10 bids from companies have been submitted to the Louisiana National Guard with ideas on ways to get rid of the 15 million pounds M6 propellant at Camp Minden. Col Pete Schneider says in addition to various state agencies, area residents who opposed the open tray burning will also be part of the team formed to evaluate the situation…

cut 15 (10) “was on it” (2x)

The EPA agreed to delay an open tray burn of the explosives and said they would entertain alternative methods.

Spring is in the air and crawfish season is in full swing in Louisiana. Gulf Seafood Institute Chairman Harlon Pearce says you could easily see boiled crawfish this weekend at about $3.50 a pound…:

cut 11 (07) “I would believe”

He says they expected a substantial change in the price of mudbugs once we got those crazy early March winter temperatures out of the way.

The Attorney General’s Office reports the arrest of a pair of Shreveport brothers after a large amount of child pornography was seized from their residence. A cyber crime investigation led to the arrest of 51-year old Richard Wilson and his brother 52-year-old Ronald Wilson. Richard faces 31 counts of possessing and 6 counts of distributing child porn, while Ronald is charged with 500 counts of possessing child pornography. Both were booked into the Caddo Parish Jail.

The Spring Equinox occurs today at precisely 5:45PM, marking the end of winter and the start of Spring. Michelle Southern reports…

cut 1 (30) “reporting”

The Louisiana National Guard says they’ve gotten 10 bids from companies with ideas on ways to get rid of the 15 million pounds M6 propellant at Camp Minden. The EPA agreed to delay an open tray burn of the explosives and said they would entertain alternative methods. Col Pete Schneider says these 10 companies have all submitted proposals on what should be done…

cut 14 (10) “these proposals”

Not many details are being released about the bids themselves or the ideas being presented.

A MarblePort Polling survey on Louisiana’s governor’s race shows Republican David Vitter leading the field with 34-percent of the vote followed by Democrat John Bel Edwards 31-percent. MarblePort Founder Ethan Zorfas says Edwards is getting support from White Independent voters and looks to be sitting pretty good for a runoff spot…

cut 8 (08) “Mary Landrieu did”

Zorfas says there appears to be a bit of a resurgence of the Democratic Party.

Spring officially begins today at 5:45PM. State Climatologist Barry Keim says as far as the Spring outlook, expect more precipitation over the next couple of months than we usually get because of the current El Nino…

cut 5 (10) “rivers in Louisiana”

Keim says it would be great if the El Nino would stick around through summer because they tend to mitigate the opportunity for hurricane activity.

With the arrival of spring, crawfish season is in full swing in the Bayou State. Ray McClain is an aquaculture professor with the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Center in Rayne and he says not only will crawfish prices be down this weekend, there will be plenty of mudbugs out there. He says when the temperatures are up, the catch is up…

cut 12 (04) “holds up”

You could easily find boiled crawfish this weekend at about $3.50 a pound.

The LSU men’s basketball team’s season ended in heartbreaking fashion last night as the Bayou Bengals blew a 16-point lead and lost 66-65 to North Carolina State in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. LSU missed its last 12 shots from the field and six free throws in the final four minutes to allow the Wolfpack to steal the victory. Head Coach Johnny Jones on the missed free throws…

cut 17 (12) “tonight”

LSU’s leading scorer was Tim Quarterman, who had 17 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

In the CollegeInsider-dot-com Tournament, Northwestern State was crushed by the University of Tennessee at Martin 104-79. The Demons’ Jalan West lead all scorers with 34. Northwestern ends their season with a 19-13 record.

UL-Lafayette is still alive in the CIT. They travel to take on Sam Houston State tomorrow afternoon.

The Pels could have used Anthony Davis last night as they were defeated by the Phoenix Suns 74-72. Davis rolled his left ankle in the team shoot around yesterday and was benched. Eric Gordon lead the way for New Orleans with 14 points. The Pelicans drop to 37-31, one game behind Oklahoma City for the last playoff spot in the
Western Conference. Davis’ availability for tonight’s game at Golden State is uncertain.

In college baseball, Arkansas scored five runs in the first four innings on their way to a 5-1 victory over number one ranked LSU. The Tigers’ lone run came off of an Alex Bregman solo homer in the sixth. Sophomore right hander Dominic Taccolini earned the win for the Razorbacks, while Jared Poche is tagged with his first loss of the season for the Tigers. Game two of their three game series is tonight at 8PM.

The Saints have reportedly restructured cornerback Keenan Lewis’ contract. The deal will give the veteran more guaranteed money, which is what he wanted and some relief on the salary cap, which is what the team wanted.

