LRN Newscast 17:30 June 5

Officials expect the Red River to crest in Shreveport at 36.5 feet on Sunday, which is the highest level in 70 years. Governor Bobby Jindal says parish officials may have to order some evacuations this weekend…
cut 30 (11) “…would you need”
Jindal also says this event is a marathon not a sprint as the crest will take weeks for the river to get back to normal levels.

Meanwhile in south Louisiana, college baseball fans are gearing up for the super regional series between LSU and UL Lafayette. The games are sold out and Stub-hub-dot-com’s Allison Salcedo says the average price on their site for games one and two are almost two-hundred dollars…
cut 3 (06) “…the matchup”
Game one is Saturday night at seven PM.

The state senate has been busy passing bills. The upper chamber approved a key Common Core comprise legislation that sets up a review process of the academic standards. The Senate also approved a 72-cent tax increase on a pack of cigarette, which is much higher than what the House approved. And the Senate has agreed to raise title fees when you purchase a vehicle by 50-dollars.

Willie “Dynamite” Larkin is the new president at Grambling State University. During the selection process, Larkin was interviewed by faculty and staff and “Dynamite,” who is also a motivational speaker, scored well with those two groups…:
CUT 10 (11) “hard at all”
Larkin is currently the chief of staff in the Office of the President at Morgan State University. He says he’ll be a busy man leading up to his July first start date at Grambling.

LRN Sportscast 16:45 June 5

Ragin Cajuns Coach Tony Robichaux announced today that freshman right-hander Wyatt Marks will start tomorrow night in game one of the Super Regional series against LSU. Freshman left-hander Gunner Leger will start game two on Sunday.

Both teams met with the media today at Alex Box Stadium, after going through batting practice. Senior third baseman Tyler Girouard says there’s no bad blood between these two schools, even though the two fan bases have been going back and forth throughout the week…
cut 20 (25) “…having fun”
First pitch tomorrow night is at 7 PM.

There’s some bad news involving Saints pass rusher Junior Galette. He reportedly injured his pectoral muscle and may need surgery. If he undergoes surgery, Galette will not be be able to return until late in the season. Galette had ten sacks last season.

Many people in Louisiana watched last night’s Game One of the NBA Finals, which saw Golden State defeat Cleveland in overtime. There were an estimated 17.8 million viewers nationwide, which is the largest game one audience ever on ABC. But it’s likely that will be highest viewed game of the series, because the Cavs have announced Kyrie Irving is done for the finals after suffering a fractured kneecap.

Tickets are hard to come by for this weekend’s Super Regional series between LSU and UL Lafayette. The games are sold out, so you’re only option, if you want to get into Alex Box Stadium is the secondary ticket market. Stub-Hub’s Allison Salcedo says some of the best deals are right before gametime.

LRN PM Newscall June 5

Tickets to the LSU/UL-Lafayette Super Regional games this weekend are going for hundreds of dollars on the secondary market. Jeff Palermo reports…:

CUT 1 (30) “reporting”

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The latest forecast of the Red River has it now cresting in the Shreveport area at its highest level in 70 years. Eric Gill reports…

CUT 2 (30) “reporting”

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College Baseball fans in Louisiana are going nuts for tickets to the LSU/UL-Lafayette Super Regional this weekend at The Box. Seats are going for hundreds of dollars on secondary markets. Stubhub.com spokeswoman Allison Salcedo (Sal-Say-Doe) says the average price for Games 1 and 2 are around $195 which is huge for college baseball…:

CUT 3 (06)  “the matchup”

Standing room only tickets for the matchup went on sale Friday morning at 8am and were all gone in 5 minutes. They were $30 and included passes to all three games with each buyer able to get up to four tickets. Salcedo says you’ll have to dish out more than that for a series pass on their site…:

CUT 4 (03)  “$340”

A spokesman for LSU says this is one of the toughest tickets to get for a home event in the school’s history. Salcedo says typically the closer you get to first pitch the lower the price of the tickets go…:

