11:40 LRN Sportscast April 20

The LSU baseball team hosts Southeastern Louisiana tonight. The Tigers are looking to avoid their third home midweek loss of the year. They were defeated earlier this season at the Box in games against Tulane and McNeese. Southeastern is led by Jameson Fisher, who leads the nation with a .462 batting average.

In other action tonight…UL Lafayette hosts McNeese State. The Cajuns beat Nicholls State four to three last night. Brian Mills hit a big two-run double in the seventh to help give UL Lafayette its 25th win on the year.

Also tonight, ULM is at 7th ranked Mississippi State. It’s the first time these two schools have met on the baseball diamond since 2009 and the Warhawks won that game seven to one.

Looking at the latest NCAA RPIs, LSU is 13th, the Cajuns are 15th and Northwestern State is 34th.

LSU guard Antonio Blakeney has decided to return for his sophomore season. Blakeney told Coach Johnny Jones earlier this month he would put his name into the NBA draft, but not hire an agent. But the Florida native says he can further improve his skill set in different areas if he stays at LSU for at least one more season.

Tiger Rag-dot-com is reporting that former LSU assistant Robert Kirby is in the mix to fill a vacant coaching position on Jones’ staff. Jones is looking for somone to replace David Patrick. Kirby was at LSU during Jones’ first season and left LSU for Memphis in 2013.

10:30 LRN Newscast April 20

Legislation is heading to the House that would make sure that TOPS recipients would receive at least some money for their tuition, if the state is unable to fully fund the scholarship program. Jonesboro Senator Jim Fanin says the bill also allows TOPS-qualified students to keep their scholarship, if they are unable to afford their portion of tuition, until a time the program is fully funded…
cut 13 (11) “….understand that”
Governor Edwards is in support of this legislation.

The latest addition to the Governor’s mansion is a chicken coop. Governor John Bel Edwards says he has 16 new hens in a coop behind the mansion. Edwards says the project was NOT paid for by taxpayers…
cut 9 (03) “….my pocket”
Edwards says he checks on the birds every night when when he gets home.

Roy King, the band director of the Golden Band from Tigerland for the last five years, is out of job today. LSU put him on administrative leave earlier this month to conduct an internal investigation and he was notified of his dismissal in a letter from the university. King’s attorney, Jill Craft, says King was shocked when he was notified….
cut 3 (10) “….was terrible”
LSU is not saying much about his firing, but confirm it was done so after an investigation.

The 30th annual Festival International de Louisiane begins today and runs through Sunday in downtown Lafayette. About 400-thousand people attend the festival every year. Festival spokesperson April Courville says there will also be tons of vendors with unique art, food and craft beers…
cut 6 (10) “….for everyone”
And the festival is completely free to attend.

16:45 LRN Sportscast April 19

LSU’s Antonio Blakeney has announced he will return for his sophomore season. Blakeney had considered submitting his name for the NBA draft, but the shooting guard from Florida has decided to stay at LSU. Blakeney averaged nearly 13 points and three rebounds a game during his freshman campaign.

Louisiana Tech introduced Brooke Stoehr as its new women’s basketball coach. Stoehr, who is a former Lady Techster player and assistant coach, returns to Ruston after a successful run as the co-head coach at Northwestern State. Stoehr led the Lady Demons to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2014-15.

Northwestern State is mourning the death of John McConathy. He’s the father of current Demons Coach Mike McConathy and he’s considered one of Northwestern’s greatest basketball players. John McConathy was an all-american at the Natchitoches school and the fifth pick in the 1951 NBA draft. He was 86 years old.

In college baseball action tonight…24th ranked UL Lafayette hosts Nicholls state. Earlier this season, the Cajuns beat the Colonels five to four in Thibodaux. Northwestern State is at Lousiana Tech. The Bulldogs are 20-12 on the year, while the Demons are 18-17.

