The State Fire Marshal’s Office issues new guidelines for complying with the state’s new carbon monoxide detector law. Kevin Gallagher reports…:

Cut 1 (29) “…I’m Kevin Gallagher.”

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 Louisiana is bring back an African American Heritage Trail.  Whitney Thomas has more…

Cut 2 (30) “….I’m Whitney Thomas” 

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The House Ways & Means Committee held its first meeting looking at how the state can eliminate income taxes, but still pay for government services. Kevin Gallagher has the story…:

Cut 3 (31) “…I’m Kevin Gallagher.”

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The State Fire Marshal’s Office issues guidance on complying with Louisiana’s new law requiring carbon monoxide detectors in all new homes and rentals. Spokesperson Ashley Rodrigue says the law, passed in the 2022 legislature, takes effect January 1^st…:

Cut 4 (10)  “…carbon monoxide alarm inside.”

The law requires that all homes sold or leased and all rental properties must have at least one C.O. monitor, as well as a smoke detector, placed within 10 feet of sleeping areas. She says this is particularly important for homes using natural gas for heating, cooking or hot water, but also for those with whole home generators…:

Cut 5 (07) “…to be in place.”

The law doesn’t take effect until January, but Rodrigue says now is the time to get the detectors installed…so there will be time to work out any potential issues….:

 Cut  6 (07)  “…if it’s not working.” 

Carbon monoxide detectors can be bought at most any home hardware store, and one can even get single units that operate as both smoke AND C.O. detectors at a reasonable cost.

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Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser and the Louisiana Office of Tourism announced the relaunch of the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail. A luncheon took place at the Whitney plantation in St. James Parish to discuss further plans.

Governor Nungesser says the trail created years ago left out some of Louisiana’s significant history…

Cut 7 (11) “…in Louisiana.”

The African American Heritage Trail includes sites that showcase innovative African Americans’ contribution to our nation’s history, and Louisiana’s everyday life, culture, and art. The Civil rights trail focuses on events that predated the Civil Rights movement.

Nungesser says the relaunch came with consolidating the staff.

Cut 8 (11)  “…new promotion.”

The  African American Heritage trail was first launched in February 2008, including 26 sites from New Orleans to north Louisiana. Now there are over 38 sites open to the public. The Heritage trail will highlight the arrival of ships carrying the enslaved, and continue through the civil rights period.

Nungesser says this will have long-term benefits.

Cut 9 (11)  “…for tourist.”

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Ochsner Health President and CEO Warner Thomas is leaving to lead a health care system in California. Thomas became Ochsner’s CEO in 2012 and during that time Ochsner Health tripled in size from 13-thousand to 36-thousand employees and that includes 23-hundred physicians in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama

Cut 10 (07) “…everyday.”

Thomas and his successor, Pete November, worked together to develop the Ochsner LSU Health System of North Louisiana–adding more than 300 physicians there and investing more than $200 million.

Thomas says the biggest challenge his team has faced was the early days of the COVID pandemic. He praises the heroism of Ochsner’s front-line medical staff.

Cut  11 (11)  “..health care entity” 

The Ochsner Health Board unanimously voted to appoint Pete November as Thomas’s success. November is Ochsner Health’s current Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. He’ll assume his role on November first and Thomas predicts a smooth transition…

Cut 12 (08) “..flourish.” 

Thomas is joining Sutter Health, based in Sacramento, California.

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The House Ways and Means Committee has begun the process of looking at eliminating the state’s income tax as a way to bring more jobs to Louisiana. Mandeville Representative Richard Nelson says the state’s current tax structure continues to hold Louisiana back and it’s time for real tax reform…

Cut 13 (08) “…bring that forward”

Nelson reminds members that other states in our region of the country are doing much better than Louisiana, in terms of revenue, jobs & business growth and their tax structures…:

Cut 14 (09)  “…no income tax.”

Nelson asks fellow lawmakers to find a way to make fundamental tax reforms, including ridding the state in the income tax. Way & Means Committee Chairman (and Lafayette Representative) Stewart Bishop says there’s a lot of work ahead…:

Cut 15 (11)  “…a very big task.”

