The Louisiana Tech football team has arrived in the Big Easy in advance of Saturday’s R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. The 8-4 Bulldogs will face the 9-3 Sun Belt Conference champion Arkansas State Red Wolves in the game that kicks off at 8PM in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Tech head coach Skip Holtz says now that game week is here, the team is ready to get going…

cut 7 (08) “at the end”

A-State comes into the game with an eight game winning streak and a defense that leads the nation in takeaways and interceptions. Saturday’s game will be televised on ESPN.

Willie Fritz has been officially introduced as the new football coach at Tulane. The former Georgia Southern head coach has 193 career victories to his name according to the NCAA and is the 4th winningest active head coach in the FBS.

Tulane’s 2016 home football schedule features two Louisiana schools. The Green Wave will host Southern on September 10th and UL-Lafayette on September 24th.

It was a rough night for Louisiana’s colleges on the hardwood…

Bryce Alford scored a season high 27 points leading the 22nd ranked UCLA Bruins to an 89-80 win over UL-Lafayette. Shawn Long led the way for the Cajuns with 26 points and 16 rebounds.

Ole Miss hands Louisiana Tech their second loss of the season 99-80. The Bulldogs were led by Erik McRee’s 20 points, followed by Alex Hamilton’s 16.

Southern was edged by Memphis 72-67. The Jags’ Jared Sam led all scorers with 26 as Southern falls to 7-3 on the season.

And Southeastern Louisiana hung tight, but couldn’t get past Florida A&M 67-64. Up next for the Lions, a Monday trip to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech.

Tonight LSU welcomes Gardner-Webb to the P-MAC, UNO plays UMass, McNeese State hosts LSU-Alexandria, Nicholls State is at 18th ranked SMU, and Tulane tangles with number 11 North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

There’s a big buzz this week over disturbing reports that forced labor is being used for the shelling of shrimp being imported into the US from factories in Thailand. Thomas Hymel with the LSU Ag Center Sea Grant program estimates that more than 90% of our food is imported. He says most of the shrimp and seafood we eat, comes from places like Thailand…

cut 4 (08) “the spotlight”

Hymel says there are many countries who export products to us that engage in slave labor.

Two plantations in Louisiana have been nominated for the 10 Best Historic Home Tours by USA Today. Houmas House Plantation and Gardens in Darrow and Oak Alley Plantation in Vacherie are among 20 historic houses on the list. Kevin Kelly is the owner of Houmas House. He says they are thrilled to have been selected…

cut 10 (09) “for me”

You can vote once a day, every day through December 21st online at 10-Best-dot-com.

If you’re planning on buying a gun for someone else for Christmas this year, firearm dealers are urging you to be cautious. Federally licensed sellers are required to perform background checks and customers who purchase a gun for someone who couldn’t pass face serious consequences. Blake Boudreaux, general manager at Lafayette Shooters, advises people to really know the person they’re buying for.

cut 13 (11) “with you”

Boudreaux says the federal government takes the crime of straw purchasing extremely seriously.

WWL-TV is reporting that the death of a man who was fatally shot by a New Orleans Police Officer early Monday has been ruled a homicide. The report indicates the coroner also identified the deceased as 33-year-old Calvin McKinnis and said he’d been shot twice by Officer Fredrick Carter. NOPD Superintendent Michael Harrison earlier stated they believe McKinnis fired first then Carter returned fire. More on this as it develops.

Governor Bobby Jindal says, as he looks back on his 8 years in office, one of the things he feels he will regret is that his administration didn’t try to do more. But, Jindal says there is one specific issue he wishes they could have pushed through…:
CUT 3 (09) “even stronger”
Jindal says he’ll never regret the things they tried to do, even if they weren’t successful.

Two former Destrehan High School teachers accused in a juvenile student sex case, have been formally charged in Jefferson Parish 14 months after the alleged encounter. 25-year-old Rachel Respess is charged with failing to report the commission of a felony, while 33-year-old Shelley Dufresne faces two counts of carnal knowledge of a juvenile. Legal analyst Chick Foret…:
CUT 6 (10) “or the jury”
Both women were originally charged with two counts of carnal knowledge of a juvenile and it wasn’t immediately clear why the Jefferson Parish case resulted in different charges.

The Baton Rouge Police Department says they are trying to identify a man they believe placed a video camera in a men’s urinal at an office building. Police say the camera was discovered by a man going to the bathroom and cops analyzed the footage and were able to capture a photo of the individual as he was placing it in the urinal.

Two former Destrehan High School teachers accused in a juvenile student sex case have been formally charged in Jefferson Parish. 25-year-old Rachel Respess’ charge was downgraded to failing to report a felony, but 33-year-old Shelley Dufresne, who already pleaded to obscenity with the juvenile in St. Charles Prish, still faces two counts of carnal knowledge of a juvenile in Jefferson Parish. Legal analyst Chick Foret says the two prosecutors persue charges based on solid evidence…:
CUT 8 (10) “phone calls”
It wasn’t immediately clear why the Jefferson Parish case resulted in different charges.

