New Office of Motor Vehicles leader Bryan Adams is optimistic OMV can run more efficiently despite outdated computer system. Sean Richardson has the story…

Cut 1 (30) “…I’m Sean Richardson.”

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It is Distracted Driving Awareness Month in Louisiana and state officials are making the case again, when behind the wheel put the phone down. Colleen Crain has more…

Cut 2 (35) “…I’m Colleen Crain.”

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Louisiana Democrats are hailing the failure of the four constitutional amendments last weekend. Andrew Greenstein has more from a press conference held by the Louisiana Democratic Party…

Cut 3 (36) “…I’m Andrew Greenstein.”

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This week, Governor Jeff Landry appointed Bryan Adams as the new leader for the Office of Motor Vehicles  following Commissioner Dan Casey’s resignation. OMV is suffering from system outages due to outdated technology. Adams was serving as the State Fire Marshal and he’s optimistic OMV customers will start to see improvements as early as next week…

Cut 4 (10) “…citizens of Louisiana.”

The current mainframe system is 50 years old and it keeps crashing, causing delays at OMV field offices, forcing customers to leave and make another appointment for another day to get a driver’s license, renew vehicle tags or file paperwork.  Adams says enough is enough.

Cut 5 (11) “…really deserve.”

Adams described the effort as upgrading from “Band-Aids” to “duct tape” until a permanent solution is in place. Landry expressed confidence in Adams’s ability to lead the agency through this transition.

Cut 6 (12) “…ready to put it out.”

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It is Distracted Driving Awareness Month and state officials want to see an end to distracted driving on Louisiana’s roads. Department of Transportation Secretary Joe Donahue says preliminary data from 2024 shows that distracted driving crashes led to 180 fatalities and 1,295 serious injuries in Louisiana…

Cut 7 (12) “…fully recover”

Cell phones are believed to be a major contributor to distracted or inattentive crashes. Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple urges parents to set an example of not using a phone while behind the wheel…

Cut 8 (09) “…your kids.”

Louisiana Highway Safety Commission executive director Lisa Freeman says in the upcoming legislative session, they will once again push lawmakers to approve a hands-free primary law, which would allow police officers to ticket drivers who use a hand held cell phone while driving…

Cut 9 (07)  “…tremendous results.”

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The Louisiana Democratic Party is hailing the defeat of all four constitutional amendments last weekend. Voters turned back amendments that would have rewritten Article 7 of the state constitution, created specialty courts, made it easier to send minors to adult prisons and change the way that judicial vacancies are filled. Baton Rouge Representative Denise Marcelle says the vote was a unified message.

Cut 10 (12) “…work collaboratively together.”

Another Baton Rouge representative, Edmond Jordan, says the vote was a rebuke of the Landry administration.

Cut 11 (11) “…gubernatorial election”

The rejection of Constitutional Amendment 2 could result in a decrease in teacher pay, if state lawmakers can not find 200-million dollars in revenues. Randal Gaines, the chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party, says he’s calling for a permanent pay raise for teachers with no strings attached.

Cut 12 (15) “…as  a whole.”

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Do you want to know how public school districts and charter schools are spending their money? You can find that information at treasury-dot-la-gov.  State Treasurer John Fleming says click the box that reads Louisiana K-12 School Transparency Project and you find out all kinds of information…

Cut 13 (11)  “…want to know”

Fleming says it’s the most comprehensive website of its kind in the country. He says taxpayers now have easy access to details regarding how public schools are spending public funds…

Cut 14 (12) “…spending practices.”

Fleming says they are still collecting data, so not every school’s financial information is published yet….

Cut 15 (11) “…data to come.”

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Lady Tigers basketball star Flau’Jae Johnson is reportedly returning for her senior season at LSU. Johnson has the option to enter the WNBA draft, but Reed Darcey of the Advocate says Johnson said after the team’s season-ending loss to UCLA, she wanted to get past the Elite Eight…

Cut 16 (19) “…own championship.”

Johnson was a freshman on LSU’s 2023 national championship team. But Angel Reese and Alexis Morris were the big leaders on that team. Darcey says Johnson seems motivated to win a national title as a senior leader…

Cut 17 (16) “…call it her own.”

