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  • Gilgeous-Alexander, Bazley lead Thunder over Pelicans yesterday

    Gilgeous-Alexander, Bazley lead Thunder over Pelicans yesterday

    OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma City Thunder coach Billy Donovan has experimented with a three-guard lineup early in a rebuilding season. He had to go beyond that Saturday, due to injury, illness and foul trouble.

    With starting center Steven Adams sidelined by a knee injury for the second straight game and backup Nerlens Noel getting into foul trouble, Donovan went with a lineup that sometimes featured 6-foot-10 forward Danilo Gallinari and no one else over 6-6 on the floor. It was effective enough to hold New Orleans at bay and propel the Thunder to just their second win of the season.

    Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 23 points and eight rebounds, and the Thunder beat the Pelicans 115-104.

    Dennis Schroder and rookie Darius Bazley each added 17 points for the Thunder. Gallinari scored 16 points and Chris Paul finished with 15 points and nine assists.

    “I thought it was a good team win because everybody contributed,” Donovan said. “I thought at the end of the third (quarter) and throughout the beginning part of the fourth, we got really good play from our bench.”

    Bazley saw his most extensive action, playing just under 19 minutes. Hamidou Diallo stepped up to play more than 29 minutes when starter Terrance Ferguson came down with flu-like symptoms in the first quarter, and he contributed 12 points, five rebounds and rim protection. Noel managed to navigate around his foul trouble to block six shots.

    JJ Redick scored 17 points for the Pelicans, who were coming off their only victory of the season. The Pelicans played most of the game without leading scorer Brandon Ingram, who left midway through the second quarter with an injury.

    Gilgeous-Alexander scored 10 points in the first seven minutes and had 18 at halftime. Bazley scored eight points in the third quarter. The Thunder took a 94-86 lead into the fourth quarter.

    New Orleans cut it to 104-101 with 5:10 remaining on Redick’s 3-pointer, but Paul and Gallinari responded with back-to-back 3 and Schroder took control of the game in the final minutes on defense as Oklahoma City pulled away.

    “I thought Chris and Gallo were really efficient tonight with the way they played,” Donovan said. “I think everybody contributed today and that was good to see. Offensively, we continue to improve and get better.”

    Jahlil Okafor took advantage of Oklahoma City’s lack of size, scoring 15 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, but he was ineffective down the stretch as New Orleans fell to 1-5.

    “We keep turning the ball over; 17 turnovers for 23 points. You just can’t survive that, especially on the road,” Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. “We’ve got to do a much better job protecting the ball. We’ve got to do a better job of getting back and getting our defense set. And then we’ve got to do a better job of executing down the stretch. We didn’t do those things.”

    Ingram, who was averaging 26.8 points, appeared to try and intentionally foul Gilgeous-Alexander on a drive to stop play, but didn’t get a whistle. A few seconds later, on a dead ball, he came out of the game and went straight to the Pelicans locker room with an apparent head injury. He did not return to the bench for the remainder of the game, finishing with just seven points.

    New Orleans is already missing rookie No. 1 pick Zion Williamson, who is recovering from knee surgery.

    TIP-INS

    Pelicans: Lonzo Ball injured his ankle in the third quarter but was able to return to the game. He finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. … This was the first professional meeting between Pelicans guard Nick Alexander-Walker and Gilgeous-Alexander, cousins who played in prep school together. Alexander-Walker checked in at the 3:17 mark of the first quarter to guard Gilgeous-Alexander. He didn’t allow Gilgeous-Alexander to score in their first encounter but did pick up a foul trying to cover him.

    “It was a surreal moment,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It was something we dreamed about obviously our whole lives and for us to be able to actually live it out is crazy.”

    Thunder: Adams is listed as day to day. Noel again was the starter in his place and blocked six shots in 23 minutes of action. … Billy Donovan made his first coach’s challenge of the season on a goaltending call against Noel in the second quarter. Donovan lost the challenge as the call was upheld after replay.

