LRN Sportscast 16:45 October 24

LSU and Ole Miss meet for the 103rd time on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium. The Tigers head into tomorrow night’s game as a slight underdog against the undefeated Rebels. ESPN College GameDay host Chris Fowler says the matchup is intriguing because LSU is tough to beat at home, and they are trying to knock off a national title contender…
cut 13 (06) “…to it”
Kick-off is at 6:15.

ULM will play its first home football game since September 27th when they take on Texas State tomorrow night in Malone Stadium. The Warhawks are 2-and-1 in the Sun Belt and in the middle of the pack in the conference standings. Quarterback Pete Thomas says winning the league and playing in a bowl game are two goals still in reach….
cut 15 (10) “…get those done”
Kick off against the Bobcats is set for 6:00 on Saturday.

The Saints can possibly turn their season around with a win on Sunday night against Green Bay. The Packers have won four in a row and Quarterback Aaron Rogers has been unstoppable during this streak, with 13 touchdown passes. He goes up against a defense that ranks 28th in passing yards and 27th in points allowed. Kick-off is at 7:30.

Those involved in high school athletics are still buzzing about the sudden departure of L-H-S-A-A executive director Kenny Henderson. His last day on the job is Friday. The search for Henderson’s replacement has already started. Past-president of the LHSAA, Todd Guice, will chair a committee that will seek out qualified candidates….
cut 18 (20) “…budget”
An official reason on why Henderson lost his job was not given. But there’s been unrest within the association over the split of the football playoffs between public and private schools.

PM LRN Newscall October 24

A record number of people are expected to be inside Tiger Stadium Saturday for the LSU/Ole Miss game. Michelle Southern reports.

CUT 1 (31) “reporting”

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A New Orleans-area man, who recently traveled to an Ebola-infected country, is being monitored by the Department of Health and Hospitals. Jeff Palermo has the story…

CUT 2 (30) “reporting”

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Tomorrow will be the biggest day of the season on the LSU campus as 3rd ranked, undefeated Ole Miss comes to town. It’s also Homecoming and university officials are urging fans to arrive early and attend ESPN’s College Gameday. Parking Director Adam Smith says it’ll help everyone if you plan to come to campus earlier than you normally would…:

CUT 3 (13) “on campus”

Kickoff for the LSU-Ole Miss game is scheduled for 6:15pm and the game will be televised on ESPN. Activities will start early as the GameDay crew will be live from the parade grounds starting at 8am. Smith says, some fans are finding this inconvenient, but the postgame plan will be the same with a southbound contraflow planned on Nicholson…:

CUT 4 (10)  “traffic flow”

Smith says you can get live traffic and parking updates online at lsusports.net/parking. The game is sold out as a record crowd of over 102,000 fans are expected for the contest between the SEC West Division rivals. Smith says that’s a lot of people to be in one place so he requests the purple and gold nation to be patient…:

CUT 5 (11)  “in that regard”

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A West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Deputy has been arrested for allegedly using his badge to have sex with prostitutes. Baton Rouge Police Department Corporal L Jean McKneely says their investigation began when informants told detectives that a law enforcement officer was coercing them into having sex. He says Deputy Florian Deutsch (doich) arranged to meet a prostitute at a motel Thursday…

CUT 6 (10)  “the young lady”

McKneeley says their investigation revealed that this was not Deutsch’s first time to proposition a prostitute. He says Deutsch would use Backpage-dot-com to make contact with these individuals…

CUT 7 (10) “work as prostitutes”

He says Deutsch would inform the prostitutes he was a police officer and if they had sex with him, he would not arrest them. The West Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office fired Deutsch when BRPD informed them about the arrest. McKneely says Deutsch was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison…(Deutsch is charged with malfeasance in office, prostitution, and abuse of office.”

CUT 8 (04) “abuse of office”

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The Department of Health and Hospitals is monitoring a New Orleans-area man for signs of the Ebola virus. State Health Officer, Dr. Jimmy Guidry, says the Centers for Disease Control informed them about a man who had recently traveled to one of the Ebola-infected countries. Guidry says DHH immediately followed up with the man…

CUT 9 (12)  “with any symptoms”

Guidry says the man agreed to be monitored for 21 days to make sure he doesn’t come down with any symptoms. The man is considered to be low risk for Ebola since he had no contact with any Ebola patients while abroad. Guidry says the CDC leaves it up to state health officials and the individual whether or not the individual will remain confined to their home during the 21-day Ebola monitoring period…

CUT 10 (09)  “21 days”