CUT 5 (04)  “better deal”

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The latest forecast of the Red River has it now cresting in the Shreveport area at 36.5 feet on Sunday evening. Mike Steele, with the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, says, at this point, only a handful of properties have taken in water and they hope the situation doesn’t get worse…

CUT 6 (11)  “bigger problems develop”

The projected crest in the Shreveport area would be the highest crest of the Red River in 70 years. Steele says equipment and approximately 175,000 sandbags have been delivered to the Shreveport area and officials are constantly monitoring conditions…

CUT 7 (10) “ready to roll”

He says areas in northwest Louisiana are currently in major flood stage, while the Alexandria area is in minor flood stage. Steele says people need to stay aware of what’s going on and gather emergency supplies in case you are forced to evacuate…

CUT 8 (09)  “and your family”

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Willie “Dynamite” Larkin is the new president at Grambling State University. The University of Louisiana system Board selected Larkin over Gilbert Rochon and three other candidates who were interviewed on Grambling’s campus this week. Larkin says the difficult selection process should benefit him when he takes over as Grambling’s president on July 1st….

CUT 9 (10)  “few months”

UL System president Sandra Woodley calls Larkin a strong leader who will move Grambling to the next level. During the selection process, Larkin was interviewed by faculty and staff and “Dynamite,” who is also a motivational speaker, scored well with those two groups

cut 10 (11) “hard at all” 

Larkin is currently the chief of staff in the Office of the President at Morgan State University. He says he’ll be a busy man leading up to his July first start date at Grambling

cut 11 (10)  “as well”

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Baton Rouge Food Blogger and lover of Louisiana cuisine, Jay Ducote, is competing on Season 11 of Food Network Star which premieres this Sunday. The hit reality competition show awards the winner with their own series on the Food Network. Ducote, who has also appeared on MasterChef and Cutthroat Kitchen, says being one of the 12 finalists on Food Network Star is a dream come true…:

cut 12 (10)  “Food Network Star”

Ducote boasts his love of eating and drinking for a living while celebrating culinary culture around Louisiana and everywhere he travels. He says although he didn’t attend culinary school, he learned to cook throwing LSU tailgate parties…:

cut 13 (13)  “for LSU football”

The premiere Sunday will air at 8pm and a huge viewing party with Ducote is being held in Downtown Baton Rouge. Ducote couldn’t say much about what happens this season, but he can say that this first episode on Sunday will be the true first time all the contestants walk into the kitchen and meet each other. He says they introduce themselves first:

cut 14 (12) “Food Network fans”

11:40 LRN Sportscast June 5

LSU and UL Lafayette will begin their best out of three super regional series tomorrow night at Alex Box Stadium. First pitch is set for 7 PM. The Tigers scored only four runs in the the final two games of the Baton Rouge Regional. LSU center fielder Andrew Stevenson says they want to provide their pitchers with more run support…
cut 18 (14) “…..we can do that’
UL Lafayette reached the Super Regionals last season, but lost to Ole Miss in the best of three series. Shortstop Blake Trahan says this super regional is a lot different than last year…
cut 19 (15) “…go fight”
Standing room tickets for the super regional series sold out in five minutes.

There’s some bad injury news invovling the New Orleans Saints. Pass rusher Junior Galette reportedly injured his pectoral muscle and may need surgery. If he undergoes surgery, he’ll miss a good portion of the season. Galette didn’t participate in yesterday’s O-T-A session and Anthony Spencer took most of the snaps as his replacement.

It’s day five of the competency hearing for Saints and Pelicans Owner Tom Benson. Benson’s right-hand man, Dennis Lauscha, testifies today. He’s a witness for Benson’s team of lawyers.

Andy Fox has been named the new director of basketball operations for Louisiana Tech. Fox has been at Tulane the five previous seasons as an assistant coach and director of operations.

