PM LRN Newscall December 3rd

State Police say a Donaldsonville man was killed last night when his vehicle crashed into a dump truck in a construction zone in Ascension Parish. Eric Gill has more…

CUT 1 (30) “reporting”

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A formal complaint has been filed with the Office of Congressional Ethics over accusations that Republican Congressman Bill Cassidy double dipped. Jeff Palermo has the story…

CUT 2 (32) “reporting”

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Former Democratic Governor Edwin Edwards and Republican Garret Graves debated each other for the first time last night in the 6th Congressional District runoff. Not surprisingly the two went after each other. Graves called out the former convicted felon on his past and said Louisiana deserves a better future…:

CUT 3 (09)  “worse in the nation”

Edwards says the state needs a politician in Washington D.C. who knows their way around…:

CUT 4 (09)  “make things work”

Graves says Louisianians don’t have the state they deserve and it’s time to start moving in the right direction. Edwards responded by linking his opponent to the Governor…:

CUT 5 (08)  “(laughter)”

The big controversy came when Graves announced he’s been endorsed by The Sheriff’s Association which Edwards called a lie. A spokesperson for the group did say they held a meeting and voted to endorse Graves, but not all members from the 6th District were present. Graves says Louisiana needs to look forward, not back…:

CUT 6 (10)  “out of the way”

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State Police say a Donaldsonville man was killed last night when his vehicle crashed into a dump truck in a construction zone in Ascension Parish. Trooper Jared Sandifer says 42-year-old Kirt Canova ignored a flag man who was attempting to control traffic in a construction zone on LA 30…

CUT 7 (07) “construction materials”

Canova struck the dump truck head-on and suffered fatal injuries as a result of the crash. Sandifer says this is the second incident in this particular construction zone. He says impairment is not suspected in this crash…

CUT 8 (08) “the investigation”

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State Police report that two people are dead after a crash in Tensas Parish. Trooper Michael Reichardt says 95-year-old Ralph Cooper of Newellton was driving his truck along LA 4 yesterday afternoon…

CUT 9 (04)  “head-on”

He says Cooper’s truck struck a Mack truck loaded with gravel head-on. Cooper and his passenger, 90-year-old Jewel Lee also of Newellton, were pronounced dead at the scene. Reichardt says officers spoke to a witness who was driving behind Cooper’s truck…

CUT 10 (07)  “that Mack truck”

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A complaint has been filed with the Office of Congressional Ethics, urging them to look into allegations whether Republican Bill Cassidy violated House rules and federal law for receiving compensation from the LSU health system that he didn’t perform. UL Lafayette Political Science Professor Pearson Cross says an investigation is likely…

cut 11 (08)  “is   over”

Cassidy is in a heated Senate race with Democrat Mary Landrieu, who faced an ethics complaint in September, after it was learned her office used taxpayer dollars to pay for charter flights for campaign events.  Cross says ethics complaints and politics go hand and hand sometimes

cut 12 (11) “even up the score”

The Democratic party and Landrieu are making a big deal over these accusations that Cassidy may have double dipped, while serving in Congress and working for a doctor at LSU. Cross says it’s a serious allegation, but not enough to prevent Cassidy from winning Saturday’s election

cut 13 (04) “this case”

LRN Sportscast 11:40 December 3rd

Saints Quarterback Drew Brees has been named the NFC Player of the Week. Brees threw five touchdown passes in the Saints 35-32 win over the Steelers, which snapped a three-game losing streak. It’s the 18th time Brees has received this honor since joining the Saints.

The Les Miles to Michigan rumors are back now that the Wolverines are looking for a head coach. Miles’ alma mater offered him a chance to go back to Ann Arbor in 2007 and 2010 and both times the mad hatter said no. Glen Guilbeau of Gannett Newspapers says if Miles is asked again won’t leave LSU, because of the young talent on the roster….
cut 14 (13) “….20 years ago”
And the Ragin Cajuns will reporteldy receive an official invite to the New Orleans Bowl today.