Guidry says two Louisiana residents have recently returned from Ebola-impacted areas and both agreed to stay home for the 21 days. He says as we learn more facts about Ebola, some of the fear associated with the virus is subsiding. Guidry says there are no cases of Ebola in Louisiana and he feels comfortable that medical personnel are prepared if a case should develop in the state…

CUT 11 (12) “at the beginning

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For the tenth time in the television show’s history, ESPN College GameDay will broadcast live tomorrow morning on the LSU campus. Host Chris Fowler says of course they’ll talk a lot about the game between the Tigers and Ole Miss and they’ll also highlight the great tailgating that goes on before the game…

CUT 12 (12) “like here”

The Tigers head into tomorrow night’s game as a slight underdog against the undefeated Rebels. Fowler says the match-up is intriguing because LSU is tough to beat at home, and they are trying to knock off a national title contender

CUT  13 (06) “to it”

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ULM will play its first home football game since September 27th when they take on Texas State tomorrow night in Malone Stadium. The Warhawks are 3-and-3 on the season, but rank last in the Sun Belt for points per game. Warhawks Quarterback Pete Thomas says they’ve been working to correct that…

cut 14 (06) “making them”

The Warhawks are 2-and-1 in the Sun Belt and in the middle of the pack in conference standings. Thomas says winning the conference and playing in a bowl game are two goals that are still in reach

cut 15 (10) “get those done”

LRN sportscast 11:40 October 24

ESPN’s College Gameday is setting up on the LSU Parade Grounds. That’s where they’ll broadcast a three-hour pregame show tomorrow morning, prior to tomorrow night’s LSU-Ole Miss game. How big will the two defenses play tomorrow. The Tigers want to put pressure on Ole Miss Quarterback Bo Wallace, while the Rebels will look to add to the 15 interceptions they’ve already collected this season.

Other games of note tomorrow….Louisiana Tech is at Southern Miss, ULM hosts Texas State and Southeastern Louisiana is at Stephen F Austin.

Saints Coach Sean Payton is known for using motivational tactics. Well this time he’s used a cartoon to fire up his players for Sunday night’s game against Green Bay. The cartoon was placed in each player’s locker and it shows one man in a tunnel with a pickaxe inches away from finding diamonds, but giving up, while another man was running full speed towards the diamonds. The words “Never Give Up” are on the bottom.

Kenny Henderson is leaving his post as executive director of the Louisiana High School Atheltic Association. It’s said to be a mutual decision between Henderson and the LHSAA executive committee. Past President of the LHSAA and Ouachita Parish High principal Todd Guice would not say why Henderson will not serve out the remainder of his contract. There’s been unrest within the LHSAA about the recent split of public and private school football playoffs, but Guice says that one issue is not the reason for Henderson’s departure…
cut 17 (16) “…along that topic”
Guice says the search for Henderson’s replacement has already started.

The game of the night in high school football last night was in Shreveport as Byrd remained undefeated with a 24-17 win over Parkway in overtime.

LRN sportscast 16:45 October 23

Saints running backs Pierre Thomas and Khiry Robinson did not practice again today as the team continues preparations for its Sunday night game against Green Bay. There was a report earlier in the week that Thomas would miss a couple of weeks because of a shoulder injury. Robinson has a forearm injury, which could leave the Saints with just Mark Ingram and Travaris Cadet as the two healthy running backs for this weekend.

There’s been a shake-up at the top of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association. The LHSAA announced today its executive director Kenny Henderson and the association’s executive committee have decided it’s in the best interest that two sides go their separate ways. The decision means Tomorrow will be Henderson’s last day on the job. He’s been LHSAA’s executive director since 2007, but there’s been unrest within the association because of the football playoff split between public and private schools.

Tonight’s New Orleans Saints LHSAA Game of the Week is Ouachita Parish at Ruston.

LSU heads into Saturday’s game against third ranked Ole Miss as a three-and-a-half point underdog. But the Tigers are coming off what might be their best game of the season, a 41-3 victory over Kentucky. Rebels Head Coach Hugh Freeze says it looks to him that some of LSU’s young players are starting to mature…
cut 17 (17) “….bit more”
A low scoring game is possible in Tiger Stadium. LSU is allowing 17 points a game, while the Rebels are allowing ten points a contest.

The Pelicans conclude their preseason schedule tonight with a game against the Dallas Mavericks. Tip off from the Century Link Center in Bossier City is at seven-PM.

The Ragin Cajuns have been picked to finish second in the Sun Belt preseason coaches poll. The Warhawks are expected to finish in sixth place.