And it’s a free fishing weekend, which means you don’t need a license to drop a line in one of Louisiana’s lakes, marshes or bayous. The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries hopes the weekend will introduce newcomers and people with rusty skills to one of Louisiana’s most popular sports.

LRN Newscast 17:30 June 4

The senate and now the house has approved legislation that paves way for people who suffer from cancer, glaucoma and a severe form of cerebral palsy to receive medical marijuana legally in Louisiana. The bill passed on a vote of 70-29 in the House. New Orleans Representative Helena Moreno…
cut 12 (08) “…and need it”
The bill establishes where medical marijuana will be dispensed and where it will be grown and who will handle the production of the medicine. But Leesville Representative James Armes expressed skeptism…
cut 13 (08) “….enough”
Moreno added more amendments to the bill, in an attempt to calm fears that the growing of medicial marijuana in Louisiana could lead to criminal activity. The legislation heads back to the Senate for final approval and then to the governor, who has indicated he’ll sign it.

Officials with the “Hollywood South” movie industry are apprehensive about changes made by the Senate Finance Committee to a bill that reforms the film tax credit program. The committee lowered the cap for film tax credits from $200 million to $180 million. Louisiana film industry consultant, Sherri McConnell, says this causes concern about projects already in the pipeline, as well as the future growth of the industry…:
CUT 9 (09) “increased production”
She says this is not promising legislation for the film industry on many levels.

There’s a week left in the legislative session and there’s great uncertainty over whether the legislature can pass a budget that will NOT be vetoed by Governor Bobby Jindal. Jeremy Alford, with la-politics-dot-com, says the legislature is struggling with putting together a spending plan that’s revenue neutral, which the governor has requested..
cut 7 (06) “…modern times”
He says if Jindal does veto the budget, we could see an override veto session.

LRN Sportscast 16:45 June 4

When you look at the seeds, the Fighting Tigers are the favorite in the Super Regional series. LSU is a national two seed in the NCAA Tournament, while the Ragin Cajuns were a three-seed in the Houston Regional. Coach Paul Mainieri says seeds don’t mean anything at this point, and they learned that lesson when Stony Brook, a fourth-seed, beat the Tigers in the Super Regionals in 2012…
cut 19 (19) “…meet that”
Mainieri has decided to send freshman Alex Lange to the mound for game one. Lange is 11-and-0 with a 1.76 ERA. No word on who will start game two for the Tigers.

UL Lafayette could start Gunner Leger in game. The freshman is 6-and-4 with 2.87 ERA.

At Saints OTA, Coach Sean Payton talked about a simpler approach on defense. Payton says they are doing it to improve execution and reduce variables. Payton says it’s something they have to do, after giving up several big plays last season.

Also at Saints OTA, running back Mark Ingram didn’t participate. Payton says he’s resting a minor foot-slash-ankle injury.

Former LSU Tiger Trindon Holliday has signed with the Oakland Raiders. Holliday played for three different teams in 2014, before he was released by San Francisco 49ers.

The LSU men’s golf team returned to Baton Rouge today after winning the program’s first national title in 60 years. The Tigers defeated USC in match-play to claim the championship trophy. Ben Taylor’s nine-foot par putt on 18 wrapped up LSU’s first men’s golf championship since 1955.

The R-and-L Carriers New Orleans Bowl is returning to a primetime kickoff. The game this year will be played on Saturday, December 19th at 8 PM in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Last year’s game, which featured the Ragin Cajuns for a third consecutive year, kicked-off at 10 A-M.

