A new phone app has been created to help you keep tabs on how elected officials vote on various issues.   Jeff Palermo has more about OnPoint…

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Two years from this week, Louisianans will cast their vote for the next governor of the Bayou State. Emelie Gunn has more…

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Governor Edwards Office says AG Jeff Landry is incorrect in saying the opioid crisis is worse due to Medicaid expansion.  Kelley Ray has more.

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A new phone app called OnPoint can help you keep an eye on politicians at nearly every level of government.  Vote-Smart-dot-org National Director Walker McKusick says they have culled information on over 40-thousand politicians, including those in Louisiana. He says the OnPoint app makes it easy to identify those in your area…

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The app helps to bring together the hottest trending topics in politics and reviews of government positions, who holds them and how they have voted. McKusick says OnPoint gives you up to date information on what elected officials have said about various issues…

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McKusick credits their non-partisanship donations in helping them to present the true facts behind every politician in Louisiana…

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This week, two years from now, voters will cast their ballots for Louisiana’s next governor. Current Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards is planning to run again. Pollster Bernie Pinsonat says Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry could challenge Edwards and tensions between the two continue to escalate. He says expect GOP leaders to keep attacking the governor on various issues.

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Pinsonat says there’s been word that along with Landry, Congressmen Garret Graves and Steve Scalise as well as U.S. Senator John Kennedy are taking a look at the governor’s seat.

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Pinsonat says Scalise may decide to run if the Democrats take control of the House next year. He says the governor’s mansion is attractive to Scalise, Kennedy and Graves because they don’t have to give up their seat in Congress.

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The Edwards administration disputes the claim by Attorney General Jeff Landry that the expansion of the Medicaid program has helped fuel the opioid crisis. The state health department says there are fewer pain killers on the streets in the last year and more individuals are seeking life saving substance abuse treatment.  L-D-H Chief of Staff Andrew Tuozzollo says legislation passed this year that limits first time prescriptions for opioids has been effective…

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Tuozzollo says the total number of pills prescribed has decreased by more than 10-million doses, a three-percent reduction from the year before Medicaid expansion to the year afterwards. He says Medicaid expansion has also helped thousands get treatment for addiction to painkillers…

Cut 11 (09) “getting treatment.”

Landry asserts that hundreds of thousands of new prescriptions have been provided to Louisiana patients in the past year at almost no cost, which has exacerbated the opioid crisis. Tuozzollo says nothing could be further from the truth, as there is solid data that shows the state has been successful at limiting painkiller prescriptions:

Cut 12 (10) “Medicaid expansion”

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Complete domination. That’s the best way you can describe the Saints 47-10 beat down of the Bills in Buffalo yesterday. New Orleans had 482 yards of total offense to Buffalo’s 198 and the Saints had the ball for over 41 minutes in the game. Quarterback Drew Brees on the team’s seventh straight victory..

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The Saints rushed for 298 yards and set a franchise record by scoring six rushing touchdowns. Even Brees had a rushing touchdown…

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Mark Ingram had three touchdowns and 121 yards rushing. Rookie Alvin Kamara also broke the century mark as he rushed for 106 and a touchdown. Brees says it’s fun to watch these guys run the ball…

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The LSU football team scored four touchdowns in the 2nd half on Saturday to beat Arkansas 33-10. Tigers Coach Ed Orgeron is glad the 11 AM kick-off or last week’s loss to Alabama didn’t negatively affect his team…

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LSU is now 7-3, 4-2 in the SEC and this Saturday they’ll visit a Tennessee team that was crushed by Missouri 50-17. The Vols are 0-6 in the league but Orgeron says their preparation for Saturday’s game is about LSU…

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In LSU’s win over Arkansas. Quarterback Danny Etling threw for 217 yards and two touchdowns. Both of the TD passes went DJ Chark. The Alexandria native says their preparation going into the game paid off…

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Two people are arrested in two separate accidents which killed young children.  Kelley Ray has more…

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A man in Kenner who was released from jail because of the new state sentencing laws committed a crime 5 days later. Michelle Southern reports…:

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A Franklin woman is under arrest for a crash claimed the life of a toddler. The single vehicle wreck occurred on Highway 83 in St. Mary Parish Wednesday morning.  27-year-old Grace Loustaloot was driving with three children in the vehicle.  State Police Master Trooper Brooks David explains what happened…

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The two-year-old, Temperence Finister, was transported to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.  David says they are trying to figure out why the child wasn’t properly restrained…

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The other two children and the driver were properly restrained and received minor injuries.  David says upon arrival, police allegedly found prescription drugs in Loustaloot’s possession, which may have played a factor in the fatal accident…

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Loustaloot is charged with vehicular homicide, two counts of first degree vehicular negligent injuring, possession of narcotics, no child restraint, careless operation and expired motor vehicle inspection sticker.

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A report by Truth Initiative finds youth in Louisiana are smoking at a rate of 12-percent, lower than the national average of 16-percent. President and CEO of Truth Initiative Robin Koval says when you give young people the facts and allow them to make decisions for themselves, they are more likely to respond in a positive way.

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The adult smoking rate in Louisiana is over 22-percent, compared to 15 in the rest of the country. But Koval says the Bayou State is making some strides in the right direction, with more parishes approving ordinances to ban smoking in all public buildings.

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Truth Initiative spoke with Louisiana Radio Network because the Bayou State is among 12 states that makes up Tobacco Nation because of its high adult smoking rate. Koval says individuals within these states smoke more, live shorter lives and are more likely to get and die from cancer than the rest of the country.

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A woman suspected of texting before a fatal accident on I-12 that killed a 5 month old child, turned herself into Denham Springs police today.  A warrant was issued for the arrest 23-year-old Jessica Cowart of Denham Springs. Detective Amber Fairburn says Cowart was not fully focused on the road when the wreck happened…

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Police say she slammed into a vehicle, which hit another one, throwing five-month-old Reese Graham and her car seat through the front window.  Reese died two days later.  Fairburn says speed was also a factor in the accident…

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Cowart is charged with negligent homicide, negligent injuring and reckless operation.  She is free on a 51-thousand-dollar-bond.

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The five police officers at the baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia, where U.S. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise was shot, have received the Capitol Police Medal of Honor. Scalise, who was critically injured, says these individuals risked their lives and ran towards the danger knowing they were outgunned.

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Scalise says the training undergone by members of the Capitol Police Department prepared them and gave them the skills to save the lives of so many that day…

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Scalise says nobody saw this attack coming and these five individuals immediately jumped in and did things no one can describe to save lives.

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The Kenner Police Department says a habitual offender that was released early from jail due to the state’s new criminal justice reform, committed an armed robbery 5 days after he was let out. Chief Michael Glaser says it’s extremely frustrating that Tyrone White was let back on the streets:

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Glaser says White approached two construction workers repairing a roof on a home, shouting orders with what they thought was a real gun. He says one of the victims was on the ground, and another was on the roof…:

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Glaser says White is well known in that neighborhood, and cops had already been alerted that he was lurking again pulling on car door handles to see if they were unlocked. Glaser says this 24-year-old man should never have been let out of jail…:

Cut 16  (10)  “and he’s 24 years old”