May is Foster Care Month which is why the Department of Children and Family Services is making an extra push to recruit foster families…

cut 2 (31) “reporting”

State Police say a three vehicle crash on I-49 in Evangeline Parish killed a Covington couple. They say one car became disabled in the roadway after being struck by lightning. A wrecker truck following that car stopped in time to avoid a collision, but a third car ran into the wrecker. The driver of that car, 22-year-old Austin Jones, and a passenger, 24-year-old Destinee Jones, died as a result of their injuries. A 1-year-old in their car was restrained in a child safety seat and suffered minor injuries.

Today begins a statewide “Click It or Ticket” campaign focusing on back seat passengers, pickup trucks, and low compliance areas. Louisiana Highway Safety Commission Executive Director Lt. Col. John LeBlanc says they provide extra funding for law enforcement to increase patrols through the campaign…

cut 6 (09) “rate goes up”

Their 2014 seat belt survey showed 84-percent of Louisiana motorists buckled up, the highest rate to date.

17-year-old Koryn Hawthorne of Abbeville will compete in the finals of NBC’s “The Voice”. Hawthorne had to battle another contestant to advance and a Twitter vote moved her into tonight’s finals. Hawthorne’s principal at Lighthouse Christian School, Tiffany Spraggins says their students were showing teachers how to set up Twitter accounts so they could all vote for #TeamKoryn…

cut 11 (09) “fun experience”

The finals are tonight at seven.

Today, the Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee will take up the revenue generating bills that were approved by the House. La-politics-dot-com publisher Jeremy Alford says with less than a month to go in the session, there’s a lot of work ahead for lawmakers…

cut 15 (11) “totals”

He says while lawmakers are busy looking at ways to raise revenue, they also have to find a tax offset to satisfy Governor Bobby Jindal’s concerns about increased taxes.

This is Foster Care Month and the Department of Children and Family Services is recruiting foster families. DCFS Policy Advisor Karen Hebert says children do best in families and by having foster homes in all areas of the state, children in foster care can stay close to home and in the same school…

cut 9 (10) “get to remain”

They’re especially looking for homes who can take larger sibling groups or children with special needs.

Officials in Tangipahoa Parish say a tornado that touched down Sunday in Tickfaw injured three people and damaged several homes. The National Weather Service says the twister had windspeeds of up to 110-miles-per-hour. They say three homes were destroyed or had major damage. Two people received what is described as minor injuries. A third injured person was transported to a local hospital. It’s reported that more than two dozen people were displaced because of the tornado.

17-year-old Koryn Hawthorne of Abbeville performs tonight in the finals of NBC’s “The Voice”. Michelle Southern reports…

cut 3 (27) “reporting”

Today, the Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee will discuss the revenue generating bills approved by the House. The tax bills up for debate would reduce tax breaks businesses currently enjoy and scale back the film tax and solar tax credit programs. Jeremy Alford, with la-politics-dot-com, says the Senate will likely look at limiting those two programs further, plus raising the cigarette tax to a higher amount than agreed upon by the House….

cut 14 (09) “entire answer”

The lower chamber passed 11 bills that would increase revenues by 615-million dollars.

17-year-old Koryn Hawthorne of Abbeville performs tonight in the finals of NBC’s “The Voice”. Her principal at Lighthouse Christian School, Tiffany Spraggins, says the excitement on campus ranges from the youngest in class to the oldest adult…

cut 10 (10) “that night”

The show airs at 7pm.

The Louisiana Highway Safety Commission begins a statewide “Click It or Ticket” campaign today that runs through the end of the month. Executive Director Lt. Col. John LeBlanc says this campaign is designed, in part to raise the compliance rate for back seat passengers. He says since the state expanded its seat belt law to cover back seat passengers in 2009, the compliance rate has doubled to 55-percent…

cut 5 (06) “about that law”

He says you should expect to see extra law enforcement patrols throughout the campaign.

May is Foster Care Month and the Department of Children and Family Services is recruiting foster families. DCFS Policy Advisor Karen Hebert says this month, more than 4300 children will be served by Louisiana’s foster care system and just 2,000 certified foster homes are available. She says that’s a huge deficit for their agency…

cut 8 (09) “older children”

To find out more about becoming a foster parent, visit www-dot-dcfs-dot-la-dot-gov-slash-foster.

The Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee will discuss today the revenue generating bills that were approved by the House. The lower chamber passed 11 bills that would increase revenues by 615-million dollars. Jeremy Alford, with la-politics-dot-com, says Senate leadership wants to raise even more revenue to offset a one-point-six billion dollar budget gap…

Cut 13 (10) “control over”

He says with less than a month to go in the session, there’s a lot of work ahead for lawmakers.