LRN PM Newscall June 4, 2015

The Louisiana National Guard says pilot error was the cause of the Black Hawk Helicopter crash which claimed the lives of four guardsman and 7 Marines in March. Michelle Southern reports..:

CUT 1 (30) “reporting”

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The rising waters of the Red River are causing some Caddo and Bossier Parish residents to be driven from their homes. Eric Gill reports…

CUT 2 (29) “reporting”

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The Louisiana National Guard says an investigation has determined the cause of the Black Hawk Helicopter crash which claimed the lives of four guardsman and 7 Marines in March was pilot error. Col Pete Schneider with LANG says spatial disorientation of both pilots caused them to lose control of the aircraft…:

CUT 3 (10)  “off of instruments”

Schneider says the thorough investigation was conducted jointly by LANG and US Special Operations Command. He says the spatial disorientation was due to the pilots failing to transition from visual flight procedures to instrument flight as a thick sea of fog rolled into the training area…:

CUT 4 (07)  “of the accident”

The accident occurred during a joint training mission. He says an 30% of all aviation accidents are caused by spatial disorientation and an important result of this investigation is to let everyone know what happened…:

CUT 5 (07)  “can be prevented again”

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The rising waters of the Red River are causing some Caddo and Bossier Parish residents to be driven from their homes. Floodwaters are approaching some neighborhoods and those residents are being encouraged to evacuate. Marty Mayeaux, with the National Weather Service in Shreveport, says the river is continuing to swell…

CUT 6 (07)  “Saturday evening”

The Red is now predicted to crest at 35.5 feet Saturday afternoon, possibly into Saturday evening. That will put the river at five-and-a-half feet over flood stage. Mayeaux says waters are now beginning to affect areas in Shreveport, itself…

CUT 7 (08) “entire area”

As of Thursday morning, the Red River was at 33.9 feet. NWS says this is the first time the river has reached flood stage in Shreveport in 25 years. Mayeaux says this flood event is something that should not be taken lightly…

CUT 8 (07)  “definitely significant”

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Officials with the “Hollywood South” movie industry are apprehensive about changes made by the Senate Finance Committee to a bill that reforms the film tax credit program. The committee lowered the cap for film tax credits from $200 million to $180 million. Louisiana film industry consultant, Sherri McConnell, says this causes concern about projects already in the pipeline, as well as the future growth of the industry…

CUT 9 (09)  “increased production”

She says a lowered tax credit cap will limit the ability for increased film production in the state. Lafayette Representative Joel Robideaux’s bill also featured a provision that would provide incentives to build an indigenous film industry in Louisiana. McConnell says that part of the measure was completely gutted…

cut 10 (11) “pay taxes here” 

McConnell says, at this point, this is not a very promising piece of legislation for the film industry on many levels. She says this bill was designed to grow Louisiana businesses and put Louisiana residents to work. McConnell says if lawmakers gain a better grasp of the measure’s intent, they will do the right thing…

cut 11 (07)  “more positive posture”

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The full House approves legislation that sets up rules and regulations for the dispensing of medical marijuana in Louisiana. New Orleans Representative Helena Moreno says under the proposed law, a patient who suffers from glaucoma, cancer or cerebral palsy will have the option of using medicinal marijuana in a pill form…

cut 12 (08)  “and need it”

The bill by state senator Fred Mills establishes where the medical marijuana will be dispensed and where it will be grown and who will handle the production of the medicine. But Leesville Representative James Armes expressed skeptism about the legislation…

cut 13 (08)  “enough”

Moreno added some more amendments to the bill, in an attempt to calm fears that the growing of medicial marijuana in Louisiana could lead to criminal activity or corruption. She made the case to the rest of the House that the bill has tight controls on it and it will be very beneficial…

cut 14 (10) “the option”

The vote was 70-29, Livingston Representative Sherman Mack voted against it, because he believes this legislation will open the door to Louisiana legalizing recreational marijuana…

cut 15 (10) “you’re doing”

11:40 LRN sportscast June 4

The LSU and U-L Lafayette rivalry is heated among the fan base, especially in the Acadiana area, where Tiger and Cajun fans live and work together. Coach Paul Mainieri says he has all the respect for UL Lafayette and its coaching staff heading into this Super Regional series against the Cajuns…
cut 18 (18) “…really well”
Alex Lange has been named the starter in the Game One of the Super Regional Series.