LSU’s next game is Wednesday night when they host Southeastern Louisiana. The Tigers have lost three midweek games already this season. Coach Paul Mainieri knows the Tigers can’t afford to many more midweek defeats, if they want to host a regional…
cut 19 (16) “…get it done”
First pitch tomorrow night at Alex Box Stadium is at 6:30.

15:30 LRN Newscast April 19

Today marks the 100th day in office for Governor John Bel Edwards. The governor says his proudest accomplishment to this point is following through on a campaign promise to expand the state’s medicaid program…
cut 10 (07) “….Medicaid program”
Edwards says his biggest immediate goals are resoloving the state’s budget problems and getting equal pay for men and women.

The governor may have the opportunity to sign into law a bill that would allow farmers to sell limited quantities of raw milk. The measure passed the Senate, despite objections from Delhi Senator Francis Thompson, who is concerned about the health risks associated with unpasteurized milk…
cut 5 (10) “….same milk”
The bill heads to the House for more discussion.

A study from LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center has found kids are more willing to eat vegetables after watching other kids their age eating veggies on television. Researcher Amanda Staiano says if your child doesn’t want to eat vegetables, maybe try this method…
cut 8 (08) “….a try”
Staiano says research has found that one-third pre-school aged children are not eating vegetables.

The former assistant police chief of Henderson, Oliver Mack Lloyd, has received a six month suspended prison sentence after he plead guilty to accusations he provided other officers bonsuses for writing speeding tickets on motorists on I-10. St. Martin Parish prosecutor Chester Cedars says Henderson’s Police Chief Leroy Guidry also signed a public statement acknowledging the town will no longer target speeders on I-10…
cut 14 (07) “….like that”

14:30 LRN Newscast April 19

Governor John Bel Edwards is celebrating 100 days in office today. Michelle Southern has more on what the governor has achieved so far and what remains to be done…
voicer 2 (31) “….I’m Michelle Southern”

The bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is offering a five-thousand dollar reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person who stole guns from a store called Tickfaw Guns in Tangipahoa Parish. The business is located on US Highway 51.

LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center has conducted a study that found young children are more likely to eat vegetables, if they see other kids eating veggies on TV. Researcher Amanda Staiano says they observed that kids seem to enjoy watching videos of other children their age eating bell peppers…
cut 7 (09) “…actually eating”
Staiano says if your child doesn’t want to eat vegetables, try this method.

The former assistant police chief in Henderson pleads guility to allegations he orchestrated a ticket writing scheme, where officers would receive bonuses for writing speeding tickets against motorists on I-10. Oliver Mack Lloyd received a suspended six month prison sentence and St. Martin Parish prosecutor Chester Cedars says they wanted to send a message to all police officers…
cut 13 (10) “…our law”

LRN PM Newscall April 19

A study out of Baton Rouge finds pre-schoolers who watch other kids eating vegetables on TV are more likely to eat nutritious foods themselves. Emelie Gunn has more…

CUT 1 (28)  “I’m Emelie Gunn”

================

Governor John Bel Edwards is celebrating 100 days in office today. Michelle Southern has more on what the governor has achieved so far and what still remains to be done.

CUT 2 (31)  “I’m Michelle Southern”

===================

The bill to allow for the sale of raw, unpasteurized milk has been approved by the Senate, despite health risk concerns. Ville Platte Senator Eric LaFleur says consumers should be allowed to choose if they want to drink raw milk. He says it’s absurd that we can trust doctors to perform surgeries, but we can’t trust local farmers to produce safe milk.

CUT 3 (10)  “America”

The proposal would not allow for the sale of raw milk in grocery stores. LaFleur says he’s only looking to give farmers the ability to sell raw milk and the government should not interfere….

CUT 4 (09)  “buy it”

But Delhi Senator Francis Thompson says drinking raw milk has health risks, such as contracting salmonella and other diseases. He says it isn’t safe to drink milk that is unpasteurized.

CUT 5 (10)  “same milk”

The bill now heads to the House for more discussion, after the senate approved the legislation on a 23-12 vote.