PM LRN Newscall October 23

The 108th State Fair of Louisiana gets underway today in Shreveport. Eric Gill has more…

CUT 1 (30) “reporting”

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Deputies say a 67-year-old man from Boyce is facing his third DWI offense after driving drunk on his lawnmower. Michelle Southern reports.

CUT 2 (31) “reporting”

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The 108th State Fair of Louisiana gets underway today in Shreveport. The fair runs through November 9th, while being closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. General Manager Chris Giordano says the weather forecast is great this year’s fair…

CUT 3 (07) “and games”

Giordano says this year’s fair features over 60 carnival rides, great food, games and live music from Wayne Toups, Frank Foster, and many more. He says there are lots of great family attractions that are free with your gate admission to the fair, including a bear show and a high-dive show…

CUT 4 (08)  “to be a cowboy”

He says there will also be several street performers at this year’s fair, including a man who rides a unicycle while swallowing a sword and jumping a burning jump rope. Giordano hopes to see big crowds at this year’s State Fair…(For more information go to statefairoflouisiana-dot-com.)

CUT 5 (08)  “mark, I hope”

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Two-point-nine million people are registered to vote in the November fourth election. There’s about 93-thousand more voters who are registered as “no party” than six years ago when Senator Mary Landrieu defeated republican John Kennedy. Political Analyst Elliot Stonecipher says these voters are an “X” factor going into the election

CUT 6 (10)  “wait and see”

The Secretary of State’s office reports an increase of seven-thousand black registered voters prior to the October sixth deadline. This brings the total number of black voters to 919-thousand, which democrats see as a positive for Landrieu’s re-election efforts. But Political Analyst Bernie Pinsonat says the big question is how many of them will vote

CUT 7 (08) “not likely”

The number of white registered voters in Louisiana is one-point-eight million and Pinsonat says while the black vote is important to Landrieu’s re-election chances, white voters might be more critical…

CUT 8 (05) “presently doing”

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The Rapides Parish Sheriff’s office says a man is under arrest for DWI number three after cops caught him driving drunk on his lawnmower. Major Mark Wood says one of the deputies spotted 67-year-old Ralph Carroll of Boyce riding a red lawnmower on state Highway 121 attempting to elude law enforcement by driving into the woods…:

CUT 9 (10)  “odor of alcohol”

Wood says the deputy went to the home of Carroll and smelled a strong odor of alcohol…:(Carroll is charged with third offense DWI, operating an unsafe vehicle and having no driver’s license on his person.)

CUT 10 (12)  “he was drunk”

Wood says they brought Carrol to the courthouse where he agreed to a breathalyzer test and was found to be way above the legal limit. The suspect was then charged with his third DWI. Wood says Carroll received a citation for riding his lawnmower on a state highway last week…:

CUT 11 (12) “cooperate

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Republican State Senator and 6th District Congressional candidate Dan Claitor’s mother has passed away from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. State Trooper Jared Sandifer says the crash happened Saturday on Airline Highway near Prairieville. He says 80-year-old Nancy Claitor switched lanes in her Ford Explorer to make a legal U-turn in front of a pickup truck pulling a trailer…

CUT 12 (11) “pulling that trailer”

Mrs. Claitor was transported to a local hospital where she succumbed to her injuries late last night. Driver impairment is not suspected in this crash. Sandifer says no charges have been filed in this incident at this time…

CUT  13 (08) “to investigate”

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The State Department’s of Transportation in Mississippi and Louisiana are advising motorists that the I-10 connecting the two states will once again be reduced to one lane this weekend. MDOT spokesman Michael Flood says drivers should expect significant delays on I-10 during this time…:

cut 14 (11) “on Monday”

Flood says one lane will be closed, both eastbound and westbound, of the Pearl River Bridge starting at 7pm Friday night to Monday morning at 6am. He says they are asking motorists to use alternate routes…:(Flood says passenger vehicles should use US 90 as an alternate route.)

cut 15 (12) “one lane closed”

 

11:40 LRN Sportscast

The Saints and Packers are getting ready to face each other on Sunday night football. Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rogers has thrown 18 touchdown passes and just one interception this season and the Pack have a four-game winning streak. New Orleans Q-B Drew Brees is receiving more criticism this season. He threw a costly interception last week and has been picked off seven times this season. He only threw 12 interceptions last year. Brees says the criticism is part of the game…
cut 19 (14) “…than later”
The Saints go into this contest with a turnover margin of minus-eight, while the Packers are a plus ten.

In other NFL news…there are reports coming out of Nashville that former LSU Tiger Zach Mettenberger will start at quarterback this Saturday for the Titans, who face the Houston Texans.