The LSU men’s golf team is back in Baton Rouge today after winning the program’s first national title in 60 years. The Tigers defeated USC in match-play to claim the championship trophy. Ben Taylor’s nine-foot par putt on 18 wrapped up LSU’s first men’s golf championship since 1955.

According to the Baton Rouge Advocate, Charles Hanagriff, Patrick Wright, Lyn Rollins, Pelicans announcer Sean Kelley and the voice of Northwestern State, Patrick Netherton, are among the finalists to replace Jim Hawthorne as LSU’s play-by-play man. The report also says there are some national candidates as well.

The R-and-L Carriers New Orleans Bowl is returning to a primetime kickoff. The game this year will be played on Saturday, December 19th at 8 PM in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Last year’s game, which featured the Ragin Cajuns for a third consecutive year, kicked-off at 10 A-M.

A four-star recruit from Destrehan High School has given his verbal pledge to play at LSU. Glen Logan is a six-foot-four, 300-pound defensive tackle, who also had scholarship offers from several SEC schools. Logan helped Destrehan reach the Class 5A championship game a year ago.

Former LSU Tiger Trindon Holliday has signed with the Oakland Raiders. Holliday played for three different teams in 2014, before he was released by San Francisco 49ers.

LRN AM Newscall for June 4

###Affiliates cuts 2 and 7 through 10 have been reworked as a result of some late action by the legislature####

 

The State Department of Agriculture and Forestry says the national egg shortage has caused the price to nearly double over the past couple of months. Michelle Southern reports..:

CUT 1 (30) “reporting”

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A House committee votes against a key piece of legislation, called the SAVE tax credit. Scott Carwile explains why its so important to the budget negotiations….

Cut 2 (31) “reporting”

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Legislation that would ease pot possession penalties in Louisiana is just a step away from Governor Bobby Jindal’s desk for his signature. Michelle Southern reports…:

Cut 3 (30) “reporting”

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The State Department of Agriculture and Forestry says the national egg shortage has caused the price to nearly double over the past couple of months. Ag Commissioner Mike Strain says an avian flu virus came into America from Asian migratory birds and we’ve lost about 44 million birds so far…:

cut 4  (08)  “hens that lay eggs”

Strain says many suppliers have had to go up on their egg prices, but officials are taking steps to get the situation under control. He says they are trying to develop a vaccine for this type of influenza…:

Cut 5  (11)  “commercial flocks”

Strain says the price of shell eggs at the grocery store has gone from about $1.19 in late April to about $2.03 today as a national average. He believes these higher prices will stick around for about the next 6 months, but we’re not going to run out of eggs…:

Cut 6 (09)  “they’re serving breakfast”

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State Revenue Secretary Tim Barfield says there’s a greater possibility Governor Jindal will veto the budget, if  a tax credit for higher education is NOT approved by the legislature. Barfield says the legislation is needed to offset the revenue generating tax bills already approved by the House. He says without the legislation, cuts to higher ed may be needed to balance the budget…

CUT 7 (09)  “from here”

The SAVE tax credit failed on a 10-9 vote in the House Ways and Means Committee. But the legislation was revived, when it was added to three different bills approved by Senate Finance committee.  Chairman Joel Robideaux explained why some lawmakers are uncomfortable with the tax credit…

Cut 8  (09)  “that he signed” 

Governor Jindal signed a pledge with Americans for Tax Reform to not raise taxes and has said he will veto a budget that is not revenue neutral. Barfield says this is an important piece of the puzzle to be able to get to a budget the governor would sign…

Cut 9 (08)  “out there”

Robideaux says lawmakers are not looking forward to a possible veto override…

Cut 10 (09) “I don’t know”

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The Rapides Parish Sheriff’s office says they’ve made nine arrests of people they believe are involved in a very complex residential burglary case targeting firearms and electronics. Lt. Tommy Carnline says they’ve been investigating several daytime residential burglaries since mid April. He says it all came together this week and they were able to make the nine arrests on various ranging charges…:

cut 11 (10) “of this case”