A survey by MarblePort Polling on Louisiana’s governor’s race shows Republican David Vitter leading the field with 34-percent of the vote. Democrat John Bel Edwards is close behind with 31-percent, followed by Republicans Jay Dardenne with 14-percent and Scott Angelle with 7-percent. MarblePort Founder Ethan Zorfas says the early picture in this race is clear…

cut 7 (09) “those Republicans”

The automated phone survey polled just over 1000 Louisiana residents.

The Spring Equinox occurs today, at precisely 5:45PM, marking the end of winter and the beginning of Spring. State Climatologist Barry Keim says this past winter will go into the record books as a cold and dry one in Louisiana…

cut 4 (09) “past three months”

Keim says The Bayou State has been getting a lot of rain over the past few weeks and it’s setting the stage for what we can expect this spring.

Spring is in the air and crawfish season is in full swing in Louisiana. Gulf Seafood Institute Chairman Harlon Pearce says they expected a substantial change in the price of the mudbugs once we got those crazy early March winter temperatures out of the way and you’ll certainly see it this weekend…

cut 10 (06) “that’s normal”

Pearce says you could easily see boiled crawfish this weekend at about $3.50 a pound.

The LSU men’s basketball team ended their season in heartbreaking fashion last night as the Bayou Bengals blew a 16-point lead in losing to North Carolina State 66-65 in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. LSU missed its last 12 shots from the field and six free throws in the final four minutes to allow the Wolfpack to steal the victory.

LSU’s Public Policy Research Lab says more and more Louisianians are starting to say that the state is headed in the right direction. In the results of their 2015 Louisiana survey, Director Michael Henderson also says 26-percent of citizens say the state business climate is better than it was a year ago…:
CUT 10 (10) “things are going”
He says public confidence in state government to effectively deal with the most pressing issues has increased for the first time in five years.

State Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret tells lawmakers it’s time to reign in the state’s film tax credit program. Moret says the state’s film program has created an estimated ten-thousand jobs and brought positive attention to the state, but it only produces 20-cents in revenue for every dollar of tax credit…:
CUT 12 (09) “state priorities”

Secretary of State Tom Schedler says the Jindal Administration’s budget for next fiscal year doesn’t fund a presidential preference primary for Louisiana in 2016. It would cost three and a half million dollars and Schedler says he’s telling lawmakers that unless they command another way, the state intends to move forward…:
CUT 8 (08) “to give me”
A spokesperson from the Division of Administration says they have spoken with Schedler and they will work with his office to come up with a funding solution so that the state can have a Presidential Primary next year.

The Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s office says an 85-year-old man is booked with vehicular homicide charges for allegedly running over his long time female companion in a driveway. They say when deputies responded to medical emergency in DeQuincy they found 56-year-old Mary Franklin laying near the driveway and she was pronounced dead at the scene. It was determined she was run over by James Abdalla Jr. He is in the Calcasieu Correctional Center on $60,000 bond.

Governor Bobby Jindal’s budget for next fiscal year does not fund a presidential primary for Louisiana in 2016. Secretary of State Tom Schedler says by law, he has to to conduct elections, unless otherwise instructed…
CUT 7 (07) Q: “the election”
If they don’t, Schedler says he will have to cut costs for voter outreach, state museum hours, and consolidating election dates.

State Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret tells lawmakers it’s time to reign in the state’s film tax credit program. Moret says the state’s film program has created an estimated ten-thousand jobs and brought positive attention to the state, but it only produces 20-cents in revenue for every dollar of tax credit….
cut 12 (09) “state priorities”
=============================
LSU’s Public Policy Research Lab’s 2015 Louisiana Survey shows more Louisianians feel the state is heading in the right direction. Eric Gill reports…
CUT 2 (30) “reporting”

According to the Louisiana National Guard, they have received a total of 10 bids from companies to destroy about 75 hundred tons of M6 artillery propellant near Camp Minden. An evaluation team is being formed with a dialog committee, after some residents spoke out against the open burning method. The Guard says they may consider other methods.

State Treasurer John Kennedy says the Jindal Administration is considering selling the Louisiana Lottery as a way to help the huge state budget shortfall. The Administration is denying it, but Kennedy says he knows differently…:
CUT 3 (10) “considered”
Commissioner of Adminstation Kristy Nichols issued a statement saying -quote- “we are not considering it this year.”