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The battle for starting quarterback at U-L Lafayette is well underway as the team started spring break last week. Daniel Beale, Ole Miss transfer Walker Howard and former Lutcher star Lunch Winfield are in a three-way competition.  Coach Michael Desormeaux says all three are making strides…

Cut 18 (20) “…that competition.”

Most schools are doing away with their spring game. A few coaches have raised concerns that spring practices allow other schools to scout their players better and then the convince the kids they want to come to their school. Desormeaux is not concerned about tampering and believes the spring game is an important part of their offseason…

Cut 19 (23) “..let them play.” 

The Cajuns spring game is May 3rd.

There’s at least one group that’s applauding President Trump’s tariffs – at least on one specific import. Andrew Greenstein explains.

Cut 1 (35) “…I’m Andrew Greenstein.”

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The statewide average price for a gallon of regular gas jumped three-cents from yesterday to $2.82.  Sean Richardson has more.

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The Southern Shrimp Alliance is applauding President Trump’s imposing of tariffs on imported shrimp. Leann Bosard, a board member at the Southern Shrimp Alliance, says she hopes the tariffs will provide a boost to the U.S. shrimping industry.

Cut 3 (12) “…for decades now.” 

The six countries that account for 96-percent of all shrimp imports all have tariffs, ranging from ten-percent for Argentina and Ecuador to 46-percent for Vietnam. Bosard says shrimp from all of those countries are far inferior to the shrimp caught off the Louisiana coast, but up until now it’s been more cost-effective for restaurants to keep that imported shrimp in stock.

Cut 4 (13) “…of banned antibiotics.”

Bosard says the U.S. has been subsidizing the U.S. shrimping industry’s direct competitors for far too long.

Cut 5 (13) “…allow that anymore.”

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The hurricane forecast team at Colorado State University is calling for an above-average hurricane season. Lead researcher Phil Klotzbach says warm water in the Atlantic will help produce 17 named storms, nine hurricanes and four major hurricanes and the chances of an El Nino are quite low…

Cut 6 (06) “…bad for the hurricane”

Researcher Lauren Beard says based on their research, there’s a 33-percent chance that a major hurricane will hit the Gulf Coast from the Florida panhandle to Brownsville, Texas.

Cut 7 (06) “…from that.”

Beard says ocean temperatures are not as warm as last year but it is above average, and says to stay updated on sever weather in your area.

Cut 8 (03) “…for your area.”

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The price at the pump has jumped three-cents from yesterday, bringing the statewide average price for regular gasoline to $2.82 per gallon. Don Redman with AAA says gas prices rise at this time of the year as refineries shut down operations to switch from a winter blend to a summer blend gasoline.

Cut 9 (10)  “…closing of refineries.”

Redman says while gas prices are up from last month’s average, compared to this time last year, prices are down, but prepared for gas prices to keep rising…

Cut 10 (10) “…get into May.”

Even though we can expect prices to continue to rise heading into the summer driving season, Redman says gas prices are much higher in other states…

Cut 11 (12) “…gallon in Louisiana.”

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A man and a woman are dead following a plane crash near Raceland. Lafourche Parish President Archie Chaisson says the 1976 Cessna 2010 L owned by Southern Seaplanes went down last night in a remote marsh area and it was located two miles north of Highway 182 near the intersection of Highway 90….

Cut 12 (11) “…wreckage site.”

Authorities have identified the victims as Lyle Pannepinto and Lauren Menkemeller. Chaisson says Pannepinto is the owner of Southern Seaplanes and Menkemeller was training as a pilot for the company…

Cut 13 (09)  “…went down.”

The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash.

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The defending national champion LSU gymnastics squad begins its NCAA postseason journey tonight as they will compete in the Penn State Regional. LSU won the SEC regular season championship, and they won the SEC Gymnastics meet. Mike Smith who is the announcer at LSU gym meets says the Tigers are the favorites to repeat as national champs…

Cut 14 (10) “…convincingly.”

LSU is the number one seed for the first time in program history. The Tigers are once again led by All-Americans Haleigh Bryant and Aleah Finnegan. Kailin Chio is the SEC Freshman of the Year and Smith says they’ll have to count on a couple of other freshmen during this postseason run…

Cut 15 (11) “…they did just fine”

Tonight’s meet begins at 6 PM and if the Tigers finish in the top two of tonight’s session, they advance to the regional final on Saturday.