    UP NEXT

    Pelicans: Stay on the road to visit Brooklyn on Monday.

    Thunder: Host Orlando on Tuesday.

  • Survey: Louisiana youth interest in vaping is on the rise

    Survey: Louisiana youth interest in vaping is on the rise

    NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Interest in e-cigarettes is growing among Louisiana’s middle school and high school students, despite deaths across the country attributed to vaping, according to a new survey.

    The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living found the number of students in the state who say they used vape products has doubled since 2017.

    The survey shows that in 2019, about 32% of high school students and 15% of middle school students in Louisiana reported vaping more than once, according to The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate. About one in four middle school students and half of high school students said they have tried vaping.

    Though e-cigarette purchases are limited to people ages 18 and older, a large portion of the students surveyed who vaped said they bought the devices from friends.

    Schools were randomly selected for the anonymous survey, which was optional for students to complete. About 2,700 students were surveyed.

    Most students said they tried vaping because they were curious, with those who vaped regularly saying they were influenced by friends or family members.

    Twenty-nine cases of vaping-related illness have been reported to the Louisiana Department of Health. The people involved ranged in age from 17 to 71, with a median age of 28. Over half said they used a mixture of nicotine and THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana, in their e-cigarettes, while 21% reported using just nicotine.

    Nationally, 1,604 cases of lung injury from e-cigarette use have been reported across 49 states, with 34 deaths confirmed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

  • Louisiana holding free flu shot events around the state

    BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana’s health department is holding one-day flu vaccination clinics around the state where people can get free flu shots.

    The free flu shot events began in October and are continuing this month. A full list of locations, dates and times is available online. Events are open to the public, without appointments needed.

    Those who don’t have private insurance, Medicare or Medicaid to cover the cost of the flu shot won’t have to pay for the vaccination.

    The Department of Health says more than 1,400 people in Louisiana died last year from the flu and more than 14,000 people were hospitalized.

    The agency is encouraging people to get their annual vaccination against the flu, saying a shot is recommended for anyone over 6 months old who doesn’t have a complicating condition.

  • Pharmacist sentenced to 10 years in health care fraud case

    HATTIESBURG, Miss (AP) — A pharmacist has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a $400 million pain cream fraud.

    The Hattiesburg American reports 51-year-old Thomas Spell Jr. of Ridgeland was sentenced Thursday.

    Spell pleaded guilty to filing more than $243 million in false claims with TRICARE, the health benefits program for the military.

    Prosecutors said it was part of a scheme of prescribing unneeded pain creams to bilk insurers.

    U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst has said the case is part of the largest health care fraud scheme ever prosecuted in Mississippi.

    In addition to Spell, 11 people pleaded guilty and one was convicted at trial for their roles in the scheme.

  • Mississippi now allows dogs on restaurant patios

    JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Pet dogs can now dine with their owners under certain conditions at Mississippi restaurants.

    The Mississippi State Department of Health’s new policy went into effect Friday.

    Restaurants must apply for a variance to the department’s food code to allow the animals and pay a $165 inspection fee. Under the new policy, a restaurant must have a separate outside entrance into a designated outdoor dog-friendly area. Dogs, who must remain leashed, are not allowed to go indoors — unless considered a service dog.

    Disposable dishes and utensils are required and dogs can’t come into contact with any items involved in food service operations. Employees cannot touch or handle the animals.

    Visit www.HealthyMS.com/doggiedining for more information.

  • Nix, No. 11 Auburn hold on, 20-14 over Ole Miss

    Nix, No. 11 Auburn hold on, 20-14 over Ole Miss

    AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Auburn piled up yards, if not points, and the defense didn’t permit many of either.

    Bo Nix passed for a career-high 340 yards and had a 1-yard touchdown run and the 11th-ranked Tigers withstood Mississippi’s final drive to escape with a 20-14 victory Saturday night.

