A new report finds that Louisiana’s job growth ranked second in the nation for the third quarter. Jeff Palermo has the story.
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Bill Cassidy lost his re-election bid when Louisiana went to closed party primaries. He wants to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else – at least not to one of his fellow Republicans. Kace Kieschnick reports.
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The LSU community pays its respects to legendary basketball coach Dale Brown in the arena where he coached the Tigers for a quarter-century. Andrew Greenstein reports.
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According to a statewide civic and economic development organization, Louisiana’s job growth for the third quarter was the second highest in the nation. Leaders for a Better Louisiana CEO Adam Knapp says Louisiana employers added 36-thousand jobs over the year ending in September, as the state reached 2.02 million non-farm jobs.
Louisiana has held above the two-million jobs mark for eight consecutive months. Knapp says construction drove the expansion, as 18-thousand construction jobs were added over the last year, more than double the rate of the next fastest southern state, North Carolina.
The increase coincides with the build-out of liquefied natural gas export terminals along the coast and Meta’s data center in Richland Parish.
Knapp says they also saw solid employment gains in other sectors.
Cut 5 (07) “…strong positive territory.”
Knapp says their latest economic update also finds the state leading the South in manufacturing job growth.
Cut 6 (12) “…for manufacturing jobs.”
The average earnings per job in 2025 for manufacturing was 118-thousand dollars; and for construction, it was 97-thousand dollars.
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Bill Cassidy was hamstrung in his re-election bid when Louisiana went to closed primaries for U.S. Senate races. Now, he wants to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else. He has sponsored a bill that would require states to conduct open primaries for federal offices. Cassidy says it allows more people to have a say as to who represents them in Washington.
Cut 7 (10) “…who represents you.”
Cassidy says had there been an open primary in Texas, for example, Republican John Cornyn would have been re-elected instead of Democrat James Talarico flipping that seat. Cassidy says more of the same will happen if states do not go to the open primary.
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Cassidy says he hopes his bill will pass in the weeks he has remaining in office; and if it doesn’t, he hopes future congresses will take up the issue.
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A group of veterans from Louisiana traveled to Washington, DC, for a series of Veterans Day events this week. They were flown on an Honor Flight sponsored by Meta, which also donated 130-thousand pairs of smart glasses to visually impaired veterans across the country. Coast Guard Veteran Belard (buh-LARD) Ernest of New Orleans was the recipient of one of those pairs of glasses; he says they’re helping him enjoy the sights and sounds of the nation’s capital that he otherwise would not be able to enjoy.
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Ernest says the A-I features of the smart glasses help him paint a mental picture of what he would be seeing if his eyesight was still intact.
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Ernest says starting on the first day he wore the glasses, they were able to help him navigate the busy sidewalks of Washington, DC, to the pizza restaurant where he and others enjoyed dinner.
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The LSU community comes together to pay its respects to legendary LSU men’s basketball coach Dale Brown, who passed away last month at the age of 90. A three-hour celebration of life ceremony was held at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, where Brown coached the Tigers for 25 years. Among those remembering Coach Brown was Collis Temple, who in 1971 became the first Black player to play varsity basketball for LSU. Temple played for Brown in his final two years in Baton Rouge, and he said Brown’s dedication to his life went far beyond his playing days.
Ricky Blanton played for Brown from 1984 until 1989 and was a part of the 1986 team that made its improbable run to the Final Four. Blanton recalled Brown visiting him and his family as he was recruiting him to Baton Rouge.
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Before becoming one of the NBA’s greatest players and greatest personalities of all time, Shaquille O’Neal played for Brown for three seasons from 1989 until 1992. Shaq said Brown always had a never-say-die attitude, even when the scoreboard suggested otherwise.
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Saints running back Travis Etienne returned to practice yesterday after spending the last five weeks on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. Etienne was the Black and Gold’s top free-agent signing this offseason and the team’s lead back before the injury. Quarterback Tyler Shough says it’s great to see back on the field.
Head coach Kellen Moore says the team will see how this week goes before deciding his status for Sunday.
Rookie wide receiver Jordyn Tyson was taken off the injury report this week. New Orleans’ top pick in this year’s draft was limited last week as he returned from a hamstring injury and played on a snap count against the Browns. He finished his debut with four catches for 32 yards, and Moore says he should see more action this week.
Cut 17 (16) “…something like that.”
Starting center Erik McCoy is out with a bicep injury. Moore says right guard Caesar Ruiz will replace him, and Jeremiah Wright will start at guard.
The Saints host the Panthers on Sunday with sole possession of the NFC South on the line. New Orleans has not won back-to-back games this season and has a grueling three-game stretch after Carolina, so Moore says this is a big chance to turn the season around.
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ULM welcomes UL Lafayette to Monroe tonight. The Warhawks are 2-and-7 this season, but both of those wins came in the last three games. Coach Bryant Vincent says his team is learning how to win and the Monroe community could learn from them.
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Vincent has relied on two quarterbacks this season, Aiden Armenta and Austin Carlisle. Armenta has been the veteran passing threat for the Warhawks, while Carlisle offers a new weapon in the run game. Vincent says he will continue to play both under center.
Kickoff in Monroe is at 8 p.m., and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.