Easter weekend is the biggest weekend of the year for crawfish in Louisiana. Andre Champagne tells us how much we can expect to pay for our world renowned delicacy this weekend.
Cut 1 (34) “…I’m Andre Champagne.”
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LSU Health New Orleans releases its plan to end cervical cancer within the next ten years. Andrew Greenstein reports.
Cut 2 (35) “…I’m Andrew Greenstein.”
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Electricity bills are rising and a Pelican Institute for Public Policy Report recommends changes to the existing regulatory framework to keep electricity rates in check. Jeff Palermo has the story…
Cut 3 (30) “…I’m Jeff Palermo.”
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Legislation that would keep private the income college athletes receive in a revenue sharing agreement with a public university is heading to the House floor. A federal settlement involving the NCAA gave universities the ability to pay their athletes directly starting with this athletic year. Lafayette Representative Tehmi Chassion is author of the legislation — his daughter is a former college athlete.
Cut 4 (08) “…a safety precaution.”
The Public Affairs Research Council opposes the bill because it says the revenue-sharing agreements use public money, and citizens have a right to see how public money is spent. No one voted against the legislation when it was debated in House Education, but Houma Representative Beryl Amedee had a concern.
Cut 5 (10) “…losing necessary transparency.”
Three reporters, including Tiger Rag Executive Editor Todd Horne, recently filed a lawsuit against LSU arguing the revenue sharing agreements should be made public. Louisiana Radio Network and Tiger Rag are owned by the same company, Kingfish Communications.
LSU says releasing the information puts the athletic department at a competitive disadvantage and infringes on the privacy of student athletes.
Chaisson, whose daughter was a walk-on on the UConn women’s basketball team during the 2020-21 season, says for safety reasons, what a student makes from the university should not be made public.
Cut 6 (08) “…targeting my daughter.”
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Crawfish prices have held steady over the past week with Easter being this Sunday. Laney King, the co-founder of The Crawfish App, says that’s not unusual.
Cut 7 (07) “…meet the demand.”
King says on the biggest weekend of the year for crawfish, you can expect to pay about $3.50 a pound for live crawfish and just over six dollars a pound for boiled crawfish.
Cut 8 (08) “…than previous years.”
King says one reason crawfish is more expensive this Easter than usual is because Easter falls on an earlier date this year. But she says there are other factors to consider as well.
Cut 9 (08) “…fishing the ponds.”
King says the lowest prices of the year will be around Mother’s Day weekend, like they usually are, as crawfish season wraps up.
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LSU Health New Orleans unveils its plan to end cervical cancer in Louisiana by 2035. It’s called the Bayou Blueprint, and it consists of three main pillars. Dr. Donna Williams, the associate director for the LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center says the first one is prevention through the HPV vaccine.
Cut 10 (11) “…cancers or more.”
Dr. Williams says the second pillar is screening and early detection.
Cut 11 (13) “…the test anymore.”
Williams says the third pillar is follow-up and treatment.
Cut 12 (15) “…and completely curable.”
Currently, the cervical cancer rate in Louisiana is 8.9 cases per 100-thousand women. Williams says the goal is to reduce that rate to less than three cases per 100-thousand, which would make it so rare that it would be considered eliminated.
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A Pelican Institute for Public Policy report finds electricity costs are rising quickly, and they will keep going up unless changes are made to the regulatory framework. Melissa Landry, the director of the Center for Energy at the Pelican Institute, says according to data from the Public Service Commission, the average utility bill in March was about ten dollars more than last year.
Cut 13 (08) “…approved by regulators.”
Landry says Louisiana has historically enjoyed some of the lowest electricity rates in the nation, but utility customers began to experience a sudden spike in 2025 as the cost of electricity rose 14-percent from 2024, more than doubling the nationwide average. Landry says power costs will only continue to rise.
Cut 14 (13) “…percent by 2030.”
Landry says the Pelican Institute is proposing a series of recommendations to improve the regulatory framework to help keep energy bills from becoming unaffordable.
Cut 15 (07) “…all Louisiana customers.”
Landry says a big problem now is that utilities can recover costs automatically; and in order to avoid competition, the incentive is to build more, not to build efficiently.
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LSU is getting ready to close out its second week of spring football practice. Senior defensive end Princewill Umanmielen (OOH-mon-me-el-in), who played under Lane Kiffin last season at Ole Miss, says the Tigers are looking to win right away.
Cut 16 (10) “…mindset right now.”
One of the key returners despite LSU’s significant roster turnover is running back Harlem Berry. The rising sophomore rushed for 491 yards and two touchdowns as a freshman last season. Berry says he always wanted to stay in Baton Rouge, even through the coaching change.
Cut 17 (13) “…something real special.”
Last season, LSU’s rushing offense ranked 124th nationally, averaging just 104 yards per game. The offensive line also allowed 29 sacks. Berry says this year’s unit has already shown tremendous improvement.
Cut 18 (12) “…a great thing.”
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The LSU baseball team begins a crucial three-game series in Knoxville against Tennessee this weekend. Junior outfielder Jake Brown says he enjoys playing on the road, even if it means playing in hostile ballparks.
Cut 19 (12) “…is really fun.”
After starting SEC play slowly at the plate, the Tigers have scored 44 runs in their last four games. Brown says the team has done a great job of taking exceptionally better at-bats throughout the lineup.
Cut 20 (15) “…the next guy.”
The first pitch this afternoon is scheduled for 4:30.