PM Newscall 07.22.19

LSU has opened its doors to a newly constructed football operations center that features a place where players can take a nap in front of their locker. Jeff Palermo has the story…

Cut 1 (30) “…I’m Jeff Palermo.”

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A study shows 34 percent of Louisiana high schoolers drink and 8 percent use injectable drugs, the highest rates in the nation. Matt Doyle has more…

cut  2 (30) I’m Matt Doyle”  

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LSU believes it has set the standard with its renovated football operations building that includes a new training room, players lounge, cafeteria and locker room. Equipment manager Greg Stringfellow says each player’s locker features a pod as a chair that folds out into a bed, allowing a player to take a nap

Cut 3 (11) “…resting.”

The 23-million project also includes a new performance nutrition center that will serve healthy and delicious meals. Stringfellow says the players will also enjoy the Tyrann Mathieu players lounge

Cut 4 (12) “…and recline”

Stringfellow says no other college football program in the country has a locker room where you can actually lay down and get some rest. He says to have that and a first-class nutrition area should help maximize a player’s efficiency

Cut 5 (11) “…perform.”

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The US Army Corps of Engineers has begun to close the Bonnet Carre Spillway.  This year marks the first time the spillway has had to be opened twice in one year, with the current opening lasting 74 days.  Corps spokesperson Matt Roe says the decision to begin closure comes as the river levels have seen a downward trend.

Cut 6 (06) “…of the workers.”

The environmental effects of opening have resulted in a negative impact to the seafood industry in St. Bernard Parish as well as shuttering Mississippi beaches.  Roe says the process on the closure began this morning.

Cut 7 (04) “…bays each day.”

Roe says the closure isn’t a speedy, press-of-a-button process, but closure should be completed by the first week in August.

Cut 8 (03) “…and everything’s good.”

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The state’s sugarcane crop is on track for another successful harvest, despite the impact of Hurricane Barry that delivered anywhere from three to fourteen inches of rain across the sugarcane belt. LSU AgCenter sugarcane specialist Kenneth Gravois says despite the gloomy forecast prior to the storm, the state did okay.

Cut 9 (09) “…standing back up.”

Gravois says there were some pockets of flooding from rainfall and storm surge that needed some attention.

Cut 10 (06) “…worst of it.”

Gravois says the industry is still likely to achieve the sugar production level predictions that were put in place prior to the hurricane.

Cut 11 (09) “…that’s very attainable.”

Gravois expects mills to open for processing around September 17th, an early start date because of this year’s large crop.

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A study by Project Know shows Louisiana high schoolers consume alcohol and injectable drugs at the highest rate in the nation.

American Addiction Centers Researcher Ruchi Dhani says the national average for alcohol use is 28 percent, but Louisiana topped the list at 34 percent, and led in another concerning category as well.

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Louisiana’s high school rate of marijuana use was about average at 18.8 percent.

Dhani says the state as a whole has some of the worst drug use rates in the nation…

Cut 13 (09) “…Louisiana”

And those adult drug use numbers effect the next generation, where young people who have addicted parents are more than four times more likely to become addicted themselves.

Survey information shows many Bayou State students aren’t just using at home, they’re bringing their drugs to school with them…

Cut 14 (11) “…percent”

The study looked at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data from 2017

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