The situation with the Red River flooding is getting more serious by the hour. The projected crest in the Shreveport area would be the highest crest of the Red River in 70 years. Mike Steele, with the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, says, equipment and approximately 175,000 sandbags have been delivered to the Shreveport area and officials are constantly monitoring conditions…:
CUT 7 (10) “ready to roll”

Willie “Dynamite” Larkin is the new president at Grambling State University. During the selection process, Larkin was interviewed by faculty and staff and “Dynamite,” who is also a motivational speaker, scored well with those two groups…:
CUT 10 (1) “hard at all”
He takes over July 1st.

Tickets to the LSU/UL-Lafayette Super Regional games this weekend are going for hundreds of dollars on the secondary market. Jeff Palermo reports…:
CUT 1 (30) “reporting”

And while we’re talking about tickets, Garth Brooks broke his Louisiana record today selling 55,423 tickets for the July Smoothie King Center shows in just 43 minutes. The previous record was from April 1998 when he sold 42,110 tickets to the shows at the PMAC.

The latest forecast of the Red River has it now cresting in the Shreveport area at its highest level in 70 years. Eric Gill reports…:
CUT 2 (30) “reporting”

The State Fire Marshal’s office is investigating a blaze which claimed the life of a man from Opelousas last night. They say the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s firefighters responded to the fire around 8:15 pm and when they entered the home, they located 54-year-old Curtis Iles deceased in a hallway.

Baton Rouge Food Blogger and lover of Louisiana cuisine, Jay Ducote, is competing on Season 11 of Food Network Star which premieres this Sunday. The hit reality competition show awards the winner with their own series on the Food Network. Ducote, who has also appeared on MasterChef and Cutthroat Kitchen, says being one of the 12 finalists on Food Network Star is a dream come true…:
CUT 12 (10) “Food Network Star”
The premiere Sunday will air at 8pm and a huge viewing party with Ducote is being held in Downtown Baton Rouge.

Garth Brooks broke a Louisiana ticket sales record today selling 55,424 tickets for the July New Orleans shows in just 43 minutes.

The latest forecast of the Red River has it now cresting in the Shreveport area at 36.5 feet on Sunday evening. Mike Steele, with the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, says, at this point, only a handful of properties have taken in water and they hope the situation doesn’t get worse…:
CUT 6 (11) “bigger problems develop”
The projected crest in the Shreveport area would be the highest crest of the Red River in 70 years.

A woman from Lafayette is under arrest for 2nd degree murder, after a man discovered a dead baby’s body in a box from a storage unit he purchased. Lafayette Police say fifty-seven year-old Rebecca Landry confessed to the crime, saying the infant died in 2001. Landry is being booked into the Lafayette Parish Jail.

Willie “Dynamite” Larkin is the new president at Grambling State University. The University of Louisiana system Board selected Larkin over Gilbert Rochon and three other candidates who were interviewed on Grambling’s campus this week. Larkin says the difficult selection process should benefit him when he takes over as Grambling’s president on July 1st…:
CUT 9 (10) “few months”

College Baseball fans in Louisiana are going nuts for tickets to the LSU/UL-Lafayette Super Regional this weekend at The Box. Seats are going for hundreds of dollars on secondary markets. Stubhub.com spokeswoman Allison Salcedo (Sal-Say-Doe) says the average price for Games 1 and 2 are around $195 which is huge for college baseball…:
CUT 3 (06) “the matchup”

Speaking of tickets, Garth Brooks New Orleans added two more shows for the weekend in July as this morning’s rush sold out the original two concerts in 15 minutes. The two extra shows are also now sold out.

Lafayette police arrest a woman for second-degree murder after discovering her baby’s body left in a box for 14 years. Scott Carwile has the story…:
CUT 3 (30) “reporting”

Governor Bobby Jindal will be in northwest Louisiana this afternoon to meet with local officials in surveying repose efforts as the Red River continues to rise. Jindal says he wants to make sure communities have what they need to protect themselves in combating the flood. The Red River is expected to be at its highest level in 70 years when it crests on Saturday afternoon, according to National Weather Service experts.

There’s a week left in the 2015 legislative session and there’s great uncertainty over whether the legislature can pass a budget that will NOT be vetoed by Governor Bobby Jindal. Jeremy Alford, with la-politics-dot-com, says the legislature is struggling to put together a spending plan that’s revenue neutral, which the governor has requested:
CUT 6 (06) “modern times”
He says if Jindal does veto the budget, we could see an override veto session.

