The LSU baseball team will face Florida once again this afternoon in the SEC Tournament. The Tigers have won three of four from the Gators over the last week, including a 14-inning affair on Wednesday night that ended early Thursday morning. The other SEC Tourney semifinal contest will be Ole Miss versus Texas A-and-M. That game gets underway at noon and then 30-minutes after that game it will be the Tigers and Gators. Caleb Gilbert will start on the mound for LSU.

LSU has also announced it will retire the jersey of All-American second baseman Todd Walker before a game during the 2017 season.

Louisiana Tech faces Rice again this morning in the Conference USA Tournament. The Bulldogs will need to beat the Owls twice to advance to the title game. Yesterday, first baseman Cody Daigle hit a walk-off home run in the 10th inning to give Tech a 5-4 win over 13th ranked Florida Atlantic.

 
The Ragin Cajuns will play Arkansas State at 12:30 today in the Sun Belt Tournament. UL Lafayette needs just one win to advance to the conference title game. The Cajuns defeated Texas State 4-2 for their eighth straight win yesterday.

McNeese State and Southeastern Louisiana will play each other this morning at 9 AM in the Southland Tournament. The Lions need to win once to advance to the tournament championship game, while the Cowboys will need to win twice today. S-L-U beat McNeese 10-0 on Thursday.

In the American Athletic Conference…Tulane will play HOuston at 9 AM. The Green Wave avoided elimination yesterday by blanking Central Florida five to nothing. Tulane will need to beat Houston twice to advance to the conference title game.

The LSU softball team needs two wins today over James Madison in order to advance to the Women’s College World Series. And Oklahoma eliminated UL Lafayette from the NCAA Tournament last night as the Sooners swept the Cajuns in their super regional series.

Governor John Bel Edwards has announced a second special session will begin on June 6^th, just 30 minutes after the conclusion of the regular session. In the special session, Edwards will ask lawmakers to raise more revenues to fully fund TOPS, health care, K-through-12 education and public colleges.

The stock of beef is plenty for those planning on grilling this Memorial Day weekend. Michelle Southern has more…

CUT 2 (30)  “I’m Michelle Southern”

An Allen Parish man has died after being stung by bees over a thousand times in an Arizona park. Maricopa County Sheriff’s Deputy Joaquin Enriquez says 23-year-old Alex Bestler and a friend were hiking in the Usery Mountain Park when they were attacked by a swarm of bees. He says Bestler’s friend was able to escape into a bathroom, but Bestler was overcome by the swarm.

CUT 3 (08)  “the bees”

Enriquez says the park is closed through the weekend pending an investigation.

A pregnant Thibodaux woman has been arrested after having a sexual relationship with a juvenile. Thibodaux Police Cpl. David Melancon says 24-year-old Alison Thibodaux has been charged with felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile. Melancon says the juvenile and his mother came forward when they learned Thibodaux was pregnant.

cut 12 (09) “the father”

An Allen Parish man was killed by a swarm of bees in an Arizona park. Jeff Palermo spoke with Maricopa County Sheriff’s Deputy Joaquin Enriquez …
CUT 1 (29) “I’m Jeff Palermo”

A Houma man has been arrested on 37 counts of child pornography involving Juveniles under the age of 13. 29-year-old Nollie Verrett was charged after being investigated by Attorney General Jeff Landry’s Cyber Crime Unit. Verrett was booked into the Lafourche Parish Jail.

The National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration has released its 2016 Atlantic Hurricane season forecast and NOAA Administrator Dr. Kathryn Sullivan says there is a 70-percent chance of 10 to 16 named storms during the season. She admits this year’s forecast is challenging because of various factors related to sea surface temperatures and how strong La Nina and its impacts will be…
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The average season typically includes around 12 named storms.

A pregnant Thibodaux woman has been arrested for having a sexual relationship with a juvenile. Thibodaux Police Cpl. David Melancon says 24-year-old Alison Thibodaux had an inappropriate relationship with a teenager, which ended in December.
Cut 11 (11) “several months”

An Allen Parish man from Louisiana died in Arizona after being stung more than 1,000 times by bees. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office says 23-year-old Alex Bestler was hiking with some friends at a park when he was attacked by a swarm of bees. Deputies say his friends reported they tried to help Bestler, but they couldn’t because of the aggressive, massive swarm. He later died at a local hospital. The park is now closed.

Governor John Bel Edwards is trying to convince the Senate to put a stop to House amendments made to the budget bill. Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne told the Senate Finance committee that the spending plan put together by the lower chamber simply won’t due. One of the major changes the House made to HB1 was reallocating money towards TOPS and away from hospitals that provide care for the poor. Dardenne explained what would happen if TOPS was fully funded…:
CUT 11 (08) “unacceptable budget”
The Senate Finance committee is expected to approve its own version of the budget in the coming days.