The Louisiana Highway Safety Commission announces a statewide “Click It or Ticket” campaign focusing on back seat passengers, pickup trucks, and low compliance areas. Executive Director Lt. Col. John LeBlanc says this is a statewide campaign, but they will focus efforts in areas of the state where seat belt compliance is the lowest…

cut 4 (05) “central Louisiana”

Seat belt compliance was lowest in the Alexandria area, 71-percent, followed by Monroe with a 75-percent seat belt use rate.

The Department of Children and Family Services is recruiting Foster Families, especially those who can take larger sibling groups or children with special needs. DCFS Policy Advisor Karen Hebert says because of unsafe living conditions at home, they regularly have children who need a new place to stay. She says children enter foster care almost daily…

cut 7 (09) “scheduling”

May is Foster Care Month which is why an extra push to recruit families is made. To find out more about becoming a foster parent, visit www-dot-dcfs-dot-la-dot-gov-slash-foster.

According to a recent statewide survey, almost two-thirds of voters (many of those-parents and graduates) are in favor of the TOPS scholarship program to remain fully funded. This, despite lawmakers efforts to put a cap on the awards. That’s a problem, according to Bernie Pinsonat with Southern Media and Opinion Research…
CUT 4 (04) Q: ‘more money’
Which leaves lawmakers with a bit of a dilemma, given the state budget crisis.

It’s that termite time of year once again, and you may have already started to see them swarming around streetlights in the evening. There’s no shortage of pest control companies out there who want your business for termite control, but LSU AgCenter entomologist Dr. Dennis Ring says get at lease three companies to come out and diagram the plan…
CUT 14 (09) Q: ‘once you get termites.’
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Hollywood South takes center stage in this summer’s blockbuster movie season, starting this weekend with opening of Pitch Perfect 2 filmed in Baton Rouge. Also scheduled is “American Ultra,” “Selfless” and “The Fantastic Four.” And according to Louisiana Entertainment Executive Director Chris Stelly, that’s not all…
CUT 7 (10) Q: “New Orleans”
Stelly adds, even with adjustments to the film tax credits being considered by the legislature to help ease the state budget deficit, he does not believe this would be a deterent to film makers.
Governor Bobby Jindal is in Iowa today, speaking at the National Action Summit and the Iowa GOP dinner tonight. Yesterday Jindal told Iowa Press that the decision by former President George W. Bush to invade Iraq was – quote – absolutely right.

A recent survey shows almost two thirds of Louisiana voters supporting keeping the TOPS program fully funded, just as some lawmakers are making efforts to put a cap on the awards…
CUT 1 (29) Q: “reporting”

Blue Bell announces layoffs of 1450 employees across the country following the lysteria outbreaks. In Louisiana, they are planning 10 layoffs, and about 130 furloughs for distrution sites in Louisiana; including Slidell, Shreveport, Ruston, Lafayette, and Baton Rouge. Bluebell says the clean-up at the infected sites is taking longer than expected.
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Alexandria Police arrest a man accused of throwing a baby up against the wall. Deputy Chief Cedric Green says they received a call from the baby’s mother saying 20-year-old Devontee Smith kicked in the back door of her residence and threatened her and and the baby. Green says Smith was upset about something when he came to the residence…
CUT 9 (06) “against the wall”
Smith faces charges of domestic abuse battery, home invasion, simple assault, and theft of diapers and milk.

This summer might the biggest ever for Hollywood South at the Box Office, and it’s starting this weekend with the opening of the Baton Rouge filmed Pitch Perfect 2. If you hit up the theater this summer there’s a good chance you’ll see a movie that was filmed in Louisiana…
CUT 6 (07) “the next Terminator”
That’s Louisiana Entertainment Executive Director Chris Stelly.

A deadly 3 car crash Friday has killed a husband and wife on I-49 near Bunkie. Their car reportedly rear-ended a wrecker truck, who had rear-ended another vehicle, which apparently had been struck by lightening. Austin and Destinee Jones of Covington were killed, while their 12 month baby in a car seat sustained minor injuries; same for the occupants in the other car. The wrecker driver was not injured.

The movie searchlights are shining on Hollywood South this weekend…
CUT 2 (31) Q: “reporting”
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As the Louisiana House discusses placing limits on the popular TOPS program to help ease the state budget crisis, not everyone is onboard; like a large majority of voters, according to numbers from a recent survey.
CUT 3 (10) Q: ‘pay for TOPS”
That’s Pollster Bernie Pinsonat, with Southern Media and Opinion Research.

