TRANSCRIPT
You’re listening to Red River Radio News.
Good morning, I’m Jeff Ferrell. ********
INTRO:
Louisiana’s job growth becomes the second highest increase in the nation for the most recent quarter.
That's according to the civic and economic development organization known as Leaders for a Better Louisiana.
CEO Adam Knapp says Louisiana employers added 36-thousand jobs over the year ending in September, as the state reached more than 2 million non-farm jobs:
SOT:
“An all-time high for number of jobs we looked at in Louisiana; 2.02 million is a new record-high for overall jobs in Louisiana. So, growing fast, and also kind of in a record territory as a state.”
TAG:
Knapp says construction drove the expansion, as 18-thousand construction jobs were added over the last year.
The increase coincides with the build-out of liquefied natural gas export terminals along the coast and Meta’s data center in Richland Parish.
But critics of those projects worry the non-construction jobs won't be offered to Louisiana residents.
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INTRO:
Louisiana’s Outgoing U.S. Senator, Republican Bill Cassidy, has sponsored a bill that would require states to conduct open primaries for federal offices.
Cassidy says open primaries would benefit Republicans; for example--he says had there been an open primary in Texas then Republican John Cornyn would have “likely” been re-elected instead of Democrat James Talarico, flipping that seat for the other party:
SOT:
“If Republicans actually want to win elections, as opposed to just having a club where everybody congratulates themselves on being a member of a club, then you had better open your window as much as possible to have as much input as possible as to who our nominees are.”
TAG:
Cassidy lost his seat to incoming Republican U.S. Senator Julia Letlow when Louisiana switched from open to closed primaries this year.
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INTRO:
In Texas, Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa is preparing to replace Education Commissioner Mike Morath.
The commissioner leads the Texas Education Agency, or T-E-A, which oversees public education - and its more than 1,200 school districts statewide, with 5.5 million students and 377,000 teachers.
Board member Marisa Pérez-Díaz says the next commissioner should have firsthand experience in education:
SOT:
“I certainly think having someone that has served in education would be a benefit to a lot of the concerns that our families have, that constituents have, who experience the education system every day.”
TAG:
Democrats are poised to gain a majority on the 15-member board for the first time in more than three decades.
But any appointment of a new Education Commissioner would require confirmation by the Republican-controlled Texas state Senate.
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INTRO:
In Arkansas, former Governor Asa Hutchinson says his party’s losses in the midterm election should serve as a wake-up call for the GOP.
Statewide, Democrats flipped 11-seats in the state legislature.
As Little Rock Public Radio reports, Hutchinson says The results can be largely blamed on unpopular Republican leadership at the national level:
SOT:
“There’s a communications issue, as well as a policy issue. The chaos was, uh, had reached its limit with the voters and they expressed themselves very clearly. They’re not happy, uh, with that leadership. And I think that’s a lesson for the Republican Party that they need to show independence.”
TAG:
The Arkansas legislative session kicks-off in January.
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The National Weather Service in Shreveport is calling for:
* Sunny conditions today, with a high near 64, as cooler temperatures have moved in late this week & look to stick around a while longer.
* For the weekend: It will start off sunny, with a high near 60 degrees.
* By Sunday: showers are likely, mainly after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high of 57.
* Monday: the same high with another chance for rain.
* Low humidity over the region, combined with severe to exceptional drought conditions, keep the threat of wildfires at elevated levels.
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