TRANSCRIPT
You’re listening to Red River Radio News.
Good morning, I’m Jeff Ferrell.
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INTRO:
It’s election day across the country and here at home.
In Texas, the state's contests for U.S. Senate and governor have received much of the attention this election cycle.
But as The Texas Newsroom’s Lucio Vasquez reports, voters have many decisions to make:
SOT:
“Along with governor and U.S. Senate, Texas voters will also choose a lieutenant governor, attorney general and several other statewide officials. All 38 of Texas’ U.S. House seats are on the ballot, along with seats in the Texas Legislature and several state courts. And depending on where you live, your ballot could include county and local leaders, judges and local propositions. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day. And as long as you're in line by 7 p.m., you're still allowed to vote.”
TAG:
The Polls close at 7:00 p.m. in Texas, 7:30 p.m. in Arkansas, and 8:00 p.m. in Louisiana.
And our live election coverage gets underway here at Red River Radio at 7:30 tonight with the latest results from Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas.
We’ll be joined by political science professors Jeffrey Sadow from LSU Shreveport and Steve Galatas from Stephen F. Austin with their analysis, as numbers come in.
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INTRO:
A Central Louisiana lawmaker says the state would be a great location for the next “Great American Base.”
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has announced plans to build “Fortress America.”
Vernon Parish state Representative Chuck Owen says the Department of Defense bought about 50,000 acres from Vernon Parish 10 years ago.
So they have the space to build a mega base:
SOT:
“They’re looking for about a quarter million acres where they can put about 15 to 25,000 people. Well, that’s really what we have at Fort Polk right now.”
TAG:
Owen says Louisiana should be one of the front-runners – with a decision expected in June.
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INTRO:
Arkansas led the nation in farm bankruptcy filings for the third quarter of this year with 12 – and 32 for the year so far.
As Little Rock Public Radio reports, that’s on track to outpace the 33 bankruptcies seen in all of 2025.
Harrison Pittman is the director the National Agricultural Law Center.
He says chapter 12 is specific to agricultural operations:
SOT:
“So it’s a reorganization type bankruptcy where the goal is to ultimately enter the court system with this chapter 12 filing, propose a plan to pay back over three to five years typically. And you restructure some debt, you know, basically try to get the operator where they can continue to farm and hopefully they come out on the other end able to do so.”
TAG:
Pittman says American agriculture’s focus on large scale commodities also makes individual growers more vulnerable:
SOT:
“If you’re going to do commodity production it’s gotta come out in large bulk. It’s gotta be processed, gotta go to the chokepoints, it’s gotta be distributed somewhere, domestically and internationally. And so, the more there’s uncertainty, the more there’s these input costs that are just so damaging, so difficult to navigate on the ground , the harder it’s going to be to stay in that business.”
<**** FORECAST ****>
The National Weather Service in Shreveport is calling for:
* A wet & windy election day with showers and a chance for thunderstorms, wind gusts up to 20 miles per hour, and a high near 72.Then clearing out By evening.
* The sun returns for the next four days, with a high near 71 Wednesday, 74 Thursday, back to 72 Friday, and dropping to 68 Saturday.
* Mild temperatures expected today with widespread showers and embedded thunderstorms. Locally heavy rainfall may be possible with some storms.
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