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ULM is nearly a 50-point underdog heading into this Saturday’s game against second ranked Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Warhawks Coach Terry Bowden says it’s not easy to come up with a game plan to slow down Crimson Tide quarterback and last season’s Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young…

Cut 16 (16)  “..run it” 

Bowden is asking his players to play the best that they can play. He says last week saw a bunch of upsets in college football and would love to see the Warhawks pull off a stunner at Alabama…

Cut 17 (18) “…in Notre Dame” 

ULM 1-and-1 on the season after beating Nicholls 35-to-7 last Saturday. Warhawks coach Terry Bowden says he’s been pleased with his quarterback Chandler Rogers, who threw for 253 yards and two TDs…

Cut  18 (20)“…we got him”

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LSU continues to prepare for Mississippi State’s air-raid offense which means a lot of passing. Bulldogs Quarterback Will Rogers leads the SEC in passing yards and has thrown a league-high nine touchdowns. Tigers Coach Brian Kelly says State runs a half-dozen concepts very well, so you can’t get too cute on defense…

Cut 19 (17) “..get exposed”

Kelly doesn’t plan on making any changes to the starting line-up of his offensive line. Against Southern, the Tigers started Will Campbell, Charles Turner, Miles Frazier, Garret Dellinger and Anthony Bradford…

Cut 20 (23) “ …hoping for” 

This morning, Governor John Bel Edwards rolled up his sleeves for the fifth time to get the latest booster against COVID and is urging you to do the same. Marsanne Golsby has more.

Cut 1 (30)  “…I’m Marsanne Golsby”

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A Caddo Parish substitute teacher is charged with paying five students cash to bully one. More from Jeff Palermo…:

Cut 2 (30) I’m  Jeff Palermo.”  

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Thibodaux Police continue to search for the gunman who fatally shot 15-year-old Jarian Cole from Assumption Parish on Saturday afternoon. Lt. Clint Dempster says Cole was shot multiple times in the back inside a home…

Cut 3 (12) “…in the helicopter.” 

Dempster says detectives are working around the clock searching for the shooter.

Cut 4 (07) “..come forward with” 

Dempster would not provide details on why Cole was in Thibodaux. He says it’s a city that’s only had a few murders over the years

Cut 5 (08) “… the victim.” 

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State health officials say ninety percent of the new COVID19 cases in Louisiana are caused by the latest variant of the disease, Omicron BA-FOUR, and BA-FIVE. This morning, Governor John Bel Edwards received the new bivalent COVID booster shot. He says the latest variants are highly transmissible.

Cut 6 (09)  “…people do that.” 

State health officer Dr. Joseph Kanter says people are still dying daily from COVID in Louisiana. Nearly 18-thousand people have died since the beginning of the pandemic.

The Pfizer bivalent COVID shot is available for anyone who is 12 and older and the Moderna bivalent shot is available for anyone who is 18 and older.

Edwards says protection from boosters becomes weaker after a few months.

Cut 7 (13) “…Johnson and Johnson .”

This is the fifth COVID shot the governor has received.

He also received a flu shot. It’s available for people who are six months old or older.

Cut 8 (07)  “…with COVID.”

Health officials are concerned that after two mild flu seasons, because of COVID mitigations and mask-wearing, this year’s flu season could be an active one.

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Caddo Parish Sheriff’s deputies arrest a substitute P.E. teacher; accused of encouraging students to bully a classmate. CPSO spokesperson Bia Rolden says detectives became aware of the allegations against 24-year-old Aadrina (uh DREE nuh) Smith, of an incident in late August…:

Cut 9 (14)  “…for money.”

Rolden says Smith allegedly paid the five students $5 each to attack their classmate in the gym at North Caddo Elementary Middle School. Three of them actually carried out the request. She says Smith was present and offered the bullied child no help or support…:

Cut 10 (08) “…after this happened.” 

Rolden says once school officials became aware of what happened, they alerted the sheriff’s office who began an investigation. Rolden says it is shocking for a teacher to be a part of school bullying…:

Cut 11 (09)  “…somebody said something.”

Smith has terminated and is now charged with 5 counts of contributing to the delinquency of juveniles and malfeasance. Rolden says more arrests may be coming.

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CVS Pharmacies in Louisiana add an extra measure of security against prescription drug thefts; time delay pharmaceutical safes. CVS Chief Policy Officer Tom Moriarty says criminals steal drugs from pharmacies and sell them illicitly on the street; leading to higher crime and even overdose deaths. He says using time-lock technology will discourage that…:

Cut 12 (06) “.. from happening.”  

Moriarty says time delay drug safes are now in place in all 133 CVS locations across Louisiana. He says the technology has been proven effective in reducing drug theft…:

Cut 13 (07) “…of this technology.” 

Moriarty says, in stores with a working time-lock drug vault, thieves are limited to only whatever product is out on the counters from the day’s business. He says once thieves determine a pharmacy has a time-lock drug vault, they rarely attempt a second theft. Moriarty says CVS doesn’t do this to reduce their pharmaceutical losses; they do it to prevent drugs from being sold on the street for ill-gotten cash…:

Cut 14 (12)  “…on the street.” 