Governor Edwards has signed the Blue Lives Matter Bill into law, which makes Louisiana the first in the nation to expand its hate crime laws to protect police, firefighters and EMS crews. But the Louisiana NAACP strongly opposes. President Ernest Johnson says if you classify hate crimes by occupation, everyone should be included…:
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Previous hate crime laws only included people on the basis of race, gender, religion, nationality, sexual orientation or affiliation with certain groups.

NOAA will issue its outlook for the 2016 hurricane season today. State climatologist Barry Keim says if this season does lean in one direction, it would probably lean towards a more active season because 2016 already produced Hurricane Alex in January…:
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The Blue Lives Matter bill has been signed into law by Governor John Bel Edwards, making Louisiana the first state to include police, firefighters and EMS in hate crime legislation. Jeff Palermo has more…:
Cut 3 (29) “I’m Jeff Palermo”

We’ll find out today what NOAA predicts for the 2016 hurricane season. State Climatologist Barry Keim says the forecast likely won’t call for an above average season, but The Bayou State should still be prepared…:
CUT 8 (05) “in Louisiana”
Keim says an average season typically includes around 12 storms.

Governor John Bel Edwards is expected to issue the call for another special session any day now, according to Jeremy Alford, publisher of LaPolitics.com. Edwards has said a second session is needed to raise revenues to address a 600-million dollar budget deficit for next fiscal year. Alford says it’s likely lawmakers will not get a break from the State Capitol…:
cut 4 (10) “after adjournment”
Alford says the special session may only last as long as two and a half weeks.

State Police say impairment is likely a factor in a Gonzales crash that claimed the life of a 57-year-old man. They say Brion Landry of Baton Rouge was riding his motorcycle at 2am, when it ran off the road and ejected he and his passenger. He sustained fatal injuries, the other occupant minor injuries. Troopers believe Landry was impaired.

The Edwards administration is urging the Senate to reject the House amendments that were made to the proposed budget for next fiscal year. Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne told the Senate Finance committee that the spending plan the House approved is not acceptable, because it will result in deep cuts to programs that assist the elderly and disabled…:
Cut 10 (09) “shortfall”
The Senate Finance committee is expected to approve its own version of the budget in the coming days.

A bill that says underage drinkers shouldn’t spending time in jail received final legislative passage. The measure eliminates the mandate that someone under 21 sit behind bars up to six months if they are caught with an alcoholic beverage. The violation still carries a $100 fine, and offenders could still be cited — but it wouldn’t show up on criminal history records.

NOAA issues its 2016 Atlantic hurricane season outlook today. Emelie Gunn has more on what federal forecasters might predict…:
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Louisiana is the first state in the nation to expand its hate crime laws to protect police, EMS and firefighters. Governor Edwards signed the Blue Lives Matter bill into law. The NAACP opposes and thinks it won’t hold up in court. But Alexandria Representative Lance Harris says this is long overdue…:
CUT 14 (09) “in place”

Governor Edwards has signed the Blue Lives Matter Bill into law, which makes Louisiana the first in the nation to expand its hate crime laws to protect police, firefighters and EMS crews. Author of the legislation, Alexandria Representative Lance Harris says the new law allows prosecutors to seek tougher penalties against individuals who intentionally target first responders because of their profession.
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President of the Louisiana NAACP, Ernest Johnson says this law is just a knee jerk reaction to the Black Lives Matter campaign and unnecessary.
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Five other states have tried to pass similar bills, but they all failed to pass.

Governor John Bel Edwards could issue the call for the next special session as early as today, according to Jeremy Alford with LaPolitics.com. Halen Doughty has more…
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NOAA will issue its outlook for the 2016 hurricane season today. State climatologist Barry Keim expects the federal forecasters will predict an average season. He says there are two factors working against each other, cooler than normal sea surface temperature, which is an indication for fewer storms, and La Nina coming later this season, which is an indicator for more storms.
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Today the price of crude oil tops 50 dollars a barrel for the first time since October. Executive Director at LSU’s Center for Energy Studies David Dismukes says this might put an end to the job losses in this industry. He says with oil trading at 50-dollars a barrel, it’ll be interesting to see if there will be an uptick in production…
CUT 8 (10) “the operators”

Legislation to ensure all TOPS students get at least part of their scholarship award is on its way to final legislative passage. Hammond Representative Chris Broadwater says without this bill 13-thousand students could lose their scholarships due to funding issues, which would hurt the state’s economy. He says this could keep more Louisiana students in the state.
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A Senate-approved measure that would let patients see physical therapists without a doctor’s referral receives the support of the House as it nears final passage. But West Monroe Representative Frank Hoffman says patients should see a doctor before seeing physical therapists, because doctors have more medical training. He says if physical therapists missed something in a diagnosis, they could seriously injure that person.
cut 10 (05) “real problem”

Ville Platte Rep. Harvey LeBas says physical therapists have the necessary training to see patients and take care of them.

The Baton Rouge Zoo releases the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums final inspection report of the zoo after two giraffes died in March. Zoo director Phil Frost says they’re pleased the report found the staff responded as an experienced and knowledgeable team. He says he requested an audit by the association because the giraffe deaths were unusual.
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