    Auburn (7-2, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) mostly dominated on the stat sheet but struggled to put the 19-point underdogs away after repeated stalled drives and three missed field goals. Anders Carlson’s third miss, a 49-yarder with 1:14 to play, gave Ole Miss (3-6, 2-4) a shot at a winning drive.

    A defense that has kept Auburn in every game made one final stop.

    “When the game was on the line, I’m real proud of the offense flipping the field and real proud of the defense ending the game the way it did,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said.

    The Tigers endured some harrowing moments along the way.

    The Rebels, who had no timeouts left, quickly moved from their 31 into Auburn territory. Plumlee hit Braylon Sanders for a 17-yard pass after a holding call negated a big gain and then ran 20 yards.

    Finally on fourth-and-3 from the 35, Plumlee scrambled around and made a desperation heave under pressure. Christian Tutt intercepted the ball and raced most of the way to the other end zone. And Auburn, which was coming off a 23-20 loss at No. 1 LSU, managed to survive.

    Nix completed 30 of 44 passes, including a 78-yarder to Harold Joiner that set up Auburn’s first touchdown. Then he watched a defense that has kept the Tigers in every game.

    “We’re confident in our defense, the best in the country, and they delivered for us again,” Nix said. “We had our chances, so we left it in the hands of them and thank goodness, they came through for us.”

    Auburn outgained the Rebels 507-266 in total yards but couldn’t convert much of that production into points. Carlson did make kicks of 20 and 38 yards.

    Nix’s fellow freshman D.J. Williams got most of his 24 carries and 93 yards in the second half. Anthony Schwartz gained 89 yards on nine catches, including a 50-yarder.

    Plumlee led the Rebels on a 15-play, 91-yard touchdown march late to cut it to one score. Jerrion Ealy burst outside on fourth-and-1 from the 5 to set up Snoop Conner’s 1-yard run with 5:45 left. Auburn was flagged for two personal fouls on the drive.

    “We tried to stay consistent in the run game, and it gave us a chance to win the football game,” Ole Miss coach Matt Luke said. “A few three-and-outs left our defense on the field a long time. I think that hurt our defense in the second half for sure. But they bowed their necks, fought their guts out and gave us a chance to have the ball, driving with a chance to win the football game.”

    Nix answered in the battle of freshman quarterbacks with a final drive that included three passes for first downs and worked most of the clock down.

    Malzahn called a timeout with 1:20 left facing fourth-and-2. Carlson’s potential clinching kick went wide right. The coach said he never considered trying to go for it and run down the clock.

    “I’ve got a lot of confidence in him, and I’d do the same thing again,” Malzahn said.

    Plumlee passed for 86 yards and ran for 92.

    THE TAKEAWAY

    Mississippi: Couldn’t generate much of a passing game. Cut it to 10-7 at halftime with Plumlee’s 4-yard scamper with 44 seconds left. It was set up by Elijah Moore’s 55-yard punt return.

    Auburn: First four drives generated 157 yards, two missed field goals, a fumble and a punt. But the defense remains one of the league’s stingiest, even short-handed.

    DEFENDERS OUT

    Auburn safety Jeremiah Dinson missed the game with a virus and was replaced by Jamien Sherwood. Defensive end Marlon Davidson sat out with lower back tightness, with Derick Hall starting in his place.

    UP NEXT

    Mississippi hosts New Mexico State on Nov. 9.

    Auburn has an open date before hosting No. 8 Georgia on Nov. 16.

  • Mississippi State snaps slide, rolls past Arkansas 54-24

    Mississippi State snaps slide, rolls past Arkansas 54-24

    FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Kylin Hill ran for a career-high 234 yards and three touchdowns as Mississippi State racked up a season-high 640 yards of total offense, including 460 on the ground, in a 54-24 demolition of Arkansas.