The Pelicans snapped a three-game losing streak last night with a 112-104 win over Oklahoma City. Jrue Holiday had 16 points and ten assists and played excellent defense on All-star guard Russell Westbrook. Tyreke Evans had 30 points, 15 of them came in the fourth quarter.

LSU’s Josh Gray had his best game of the season as he scored 25 points to help LSU beat UMASS 82 to 60. Also last night…ninth ranked Gonzaga beat Southeastern Louisiana 76 to 57. Alex Hamilton scored 30 points to help Louisiana Tech dribble past Northwestern State 99-88. The Bulldogs improve to six and one, while the Demons are three and four.

tonight…the Lady Techsters are at LSU. The Lady Tigers have won nine straight games in the series. And on the men’s side, U-L Lafayette will host Jackson State. The Tigers beat the Cajuns 73 to 70 last season.

17:30 LRN Newscast December 2

Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu and Republican Congressman Bill Cassidy went after each other in last night’s Senate debate. UL Lafayette Political Science Professor Pearson Cross says Cassidy brought up the incumbent’s charter flight matter and Landrieu called the Congressman a liar for the so-called double billing incident — but there were no knockout blows…:
CUT 10 (11) “Louisiana politics”
Election Day is this Saturday.

A state audit of Grambling State University revealed equipment thefts totaling more than $130,000. Legislative Auditor Bradley Cryer says it was the university who discovered several items missing…
CUT 12 (08) “and fixtures”
One person has been arrested in connection with the thefts.

Tourism leaders are looking to capitalize on the increasing trend of international tourists visiting Louisiana. Scott Carwile has more…
cut 1 (29) “…reporting’

Speculation has started again that Les Miles is a candidate to be the next head football coach at Michigan. The Wolverines fired Brady Hoke today. Glen Guilbeau, of Gannett Newspapers, doesn’t see Miles taking the Michigan job, because he has a better situation at LSU…
cut 15 (09) “…coming in”

LRN Sportscast 16:45 December 2nd

The Les Miles to Michigan rumors can start up again as the Wolverines have fired head coach Brady Hoke after a four-year run at the Ann Arbor school. Michigan was five and seven this past season. They’ve pursued Miles twice before, once in 2007 and again in 2010. Miles was asked last week about the possibility of the Michigan job opening up and here’s what he said….
cut 20 (16) “….very best”

In other college football news…UAB has announced its dropping football program, because of financial concerns. With UAB gone, could UL Lafayette fill their spot in C-USA. Stay tuned on that one.

Louisiana Tech plays this Saturday against Marshall in the Conference USA Championship game. Jerry Palm of cbs-sports-dot-com, says if the Bulldogs win, they could play in the Heart of Dallas Bowl against a team from the Big Ten….
cut 19 (13) “….Conference USA games”

In college hoops tonight…Louisiana Tech visits Northwestern State in what should be spirited game. The Demons are 3-and-3 on the year, while the Bulldogs are five and one.

LSU hosts UMASS at the PMAC for a six o ‘clock tip. The Minutemen beat the Tigers 92-90 last season.

NBA…the Pelicans will host Oklahoma city. Thunder star Kevin Durant will make his season debut tonight. Durant has been out because of a foot injury. Tip-off is at seven o’ clock.

PM LRN Newscall for December 2nd

Efforts to keep a pit bull named Zeus in Moreauville from being separated from the family that owns him came to a happy conclusion for the family last night. Eric Gill has the story…

CUT 1 (29) “reporting”

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Democratic US Senator Mary Landrieu and her republican challenger Bill Cassidy engaged in a spirited debate last night. Jeff Palermo has the story…

CUT 2 (25) “reporting”

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Efforts to keep a pit bull named Zeus in Moreauville from being separated from the family that owns him came to a happy conclusion for the family last night. The Moreauville town council voted to lift their controversial “vicious dog” ordinance that would ban pit bulls and rottweilers from the town. Mayor Timmy Lemoine says they’re glad to get this issue behind them…

CUT 3 (08)  “been mayor”

