A state lawmaker says new LEAP test results indicate a literacy bill that failed to pass the Legislature this year was likely a good idea….
Cut 3 (32) “…I’m Kevin Gallagher.”

Anywhere between two to six inches of rain fell across north Louisiana yesterday and we could see a repeat performance today. Matt Hemingway is with the National Weather Service in Shreveport…
cut 13 (08) “…north Louisiana”
The Flash Flood Watch covers much of central Louisiana and as far south as Beauregard Parish.

New research has determined the mounds on LSU’s campus near Tiger Stadium are the oldest known manmade structures in North America. LSU Geology and Geophysics Professor Emeritus Brooks Ellwood says the age estimate is based on studying sediment from the bottom of the mounds which is ash from burned reed and cane plants as well as charred mammal bone fragments…
Cut 20 (10) “. these mounds’
The mounds on LSU’s campus are among the more than 880 man-made, hill-like mounds in Louisiana.

Have you been watching the Apple TV series “Five Days at Memorial.” It’s based on what happened at Memorial Hospital in New Orleans where dozens of patients were suffering and hospital staff had limited options in the days after Hurricane Katrina. The series is adapted from a book written by Sheri Fink…
cut 6 (12) “….the future”
45 bodies were recovered from the facility. Then Attorney General Charles Foti charged Doctor Anna Pou and two nurses with second degree murder, but a grand jury in Orleans Parish refused to indict them.

New LEAP test results – showing a decline in literacy – have one state lawmaker saying “I told you so,” after his literacy & retention bill failed to pass this year. Mandeville Republican Representative Richard Nelson’s bill to hold 3rd graders back a year if they continuously failed reading assignments failed to win passage. He says, despite objections from colleagues, the same law worked well for our neighbor to the east…:
Cut 10 (11) “…out of the water.”
The LEAP results show that 41 percent of 4th-grade students read below their grade level.

Federal officials say nationally, traffic deaths from January through March of this year were the highest since 2002. State Department of Transportation spokesman Rodney Mallet says Louisiana numbers are slightly down from last year. But 194 traffic deaths in Louisiana through the first quarter of this year is still very high
Cut 7 (:11) “…driving distracted”

The Apple TV series Five Days at Memorial is based on actual events during Hurricane Katrina. Brooke Thorington has more from the book’s author.
Cut 1 (32) “…I’m Brooke Thorington.”

According to a report in the Advocate, homicides in rural Louisiana are surging. The CDC and the FBI data indicate the homicide rate for rural Louisiana in 2020 was just under 17 per 100 thousand people. Almost three times higher than the national average. LSU Health New Orleans Criminologist, Peter Scharf says it comes down to drugs.
Cut 6 (07) “…kill each other .”
Scharf says the loss of jobs in rural areas has many turning to drugs as a form of recreation.

New research has determined the mounds on LSU’s campus near Tiger Stadium are the oldest known man made structures in North America. LSU Geology and Geophysics Professor Emertius Brooks Ellwood says radiocarbon dating of the layers of material indicates the mounds were built 11-thousand years ago…
cut 12 (12) “…gets younger”
The mounds on LSU’s campus are among the more than 880 man-made, hill-like mounds in Louisiana.

Louisiana’s unemployment rate fell for a second straight month in July, to its lowest level ever. Kevin Gallagher reports…:
Cut 1 (27) “…I’m Kevin Gallagher.”

Heavy rainfall is falling across north Louisiana today and in fact the National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch for the upper half of the state through Tuesday night. Meteorologist Davyon Hill says the rainfall will give north Louisiana a break from what has been a hot and relatively dry summer…
Cut 5 (05) “…the flooding”
If you are in the Monroe area, be prepared for some heavy rainfall.

An investigation determines hospital staff contacted the Department of Children and Family Services three times about potential substance abuse involving a two-year-old child before he died of a fentanyl overdose. Kevin Gallagher reports…
Cut 2 (32) “….I’m Kevin Gallagher”

Baton Rouge Representative Larry Selders was arrested over the weekend on D-W-I and reckless operation charges. State Police says Troopers observed the 40-year-old state lawmaker traveling at a high rate of speed while producing a burnout with his vehicle near the LSU campus early Sunday morning.

The state’s unemployment rate for July is the lowest on record at 3-point-six percent, according to the Louisiana Workforce Commission. And the number of people employed is the second highest. L-W-C Secretary Ava Cates says they hope the state’s new Tech Ready Louisiana program will produce even more jobs…
cut 5 (10) “…..essential skills”
Nearly one-thousand Louisiana residents have already signed up for Tech Ready.

The northern half of the state is under a flash flood watch through tomorrow night. National Weather Service meteorologist Davyon Hill says a stalled frontal boundary has set up over the I-20 corridor…
cut 3 (10) “…48 hours”
Hill says four to six inches is likely across the area, but there’s the potential for as much as eight inches for some areas.

For the second consecutive month, the state’s unemployment rate hit a record low, with a seasonally adjusted rate of 3-point-six-percent in July. And the number of people employed is the second highest in recorded history. Louisiana Workforce Commission Secretary Ava Cates says they hope to add even more jobs with the state’s new Tech Ready Program, which offers thousands of courses to help people gain new skills and increase their readiness..
cut 6 (13) “…..and top level”

The state Department of Children and Family Services is hiring additional case workers after failing to respond adequately to reports of potential substance abuse involving a two-year-old child who ended up dying from a fentanyl overdose. DCFS Secretary Marketa Garner Walters says they are searching for people who want to help children…
cut 9 (12) “….looking for”

The northern half of the state is under a flash flood watch until Tuesday night as a big rain producing system is moving in from Texas. Six to eight inches of rain is possible through the middle of the week for north-central Louisiana. Four to six inches is possible for Shreveport. Monroe, Natchitoches and Jena.

Two years since Hurricane Laura slammed southwest Louisiana, Calcasieu Parish schools are still in need of repairs. Marsanne Golsby has more…
Cut 3 (31) “…I’m Marsanne Golsby”

Louisiana’s unemployment rate fell for a second straight month in July, to its lowest level ever. Kevin Gallagher reports…:
Cut 1 (27) “…I’m Kevin Gallagher.”

According to a report in the Advocate newspaper, homicides in rural Louisiana are surging. Based on data from the CDC and the FBI, the homicide rate for rural Louisiana in 2020 was just under 17 per 100-thousand people. That’s nearly three times higher than the national rural homicide rate. The biggest increase has occurred in Washington Parish.

The state Department of Children and Family Services announces policy changes as a result of an overdose death of a two-year-old child. D-C-F-S admits they were contacted three times by hospital staff about substance abuse involving the child, but because of a variety of reasons they failed to have a case worker inspect the home. DCFS Secretary Marketa Garner Walters says that will never happen again…
cut 8 (08) “….response”
The supervisor overseeing Mitchell Robinson’s case has resigned, while the worker assigned to the case has been suspended.

The two-year anniversary of Hurricane Laura making landfall in southwest Louisiana is Saturday and many schools in the Calcasieu Parish School System still have temporary roofs as they await for FEMA money to make the repairs. But school superintendent Stephen LaFargue says despite the physical condition of their schools, LEAP scores are up…
cut 15 (08) “…the classroom”