4:45 LRN Sportscast

The LSU Tigers are a six national seed in the NCAA Baseball Tournament and will host a Regional this weekend and the super Regionals if they win the Baton Rouge Regional. LSU is 30-5 at home this season. And the Tigers offense can use some home cooking to get the bats going. The Tigers had just two hits in the final 15 innings at the SEC Tournament. Coach Jay Johnson says SEC pitching can lead to struggles at the plate…

Cut 19 (18) “…back to work”

LSU will open the Regional on Friday by hosting Little Rock at 2 PM. The Trojans have the lowest RPI out of the 64 teams in the tournament. The other two teams in the B-R Regional are Dallas Baptist and Rhode Island.

 

LSU-Shreveport was victorious again last night as the Pilots won six to three over the defending NAIA Champions, Hope International to stay in the winner’s bracket of the NAIA World Series. L-S-U-S is now a remarkable 56-and-0 on the season. Draven Zeigler led the way on the mound, by striking out ten over seven innings and Ian Montz drove in two runs. LSU-S will play again tomorrow night.

Loyola of New Orleans run in the NAIA World Series ended yesterday with a  nine to eight loss to the Cumberlands Patriots. The Wolfpack were down nine to nothing at one point, and got within one run in the eighth inning, but could not bring home the tying run home.

The SEC Spring meetings start today. Revenue sharing with student-athletes, a possible nine-game schedule in football and the future of the college football playoff are the big topics. Commissioner Greg Sankey said yesterday he’s not settled on a preferred format for the CFP.

4:30 PM Newscast

Monroe Police have arrested six people, in connection with a brawl over the Memorial Day weekend. Police Chief Vic Zordan (rhymes with Jordan) says investigators used surveillance video footage to arrest the six, and more arrests are expected.

Cut 13 (09)  “…on video there.”

This incident comes months after a shooting outside a sporting goods store in which rival gangs went after one another.

After nearly 100-thousand Entergy and Cleco customers in Southeast Louisiana lost power for hours due to a “load-shed” event ordered by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator. CLECO says they will investigate the outage and Entergy says they want to understand the directive from MISO and Public Service Commissioner Eric Skrmetta says is demanding transparency from MISO on why the outages occurred without warning.

Cut 10 (12) “…within 30-minutes.”

Monroe tourism officials say Phil Robertson brought a lot of attention to the region. Andrew Greenstein reports.

Cut 1 (31) “…I’m Andrew Greenstein.”

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gave high praise to current Speaker Mike Johnson during an appearance on a Baton Rouge radio morning show. The 81-year-old Gingrich says Johnson is the most remarkable Speaker of the House in his lifetime for how he has led a 435-member body with a slim Republican majority…

Cut 3 (12) “…people complain.”

3:30 PM Newscast

Nearly 100-thousand customers in New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana lost power for hours due to a “load-shed” event ordered by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator on Sunday.  Sean Richardson has more.

Cut 2 (34) “…I’m Sean Richardson.”

St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s office is investigating a fatal crash that happened Monday STPSO says the driver of a Porche failed to stop after a traffic violation on I-12. The deputy lost sight of the Porche but it was later found crashed into the tree line at the Lacombe exit. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity has not been released.

Police in Monroe arrest six people, including an Arkansas man, in connection with a brawl over the Memorial Day weekend. Police Chief Vic Zordan (rhymes with Jordan) says Trace Castleberry is facing a second-degree battery charge, and Monroe Police are working to bring him back to the city to face charges.

Cut 12 (07) “…lot in Monroe”

Zordan says investigators used surveillance video footage to arrest the six, and more arrests are expected.

Phil Robertson, patriarch of Duck Dynasty passed away Sunday following a battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. Monroe tourism officials say he and his family provided a huge boost in visitors to the area. Sheila Snow with Discover Monroe-West Monroe …

Cut 6 (11) “…family called home.”

Phil Robertson was 79.

LRN PM Newscall May 27

Monroe tourism officials say Phil Robertson brought a lot of attention to the region. Andrew Greenstein reports.

