-U-S is now a remarkable 56-and-0 on the season. Draven Zeigler led the way on the mound, by striking out ten over seven innings and Ian Montz drove in two runs. LSU-S will play again tomorrow night.

Loyola of New Orleans run in the NAIA World Series ended yesterday with a  nine to eight loss to the Cumberlands Patriots. The Wolfpack were down nine to nothing at one point, and got within one run in the eighth inning, but could not bring home the tying run home.

The SEC Spring meetings start today. Revenue sharing with student-athletes, a possible nine-game schedule in football and the future of the college football playoff are the big topics. Commissioner Greg Sankey said yesterday he’s not settled on a preferred format for the CFP. For the upcoming season, we do know that the 12 teams will be seeded one through 12 and the top four seeds will receive a bye.

05.27.25
by

8:30 LRN Newscast

The patriarch of Duck Dynasty Phil Robertson died over the weekend at the age of 79. Greg Hilburn of the USA Today Network says the family from West Monroe announced last December that Robertson had Alzheimer’s disease…

Cut 17 (13) “…final reward”

Robertson took a small duck calling business and turned it into a multi-million dollar company with the help of a popular reality television show that ran from 2012 to 2017.

For the second time this year in Louisiana, thousands of customers were left in the dark because of a forced power outage. The latest incident happened in the New Orleans area on Sunday and Public Service Commissioner Davante Lewis says they had a similar situation in northwest Louisiana…

Cut 12 (07) “…day in April”

In both cases, it was the company that supplies power to the utility companies that ordered the shut offs.

There are a little over two weeks left in the legislative session, and several bills aimed at bringing down Louisiana’s extremely high auto insurance rates are nearing final legislative passage. Senate Insurance Chairman Kirk Talbot led the effort on the Senate floor to pass a bill that would give the insurance commissioner more authority to reject rate increases. Talbot says an amendment was added to the legislation that would require insurance companies to make their rate filing requests public…

Cut 4 (13) “…propriety or not.”

A tort reform bill that needs House concurrence to Senate changes before reaching the governor’s desk would say if a driver is found to be 51-percent or more at fault for a wreck, they are not entitled to any damages in a civil lawsuit. Democrats like Alexandria Senator Jay Luneau oppose the bill…

Cut 7 (09) “…going to be difficult.”

05.27.25
by

7:30 LRN Newscast

The legislative session ends in 16 days, and lawmakers are close to passing auto insurance reform bills that they hope can bring down rates. Jeanne Burns reports.

Cut 1 (43) “…I’m Jeanne Burns.”

Three of the inmates who escaped from the Orleans Parish jail were captured yesterday that leaves two more fugitives who remain at large.

 

The Louisiana Senate will hear a bill today that could result in an out-of-work individual losing their job benefits if they fail to show up for job interviews. Lafayette Republican Troy Hebert is the author of the bill and says since February 2024, the Louisiana Workforce Commission has tracked the number of people who fail to appear for scheduled job interviews…

Cut 10 (08) “…they were given”

Hebert’s bill also calls for an unemployed individual to perform at least five work search actions a week, up from the current law of three to maintain their job benefits.

Many are remembering the patriarch of Duck Dynasty, Phil Robertson, who died on Sunday at the age of 79. Before Robertson became a well-known outdoorsman and a conservative cultural icon, he was the starting quarterback for Louisiana Tech in the 1960s and his back up was Pro Football Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw. Greg Hilburn of the USA Today Network, the two were recognized at a Tech football game in 2013…

Cut 16 (06) “….see that connection”

05.27.25
by

6:45 LRN Sportscast

The LSU Tigers are seeded sixth in the NCAA Baseball Tournament, which means they will not only host the regionals, but they will also host the Super Regionals. Coach Jay Johnson expected to receive a national seed…

Cut 18 (14)  “…playing here.”

The Tigers open the Baton Rouge Regional by hosting Little Rock, who has the lowest RPI among the teams in the Field of 64. The Trojans are 24-32 and they received an automatic bid into the tournament by winning the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament as an eight-seed. That game will start on Friday at 2 PM.

The other two teams in the Baton Rouge Regional are Dallas Baptist and Rhode Island. The Patriots are the two seed and they are Conference USA Regular season champions.

Loyola of New Orleans’ historic season came to an end yesterday with a nine to eight loss to the Cumberlands Patriots in the NAIA World Series. The Wolf Pack trailed nine to nothing, but they fought back and made it a one run game in the eighth inning. Loyola’s season ends with a 42-18 record.

Unbeaten LSU Shreveport rallied from a two-run deficit to beat defending national champion Hope International six to three. The victory keeps the 56-and-0 Pilots in the winner’s bracket. Draven Zeigler struck out ten hitters in seven innings to improve his record to 13-0. LSU-Shreveport’s next game is tomorrow night.

The SEC Spring meetings start today. Revenue sharing with student-athletes, a possible nine-game schedule in football and the future of the college football playoff are the big topics. Commissioner Greg Sankey said yesterday he’s not settled on a preferred format. For the upcoming season, we do know that the 12 teams that make the CFP will be seeded one through 12 and the top four seeds will receive a bye.