    The win snapped a four-game losing streak and kept alive the Bulldogs’ (4-5, 2-4) chances at a .500 season and a bowl game. It also ensured they wouldn’t finish last in the SEC West as Arkansas, winless in the SEC in coach Chad Morris’ two seasons, was never truly in the game.

    All three of Hill’s scores came in the first half as the Bulldogs took a commanding 38-10 lead into intermission.

    Arkansas quarterback Ben Hicks was ineffective and ultimately pulled. He didn’t complete his first pass until the second quarter and, after an interception returned for a touchdown, he was replaced by third-string quarterback John Stephen Jones. The Razorbacks (2-7, 0-6) had just 141 yards of total offense in the first half, 52 of which came on a touchdown run by Rakeem Boyd that cut Arkansas’ deficit to 10, 17-7.

    A six-play, 66-yard drive to start the second half sealed things. Tommy Stevens, making his first start in three weeks, capped the series with a touchdown pass, his second of the game, to Farrod Green. Stevens finished 12 of 18 passing for 172 yards to go with his two scores. He added another 74 yards on the ground.

    With the outcome decided, Morris made another quarterback change, one that excited the few thousand who stayed. Four-star recruit, freshman quarterback K.J. Jefferson made his first appearance of the season on the first drive of the fourth quarter.

    The projected heir apparent at the position ran for 21 yards on his first play from scrimmage, threw a 32-yard strike to Treylon Burks on his next play and capped the four-play drive with a 5-yard rushing touchdown.

    Mississippi State countered with three straight Nick Gibson runs, the last one going 48 yards for a score.

    THE TAKEAWAY

    Mississippi State: Coach Joe Moorhead may have staved off the hot seat talk for a week, anyway. Another win is likely next week as Mississippi State plays Abilene Christian from the FCS. That would leave just one win required in its final two, including the Egg Bowl against Ole Miss, to make the Bulldogs .500 and bowl bound.

    Arkansas: Morris’ name only gets bandied about with further speculation. He has yet to win an SEC game in his two seasons and ticket sales are slowing with him at the helm.

    UP NEXT

    Mississippi State: The Bulldogs get a breather from SEC play next week when they host Abilene Christian, an FCS opponent.

    Arkansas: A familiar face returns to Fayetteville next week when Western Kentucky, led by former Arkansas starting quarterback Ty Storey, visits.

  • Nestle announces cookie dough recall

    Nestle announces cookie dough recall

    ARLINGTON, V.A. (WECT) – Nestle has announced a voluntary recall on ready-to-bake cookie dough because the product could contain rubber pieces.

    Nestlé Toll House cookie dough bars, tubs and tube-shaped “chubs” are among the 26 products in the impacted batches. The product was shipped across the continental US and Puerto Rico.

    The company says they made the call out of an abundance of caution after being notified of food-grade rubber being found in some of the products. Nestle confirms they have found the source of the rubber and aren’t aware of any illnesses or injuries requiring medical treatment.

    “The quality, safety and integrity of our products remain our number one priority. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this action represents to both our consumers and retail customers,” Nestle wrote in the press release. “We are working with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on this voluntary recall and will cooperate with them fully.”

    You can see a complete list of impacted products here.

    Batch codes can be identified on the product packaging after the “use or freeze-by” date and before the number 5753.

    Anyone with products listed above should throw them away and contact Nestlé Consumer Services at nestleproductinquiry@casupport.com with proof of purchase.

  • Missouri Farmers Seeking To Reduce Runoff In Gulf Of Mexico

    Missouri Farmers Seeking To Reduce Runoff In Gulf Of Mexico

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — When corn and soybean farmer Kenny Reichard stopped plowing some of his fields in northern Missouri in 1982, other farmers told him that it was a terrible decision that would lower his yields.

    “I’ve been told many times that no-till doesn’t work,” said Reichard, 62, who farms north of Brunswick in Chariton County.

