AGR - Louisiana Edition

American Ground Radio
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Join Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr on American Ground Radio - Louisiana Edition as they delve deep into the heartbeat of Louisiana, serving up a gumbo of local and statewide news, and political opinion to boot. Whether you're in NOLA or Natchitoches, Minden or Moss Bluff, grab a seat and savor not just the spicy Louisiana politics, but also the company of friends and family that make this place we call home. 

  1. 18h ago

    A Plan to Make a Plan: The Sheriff’s Mayoral Endorsement Falls Apart

    You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for October 21, 2026.  We start close to home with the Shreveport mayoral race, the largest municipal election on the Louisiana ballot this November. Caddo Parish Sheriff Henry Whitehorn Sr. has endorsed Stormy Gage Watts, citing her commitment to public safety. We take a hard look at the endorsement, at the difference between making something a priority and having a plan, and at what crime numbers in Shreveport have done in the last four years. We also ask why candidates are so good at naming problems and so much less comfortable explaining how they’ll fix them. In the Top 3 Things You Need to Know, a Michigan man has been arrested for allegedly flying surveillance-style drones over Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City. A former New Orleans Safety and Permits employee is accused of a short-term rental permit fraud scheme that included permits in the French Quarter. And Shreveport has reached a deal with the New York owner of the Sanctuary apartment complex, who was $145,000 behind on his water bill. We also give credit where we think it’s due. We then dig into the Louisiana Board of Regents’ new Louisiana Opportunity Index. It asks whether our colleges are preparing students for jobs that actually exist, whether graduates get a good return on their investment and stay in Louisiana, and whether they get real-world experience and good career advice before taking on expensive degrees. In Digging Deep, we go through the campaign finance reports in Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District, on both the Democratic and Republican sides. We look at who has raised money, who has loaned their own campaign money, and who has cash left, and we talk about the effect of a Trump endorsement and why none of it matters unless people show up to vote. From there we head to Minnesota, where Michelle Tafoya is running for U.S. Senate against Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan after the Cook Political Report shifted the race to Leans Democrat. We talk about why the race matters and about the fraud scandals that have hit the state. Then we ask whether the war in Ukraine could be nearing a turning point after Zelensky’s comments on Fox News about freezing the lines where they are, and after the Kremlin said Putin has agreed to resume U.S.-mediated talks. In our Moment of Whoa, a Richmond, Virginia, man is charged after allegedly duct-taping his wife to a chair so he could watch football in peace. We also play a round of the deadliest wars in European history, and we close with Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s claim that the Second Amendment comes with an expiration date, plus why we think that argument doesn’t work for any other right in the Constitution. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.

  2. 1d ago

    $3.2 Billion to Nonprofits: Where Did Louisiana’s Money Go?

    You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for October 20, 2026.  We start by digging into a Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s report showing the state sent $3.2 billion to nonprofits over four years, with $1.9 billion of it coming from the Department of Education. We ask what taxpayers got for $10 million to the New Orleans Super Bowl host committee, $300,000 to the Country Music Association in Nashville, and nearly $11,000 to an LGBTQ aging advocacy group. We also separate charter school funding, where test scores give you something to measure, from spending where the return is much harder to see. In the Top 3 Things You Need to Know, Governor Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill are headed to Paris for the Saints game on a chartered flight, while Mayor Helena Moreno says she is paying her own way. New Orleans has declared Election Day a city holiday, even though polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. and early voting is already underway. The U.S. Department of Transportation is also putting $5.81 million toward replacing railroad bridges between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, which gets us debating whether a passenger train could ever pay for itself. It’s campaign season, so we talk about big-picture candidates versus little-picture candidates who’ve done their homework. Shreveport Mayor Tom Arsenault then joins us in the studio to answer a claim that he has a secret plan to double water rates. He walks us through the sewer consent decree, why any rate change needs city council approval, and how his Block by Block cleanup program is going as he asks for another four years. Next, migrant student enrollment in California public schools has dropped sharply, and Oakland’s newcomer programs have shrunk from 17 to six. We talk about what that says about how school districts budget. In Say What, Maine Democrat Troy Jackson tells Senator Susan Collins to shut up during their debate and says he doesn’t regret it, and we look at what Collins actually said. We also meet an Indiana county council candidate who reportedly had three beers before a candidate forum. Then, with Halloween around the corner, we count down the spookiest cities in America, and New Orleans takes the top spot. We close with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s swift response to youth riots in Milan, and why freedom requires order. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.

  3. 2d ago

    New Orleans Proposes 75% Sanitation Cuts, Louisiana Early Voting Begins, Shreveport Mayor Race Finances Revealed

    You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for October 19, 2026. We open the show with a message for New Orleans: get it together. Mayor Helena Moreno’s proposed budget would eliminate 75% of the sanitation department’s positions. We ask how making a top tourist destination dirtier and less safe helps a city out of a financial crisis. We also talk about why one-time money doesn’t solve recurring problems, and about sticking to the things only a city can do. In the Top 3 Things You Need to Know, St. Bernard Parish Sheriff James Pohlman announces his retirement after 43 years with the department. An arrest warrant is issued for the owner of a Shreveport apartment complex whose water was cut off over more than $145,000 in unpaid bills, though extradition from New York is uncertain. And early voting begins across Louisiana, running through October 27 ahead of Election Day on November 3. Next, we turn to the candidate forums we’ve been watching in Shreveport, New Orleans, and Lafayette. We explain why loving your community isn’t a governing strategy, and we make the case for big-picture candidates who also know the budget. In Digging Deep, we go through the Shreveport mayor’s race campaign finance reports. We compare Mayor Tom Arsenault’s cash on hand with the totals raised by John Paul Young, Stormy Gage Watts, and Tammy Phelps. We also explain why most of Young’s headline total is his own money, and why dollars raised don’t equal votes. After that, we get to a rare moment of accountability. Duke cornerback Kamari Robinson publicly apologizes after swatting away a team trainer’s hand during a game, and we think it’s one of the better apologies we’ve heard. In Say What, we play a clip of Sen. Elissa Slotkin explaining the deterrence message she wants to send to people considering work in the Trump administration. We react to it, along with Sen. Raphael Warnock’s comments on Meet the Press about the president and the people who enabled him, and we discuss what a Democratic return to power could mean. Then we cover Elon Musk’s reported plan to give American children a share of SpaceX stock, alongside the Dell family’s Trump account pledge. We talk about what it means for kids to own a piece of the American economy. We close with a game on September state unemployment rates, where the states with the highest unemployment skew blue and the states with the lowest skew red, and we ask what that means for the affordability argument heading into the midterms. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.