On sale now are tickets to the Garth Brooks concerts in New Orleans on July 10th & 11th. Smoothie King Center GM Alan Freeman says you can only get tickets online at ticketmaster.com. He says they won’t be selling any tickets at their box office because Brooks is very particular about how he wants his shows sold..:
CUT 6 (10) “his tickets”

Speaking of tickets, the weekend’s LSU/UL-Lafayette Super Regional games sold out this morning in 5 minutes. An official with LSU says this is one of the toughest tickets to get for a home event in the school’s history.

There’s a week to go in the 2015 legislative session and there’s great uncertainty over whether the legislature can pass a budget that will NOT be vetoed by Governor Bobby Jindal. Jeremy Alford, with la-politics-dot-com, says even if the legislature sends the governor a revenue-neutral budget, it will likely contain tax increases to businesses in order to protect higher and health care from devastating cuts…

cut 9 (08) “five years”

The third Louisiana Radio Network Gubernatorial Question of the Week asked the candidates, “As Governor, how would you reform the Medicaid program? Would you accept federal dollars so more uninsured people can receive coverage?” Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle says he would like to expand coverage for working families, but in a way that does not burden tax payers with an entitlement…

cut 16 (12) “for working families”
Today, Governor Bobby Jindal travels to Caddo and Bossier Parishes to meet with local officials and survey response efforts due to the rising waters of the Red River. The governor will visit both the Caddo and Bossier Emergency Operations Centers to ensure local officials have what they need to combat flood waters. The Red River is expected to crest at 35.5 feet Saturday, five-and-a-half feet above flood stage.

Tickets to the Garth Brooks/Trisha Yearwood shows in New Orleans go on sale this morning at 10am. Michelle Southern reports…

cut 1 (31) “reporting”

The legislative session ends in a week and lawmakers are struggling to send a revenue-neutral budget to Governor Bobby Jindal. Jeff Palermo has more…

cut 2 (32) “reporting”

Governor Jindal travels to Caddo and Bossier Parishes today to meet with local officials and survey response efforts due to the rising waters of the Red River. The river is currently over four feet above flood stage and some flooding has impacted the area. The Red River is expected to crest at 35.5 feet Saturday afternoon, possibly into Saturday evening.

In Louisiana Radio Network’s continuing gubernatorial Q&A, we asked the candidates how they would reform the Medicaid program and would they accept federal dollars so more uninsured people can receive coverage? Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne says he would work to convince the federal government to change the rules so we can begin considering expanding Medicaid…

cut 15 (11) “hospital system”

All four major candidates’ responses can be found online at louisianaradionetwork-dot-com.

Lafayette Police arrested a woman after the discovery of an infant’s body that had been in a box for 14 years in a storage unit. Fifty-seven-year-old Rebecca Landry was booked into Lafayette Parish Jail for the death of the child. Corporal Nicole Benoit says Landry spoke with detectives, but the details of that conversation are private….

cut 11 (08) “murder”

Through their investigation, detectives determined that the infant had been in the box since 2001.

The third Louisiana Radio Network Gubernatorial Question of the Week asked the candidates, “As Governor, how would you reform the Medicaid program? Would you accept federal dollars so more uninsured people can receive coverage?” US Senator David Vitter says the only way he’d consider accepting the federal dollars is if programs were reformed through private coverage or some other model…

cut 14 (11) “receive help”

Louisiana’s gubernatorial primary is October 24th.

With a week left in the 2015 legislative session, there are questions whether the legislature can pass a budget that will NOT be vetoed by Governor Bobby Jindal. Jeremy Alford, with la-politics-dot-com, says if Jindal does veto the budget, we could see an override veto session…

cut 8 (08) “veto override”

He says the legislature is struggling with putting together a spending plan that’s revenue neutral, which the governor has requested.

Lafayette Police arrested a woman for second-degree murder after the discovery of an infant’s body that had been in a storage unit for 14 years . Corporal Nicole Benoit says police were notified after a man who purchased the storage unit discovered the body in a box.

cut 10 (10) “infant”

Fifty-seven-year-old Rebecca Landry was booked into Lafayette Parish Jail for the death of the child.