    More than three decades later, state programs and agriculture initiatives are trying to encourage farmers to adopt no-till and other practices that reduce fertilizer runoff that contributes to the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. While many farmers think such methods are expensive, they’re critical to cleaning up the Mississippi River basin.

    “We do realize if we put too much (fertilizer) on, it’s going to go somewhere, and we don’t want to be paying to kill the fish in the Gulf,” Mitchell Rice, 39, a farmer in Chariton County, told KCUR-FM.

    Urban stormwater, sewage and farm runoff that flow downstream from states in the Mississippi River basin have created an area in the Gulf where oxygen is too low to support marine life. Missouri is among the top contributors of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution to the river basin, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Federal data shows that the state’s pollution largely comes from fertilizer and manure.

    Iowa, Minnesota and a few other agricultural states have set goals for the reduction of nitrogen and phosphorus. Missouri has not set targets. The state’s approach to curtailing farm runoff, which environmentalists say lacks strength, is to use sales tax revenue to provide farmers financial incentives to improve crop and livestock practices.

    Under the Parks, Soils and Water Sales Tax program, Missouri farmers can apply for funding that would cover up to 75% of the cost of conservation projects. The projects could involve planting cover crops, types of crops that reduce soil erosion, or using vegetation to build buffer zones that block nutrients from waterways.

    Last year, the state spent $40 million generated by the sales tax on projects that helped farmers adopt conservation practices. The program has received such a high level of interest from farmers that the state can’t accommodate every funding request, said Chris Wieberg, water protection program director at the Missouri Department of Conservation.

    “We would double that conservation if we doubled that money,” Wieberg said.

    Some environmentalists in Missouri want the state set targets on nitrogen and phosphorus pollution. It isn’t enough to increase acreage of cover crops and fund better agricultural practices, said Maisah Khan, water policy director at the Missouri Coalition for the Environment.

    “You can check the box and say we have accomplished x, y and z, but there’s not a lot of data and metrics behind it,” Khan said. “The strategy isn’t really tracking what we’re achieving with this plan.”

    Khan has also pressed the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to increase its monitoring of nutrient pollution. The state’s plan to track nitrogen and phosphorus in lakes received approval from the Environmental Protection Agency last year. However, the DNR has no plans to monitor runoff in Missouri’s streams or in the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.

    Many farmers in Missouri are opposed to limits on nutrient pollution. Some argue that the approach could be counterintuitive. For example, state regulators might instruct farmers to avoid applying fertilizer during a rain event, which may result in farmers adding more fertilizer before the rain, causing more runoff to occur, said Andrea Rice, director of research and outreach for the Missouri Fertilizer Control Board.

    “By putting targets (on nutrients), you’re having to adhere to end goals, whereas here in Missouri, we’re able to focus on the process,” said Rice, who is married to Mitchell Rice.

    Rice and her husband farm 1,700 acres of corn and soybean near Clifton Hill, where they plant cover crops and use grid sampling, or precision technology to conserve fertilizer.

    Rising fertilizer and seed prices have motivated farmers like him to use these practices, Mitchell Rice said.

    “We have to look at the bottom line on everything,” he said. “Cover crops, where we’re having to use less chemical, eventually less fertilizer. It makes sense to be good stewards and do those things.”

    Research suggests it could be many years before efforts by farmers and state governments would make much of a difference in the Gulf of Mexico, said Steven Herrington, director of science and impact measures at the Nature Conservancy’s Missouri chapter.

    “Let’s say we reduced all of our nitrogen into our soil to zero,” Herrington said. “We still have a legacy of nitrogen in our soils from decades and decades of agriculture that would still be moving down through these systems.”

    Missouri DNR officials plan to study the impact of the parks, soils and water sales tax in the coming months.

    ___

    Information from: KCUR-FM, http://www.kcur.org

    An AP Member Exchange shared by KCUR-FM.