The LSU Ag Center is held a crawfish producers meeting today, helping farmers improve their crop. Judging from the comments of Louisiana Crawfish Farmers Association President David Savoy, farmers are doing just fine. He expects business to start picking up between Christmas and New Year’s, with March and April really taking off.

ULM formally introduced Matt Viator as the new head football coach of the Warhawks today. Viator amassed a 77-33 record in his 10 seasons at McNeese leading the Cowboys to four Southland Conference championships. He says the first order of business is to put together his staff…:
cut 10 (08) “for sure”
Viator replaces Todd Berry who was let go in November.

The US Army Corps of engineers says they have activated levee patrols in southeast Louisiana due to high water levels on the Mississippi River. Spokesman Ricky Boyett says the gauge on the river in New Orleans reached 11 feet which is a “trigger” to start the additional lookouts…:
CUT 12 (06) “bank stability”
He says Baton Rouge south also reached a trigger point. He says, this way, if there are any issues with the levee they can address it now before it becomes a problem. Levels are expected to normalize by the weekend.

The water on the Mississippi River has reached a level in southeast Louisiana which “triggers” the US Army National Guard to begin patrolling levees. Spokesman Ricky Boyett says, from Baton Rouge south to New Orleans, patrols will be looking out for things like seepage and bank stability. He says the inspections are entirely proactive…:
CUT 14 (11) “an issue”
He says water levels are expected to drop off dramatically before the weekend.

Two plantations in Louisiana have been nominated for the 10 Best Historic Home Tours by USA Today. Houmas House Plantation and Gardens in Darrow and Oak Alley Plantation in Vacherie are among 20 historic houses on the list. You can vote once a day, every day through December 21st online at 10-Best-dot-com (10Best.com).

Governor Bobby Jindal says, as he looks back on his two terms in office, one of the things he feels he will regret is that his administration didn’t try to do more. Eric Gill reports…:
CUT 1 (26) “I’m Eric Gill”

State Police say a 30-year-old man from Lafayette was killed after being run over while he was walking on the side of the road this morning around 1am. They say a pickup truck was traveling south on LA 343 near Ridge Road when a pedestrian walked off the shoulder and into the path of the vehicle. The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene. The matter is under investigation.

Governor Bobby Jindal says as he reflects on his last eight years in office, he’s focusing on wrapping up his administration and making the transition to the new administration as smooth as possible…
CUT 5 (10) “next year”
Jindal says he’ll never regret the things they tried to do, even if they weren’t successful.

ULM held a press conference this morning to officially announce former McNeese State coach Matt Viator as the new head football coach of the Warhawks. Viator replaces Todd Berry who was let go after the Warhawks 59-21 loss to Arkansas State on November 14th. He says all he’s tried to do as a head coach of The Cowboys is to “do it right” and he’ll bring that approach to ULM…
Cut 11 (07) “going to lose”

The US Army Corps of Engineers activates increased levee patrols along the Mississippi River in southeast Louisiana due to high water. Emelie Gunn reports…:
CUT 2 (31) “Emelie Gunn”

The Jefferson Parish District Attorney has formally charged two former Destrehan High School teachers accused of having a three-way sexual encounter with a 16-year-old student. 33-year-old Shelly Dufrense faces two counts of carnal knowledge of a juvenile. 25-year-old Rachel Respess is charged with one count of failure to report the commission of certain felonies.

Two former Destrehan High School teachers have been formally charged in a juvenile student sex case in Jefferson Parish.  25-year-old Rachel Respess is charged with failing to report the commission of a felony, while 33-year-old Shelley Dufresne faces two counts of carnal knowledge of a juvenile. Legal Analyst Chick Foret says with the current charge Respess is facing, she won’t have to register as a sex offender…:

CUT 7 (11) “a sex offense”

Governor Bobby Jindal says, as he looks back on two terms in office, one of the things he feels he will regret is that he didn’t try to do more. The governor says he wishes they could have repealed the state’s income tax. Jindal says he told his cabinet that they’d run out of time before they ran out of things to do…

CUT 4 (08)  “we had here”

ULM held a press conference to officially announce former McNeese State coach Matt Viator is the new head football coach of the Warhawks. Viator amassed a 77-33 record in his 10 seasons leading the Cowboys to four Southland Conference championships. Viator says this is a great opportunity and is up for the challenge.

CUT 9 (07)  “the one here”

The Army Corps of engineers says they have activated levee patrols in southeast Louisiana because of high water levels on the Mississippi River. Spokesperson Ricky Boyett says south Baton Rouge reached a trigger point at 31 feet and levels are expected to rise before falling off dramatically by the weekend. He says the Phase 1 Flood Fight could be a little longer than a week but that all depends on Mother Nature…:

cut 13 (10)  “below 11″