The first day of early voting broke records for voter turnout in Louisiana. Jeff Palermo has more…

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The latest Southern Media and Opinion Research poll shows Republican John Kennedy leading the field in the US Senate race, followed by Democrat Foster Campbell…:

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A Baton Rouge man who set his wife on fire in September is finally behind bars. Sgt. Don Coppola with the Baton Rouge Police Department says 28-year-old John Harleaux got into an argument with his wife on September 24th. He says things turned violent when the woman called for her mother to come pick her up.

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Coppola hates that someone would think of doing this to anyone, much less to their own spouse. He says the woman was seriously injured.

cut 4  (07) “his actions”

Coppola says Harleaux evaded police officers since the dispute. He says thanks to a tip from Crime Stoppers, they were able to locate the suspect yesterday. He says Harleaux was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison.

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Early voting has only just begun, and it’s already a record breaking year for turnout. Secretary of State Tom Schedler says the 2012 election set voting records in Louisiana, but the turnout yesterday even topped that.

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Schedler says lines are shorter today for early voting, and he expects wait times to be around 10 to 15 minutes. He says yesterday there was one issue briefly in Jefferson Parish when a fiber optic line went out between the registrar of voters and the satellite office.

CUT 7 (07)  “clear sailing”

Schedler says his office is getting record calls from voters concerned the election is rigged. He blames the campaign rhetoric for these outrageous claims that have caught fire nationwide on both ends of the political spectrum.

Cut 8 (10) “about it”

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State officials have wrapped up a two-day meeting discussing the importance of restoring Louisiana’s coast before it’s too late. Val Marmillion with America’s WETLAND Foundation says Louisiana could lose a third of its coast in the next 50 years. He says the five year revision of the coastal restoration plan will be released in January.

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The master plan for coastal restoration needs to be revised immediately, and Governor John Bel Edwards believes the cost of this plan will go up significantly. Officials believe they will have at least $10.7 billion for the first 15 years of the 50 year plan. 

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About $7 billion of the cost will be covered by the Deepwater Horizon settlement from BP. Edwards says it will also help tremendously if Congress allows Louisiana to reinvest its $100 million annual payments for the levee system that was constructed after Hurricane Katrina. He says it’s important to protect that asset that taxpayers have already invested in.

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Another round table on coastal restoration will be held December 7.

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The latest Southern Media and Opinion Research poll shows Republican John Kennedy continuing to lead the field in the US Senate race with 22%, followed by Democrat Foster Campbell at 16%. Rounding out the top five are Republican Charles Boustany with 14%, then Democrat Caroline Fayard at 12%, and GOP candidate John Fleming at 9%. Pollster Bernie Pinsonat..:

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The same poll also found that the State Treasurer received the highest “positive” job performance rating among the five elected officials tested with Governor John Bel Edwards coming in second. Pinsonat says the number of undecided in this round for the seat being vacated by David Vitter is 15% which is down considerably from the last survey….:

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Pinsonat says of those voters who have not selected a candidate in this race yet, 12% are white and 22% are black. He says that means it appears as though Campbell will be getting most of those votes…:

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There’s talk of central Louisiana getting a second interstate, called I-14, connecting Texas to Georgia. Emelie Gunn has more…

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Research from the American Cancer Society finds Louisiana ranks fifth in the nation for the number of smoking-related cancer deaths. Michelle Southern reports…

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There is serious conversation about an east-west interstate that would cross central Louisiana through Alexandria, connecting western Texas to Georgia. Malcom Morris of Leesville, who is with the Gulf Coast Strategic Highway Coalition, says the chance of a new interstate called I-14, is very likely. He says they’re working on getting a federal designation and Texas has already been issued one.

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Morris says once a designation is received, a corridor is selected but the interstate is probably 10 years out from being constructed. He says the plan is for I-14 to run mostly along Highway 28.

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Morris says having two interstates, one moving north-south and one moving east-west, is a tremendous economic boom for the cities in central Louisiana. He says I-14 would be helpful for the overall military picture of this country and especially this area.

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We’re two weeks away from Election Day, and party leaders on both sides are facing similar struggles. Candidates for US Senate have been going at it with opponents from their own party. Executive Director of the Louisiana Democratic Party Stephen Handwerk says those vicious blows will make it harder for the party to come together after November 8th.

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After Senate candidate and former-KKK leader David Duke qualified to participate in next week’s Senate debate, Handwerk and Louisiana GOP executive director Jason Dore agreed that if he polled high enough, he should be included. However, Handwerk says they share the same opinion about whether or not they would like to hear what Duke has to say.

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Selfies in the voting booth have been a big topic this election cycle. Both party leaders encourage people to exercise their First Amendment rights and selfie if they like. Dore says social media is a huge part of the world today and sees this as an extension of that.

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Louisiana ranks fifth in the country when it comes to the percentage of cancer deaths that are attributable to smoking, according to research from the American Cancer Society. Thirty-two percent of all cancer deaths in Louisiana are attributed to smoking. Chronic Disease Director with the Louisiana Department of Health, Melissa Martin, says LDH is doing what they can to reduce the number of smokers. She says that starts with preventing kids from picking up the habit.

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The report shows Louisiana ranks second for the number of male smokers who died from lung cancer, at 38-percent. The rate for women was 25-percent, coming in at number 8 nationwide. Martin says the state is doing what it can to decrease exposure of second hand smoke…

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Martin says the state also offer a free comprehensive quit line at 1-800-QUIT-NOW to educate the public on how to kick their habit.

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Voters in Baton Rouge and around the state are exercising their right to vote today on this first day of early voting. Charles and Kathleen Gendusa were among those that cast their vote on the first day the polls opened. They say they were hoping to go before the lines got long, but they ended up having to wait about 20 minutes. They were so eager to vote, they even showed up a day early.

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Early voting will be open from 8:30 am until 6 pm every day except Sunday through November 1. Raymond Jensen works at the Registrar of Voters Office and says early voting turnout has been good so far. He says there’s usually a lot of early voters during a presidential election, and the lines show it.

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Jensen says he expects wait times to be between 15 and 30 minutes throughout the early voting period. Carla Schiavone also cast her ballot on the first day of early voting. As a displaced flood victim, she says she didn’t have any trouble finding out where to vote, but she did have to drive a long way.

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