TRANSCRIPT
You’re listening to Red River Radio News.
Good morning, I’m Jeff Ferrell.
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INTRO:
Revelations about a restrictive lockdown at all five youth prisons in Texas in August has led to a backlash from civil rights groups.
That includes The Texas Civil Rights Project, which is now calling on the state to halt the upcoming construction of two new youth prisons.
KERA’s Toluwani Osibamowo reports:
SOT:
“The Texas Juvenile Justice Department -- or TJJD -- put its five facilities across the state on lockdown after a child in custody assaulted a correctional officer. Records obtained by KERA and the Texas Newsroom showed kids engaged in self-harming behavior, urinated on themselves and were pepper sprayed just a few days into the lockdown. Those restrictions have eased over the past month. But the Texas Civil Rights Project sent T-J-J-D a letter accusing the agency of violating kids' rights. The group also says T-J-J-D shouldn't break ground on two new facilities in North Texas and the Houston area because of the alleged youth rights violations.”
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INTRO:
A member of the Louisiana Board of Regents suggests that three universities in the UL System should drop to a lower tier of Division 1 football, citing debts of tens of millions of dollars at each program.
At a recent budget hearing, Regent Wilbert Pryor, a Shreveport attorney, said Louisiana Tech, along with the University of Louisiana in both Lafayette and Monroe, should step down one level – from the FBS to the FCS.
Pryor says he doesn’t think most of the public will tell the difference:
SOT:
“I think the duties of the coach at Louisiana Tech are the same duties as the coach at Nicholls State. One is getting paid $250,000; one is getting paid a million dollars. And you just have to digest if that’s what’s in the best interest of your school with your enrollment.”
TAG:
UL System President Rick Gallot agreed that cost reduction steps must be taken but says he’s waiting on a sustainability evaluation before making his recommendations to the board.
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INTRO:
Arkansas Governor Sara Huckabee Sanders released a new campaign ad this week that has prompted some controversy.
In The 30-second spot, the governor describes the Medicaid work requirements which take effect in January.
The video shows an actor playing the role of “Brad,” a fictional Medicaid recipient. And Brad can be seen leaning back in his bean bag chair, legs propped up, eating cheese balls and playing a video game:
SOT:
BRAD: (sounds of a video game) “Yeah, oh you want some of this? C’mon.”
GOVERNOR SANDERS (narrates): “Meet Brad. Brad has turned relaxing into a full-time profession. But you, you actually work hard. You pay taxes to cover welfare for guys like Brad, who just choose not to work.”
BRAD: “whoa..”
GOVERNOR: “That’s why I launched a welfare to work requirement
BRAD: (skidding heard on video) “Almost There!”
GOVERNOR: “Now, more Arkansans are working than ever before.”
BRAD: (video game comes to an end) “Oh..”
GOVERNOR: “Even Brad.”
TAG:
The backlash in some quarters was immediate. As the Arkansas Advocate reports, the NAACP Arkansas State Conference, for example, said it was quote, “deeply concerned” about the ad and how it stereotypes the poor as just choosing not to work.
Sanders response to the negative reactions: quote: “Next thing you know, they’ll say I should have used cookies instead of cheese balls.”
<**** FORECAST ****>
The National Weather Service in Shreveport is calling for:
- A slight chance of rain this morning followed by a chance for afternoon showers and thunderstorms. Mostly Cloudy, with a high near 88.
- For the weekend: cloudy, with a 50% chance of showers both days, and also a chance for thunderstorms Saturday with a high near 83, then 79 Sunday.
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