The U-S Marshal’s Service announces they recovered 14 missing children and made several arrests during their “Summer Knights” operation in New Orleans. More from Whitney Thomas

Cut 1 (28) “…I’m Whitney Thomas”

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Louisiana ranks among the Top Ten states nationally for Educational Freedom. Kevin Gallagher has more…:

Cut 2 (28) “….I’m Kevin Gallagher.” 

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Lawmakers meet in Baton Rouge today to discuss the idea of eliminating the state income tax. More from Jeff Palermo…:

Cut 3 (31) “…I’m Jeff Palermo”

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The U.S Marshals Office has announced the results of their operation “Summer Knights”, conducted in the New Orleans metro area, leading to the recovery of fourteen missing endangered teens. One additional child was located, and eight arrests were made.  

Brian Fair, a senior inspector said some teens were fugitives, while others were held captive.  

Cut 4 (12)  “…That recovery.”

Out of the eight arrests made, one individual associated with a 16-year-old runaway will be facing hit-and-run charges, along with the aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer.  Fair says another suspect associated with the 16-year-old runaway was wanted for various burglaries in the New Orleans Area.  

Cut 5 (10) “..with minors.”  (3x)

Fair says they couldn’t have done this deliberate operation alone.  

  Cut  6 (10)  “…these recoveries.” 

Any information about missing children should be reported to your local police department or the National Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-The-Lost.  

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A new report from the Heritage Foundation ranks Louisiana among the Top Ten states for “Educational Freedom.” State Education Superintendent Dr. Cade Brumley says Louisiana’s Number 9 ranking is a great place to be in the first-ever such report by Heritage. He explains what it meant by Educational freedom…:

Cut 7 (12) “…in education appropriately.”

Brumley says Heritage Foundation gives high marks for empowering parental choice, in transparency in education policy-making and spending public dollars wisely and properly. The Heritage report ranks Louisiana among the Top 20 for both school choice and transparency. Brumley says both are important to him as the state’s Top Educator…:

Cut 8 (13)  “…even home school.”

The Heritage “Education Freedom Report Card” comes as the Department of Education observes Celebrate Freedom Week. Brumley says the recognition by heritage is good, but there’s more progress to be made

Cut 9 (07)  “…being classroom teachers.”

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A recent Washington Post analysis ranks Louisiana 17th in the nation in retention of college graduates. That puts the Pelican State ahead of southern states like Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and South Carolina. The governor’s communications director Lauren Leist says the state’s investments in higher education are paying off

Cut 10 (07) “…we’ve seen.”

Leist says in the six years the governor has been in office, he’s worked to diversify the state’s economy which is allowing college graduates to stay right here to begin their careers.

Cut  11 (13)  “..lately” 

Leist says the state has created nearly 200-thousand jobs since the worst of the COVID pandemic and many people filling those jobs are recent college grads. She says the governor will continue to diversify the economy in order to prevent the brain drain….

Cut 12 (10) “…water management.” 

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The House Ways & Means Committee meets today to discuss broad state tax reforms, including eliminating the state income tax. The meeting is the result of a resolution passed this spring by Mandeville Republican Rep. Richard Nelson. He says he hopes lawmakers can get to “the root of some fundamental problems” within the tax structure…:

Cut 13 (09) “…move the state forward.”

Nelson feels getting rid of the state income tax would help move Louisiana forward to compete with states like Texas and Florida which have no such tax. He proposed a tax reform package in 2021, but it was a bit too weighty to get passed during a short “fiscal only” session. In 2022, he came back with a resolution to meet in the off-months to discuss the idea…:

Cut 14 (13)  “…better way to go.”

Nelson feels our tax structure is “broken” and it drives people and business away from the state. He says today is likely the first of many meetings to map out a strategy for crafting a new tax system. He says it won’t be easy, but it CAN be done…:

Cut 15 (12)  “…a local level.”