Zeus’ owners have become the face of a movement to end breed specific legislation. Lemoine says the ordinance was repealed after receiving several phone calls and pressure from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals…

CUT 4 (11)  “shut down”

The issue made national news when Zeus was threatened to be removed from his home where he helps care for children with special needs. An online petition to save Zeus has received over 340,000 signatures. Lemoine says the town now will adopt the Louisiana state statute in regard to dangerous dogs…

CUT 5 (08)  “state statute”

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The Grant Parish Sheriff’s office says the 85-year-old Pollock woman who was viciously mauled by dogs last week died last night. Sheriff Steve Martin says they got a frantic call last Wednesday evening from Bobbie Cheveallier’s (shuh-VAHL-yay) neighbor…:

CUT 6 (10)  “scare them away”

Martin says nobody witnessed the attack. He says the neighbor heard screaming and found Cheveallier on the ground and two “wolf-type” dogs were near her…:

CUT 7 (09) “both of her legs”

Martin says they had asked the community to donate blood for Cheveallier, but she tragically succumbed to her injuries Monday evening. He says they are still working to locate the dogs that attacked Cheveallier…:

CUT 8 (11) “for this”

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It was a feisty Senate debate last night between democratic incumbent Mary Landrieu and republican challenger Bill Cassidy.  Landrieu attacked Cassidy for receiving taxpayer dollars for work as an LSU physician that he allegedly did not fully earn. While Cassidy continued to hammer Landrieu for supporting President Obama’s agenda. UL Lafayette Political Science Professor Pearson Cross

CUT 9 (10)  “in others”

Cross says no knock-out blows were delivered, which means Cassidy is still the favorite to win Saturday’s election….

CUT 10 (11)  “Louisiana politics”

Cross says there was no new ground broken between the two candidates, as the Baton Rouge Congressman focused on Landrieu’s support of President Obama’s agenda, while the Senator counter with claims that Cassidy was paid for work as an LSU physician that he didn’t earn

cut 11 (08)  “at all

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A state audit of Grambling State University revealed equipment thefts totaling more than $130,000. Legislative Auditor Bradley Cryer says, in this case, it was the university that actually found that items had been taken from some of its buildings…

cut 12 (08) “and fixtures”

One person has been arrested in connection with the thefts. Cryer says the items stolen were plumbing units, air conditioners, and hot water heaters; things that were being sold for scrap metal. He says they have recommended that the school install new procedures to limit the key access to facilities that are vacant…

cut 13 (08) “in the future”

School management has outlined a plan to increase security and Cryer is optimistic that Grambling can cut down the number of thefts of university property…

cut 14 (05) “a good track”

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11:40 LRN Sportscast

Pelicans star Anthony Davis graces this week’s issue of Sports Illustrated. The title on the popular sports magazine says “Time to Really Fear the Brow.” Davis and the Pels are in action tonight against Oklahoma City. New Orleans has lost three in a row, despite outstanding play by Davis.

The LSU men’s basketball team hosts UMASS tonight. These two teams played in the season opener last year and the Minutemen won 92-90. This year the Tigers bring a 4-2 record into the game, while UMASS is 5-2.

In other action tonight….Louisiana Tech is at Northwestern State. The home team has won this match-up five straight times. Southeastern Louisiana is on the road as the Lions visit 8th ranked Gonzaga. S-L-U is two and five and Gonzaga is 6-0.

And Northwestern State’s Zeek Woodley has been named the Southland Conference basketball player of the week. For the season, he’s averaging 23 points a game.

An official announcement regarding U-L Lafayette’s bowl destination is expected soon. Jerry Palm of cbs-sports-dot-com expects the Cajuns to go to the New Orleans Bowl for a fourth consecutive season…
cut 18 (17) “….projected here”
UL Lafayette finished second in the Sun Belt. Georgia Southern won the league, but are not eligible for a bowl, because they are a new F-B-S team, but Georiga Southern is seeking a waiver.

LSU’s Leonard Fournette has been named the SEC Freshman of the Week. The New orleans native rushed for a career-high 146 yards in the Tigers 23-17 win over Texas A-and-M.