According to LSU’s Public Policy Research Lab’s 2015 Survey, 44 percent of Louisianians feel the state is heading in the right direction. But Research Director Michael Henderson says, the survery was made before the upcoming legislative session with a huge budget deficit to face…
CUT 11 (10) Q: “back down again”
———————————-
There’s more talk about more control over the state’s film industry tax credits, as the Louisiana legislature faces a big budget deficit. State Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret tells lawmakers it’s time to reign in that tax program, and Covington Representative John Schroder says that he favors a cap…
CUT 14 (09) Q: “about now”

The Jindal administration’s budget for next fiscal year does not fund a presidential preference primary for Louisiana in 2016. Secretary of State Tom Schedler says he was assured that elections would be covered by the state through the spring of next year. He says when his office looked at the budget, he found that there was no money for the primary…
CUT 6 (05) “leave office”
Commissioner of Administration Kristy Nichols says they are working with Secretary of State Tom Schedler to find a solution, so that a presidential primary can be held next year.

State Treasurer John Kennedy says the Jindal Administration is considering selling the Louisiana Lottery as a way to help plug the state’s massive budget hole. Commissioner of Administration Kristy Nichols says they have never entertained this option…
CUT 1 (30) “reporting”

it’s the first time the LSU Men’s Basketball team has been to the NCAA Tournament since 2009, and tonight, the ninth seeded Tigers hit the court against NC State for a first round match-up. Tiger Rag Editor Cody Worsham says it’s hard to determine the favorite. Tip-off at 8:20 PM on TBS.
——————————–
Governor Bobby Jindal’s budget for next fiscal year does not include money for a presidential primary in the state for 2016. In a statement, the Jindal administrations says Secretary of State Tom Schedler should find other ways to balance his budget and fund the primary. Schedler says he’s told legislators that unless they say differently, the state will move forward with it…
CUT 8 (08) “to give me”

The State Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret tells lawmakers it’s time to reign in the state’s film tax credit program. The current return is about 20 cents on the dollar, and he says the most important thing is limiting the program’s benefits, so the state has a greater control…
CUT 13 (09) Q: ‘the industry”
Moret also suggests tighter controls on should get the tax credits, as there have been reports of fraud in the program.

State Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret tells lawmakers it’s time to reign in the state’s film tax credit program. Moret says the state’s film program has created an estimated ten-thousand jobs and brought positive attention to the state, but it only produces 20-cents in revenue for every dollar of tax credit…:
CUT 12 (09) “state priorities”
Legislation is expected to be filed soon that addresses the money spent on film tax credits.

LSU’s Public Policy Research Lab’s 2015 Louisiana Survey shows more Louisianians feel the state is heading in the right direction. And Director Michael Henderson says 26-percent of Louisianians say the state business climate is better than it was a year ago…:
CUT 10 (10) “things are going”

State Treasurer John Kennedy says the Jindal Administration is considering selling the Louisiana Lottery as a way to help plug the state’s massive budget hole. Commissioner of Administration Kristy Nichols says this has never been an option. Kennedy says these documents are irrefutable evidence that these discussions are ongoing…:
CUT 5 (11) “sale of your lottery”
Kennedy says getting rid of the state’s Lottery would be a bad idea.

An appeals court judge has thrown out the sentence of former Jonesboro Mayor Leslie Thompson and ordered a re-sentencing. Thompson was convicted in 2013 on three counts of malfeasance in office. The court ruled that Thompson’s sentence of six years in prison, combined with having to pay restitution of almost $52,000, was excessive. It is unknown when the re-sentencing will take place.

LSU’s Public Policy Research Lab’s 2015 Louisiana Survey shows more Louisianians feel the state is heading in the right direction. Eric Gill reports…:
CUT 2 (30) “reporting”

The Louisiana National Guard says they’ve gotten 10 bids to get rid of the M6 artillery propellant at Camp Minden. Not many details are being released about the bids. They do say a team is being formed to evaluate the situation to address protests by residents who oppose the open tray burning.

The Jindal administration’s budget for next fiscal year does not fund a presidential preference primary for Louisiana in 2016. Secretary of State Tom Schedler says budget cuts to his office will force him to close a voter outreach program, limit most state museums to one day weeks, and not hold elections in the first half of 2016. He says, by law, he has to conduct elections unless instructed otherwise…:
CUT 7 (07) “the election”
In a statement, the Jindal administrations says Schedler should find other ways to balance his budget and fund the primary.

The NCAA Tournament is underway and 9th seeded-LSU faces 8th seeded North Carolina State tonight. Tipoff will be around 8:20pm.