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LSU football coach Brian Kelly says the Tigers need a better week of preparation than last week to defeat Mississippi State this Saturday in Baton Rouge. The Bulldogs are 2-0, with wins over Memphis and Arizona and State’s air raid offense is averaging 385 passing yards, fifth best in the nation. Kelly his defensive players will need to execute their assignments

Cut 16 (12)  “…get exposed” 

LSU’s running game should get a boost with the return of running back John Emery, who served a 15-game suspension as a result of some sort of an academic infraction. Kelly says he’s excited to have the former Destrehan star back…

Cut 17 (19) “…can’t do that 

This will be Kelly’s first SEC game, but he doesn’t feel like he’s behind the other coaches in the league when it comes to familiarity. He says that’s because at Notre Dame, which does not belong to a conference, he was always preparing for a new opponent…

Cut  18 (19)“…their tendencies”

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There are plenty of corrections to be made following the Saints come from behind 27-26 win over the Atlanta Falcons. New Orleans Coach Dennis Allen is not happy that the Dirty Birds rushed for 201 yards. Allen says that’s not the Black and Gold standard…

Cut 19 (23) “..that area”

The Saints offense also struggled for the first three quarters, but Allen says offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael did an awesome job calling plays and Allen liked that the quarterback received the play call with plenty of time left on the play clock…

Cut 20 (20) “ …good job” 

Running back Alvin Kamara only had 39 yards rushing and three catches. Allen says Kamara was dealing with a rib issue, but should be fine. New Orleans hosts Tampa Bay this Sunday.

It’s National Truck Driver Appreciation Week and the Louisiana Motor Transport Association is celebrating drivers who deliver America’s freight every day. Jeff Palermo has more…

Cut 1 (31)  “…I’m Jeff Palermo”

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Unconventional U.S. Senate candidate Gary Chambers appeared on “Talk Louisiana” with Jim Engster this morning, and faced more questions about his electability Marsanne Golsby has more.

Cut 2 (30) I’m  Marsanne Golsby.”  

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This week, representatives of the trucking industry are here to remind you how important truck drivers are. It’s National Truck Driver Appreciation Week. Renee Amar is executive director of the Louisiana Motor Transport Association.

Cut 3 (08) “…brought it to you.” 

More than fourteen hundred appreciation kits were sent to truck drivers across Louisiana. Wallace Simien the third, of Jennings, is the Louisiana Motor Transport Association’s truck driver of the year.

Cut 4 (:11) “..his truck” 

Amar says truckers nationwide have shown their commitment to delivering the goods people need during challenging times. One big concern is the nationwide shortage of truck drivers. Amar says they are aggressively trying to recruit new drivers, especially women.

Cut 5 (06) “… Louisiana.” 

There are more than 3.6 million professional truck drivers nationwide, including 10-thousand trucking companies in Louisiana. LMTA says these businesses provide 88-thousand jobs across the state.

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US Senate candidate Gary Chambers says that contrary to the opinion of many political experts, he has a real chance to beat Senator John Kennedy. Kennedy last ran in 2016. Chambers says in that election 585 thousand black voters turned out to vote for Hillary Clinton.

Cut 6 (09)  “…believed in.” 

Chambers was a guest on “Talk Louisiana” with Jim Engster this morning. He faced questions about his electability in a low turnout election year. He says of the three  Democratic candidates he is the clear leader

Cut 7 (08) “…being disingenuous .”

Kennedy has a massive war chest and has already begun advertising. Chambers says if he can get into the runoff he can beat Kennedy.

Cut 8 (08)  “…the left and the right.”

Chambers accused Kennedy of being a coward for refusing to debate him.

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Louisiana woke up to somewhat cooler, and more “Autumn-like” weather today. State Climatologist Barry Keim says a pocket of dry and cool air is parked over Louisiana…:

Cut 9 (10)  “…across the state.”

Keim says many parts of Louisiana woke up temperatures in the 60’s today; bringing in a first small “taste” of Fall…:

Cut 10 (05) “…made it through.” 

Keim says it’s not necessarily time to break out the jackets and sweaters, but we can expect even cooler weather tomorrow morning…:

Cut 11 (08)  “…most of the state.”

He says morning low temperatures should only dip into the 70’s in coastal areas. He says the less humid weather should be with us at least through Thursday.

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A Chalmette grocery store is having fun with the Saints come from behind 27-26 win over the Falcons. The bakery at Breaux Mart was already preparing cakes with icing that read 28-3, a jab at the Falcons Super Bowl collapse, but assistant store manager Stephen Exnicios says the cake decorator changed the decorations so it reads 26-10 which was the score before Atlanta blew the lead yesterday…

Cut 12 (04) “.. everybody else does.”  

The Saints trailed 26-10 with just over eleven minutes left in the game, but New Orleans scored the final 17 points to win 27-26. Exnicios says they wanted to do something to celebrate the Black and Gold’s largest fourth quarter comeback in team history…

Cut 13 (04) “…nerve racking” 

Exnicios says the cakes are the size of a traditional birthday cake and they are taking orders…

Cut 14 (04)  “…requesting them.”