More and more creepy clowns are popping up around the Bayou State. Halen Doughty has more…

CUT 1 (29) “I’m Halen Doughty”

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The President has signed a proposal that would put $400 million towards disaster aid in Louisiana, but it could still be months before we see it. Michelle Southern reports…:

CUT 2 (31)  “I’m Michelle Southern”

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Rapides Parish Schools are on a soft lockdown after the Sheriff’s Office received a nonspecific Instagram threat believed to be linked to the creepy clown sightings. Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Lt. Tommy Carnline says they have not released the exact content of the message.

CUT 3 (10)  “it seriously”

Carnline says school resource officers are on a heightened state of alert and patrol deputies are closely monitoring schools. He says aside from the clowns being creepy and frightening to many people, they are breaking the law.

CUT 4 (07)  “Mardi Gras”

There were also three clown sightings in Terrebonne parish within two days. Maj. Malcom Wolfe with the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office says there were two reported incidents on Wednesday.

CUT 5 (12)  “light on”

Wolfe says they have not identified the persons behind the masks in those sightings. He says they did put to rest another sighting on Thursday near the wood line behind an apartment complex, as an 11-year-old boy came forward.

CUT 6 (09) “his friends”

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President Obama has signed the bill that provides 500 million dollars in federal disaster aid. Executive Director of the state Office of Community Development Pat Forbes says Louisiana is expected to get a little over 400 million dollars of that assistance to help with flood recovery. He says the most urgent need is to help homeowners without flood insurance….

CUT 7 (10) “mortgage assistance”

Forbes says it will take a couple of months before the money appropriated by Congress gets in the hands of flood victims, because a federal agency will still have to sign off on how Louisiana intends to spend this money. And he says Congress is expected to approve another relief package in December.

CUT 8 (10) “get that”

Forbes says ultimately, the decision on where the disaster aid will go is up to the Restore Louisiana Task Force, which is a 21 member panel appointed by the governor. He says this initial 400 million dollars allows victims to really start their recovery process.

CUT 9 (10) “their homes”

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Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon is concerned about the rising number of deaths from prescription opioid overdoses in Louisiana, and the costs associated with prescription pill addiction. Donelon says for the first time since the Vietnam War, the life expectancy has gone down for white males ages 25 to 35, and he says that’s due in part to the opioid epidemic in the US.

cut 10 (09)  “white males”

Donelon says one in six injured workers in Louisiana had longer term use of prescription painkillers than workers in the other 24 states in a study by Workers Compensation Research Institute. He says this is a cost factor for employers accessing coverage for the workers in the workers comp market.

Cut 11 (09) “the employer”

Donelon says in 2014, 750 people died of opioid overdoses in Louisiana. He says a rising cost of insurance for injured workers is the least of the concerns with this issue.

cut 12 (11) “loved ones”

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Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards plans to sue Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry for blocking state contracts that contains clauses preventing L-G-B-T discrimination. Edwards says Landry is over stepping his constitutional authority…

Cut 13 (10)  “his own”

But Landry says state lawmakers have refused numerous times to pass laws to prohibit discrimination against sexual orientation and gender identity and he’s protecting the will of the legislature…

cut 14 (05)  “their wishes”

The elected officials met today and couldn’t come to an agreement on the anti-discrimation clause in state contracts. Back in April, the governor issued an executive order that prohibits state government from discriminating against gay and transgender individuals. Edwards says apparently the A-G believes the state should discriminate against a certain group of people…

cut 15 (06) “particular issue”

The Attorney General has rejected at least 40 contracts because it has non-discrimination wording in the document. Landry says he’s trying to protect the taxpayer…

cut 16 (06) “this was”

The Louisiana Economic Outlook report shows the state’s economy will remain stagnant over the next year. Emelie Gunn has more…

CUT 1 (31) “I’m Emelie Gunn”

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The sky was ablaze this morning in Webster parish, as some of the explosives being stored at Camp Minden blew up in a bunker. Jeff Palermo has more…

CUT 2 (27)  “I’m Jeff Palermo”

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The Louisiana Economic Outlook shows the state will lose 17-thousand jobs this year because of low oil prices. LSU economist Dr. Loren Scott released the report and says the state has been in a recession since August of 2015…

CUT 3 (10)  “Lake Charles”

The report says Lafayette lost 9-thousand jobs this year and is expected to lose 5-thousand more in 2017. Scott says the big problem in the Lafayette and Houma areas is the decline of working oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

CUT 4 (09)  “18”

Scott says job growth will remain flat in Shreveport, Monroe, Alexandria and New Orleans, while Baton Rouge and Lake Charles will see employment gains because of the industrial boom.

CUT 5 (09)  “number”

Scott doesn’t believe the flooding will impact the economy but will create an uptick in construction employment.

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An explosion lit up the sky at Camp Minden in Webster Parish around 5:00 this morning. The Louisiana National Guard reports a storage bunker filled with M6 propellant exploded. Crews have been working around the clock to destroy these explosives, which were improperly stored several years ago. Minden Representative Gene Reynolds says thankfully no one was injured.

CUT 6 (09) “the explosion”

Explosive Service International is responsible for the destruction of all 15 million pounds of explosives being stored at Camp Minden. Reynolds says it’s not a surprise the explosives spontaneously went off.

CUT 7 (08) “at some point”

Louisiana State Police is conducting an investigation into the blast. Over 6.2 million pounds of the propellant has been destroyed since the operation began in April. Reynolds says he wouldn’t be shocked if this happened again before all the M6 has been destroyed.

CUT 8 (11) “surprise me”

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Congress has approved $400 million for flood recovery efforts in Louisiana, but when that money will be available to flood victims is still up in the air. Lafayette City-Parish president Joel Robideaux says people are looking for answers, and that’s something local officials can’t give them right now.

CUT 9 (09) “tough decisions”

Robideaux sits on the Recovery Louisiana Task Force and he says they hope to come up with some kind of solution in the next few weeks. He says one option to get immediate aid to people could be a bridge loan from a bank, similar to what was done for small businesses after Katrina.

cut 10 (12)  “lower interest”

Robideaux says 4-thousand homes were impacted in Lafayette parish. He says they have a lot of questions, and solutions are hard to come by. But he says Lafayette residents are resilient, and they are doing what they can while they wait for answers.

Cut 11 (11) “no man’s land”

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A video of a Louisiana man dancing in the delivery room around his pregnant wife has gone viral. The DeSoto Parish dancing daddy, 29-year-old Sky Jones, says he made the video to cheer up the people in his hometown, after a man was shot and killed a few days before.

cut 12 (10) “my city”

Jones’ Facebook video has more than 11-thousand views, and it has been shared nearly 200 times. He says while his followers enjoyed the video, his wife was not pleased when he was dancing around her hospital bed to Starrkeisha’s song “The Baby Momma Dance.”

Cut 13 (09)  “afterward (laugh)”

Jones says he didn’t expect the video to go viral. He says he was excited about the birth of his first biological son, Sky Jones Jr. He says he’s gotten a positive reaction to the video.

cut 14 (09)  “out of it”

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