Carnline says the suspects were all connected in a stolen item for drugs scheme…:

cut 12 (09)   “narcotics”

Carnline says every time they would arrest one person or conduct a search warrant during this investigation, it would lead them to another possible suspect. He says they were able to recover almost all of the stolen firearms in this case. Carnline says it’s a shame that these suspects took advantage of people who were working during the day..:

Cut 13 (12)  “in this case”

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State Police say a deputy with the Cameron Parish Sheriff’s Office is under arrest after being found with a large amount of marijuana in his vehicle. Sgt. James Anderson says, on I-10 in Sulphur, troopers stopped a truck driven by 28-year-old Derek Nothnagel of Lake Charles for a traffic violation…:

Cut 14 (10) “inside the vehicle”

Anderson says investigators searched the truck and ended up finding about 18 pounds of marijuana in a duffle bag. He says Nothnagel faces numerous charges…:(Nothnagel was fired from his job as a deputy.)

Cut 15  (08)  “inspection decal”

Anderson says Nothnagel was booked into the Calcasieu Parish Correctional Center and bond was set at $27,300. He says this case is extremely disappointing…:

Cut 16  (07)  “or not”

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LSU’s Alex Lange, who was named Freshman Pitcher of the Year by Collegiate Baseball, will be the Tigers starting pitcher in Game One of the Super Regional Series against the Ragin Cajuns. Lange was oustanding in the regionals last weekend, throwing a complete game shutout and striking out 12. Lange knows the excitement level on Saturday will be through the roof….

Cut 17 (13) ” this weekend” 

The LSU and U-L Lafayette rivalry is heated among the fan base, especially in the Acadiana area, where Tiger and Cajun fans live and work together. Coach Paul Mainieri says he has all the respect for UL Lafayette and its coaching staff

Cut 18 (18) “really well”‘

LSU is a national two seed in the NCAA Tournament, while the Ragin Cajuns were a three-seed in the Houston Regional. Mainieri says seeds don’t mean anything at this point, and they learned that lesson when Stony Brook, a fourth-seed, beat the Tigers in the Super Regionals in 2012…

Cut 19 (19)  “meet that”

LRN 16:45 Sportscast June 3

The UL Lafayette baseball team has an eight-game winning streak heading into the Super Regional series against LSU. They won three games in the Houston regional and only batted .200 in the three games. Cajuns Coach Tony Robichaux says the key for his young team this weekend will be to slow the game down…
cut 18 (19) “….with adrenaline”
Game one of the Super Regional series is at seven P-M. General admission tickets go on sale Friday morning, but the director of LSU’s ticket operations, anticipates only standing-room tickets to be available.

The LSU men’s golf team won its fifth national championship and in first in 60 years as the Tigers defeated U-S-C 4-to-1 in the match-play final in Bradenton. Florida.

A four-star defensive tackle from Destrehan High School has given a verbal commitment to sign with the LSU Tigers following his senior season. Glen Logan also had sscholarship offers from Alabama and Arkansas. Logan is six-foot-four, 300 pounds and he’s LSU’s 11th commitment in the class of 2016.

It looks like former Pelicans head coach Monty Williams has found a new job. Williams has reportedly been hired to be the top assistant for new Oklahoma City head coach Billy Donovan. Meanwhile, the Pels have reportedly hired Darren Erman as the team’s associate head coach in charge of defense and New Orleans native Robert Pack as the backcourt specialist. Erman served as an assistant with the Celtics last season and Pack was with Oklahoma City.

The Girls Top 28 state basketball tournament is headed back to Hammond. That’s the result of a vote by the LHSAA Executive Committee, which also awarded the boys state basketball tournament to Lake Charles for two more years and Sulphur retains the baseball tournament for another two seasons.