Cut 1 (31) “…I’m Andrew Greenstein.”

___________________________________________________

Nearly 100-thousand  customers in New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana lost power for hours due to a “load-shed” event ordered by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator on Sunday.  Sean Richardson has more.

Cut 2 (34) “…I’m Sean Richardson.”

___________________________________________________

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gave high praise to current Speaker Mike Johnson during an appearance on a Baton Rouge radio morning show. The 81-year-old Gingrich says Johnson is the most remarkable Speaker of the House in his lifetime for how he has led a 435-member body with a slim Republican majority…

Cut 3 (12) “…people complain.” 

Gingrich was a guest on Mornings with Brian Haldane. He said Johnson has been a steady hand in a deeply divided Congress. Gingrich says Johnson did a magnificent job in getting President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” approved in the House…

Cut 4 (09) “…and doing this.”

The “Big Beautiful Bill,” extends and expands existing tax cuts, particularly those enacted in 2017, and includes provisions related to border security, military spending, and social programs.

Johnson was elected in 2016 and became Speaker of the House in 2023. Gingrich is impressed with Johnson’s ability to unify factions within the GOP, something past leaders struggled with.

Cut 5 (11) “…remarkably smart.”

Gingrich does not think Johnson will be a presidential candidate in 2028, because he’s too humble.

________________________________________________

Monroe tourism officials say Phil Robertson and his family provided a huge boost in visitorship to the area. Sheila Snow with Discover Monroe-West Monroe says that was spurred in large part to “Duck Dynasty.”

Cut 6 (11) “…family called home.”

“Duck Dynasty” aired on A-and-E for 11 years, but Snow says the show’s impact on the community has lasted a lot longer.

Cut 7 (09) “…their offerings there.”

Snow says the region took full advantage of its new-found fame that came with the launch of the “Duck Dynasty” TV show.

Cut 8 (13) “…in West Monroe.”

Phil Robertson passed away Sunday at the age of 79 following a battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.

________________________________________________

On Sunday, nearly 100-thousand  customers in New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana lost power for hours due to a “load-shed” event ordered by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator. The outages, affecting 75-thousand Entergy and 25-thousand Cleco customers, were triggered when an Entergy nuclear plant unexpectedly went offline.  Public Service Commissioner Eric Skrmetta says MISO would not give specifics more than that.

Cut 9 (10)  “…that you can’t tell me.”

CLECO says they will investigate the outage and Entergy says they want to understand the directive from MISO.  Skrmetta demands transparency from MISO on why the outages occurred without warning.

Cut 10 (12) “…within 30-minutes.”

Skrmetta calls for better communication, energy efficiency programs, and regional transmission planning to prevent future outages, and says MISO’s lack of transparency is unacceptable…

Cut 11 (07) “…explain everything.”  

_______________________________________________________

Police in Monroe arrest six people, including an Arkansas man, in connection with a brawl over the Memorial Day weekend. Police Chief Vic Zordan (rhymes with Jordan) says Trace Castleberry is facing a second degree battery charge, and Monroe Police are working to bring him back to the city to face charges.

Cut 12 (07) “…lot in Monroe”

Zordan says investigators used surveillance video footage to arrest the six, and more arrests are expected.

Cut 13 (09)  “…on video there.”

This incident comes months after a shooting outside a sporting goods store in which rival gangs went after one another.

2:30 PM Newscast

More than 10 days after 10 inmates escaped the Orleans Parish Justice Center, 2 are still at large. Three inmates were recaptured on Monday. Lenton VanBuren was arrested in Baton Rouge, and Leo Tate and Jermaine Donald were arrested in Houston. The number of accomplices who helped the prisoners escape or assisted them afterwards is up to a dozen and there may be more. The two remaining escapees are Antoine Massey and Derrick Groves, and they are considered armed and dangerous. There is a 20-thousand-dollar reward offered for information leading to the capture of each inmate.