A big question mark heading into Saturday’s game against Ole Miss is whether the Tigers can mount any kind of passing attack against one of the nation’s best defenses. The Rebels have 15 interceptions, seven of them are by senior cornerback Senquez Golson. LSU ranks 98th in the country in passing yards per game.

Expect some points to be scored tonight when Parkway visits Byrd in high school football action. Byrd has scored 40 or more points in all but two of there games. The same could be said for Parkway, who is six and one on the season. Also tonight…Ouachita is at Ruston. Both teams are 4-and-3 on the season.

The Pelicans conclude their preseason schedule tonight with a game against the Dallas Mavericks. Tip off from the Century Link Center in Bossier City is at seven-PM.

The Ragin Cajuns have been picked to finish second in the Sun Belt preseason coaches poll. The Warhawks are expected to finish in sixth place in the 11-team league. Georgia State is the preseason favorite.

LRN Sportscast 16:45 October 22nd

The 24th ranked LSU Tigers host 3rd ranked Ole Miss this Saturday. This is the highest the Rebels have been ranked in the polls since 1964 and it’s the first time they are 7-0 since the 1962 season. Ole Miss has been winning with great defense, as they’ve allowed a nation low seven touchdowns and they lead the country with 15 interceptions.

In other college football action on Saturday….Northwestern State heads north to play Central Arkansas. Demons Coach Jay Thomas says the Bears have a well rounded offense…
cut 17 (10) “…very well”
Both teams have just one loss in league play.

In basketball news…the LSU Tigers have been picked to finish fourth in the Southeastern Conference. Jordan Mickey is a first team all SEC selection.

The Ragin Cajuns are 3-and-0 in the Sun Belt, after beating conference rival Arkansas State 55 to 40 last night. But the players are not happy with what happened in the final minute of game. During U-L Lafayette’s final extra point try, an Arkansas State player made no attempt to block the kick and dove at offensive lineman Mykhael Quave’s knee. Quave had to be removed from the field on a cart. The Cajuns were extremely upset and here’s what Coach Mark Hudspeth had to say…
cut 30 (17) “…up to par”
The Cajuns next game is November first against South Alabama.

At the Saints practice facility….running back Pierre Thomas did not practice today. Neither did running back Khiry Robinson and center Jonathan Goodwin. Tight end Jimmy Graham was limited.

LRN PM Newscall October 22nd

Cold and flu season is upon us and people are looking for ways to avoid coming down with a seasonal bug. Eric Gill has more…

CUT 1 (30) “reporting”

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A report released from the state department of education shows that 92-percent of public school teachers were rated as effective. Jeff Palermo has the story…

CUT 2 (30) “reporting”

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Cold and flu season is upon us and people are looking for ways to avoid coming down with a seasonal bug. The Centers for Disease Control recommends everyone over six-months of age to get a flu vaccine. Dr. Fred Lopez, with the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, says there is a reason for that recommendation…

CUT 3 (10) “in this country”

He says one you get the flu vaccine, don’t expect it to work immediately. Lopez says it takes a couple of weeks for your body to develop antibodies from the vaccine…

CUT 4 (07)  “hasn’t developed yet”

Lopez says once you receive a flu vaccine, you’ll still want to take steps to avoid any infections this season. He says washing your hands with soap and water and using hand sanitizers are good ways to keep the flu at bay. But Lopez says you should not stop there…

CUT 5 (06)  “and flu season”

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Governor Bobby Jindal announces JP Morgan Chase has donated $1 million into the fund that helps technical colleges fund programs focused on training skilled workers. Jindal says this money will allow the community and technical colleges to expand courses specifically designed to meet the workforce training needs here…:

CUT 6 (07)  “raise a family”

Monty Sullivan is the Louisiana Community and Technical College System President. He says this money will be used in a very targeted way to address the most high demand programs in Louisiana…:

CUT 7 (08) “engineering technology”

The $1 million dollar gift will be matched with $4 million in state funds. Sullivan says the donation will help them secure funding through the WISE Fund which was created by the legislature to help fill high-need jobs…:(Sullivan says the money will be used to pay for classes such as welding, pipe-fitting, petroleum technology and electrical work.)