==============================================

A study from LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center finds kids that watch other children eating nutritious foods on a TV screen are more likely to eat healthier themselves. Pediatric obesity and health behavior researcher Amanda Staiano says when they offered pre-school aged children the same vegetables they saw on television, the kids ate more of the vegetable and had a preference to eating it again.

CUT 6 (10) “children”

Stainano says one-third of pre-school aged children aren’t eating vegetables. She says during the study the kids seemed to enjoy watching videos of other children their age eating bell peppers.

CUT 7 (09) “actually eating”

Staiano says the effects of the study were seen only with the children that watched others on TV eating the vegetables, other kids who didn’t watch the videos were not interested in the vegetables. She says if you child doesn’t want to eat vegetables, try this method.

CUT 8 (08) “a try”

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Today marks 100 days in office for Governor John Bel Edwards. Edwards has already faced many challenges in office, inheriting the largest budget deficit in state history and a legislature that doesn’t see eye to eye with the governor. But Edwards says it’s about making choices that solve these problems in the best possible way for the people of Louisiana.

CUT 9 (09) “same mentality”

Edwards says his numerous accomplishments in the first hundred days, includes banning discrimination against the LGBT community in state offices and raising over $1 billion in revenue during the special session. Edwards says he is most proud of the healthcare coverage that over 300,000 people in the state will receive as a result of Medicaid expansion.

cut 10 (07)  “Medicaid program”

Edwards says his biggest immediate goals are resolving the state’s budget problems and getting equal pay for men and women. He says one of the most important bills he is pushing seeks to raise the state’s minimum wage.

Cut 11 (10) “in 2016”

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A former police officer in St. Martin Parish plead guilty to his part in a ticket-writing scheme on Interstate 10. Ex-Henderson assistant police chief, Oliver Mack Lloyd, received a suspended sentence of six months in jail. St. Martin Parish prosecutor Chester Cedars says Lloyd orchestrated a plan where officers received bonuses for writing traffic tickets…

cut 12 (09) “Louisiana law”

Cedars says Henderson Police Chief Leroy Guidry was also charged in 2013 but his role was minimized after Lloyd claimed the scheme was all his idea. He says the sentence imposed on Lloyd was appropriate given the circumstances and they wanted to send a message to all police officers.

Cut 13 (10)  “our law”

Cedars says Lloyd is no longer a police officer. He says Chief Guidry signed a public statement acknowledging the town will no longer target on I-10.

cut 14 (07)  “like that”

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11:40 LRN Sportscast April 19

LSU baseball has won four in a row and they are ranked fifth by Baseball America. The Tigers are coming off a sweep over Missouri. They had 40 hits in the three victories and Coach Paul Mainieri says they faced two of the better starting pitchers in the conference…
cut 18 (12) “…get down”
LSU’s next game is tomorrow night when they host Southeastern Louisiana.

In action tonight…24th ranked UL Lafayette hosts Nicholls state. Earlier this season, the Cajuns beat the Colonels five to four in Thibodaux. Northwestern State is at Lousiana Tech. The Bulldogs are 20-12 on the year, while the Demons are 18-17.

Elsewhere….Grambling hosts Wiley and Southern Miss is at Tulane.

Louisiana Tech introduces Brooke Stoehr as the new head coach of the Lady Techsters women’s basketball program. She replaces Tyler Summit, who resigned after two seasons as a result of an inappropriate relationship. Stoehr is a former assistant coach at Tech and she helped the Lady Techsters win four regular season conference titles as a player.

Northwestern State is mourning the death of John McConathy. He’s the father of current Demons Coach Mike McConathy and he’s considered one of Northwestern’s greatest basketball players. John McConathy was an all-american at the Natchitoches school and the fifth pick in the 1951 NBA draft. He was 86 years old.

Saints and Pelicans owner Tom Benson will not have just one, but two horses who will run in the Kentucky Derby on May 7th. MO Tom and Tom’s Ready will part of the field of 20 horses who will run for the Roses at Churchill Downs.