  • Trump heads to Mississippi ahead of tight race for governor

    JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Hundreds of people waited Friday to see President Donald Trump at an arena in north Mississippi as he traveled to the state to try to shore up Republican support ahead of the state’s toughest governor’s race in nearly a generation, with two established politicians competing for the open seat.

    Four years ago, Mississippi’s Democratic nominee governor was a little-known trucker who did not vote for himself in the primary and went on to lose the general election by more than 34 percentage points. Republicans have held the Mississippi governorship for 24 of the past 28 years.

    This year, though, Democrats in this conservative Deep South state think they have a much better shot in Tuesday’s election with Jim Hood as their nominee. Hood, 57, is serving his fourth term as attorney general and has been elected by wide margins in his previous races. He’s currently the only Democrat to hold statewide office.

    Trump will hold an evening rally in the northern Mississippi city of Tupelo to support Hood’s opponent, Republican Tate Reeves. Reeves, 45, is finishing his second term as lieutenant governor after previously serving two terms as the elected state treasurer.

    In the race to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Phil Bryant, Reeves has spent $10.8 million, and Hood has spent $5.2 million. Both are receiving financial support from national governors’ groups in their parties.

    Vice President Mike Pence is set to appear on the Mississippi Gulf Coast on Monday.

    The events with Trump and Pence will be the largest campaign rallies for either gubernatorial candidate. Reeves and Hood have both focused on speaking to small groups at fish fries, local festivals and volunteer fire departments.

    Reeves has sought to tie Hood as closely as possible to national Democrats, such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who are deeply unpopular in a state that voted heavily for Trump in the last presidential election.

    Reeves says under Republican control in Mississippi, students are seeing academic gains and lawmakers are building up the state’s financial reserves.

    “Mississippi is moving in the right direction,” Reeves says in one of his campaign commercials. “We need a governor strong enough to take us to our full potential. Jim Hood won’t, but I will.”

    Hood says Reeves and other Republicans have underfunded schools and ignored the financial plight of rural hospitals while giving tax breaks to big businesses.

    Hood has not invited national Democratic figures to Mississippi. He’s running campaign commercials that show him with his family, his pickup truck and his hunting dog, Buck. In one, Hood unpacks a rifle and says that “Tate Reeves and his out-of-state corporate masters” are spending money on a “bunch of lies.”

    “You all know me. I’ve worked for you for years. I do my job and I’m a straight shooter,” Hood says. The spot ends with Hood shooting the gun and shattering a bottle.

    Hood is also running radio ads designed to appeal to African American voters — one with an endorsement from former U.S. Rep. Mike Espy, who ran a strong but ultimately unsuccessful race for U.S. Senate in Mississippi last year and another that mentions Hood leading the successful 2005 prosecution of reputed Ku Klux Klan leader Edgar Ray Killen in the 1964 slaying of three civil rights workers.

    The outreach reflects the importance of black voters to any possible Hood victory. African Americans make up 38% of the state’s population, but some say they’re irritated by Hood’s emphasis on courting rural white voters.

    Brad Franklin of Jackson, an African American entrepreneur and rapper, said he usually supports Democrats and will vote for Hood. But, Franklin said he’s put off by Hood using one type of message for black audiences and another for “rural Mississippians.”

    “Jim Hood should not, in 2019, have to act like he’s a conservative to get voted in,” Franklin said. “If you are conservative, say you are conservative.”

    Franklin said Hood and other Democrats need to try harder to earn young voters’ support, and he believes some will stay home rather than turn out for Hood.

    Reeves has faced some enthusiasm problems of his own in the Republican party. He was forced into a runoff with Bill Waller Jr., former chief justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court.

    Reeves has a reputation as a hard-nosed politician who’s not afraid to make enemies.

    Teachers upset about tight education budgets gave him the silent treatment when he appeared before them this the summer. Roadbuilders say his fondness for frugality has left the state with crumbling highways and perilous bridges.