Tickets to see Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans go on sale this morning at 10am and are expected to go fast. General manager Alan Freeman says they’ll be drawing Garth fans from all over the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and western Florida…

cut 5 (10) “for the city”

You can online buy tickets online at ticketmaster.com

There’s a week left in the 2015 legislative session and there’s great uncertainty over whether the legislature can pass a budget that will NOT be vetoed by Governor Bobby Jindal. Jeremy Alford, with la-politics-dot-com, says the legislature is struggling with putting together a spending plan that’s revenue neutral, which the governor has requested…

cut 7 (06) “modern times”

He says if Jindal does veto the budget, we could see an override veto session.

This is the third Louisiana Radio Network Gubernatorial Question of the Week. We asked, “As Governor, how would you reform the Medicaid program? Would you accept federal dollars so more uninsured people can receive coverage?” Democratic State Representative John Bel Edwards says in Louisiana, Medicaid expansion would benefit 290,000 working poor people…

cut 13 (09) “into Louisiana”

The responses of all four major candidates can be found at louisianaradionetwork-dot-com.

Tickets to the Garth Brooks/Trisha Yearwood shows in New Orleans go on sale this morning at 10am. The couple will be performing in Louisiana for the first time in 18 years on July 10th and 11th at the Smoothie King Center. General manager Alan Freeman says they expect tickets to go fast…

cut 4 (10) “the other cities”

The tickets, including fees, are $74.98 each and will only be sold online at ticketmaster-dot-com.

Dr. Willie Larkin has been selected as the next president of Grambling State University. Larkin received a unanimous vote of the University of Louisiana System Board. Most recently, Larkin served as chief of staff in the Office of the President at Morgan State University in Baltimore.

The senate and now the house has approved legislation that paves way for people who suffer from cancer, glaucoma and a severe form of cerebral palsy to receive medical marijuana legally in Louisiana. The bill passed on a vote of 70-29 in the House. New Orleans Representative Helena Moreno…
cut 12 (08) “…and need it”
The bill establishes where medical marijuana will be dispensed and where it will be grown and who will handle the production of the medicine. But Leesville Representative James Armes expressed skeptism…
cut 13 (08) “….enough”
Moreno added more amendments to the bill, in an attempt to calm fears that the growing of medicial marijuana in Louisiana could lead to criminal activity. The legislation heads back to the Senate for final approval and then to the governor, who has indicated he’ll sign it.

Officials with the “Hollywood South” movie industry are apprehensive about changes made by the Senate Finance Committee to a bill that reforms the film tax credit program. The committee lowered the cap for film tax credits from $200 million to $180 million. Louisiana film industry consultant, Sherri McConnell, says this causes concern about projects already in the pipeline, as well as the future growth of the industry…:
CUT 9 (09) “increased production”
She says this is not promising legislation for the film industry on many levels.

There’s a week left in the legislative session and there’s great uncertainty over whether the legislature can pass a budget that will NOT be vetoed by Governor Bobby Jindal. Jeremy Alford, with la-politics-dot-com, says the legislature is struggling with putting together a spending plan that’s revenue neutral, which the governor has requested..
cut 7 (06) “…modern times”
He says if Jindal does veto the budget, we could see an override veto session.

The House votes to legalize the use of non-smoking medical marijuana this afternoon, but not without concerns being expressed from the house floor. But New Orleans Representative Helena Moreno says-not to worry- the bill has very tight controls with patient benefits.
cut 14(10) “that option”

About 175 thousand sandbags have been distributed to fight the rising waters of the Red River. Floodwaters are approaching some neighborhoods in Caddo and Bossier Parish and those residents are being encouraged to evacuate…
CUT 6 (07) “Saturday evening”
That’s Marty Mayeaux, with the National Weather Service in Shreveport, who adds there will be flooding downriver as well after Saturday.
————————–
The Louisiana National Guard says an investigation has determined that pilot error was the cause of the Black Hawk Helicopter crash which claimed the lives of four guardsman and 7 Marines in March. Col Pete Schneider says spatial disorientation of both pilots caused them to lose control of the aircraft…:
CUT 3 (10) “off of instruments”

The film tax credit bill revisions made by the Senate Finance Committee is the target of criticism from some “Hollywood South” officials. The committee lowered the cap by 20 million, and gutted the local incentives portion of the bill by Lafayette Representative Joel Robideaux. Louisiana film industry consultant, Sherri McConnell says lawmakers should have a better grasp of the measure’s intent…
CUT 11 (07) Q: ‘more positive posture”