10:30 LRN Newscast April 19

A telephone poll of one-thousand residents finds that 73-percent of them oppose removing Confederate monuments from public places. LSU’s Public Policy Research Lab conducted the survey. Doctor Michael Henderson heads up the lab and he says they also asked about speciality license plates displaying the Confederate Battle flag…
cut 12 (08) “…that issue”
The survey also found that 55-percent of those surveyed favor stricter restrictions on access to guns.

Today marks Governor Edwards 100th day in office. LSU Political Science Professor Doctor Wayne Parent says despite convincing the legislature to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues, funding issues remain a problem…
cut 6 (07) “…funding them”
The governor also begins his monthly call-in radio show at 2 PM.

A bill that sets up a legal framework for those parents who wish to use a surrogate is heading to the House floor. The Louisiana Family Forum opposes the legislation. President Gene Mills…
cut 16 (10) “….that child”
But Metairie Representative Joseph Lopinto says a surrogate should not have legal custody of a baby that is genetically not theres….
cut 14 (05) “….their child”
Similiar legislation has been approved by the legislature in recent years, but it was vetoed by former Governor Bobby Jindal.

A former police officer in St. Martin Parish has pleaded guility for his role in a ticket-writing scheme along Interstate 10. The ex assistant police chief for Henderson, Oliver Mack Lloyd, was given a suspended sentence of six months in jail. It was alleged that illegal bonuses were paid to officers for handing out traffic tickets.

17:30 LRN Newscast ##Legislative Report###

Governor John Bel Edwards announced in a Senate committee that enrollment for Louisiana’s expanded Medicaid program will begin June 1st. Don Molino has more…
voicer 1 (28) “….I’m Don Molino”

The governor is slowing down on the building and expansion of facilities on Louisiana’s community college campuses, because of a lack of dollars in the state’s construction budget. Over half of the projects on the 280-million dollar list for the Louisiana Community and Technical College System have been put on hold.

Legislation that would allow for the sale of raw milk in Louisiana passes the Senate on a 23-12 vote. The bill’s author, Ville Platte Senator Eric LaFluer was passionate about the subject in his closing remaks…
cut 30 (10) “….this is a America’
The bill heads to the House for more debate.

Legislation that establishes a legal framework for surrogacy births is heading to the House floor. Under current law, a child born to a surrogate woman is considered the infant’s mother. Metairie Rep. Joseph Lopinto wants to change the law so the genetic parents are immediately the legal guardians of the child….
cut 29 (09) “…going forward”
Similar legislation was vetoed by former Governor Bobby Jindal.

16:45 LRN Sportscast April 18

LSU is coming off its first SEC series sweep of the year and they’ve won four in a row, which has put them back in the Top 10 in several polls. Baseball America has the Tigers ranked fifth, the USA Today Coaches Poll has them at number seven and D-1 Baseball has the Bayou Bengals ranked 10th.

UL Lafayette is ranked 24th in the D-1 poll. The Cajuns won two of three from Southeastern Louisiana.

McNeese’s Collin Kober has been named the Southland Pitcher of the Week. The right-hander earned three saves in the Cowboys four victories last week. McNeese is at UL Lafayette on Wednesday and they’ll host Southland-leading Southeastern this weekend.

Co-head coach of the Northwestern State woman’s basketball, Brooke Stoehr, will be the new head coach of the Lady Techsters. The 35-year-old played for La Tech and helped them reach a final four and win four conference titles.

At LSU’s spring game, fans were able to get a look at the Tigers new back-up quarterback, Danny Etling, a transfer from Purdue. Etling was 6-of=-12 for 106 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Starting quarterback Brandon Harris enjoys the compeitition….
cut 18 (13) “…get better”
In Lafayette, Cajuns Coach Mark Hudspeth is holding off on naming a starting QB. Freshman Chris Weaver outperformed Jordan Davis in the spring game.

At Louisiana Tech’s spring game, Jaylon Ferguson had three sacks. The former West Feliciana High standout had six sacks last season and knows a lot will be expected from him in 2016….
cut 20 (12) “…for it”