CUT 8 (10) “in programs”

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The man who killed his son’s abductor at the Baton Rouge airport in March of 1984, Gary Plauche, died this week at the age of 68. Jeffrey Doucet was accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting Plauche’s son Jody 30-years-ago — and when the suspect was extradited back to Baton Rouge, Plauche was waiting at the airport then fired a shot. The incident was caught on camera and Abram McGull was the news photographer…:

CUT 9 (14)  “same thing too”

Plauche was sentenced to 5 years probation but did not get jail time. The news director of the television station at the time, John Spain, said he didn’t think the public wasn’t surprised that Plauche just received a suspended sentence…:

CUT 10 (14)  “understood it”

His family said Gary died from complications related to a stroke. The son, Jody who was 11 years old at the time, is now an advocate for child victims of sexual assault. McGull, who is a former federal prosecutor, says he found out the video of the incident is being used by the FBI and other law enforcement…:

CUT 11 (11) “incident

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The Louisiana Department of Education released a report today on the evaluation of public school teachers. The report shows 92% of teachers received an effective grade. Superintendent John White says while we should be proud of teachers reaching that achievement, the inflation of highly effective scores outpaced the growth of student achievement scores…

CUT 12 (08) “any favors”

Teacher “Compass” ratings are based equally on Student Growth Score and classroom observations. Individual school districts are responsible for rating their teachers. White says schools and school districts that set a high bar when observing teachers see progress in both educators and students…

CUT  13 (11) “not use it well”

White says the most critical piece of information they received from this report is that schools who expect more of their teachers, will see an increase in student growth…

cut 14 (14) “learning goes up”

LRN Sportscast 11:40 October 22nd

The Saints 19-game home winning streak with Sean Payton on the sidelines will be tested this Sunday when the red hot Green Bay Packers come to town. Green Bay has won four in a row after a 1-and-2 start. Saints Safety Kenny Vaccaro says it’s the type of challenge the Saints need…
cut 19 (06) “….bounce back”
Green Bay beat Carolina 38-17 last Sunday. In that game, Aaron Rogers was 19 of 22 for 255 yards and three touchdowns.

Last night in Lafayette…the Ragin Cajuns rushed for 419 yards in a 55-40 victory over Arkansas State. Elijah McGuire rushed for 265 yards and had four rushing touchdowns, whille Alonzo Harris had 107 yards on the ground and four rushing TDS. That’s three wins in a row for the Cajuns, who are now 3-and-0 in the Sun Belt and will not play again until November 1st against South Alabama.

The 24th ranked LSU Tigers go into Saturday night’s game against Ole Miss, looking to avenge last year’s loss to the Rebels. Ole Miss upset the Bayou Bengals in Oxford last season, beating the Tigers 27-24. LSU fell behind 17-0 in that game. If LSU falls behind again early, they could have trouble getting back into the game with the Tigers deficiencies in the passing game.

Louisiana Tech faces Southern Miss on Saturday. The two schools are trying to make this a rivalry game as it’s about a four-hour drive between the two schools. They are calling the matchup the Rivalry in Dixie game. The Bulldogs won last year’s meeting, beating the Golden Eagles 36-to-13.

The LSU men’s basketball team has been picked to finish fourth in the SEC this season. Sophomore Jordan Mickey is a first team All-SEC selection. Kentucky is the preseason favorite, ahead of Florida, Arkansas and then LSU.

LRN Sportscast 16:45 Oct 21

The two teams that shared the Sun Belt Conference crown last season meet tonight at Cajun Field in Lafayette as U-L-L hosts Arkansas State at seven o’ clock. Tonight’s game can be seen nationally on ESPN Two. Cajuns Coach Mark Hudspeth wants to see a big crowd, because it’s a game that can show the university in a positive light….
cut 17 (10) “…12th man”
The Cajuns easily beat the Red Wolves last season by the final score of 23-7.

Coach Les Miles is asking LSU fans to bring food to the game this Saturday against Ole Miss, so they will stay for all four quarters and be loud. Tiger Stadium has been less than half full for some second halves this season.

In Saints news…running back Pierre Thomas will reportedly miss two to three weeks because of a shoulder injury. New Orleans hosts Green Bay this Sunday.

Louisiana Tech’s Terrell Pinson has been named the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player fo the Week. Pinson had two interceptions, a fumble recovery for a touchdown and seven tackles in Tech’s 27-20 win over Texas San Antonio. The Bulldogs are at Southern Miss this Saturday.

In the Southland Conference….Southeastern Louisiana Quarterback Bryan Bennett is the conference’s offensive player of the week. Bennett rushed for a season-high 131 yards and three touchdowns in the Lions 41-24 win over Central Arkansas.

Northwestern State’s Tyler Roussel is the defensive player of the week. He had nine tackles and forced a fumble in the Demons upset win of Sam Houston State. Coach Jay Thomas on Roussel….
cut 30 (12) “…linebackers too”
The Demons are at Central Arkansas this Saturday.