Around 100-thousand Southeast Louisiana customers were without power for hours Sunday due to a “load-shed” event ordered by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator after an Entergy nuclear plant unexpectedly went offline but even Public Service Commissioner Eric Skrmetta hasn’t been given specific information on the outage. He says MISO’s lack of transparency is unacceptable.

Cut 11 (07) “…explain everything.”

The outages affected 75 thousand Entergy and 25 thousand Cleco customers.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gave high praise to current Speaker Mike Johnson during an appearance on Baton Rouge talk show, Mornings with Brian Haldane Tuesday. Johnson was elected to congress in 2016 and became Speaker of the House in 2023 and Gingrich says he is impressed with Johnson’s ability to unify factions within the GOP, something with which past leaders struggled.

Cut 5 (11) “…remarkably smart.”

Gingrich does not think Johnson will be a presidential candidate in 2028, because he’s too humble.

Fans of Duck Dynasty are mourning the death of patriarch Phil Robertson. Sheila Snow with Discover Monroe-West Monroe says the region took full advantage of its new-found fame brought by the TV show and the Robertson family.

Cut 8 (13) “…in West Monroe.”

Phil Robertson passed away on Sunday at the age of 79.

1:30 LRN Newscast

The Public Service Commission is looking for answers following Sunday’s massive blackout in southeast Louisiana, including New Orleans, which were ordered by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator. The outages were triggered when an Entergy nuclear plant unexpectedly went offline. Commissioner Eric Skrmetta says MISO would not go into further detail.

Cut 9 (10)  “…that you can’t tell me.”

Cleco says it will investigate the outage, and Entergy says they want to understand the directive from MISO.

Eight down, two to go. Three more escapees from the Orleans Justice Center were captured yesterday. Lenton Vanburen was arrested in Baton Rouge, and Leo Tate and Jermaine Donald were arrested in Houston. That leaves Derrick Groves and Antoine Massey as the last two escapees still on the run. 20-thousand dollars in reward money for each inmate is still on the table.

Monroe tourism officials are remembering “Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson, who passed away Sunday at the age of 79. “Duck Dynasty” aired on A-and-E for 11 years, but Sheila Snow with Discover Monroe-West Monroe says the show’s impact on the community has lasted a lot longer.

Cut 7 (09) “…their offerings there.”

The Speaker of the House gets high praise from one of his predecessors. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was on Mornings with Brian Haldane on LRN affiliate WBRP in Baton Rouge, and he said Speaker Mike Johnson has been a steady hand in a deeply divided Congress. Gingrich says Johnson did a magnificent job in getting President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” approved in the House.

Cut 4 (09) “…and doing this.”

The bill, however, faces an uncertain future in the Senate.

12:30 LRN Newscast

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gave high praise to current Speaker Mike Johnson during an appearance on a Baton Rouge radio morning show. The 81-year-old Gingrich told Brian Haldane on LRN affiliate WBRP that Johnson is the most remarkable Speaker of the House in his lifetime for how he has led a 435-member body with a slim Republican majority…

Cut 3 (12) “…people complain.” 

Monroe tourism officials say Phil Robertson and his family provided a huge boost in visitorship to the area. Sheila Snow with Discover Monroe-West Monroe says that was spurred in large part to “Duck Dynasty.”

Cut 6 (11) “…family called home.”

Phil Robertson passed away Sunday at the age of 79 following a battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.

One public service commissioner says one big culprit of the New Orleans blackout could be massive cuts in federal staffing. Commissioner Davante Lewis says power companies anticipate how much electrical load they need based on that day’s weather forecast; and lately, forecasts from the National Weather Service have been well off.

Cut 13 (08)  “…what it was.”

Lewis is blaming the inaccurate forecasting on the DOGE cuts that President Trump and Elon Musk carried out this year.

Today, the Senate takes up Representative Troy Hebert’s bill that would codify a rule put in place last year that allows employers to report a job applicant collecting unemployment who fails to show up for a job interview. Hebert says in the current pilot program, only a very small number of people reported to the Louisiana Workforce Commission were deemed to have violated the conditions of their unemployment benefits.

Cut 10 (08) “…they were given.”