There’s a good chance you’ve seen termites swarming the street lights as it’s that time of year. Dr. Dennis Ring, entomologist with the LSU AgCenter, says the Formosan subterranean termites are attracted to lights and swarm from dusk through early morning. He says this is the most destructive insect in the state of Louisiana…:
cut 12 (08) “to the light”

After a tough loss on Thursday, number one ranked LSU rebounded with a conviencing 9-2 win over South Carolina on Friday night. The Bayou Bengals banged out 15 hits, Andrew Stevenson had four hits, Mark Laird and Conner Hale each had three hits, while Austin Bain picked up the win on the mound. The victory gives the Tigers their 18th SEC West title. LSU plays its final regular season game at 7 PM. An LSU win or a Vanderbilt loss and the Tigers win an SEC regular season title.

ULM and UL Lafayette waited for over three hours, but couldn’t play last night. So the two teams will play a doubleheader at 11 AM. Louisiana Tech’s game against Marshall was also rained out last night and those two teams will play a doublehader at 11 AM.

In the Southland…all but two games were postponed by rain. One of those games was Central Arkansas and McNeese State and the Cowboys lost 4-2.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In the NCAA Softball Tournament…LSU beat Texas Southern 15-0 last night in five innings. So the Tigers will now play Arizona State at 11 AM in a winner’s bracket game. UL Lafayette defeated Weber State 11-0 in 5 innings. The Cajuns will face Baylor Saturday afternoon at 3:30.

It’s championship Saturday at the state baseball tournament in Sulphur. Barbe will look to defend its 5A crown when they take on Catholic High. In Four-A, it’s an all Lafayette Parish match-up as St. Thomas More takes on Teurlings Catholic at 2 PM. The Three-A title game will be between John Curtis and Parkview Baptist. In Two-A…Oak Grove will take on defending champ Kinder at 3 PM, and in One-A Ouachita Christian will battle seventh seeded St. Edmund.

In the NBA…the Atlanta Hawks advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals as they defeated Washington 94-91. Former Louisiana Tech standout Paul Millsap had 20 points and 13 rebounds.

There are plenty of high schoolers graduating this weekend and their parents have told Southern Media and Opinion Research they don’t want the TOPS scholarship program to change. Pollster Bernie Pinsonat says a recent study finds voters argue the legislators point that the program is unsustainable because rising tuition cause the amount of money the state spends each year on TOPS to rise…:
CUT 5 (07) “fund it”
He says the poll shows 64-percent of voters want TOPS to be left as is.

A man from Slidell is under arrest on attempted murder charges after he fired a gun at his girlfriend outside a gas station. They say deputies responded to the shooting incident and located the 19-year-old girlfriend walking along the highway. She told deputies 25-year-old Bird Randolph shot at her when she attempted to exit a vehicle at a gas station. He is charged with attempted second degree murder and possession of firearm by convicted felon.

It’s that termite time of year and you may have already started to see them swarming around streetlights in the evening. LSU entomologist Dr. Dennis Ring says you should make sure your home is treated and get at least three companies to come out and diagram the plan…:
CUT 14 (09) “once you get termites”
He says termites are attracted to light and you can better protect your home by turning off porch and patio lights.

Alexandria Police have arrested a man accused of throwing an eight-month-old baby against a wall. Deputy Chief Cedric Green says they received a call from the baby’s mother saying 20-year-old Devontee Smith kicked in the back door of her residence and threatened her and and the baby. Green says Smith was upset about something when he came to the residence…:
CUT 9 (06) “against the wall”
He says Smith then took the formula and diapers before fleeing the residence. The baby was not injured. The suspect is charged with domestic abuse battery, home invasion, simple assault, and theft.

A recent statewide survey shows almost two-thirds of voters favor the TOPS scholarship program…
CUT 1 (29) “reporting”

Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Deputies have made an arrest in connection the child abuse of a 8 year-old girl. The girl told detectives 26 year-old Kerrian Javana Clofer held her hands over an open flame of a gas stove, after she ate a snack without permission. She also stated that Clofer repeatedly would handcuff her. The charges facing Clofer are 2nd degree cruelty to a juvenile and false imprisonment.
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A man is under arrest in Alexandria, after he allegedly kicked in the door of his child’s mother’s residence, threatened her and the 8 month-old baby, then threw his little child up against the wall, before fleeing with diapers and milk. Twenty year-old Devontee Smith faces numerous charges. As far as the baby’s condition, things look ok….
CUT 11 (06) Q: ‘to the child’
That’s Alexandria Police Deputy Chief Cedric Green.

This summer might the biggest ever for Hollywood South at the Box Office. Starting this weekend with the opening of the Baton Rouge filmed Pitch Perfect 2, if you hit up the theater this summer there’s a good chance you’ll see a movie that was filmed in Louisiana…
CUT 6 (07) “the next Terminator”
That’s Louisiana Entertainment Executive Director Chris Stelly, who says the Bayou State is also active on the TV screen as well.