Not everyone in Ascension Parish is happy that Hyundai will build a massive steel manufacturing plant there. Andrew Greenstein reports.
Cut 1 (34) “…I’m Andrew Greenstein.”
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If your favorite restaurant tells you that it serves Gulf shrimp, can you take their word for it? A new study shows while in other states the answer is generally “no”, in Louisiana it’s largely a different story. Colleen Crain reports…
Cut 2 (36) “…I’m Colleen Crain.”
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Former four-term Louisiana U.S. Senator J. Bennett Johnson has passed away at age of 92. Jeff Palermo looks back at his 24 years in the U-S Senate…
Cut 3 (40) “…I’m Jeff Palermo.”
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Not everyone in Ascension Parish is happy that a Hyundai steel plant is coming. Ashley Gaignard (GAN-yard), the president of the group Rural Roots Louisiana, says having the steel mill along the Westbank of the Mississippi River is just going to add to the pollution in Ascension Parish.
Cut 4 (06) “…in the water.”
But Ascension Parish President Clint Cointment (QUINT-maw) points out that the plant will be producing green steel – that is, steel produced without using fossil fuels.
Cut 5 (07) “…attractive to us.”
The 5.8-billion-dollar steel plant will anchor the RiverPlex MegaPark, which at 17-thousand acres is the largest undeveloped tract along the deep-water Mississippi River. The plant would occupy one-tenth of that area. Gaignard says she would like the plant to be put up somewhere else.
Cut 6 (09) “…about the people.”
Cointment says people living near there should not worry about pollution. He says when he visited the company’s steel plant in South Korea, he didn’t realize it was a steel plant until he got inside.
Cut 7 (08) “…in the country.”
Construction is slated to begin in the third quarter of next year.
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How honest are restaurants when it comes to disclosing where their shrimp comes from? A new report from SEAD (“seed”) Consulting shows Louisiana is actually doing quite well. SEAD Consulting President David Williams says they found a relatively small percentage of Louisiana restaurants being dishonest about where their shrimp is coming from – claiming that it’s coming from the Gulf Coast when in fact it’s not.
Cut 8 (10) “…quite a lot.”
The study found that 58-percent of restaurants in Shreveport are misleading customers into thinking that they’re eating Gulf shrimp when they’re not. Williams says they perform what’s known as the Rapid ID Genetic Highly-accurate Test, or RIGHTTest, right at the dinner table.
Cut 9 (11) “…shrimp-producing states.”
Metapenaeus vannamei is also known as Pacific white shrimp or whiteleg shrimp, and it’s native to the eastern Pacific Ocean from the Mexican state of Sonora down to Peru. Williams says a big reason that restaurants, including those in Louisiana, serve imported shrimp is because it’s much less expensive than the shrimp found off the Gulf coast.
Cut 10 (09) “…for the product.”
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Starting April 5th, Mega Millions will see Mega changes. Kimberly Chopin with the Louisiana Lottery says Mega Millions will have a higher starting jackpot, improved odds, a built-in prize multiplier, and no break-even prizes.
Cut 11 (12) “…on their ticket.”
Ticket prices increase from two dollars to five dollars per play, marking the second price change in the game’s history. Chopin says there are still other options for those wanting to play in a multistate lottery…
Cut 12 (12) “…and Saturdays.”
The starting jackpot will go from 20-million dollars to 50-million dollars, and the average jackpot size will soar to 803-million dollars. The odds of winning the jackpot improve from 1 in 302.5 million to 1 in 290.5 million. Chopin reminds you to play responsibly…
Cut 13 (12) “…keep it fun.”
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Four-term Louisiana U-S Senator J Bennett Johnston has passed away at the age of 92. Political analyst Bernie Pinsonat was Johnston’s executive assistant in charge of Louisiana political operations and says the Democrat worked with Democrats and Republicans to bring back federal dollars to Louisiana…
Cut 14 (09) “…priority.”
Johnston served in the U.S. Army in the 1950s. Served in both chambers of the Louisiana Legislature from 1964 to 1972.
In 1971, the Shreveport native ran for governor but lost by 44-hundred votes to Edwin Edwards in the runoff election of the Democratic primary.
The next year, Johnston challenged long-term incumbent Allen Ellender for the Democratic nomination to the U-S Senate. Ellender died during the campaign and Johnston easily won the primary and then the general election.
Pinsonat says Johnston became a powerful Senator as he had a chance to chair both the Senate Energy and Appropriations Committees at separate times during his 24 years as U-S Senator…
Cut 15 (10) “…by the budget.”
Johnston was born in Shreveport. He was a star running back at Byrd High School. Pinsonat says Johnston is a big reason why I-49 was constructed…
Cut 16 (10) “…I-49.”
Johnston defeated state representative and former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan David Duke in 1990 in his final re-election bid. Johnston retired from the U.S. Senate in 1997 and became a lobbyist. He was living in Sperryville, Virginia where he died surrounded by his family.
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Former Lafayette Christian football star Ju’Juan Johnson is spending spring practice at LSU taking snaps at quarterback. Johnson started at LSU as a defensive back, moved to running back and now he’s at Q-B. Johnson has the most total yards and total touchdowns in Louisiana high school football history and offensive coordinator Joe Sloan says Johnson wanted to play quarterback and the Tigers O-C is impressed with his skill level…
Cut 17 (17) “…situations.”
Johnson is not Garrett Nussmeier’s primary back-up. That goes to Mississippi State transfer to Michael Van Buren. Sloan says it’s good to have a backup that started eight games in the SEC last year…
Cut 18 (15) “…liked his growth”
Sloan says he’s excited about the skill positions on the team and the deep wide receiver room that includes returners Chris Hilton, Aaron Anderson, Kyle Parker and Zavion Thomas, plus transfer additions Destyn Hill, Barion Brown and Nic Anderson…
Cut 19 (17) “…elite level”