And Saints Quarterback Drew Brees says there is no “validity” to the report that New Orleans look to draft a quarterback early in the draft next year as a possible replacement to Brees.

17:30 LRN Newscast December 1

US-Senator Mary Landrieu is claiming her opponent Congressman Bill Cassidy, who is a doctor, was paid by the LSU Health Sciences Center for work he didn’t do. She also says members of Congress are only allowed to make $26,000 a year in outside work…:
CUT 4 (11) “$50,000″
In a statement, Cassidy says he’s proud of his work in the LSU System and these allegations are just an attempt by Landrieu to salvage her political career.

US Senator David Vitter, who is running for governor next year, has changed his stance regarding Common Core. Vitter said four months ago that he supports the multistate educational standards, but in an email to supporters today, the Senator says he’s changed his mind after hearing from parents and teachers. He says Louisiana should establish its own standards and testing.

State Police say a single vehicle crash involving a motorcycle and a deer has left one man dead and his wife seriously injured. Master Trooper Scott Moreau says 53-year-old Gordon Bolton was riding his Harley Davidson with his wife, 57-year-old Monika (MO-nika) Bolton, in Vernon Parish Saturday night…:
CUT 9 (05) “collided with it”
Gordon was pronounced dead at a local hospital while Monika remains hospitalized in serious condition.

A quiet 2014 hurricane season came to an end over the weekend. State Climatologist Barry Keim says there were only 8 named storms which is the fewest since 1997. He says this is the ninth straight year we didn’t have a major hurricane hit the US Coastline, the longest such streak since records were kept…:
CUT 13 (06) “major hurricane”
He says we can attribute the quiet season to lower than normal sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean.

16:45 LRN Sportscast

The Saints hope yesterday’s 35-32 victory over Pittsburgh is the start of something good for a team that has underachieved all season. New Orleans played one of its better games of the season in the Steel City. The Black and Gold are back home this Sunday to take on the Carolina Panthers, who are in a tailspin and lost to Minnesota yesterday.

The Saints are still tied with the Falcons for first place in the NFC South. That’s because Atlanta beat Arizona 29-18 yesterday. In that game, former LSU star Tyrann Mathieu fractured his thumb and could miss the next three weeks of the season for the Cardinals.

Former LSU star quarterback Zach Mettenberger injured his shoulder in a loss to Houston. But Mettenberger hopes to play this Sunday for the Titans, who will host the New York Giants.

LSU is number 23 in the latest A-P poll. They now wait on a bowl invite, the most likely choices are the Taxslayer-dot-com bowl in Jacksonville and the Texas Bowl in Houston.

Louisiana Tech will take on Marshall this Saturday in the Conference USA Championship game, which will kick-off in Huntington, West Virginia. Marshall is 11-and-1, with its one loss coming on Friday against Western Kentucky. Bulldogs Coach Skip Holtz says it should be a great football game…
cut 18 (12) “….should be”

Southern is also in a conference championship game. The Jaguars will play Alcorn State this Saturday at N-R-G Stadium in Houston. Alcorn beat Southern 56-16 back on September 27th.

The Ragin Cajuns are waiting to find out if they’ll once again go to the New Orleans Bowl. It would be a fourth straight apperance in the game.

In college hoops…LSU’s Jordan Mickey has been named the Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s player of the month for November. Mickey is averaging nearly 18 points a game and ten rebounds. Mickey and the Tigers take on UMASS tomorrow night.

