March 2018

Ragin’ Cajuns take 5-2 win over McNeese in Lake Charles

LAKE CHARLES – Louisiana-Lafayette took advantage of four infield singles and a wild pitch in the first two innings to grab a 4-0 lead, then was able to hold off a couple of McNeese rallies later in the game to beat the Cowboys 5-2 in front of 1,952 fans – the fifth-largest crowd in school history.

The loss dropped the Cowboys to 8-12 overall and snapped a six-game winning streak as they head into a three-game Southland Conference road series at Nicholls beginning Friday. ULL improved to 9-11 and beat McNeese for the third straight time.

Tigers rally to defeat Green Wave 10-4

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BATON ROUGE – Another big night at the plate at the plate from sophomore centerfielder Zach Watson propelled No. LSU to a 10-4 win over Tulane Wednesday evening at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.

With the win, LSU moved to 15-7 on the season and Tulane fell to 9-13.

The Tigers will travel to Nashville, Tenn., for the first SEC road trip of the season against the Vanderbilt Commodores. Game 1 of the Vanderbilt series is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT and will air on ESPNU, which is also accessible through WatchESPN and the WatchESPN app.

JHS Tennis splits pair with Sulphur

The Jennings High School (JHS) Lady Bulldog tennis team picked up a big win over the 5A Sulphur Lady Tors earlier in the week, while the Bulldogs dropped a tough 5-0 decision to the talented Golden Tors. Despite the lopsided score on the boys’ side, JHS Head Coach Jared Lavergne explained the numbers don’t indicate just how well his Bulldogs played in the match. Headlining the girls’ play, the doubles team consisting of Sam Patterson and Sarah Hollier moved to an eye-popping 12-1 for the season, and importantly helped the Lady Dogs cruise to a 6-1 victory over the Lady Tors.

In Mideast, democracy struggles to take root

Egyptians go to the polls next week in what is essentially a one-candidate election considered by critics to be a return of sorts to authoritarian rule, after a 2011 revolution that sparked loftier expectations for the region. But the bigger picture is that in the Middle East as a whole, democracy has largely failed to take hold.

From Morocco in the west to Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf emirates in the east, monarchies have proven more stable than places that experimented with government of the people.

House intel ends probe, OKs report on Russian meddling

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Intelligence Committee voted Thursday to approve its final report into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, ending the panel’s probe and giving a final endorsement to their conclusion that there was no coordination between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia.

Troopers to patrol at Fla. school massacre site

PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — Already heightened security was being bolstered Thursday at the Florida high school that became the scene of a massacre last month, with Gov. Rick Scott ordering eight highway patrol troopers to help secure the grounds. The move came after the shooting suspect’s brother was arrested on campus, two students were caught carrying knives and another made online threats.

Can Zuckerberg’s media blitz take the pressure off Facebook?

NEW YORK (AP) — In the wake of a privacy scandal involving a Trump-connected data-mining firm, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg embarked on a rare media mini-blitz in an attempt to take some of the public and political pressure off the social network.

But it’s far from clear whether he’s won over U.S. and European authorities, much less the broader public whose status updates provide Facebook with an endless stream of data it uses to sell targeted ads.

Trump to punish China on trade as US companies fear backlash

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration readied restrictions Thursday on Chinese investment and tariffs on nearly $50 billion worth of Chinese imports to punish Beijing for stealing American technology and pressuring U.S. companies to hand it over.

China has already warned that it will take “all necessary measures” to defend itself, raising the prospect of a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.

Police: Austin bomber’s motive still unknown

PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (AP) — A 25-minute cellphone video left behind by the bomber whose deadly explosives terrorized Austin for weeks details the differences among the weapons he built and amounts to a confession, police said. But his motive remains a mystery.

Mark Anthony Conditt, an unemployed college dropout who bought bombmaking materials at Home Depot, recorded the video hours before he died after detonating one of his own devices as SWAT teams closed in. It seemed to indicate the 23-year-old knew he was about to be caught, said Austin Police Chief Brian Manley.

US stocks inch up as investors wait for Fed news on rates

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are mostly higher Wednesday as investors wait for news on interest rates from the Federal Reserve. The Fed is widely expected to raise rates, and investors will be watching closely for clues about how many more increases the central bank may make this year and also for the Fed’s assessment of how the economy is doing.