11:40 LRN Sportscast

LSU is a national six seed in the NCAA Baseball Tournament, which means they will host a Super Regional series if they win their own Regional.

LSU will open the Baton Rouge Regional at 2 PM on Friday by hosting Little Rock. The Trojans won the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament as an eight-seed. Little Rock is 24-32 and have the lowest RPI among the 64 teams in the field. Dallas Baptist and Rhode Island are the other two teams in the Baton Rouge Regional. Pitcher Anthony Eyanson…

Cut 20 (12) “…at a time.”

Who will start Game one against Little Rock, Coach Jay Johnson will not say…

Cut 28 (06) “…knows that”

 

LSU-Shreveport was victorious again last night as the Pilots won six to three over the defending NAIA Champions, Hope International to stay in the winner’s bracket of the NAIA World Series. L-S-U-S is now a remarkable 56-and-0 on the season. Draven Zeigler led the way on the mound, by striking out ten over seven innings and Ian Montz drove in two runs. LSU-S will play again tomorrow night.

Loyola of New Orleans run in the NAIA World Series ended yesterday with a  nine to eight loss to the Cumberlands Patriots. The Wolfpack were down nine to nothing at one point, and got within one run in the eighth inning, but could not bring home the tying run home.

The SEC Spring meetings start today. Revenue sharing with student-athletes, a possible nine-game schedule in football and the future of the college football playoff are the big topics. Commissioner Greg Sankey said yesterday he’s not settled on a preferred format for the CFP. For the upcoming season, we do know that the 12 teams will be seeded one through 12 and the top four seeds will receive a bye.

11:30 LRN Newscast

One public service commissioner says there could be more blackouts like the one in New Orleans Sunday, and he says one culprit could be massive cuts in federal staffing. Commissioner Davante Lewis says this was not the first time this year that a part of Louisiana was subject to rolling blackouts.

Cut 12 (07) “…second day in April.”

The patriarch of “Duck Dynasty” has died. Phil Robertson passed away Sunday at the age of 79 following a battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. Greg Hilburn is a reporter with USA Today who has gotten to know the Robertson family very well. He says Robertson was the starting quarterback at Louisiana Tech until he quit the sport before his senior season, forcing the Bulldogs to turn to their backup quarterback – a kid from Shreveport by the name of Terry Bradshaw.

Cut 16 (06) “…see that connection.”

Plans for a public memorial are underway. That will be followed by a private funeral and burial.

The legislative session ends in 16 days, and lawmakers are close to passing auto insurance reform bills that they hope can bring down rates. Jeanne (“zhahn”) Burns reports.

Cut 1 (43) “…I’m Jeanne Burns.”

The LSU Tigers are a six national seed in the NCAA Baseball Tournament, which means they’ll not only host the regionals, but also the  Super Regionals, should they get that far.

10:30 LRN Newscall

More than 100-thousand people in and around New Orleans were thrust into darkness in a series of rolling blackouts Sunday. This was not the first such blackout in the state this year, and Commissioner Davante Lewis says he doubts this will be the last, and he’s pointing the finger at President Trump and Elon Musk.

Cut 14 (11) “…forecasting as well.”

Today, the Senate will take up Representative Troy Hebert’s bill that would codify a rule put in place last year that allows employers to report a job applicant collecting unemployment who fails to show up for a job interview.  Another component would increase the number of required weekly work searches from three to five. Hebert says, however, that he would like to see the rules better defined.

Cut 11 (08) “…us for approval.”

Eight down, two to go. Three more escapees from the Orleans Justice Center were captured yesterday. Lenton Vanburen was arrested in Baton Rouge, and Leo Tate and Jermaine Donald were arrested in Houston. That leaves Derrick Groves and Antoine Massey as the last two escapees still on the run. 20-thousand dollars in reward money for each inmate is still on the table.

LSU has received a coveted Top 8 national seed in the NCAA Baseball Tournament. Jeff Palermo has more on the Tigers’ road to Omaha…

Cut 3 (30) “…I’m Jeff Palermo.”