PM LRN Newscall for December 1st

Democratic incumbent Mary Landrieu wants her opponent, Republican Bill Cassidy, to explain why time sheets show he was paid by the LSU Health Sciences Center for work he apparently never did. Eric Gill reports…

CUT 1 (28) “reporting”

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Secretary of State Tom Schedler is pleased with the early voting totals for the December 6th run-off. Jeff Palermo has the story…

CUT 2 (30) “reporting”

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In the final week of the Senate campaign, democratic incumbent Mary Landrieu is making a big issue over time sheets that possibly show her opponent, Republican Bill Cassidy, was paid by the LSU Health Sciences Center for work he never did. Landrieu says the 16 statements that have been made public are full of inconsistencies…

CUT 3 (10)  “very unlikely”

Landrieu has called on Cassidy to produce all 63 time sheets in question for tonight’s debate. Landrieu says another issue here is that Congressmen are allowed to only make $26,000 a year in outside work on top of their Congressional salary…

CUT 4 (11)  “$50,000”

Cassidy says he’s proud of his work in the LSU System and these allegations are an attempt to to salvage Landrieu’s career. Cassidy and Landrieu will meet in a televised debate tonight. Landrieu says Cassidy has been hiding from his record during the campaign…

CUT 5 (07)  “double dipping”

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Secretary of State Tom Schedler says 221-thousand voters casted ballots during the early voting period that ended Saturday. Schedler says they averaged over 44-thousand votes a day, which is a good number

CUT 6 (06)  “very impressive”

Saturday is election day and Schedler is optimistic we’ll see a voter turnout at 40-percent. There’s a usually a drop-off in voter participation between the general election and the run-off. But he says they averaged more voters per day last week than in the early voting period prior to the November fourth election.

CUT 7 (09) “to us”

Schedler says the heaviest early voting totals were in East Baton Rouge, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes…

CUT 8 (07) “were the heaviest”

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State Police say a single vehicle crash involving a motorcycle and a deer has left one man dead and his wife seriously injured. Master Trooper Scott Moreau says 53-year-old Gordon Bolton was riding his Harley Davidson with his wife, 57-year-old Monika (MO-nika) Bolton, in Vernon Parish Saturday night…

CUT 9 (05)  “collided with it”

He says a deer entered the roadway and the motorcycle collided with it. Moreau says, as a result, the both individuals were ejected from the motorcycle…

CUT 10 (12)  “serious condition”

Gordon was pronounced dead at a local hospital while Monika remains hospitalized in serious condition. Moreau says both were wearing helmets at the time of the accident. He says, as of now, they do not suspect impairment in this crash, but the investigation is ongoing…

CUT 11 (07)  “a later date

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The 2014 hurricane season is over and forecasters were right when they predicted a normal to a below normal year. State Climatologist Barry Keim says there were only eight named stores, the fewest for a hurricane season since 1997

cut 12 (09) “North Carolina”

Keim says this is the ninth straight year we didn’t have a major hurricane hit the US Coastline, the longest such streak since records were kept

cut 13 (06) “major hurricane”

Keim says we can attribute the quiet season to lower than normal sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean

cut 14 (08) “Pacific Ocean”

11:40 Sportscast December 1

Saints Quarterback Drew Brees threw five touchdown passes to five different receivers as New Orleans defeated Pittsburgh 35-32. Afterwards, Coach Sean Payton had to address a report that a fued between himself and defensive coordinator Rob Ryan had reached a point there was hate between the two of them. Payton says that’s not the case…
cut 20 (09) “….outstanding job’
The Saints will face a struggling Carolina football team this Sunday. The Panthers dropped to 3-8-and-1 on the season with a 31-13 loss to Minnesota.

Altanta beat Arizona 29-18 as Julio Jones had 189 receiving yards and a touchdown for the Falcons, who remain tied with the Saints for first place in the NFC South.

And former LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger injured his shoulder as his Titans lost to the Texans 45-21.

The Ragin Cajuns wrapped up an 8-and-4 regular season on Saturday with a 42-23 win over the Troy Trojans. UL Lafayette rushed for 344 yards as Elijan McGuire and Alonzo Harris combined to gain 255 yards on the ground and five touchdowns. Coach Mark Hudspeth on his top two running backs…
cut 16 (19) “…pretty effective”
The Cajuns are expected to get another invite from the New Orleans Bowl, but nothing official yet.

LSU is at number 23 in the latest AP poll. Reports say the Texas Bowl in Houston or the Taxslayer-dot-com bowl in Jacksonville are the likely destinations for the Tigers.

Louisiana Tech and Southern are preparing to play in conference championship games.