  4. 3d ago

    Why Are Ballot Measures Written to Confuse You?

    You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for October 16, 2026. We start with election season and the local races many of you have on your ballots, from mayor to sheriff to city council. We talk about the difference between candidates who bring the data and candidates who lean on emotion, and why a claim like “it’s not happening in my neighborhood” can spread faster than the facts. Using the Shreveport mayor’s race as an example, we look at Mayor Tom Arsenault’s block-by-block cleanup program. We also ask what it means for a campaign to leave the public better informed than before it began. In the Top 3 Things You Need to Know, a judge dismisses State Representative Steven Jackson’s conviction for impersonating a police officer, and we weigh what that means given his plea and his comments afterward. New Orleans is considering closing another elementary school, and we talk about declining enrollment and why consolidation is sometimes necessary. Another Shreveport apartment complex has its water shut off over a $145,000 unpaid bill, and we talk about the tenants caught in the middle. Next, we take on the 10 constitutional amendments on the Louisiana ballot and ask why they’re written at a postgraduate reading level. We discuss why a confused mind always says no, and we point you to the Public Affairs Research Council’s guide at parlouisiana.org, which gives both sides of every amendment. For Digging Deep, we break down the Shreveport mayoral forums hosted by KTBS and KSLA. We look at how incumbent Arsenault, Tammy Phelps, Stormy Gage Watts, and John Paul Young stacked up, what The Hayride’s coverage had to say, and where the race stands on fundraising and the polls. Then we turn to the Oregon father who ran toward gunfire at his children’s school and stopped a shooter. We talk about the good guy with a gun, how rare these incidents really are, and what the legitimate debate over gun policy should be. In Say What, Vice President J.D. Vance launches his anti-fraud pledge, and we go through all six points to see whether we’d sign it. We also look at Elon Musk’s flying, barrel-rolling Tesla Roadster demo in Texas. Then we play a game with SoFi’s per-capita fraud rankings and see which states come out on top and which come out cleanest, including how Louisiana did. We finish with Washington State’s new $126 permit just to shop for a firearm, and we ask when exercising a constitutional right started requiring proof you can afford it. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.

  5. 6d ago

    Daycare Costs Are Keeping Louisiana Moms Out of Work

    You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for October 15, 2026.  We start with a question about the Louisiana economy: if we want more people working and fewer families depending on government assistance, who’s going to watch the kids? We look at the cost of child care, which can run about $12,000 a year for one child. We also look at a Louisiana Policy Institute for Children estimate that expanding early childhood education could bring 30,000 parents back into the workforce. We debate whether the answer is government subsidies, stronger two-parent families, or a family member who can stay home, and why it matters for Louisiana’s future. Then it’s our Top 3 Things You Need to Know. First, Governor Jeff Landry says the state will fund infrastructure work for the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board, after the city pulled its $110 million bond request amid a fight involving Attorney General Liz Murrill and potential investigations of city leaders. Second, Louisiana is headed for an estimated $565 million budget surplus, with part of it required to go to retirement debt and the rainy day fund. Third, white powder packages were sent to the Secretary of State’s offices in Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Ohio, all Republican-led states, just weeks before the election. Next, we applaud Saints owner Gayle Benson for publicly calling the team’s 1-4 start unacceptable, and we talk about Steve Jobs’s “fearless feedback” and why you can’t fix a problem you won’t acknowledge. We also go to the phones with political strategist and columnist Jensen Young, who tells us about his Midterm Prayer Guide, a daily prayer calendar through November for GOP candidates, congressional delegations, and even rice farmers on opening day of the Crowley rice festival. It’s available at The Hayride and Citizens for a New Louisiana. After the break, with the October 15 extension deadline behind us, we talk about taxes: why they’re so frustrating, why incentives matter, and whether lower rates grow the economy and federal revenue. Then it’s Say What, where Kamala Harris tells Keke Palmer’s podcast she wants to expand the Supreme Court and change the Electoral College. We take that apart, along with her interest in adding D.C. and Puerto Rico as states. We also look at the 600 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division heading to Central America to train with partner nations against the cartels, and what makes these groups a national security threat rather than just a criminal one. We run down The Center Square’s early 2028 polls for both parties, with J.D. Vance and Kamala Harris out front. We close with a bright spot: Oscar winner Hilary Swank is expecting again at 52, a reminder that sometimes the greatest accomplishment is sitting at the breakfast table. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.

  6. Oct 15

    Louisiana Amendment 4 Explained: Governor Term Limits on the November 3rd Ballot

    You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for Octobe 14, 2026.  We start with Louisiana’s Amendment 4 on the November 3rd ballot, which would permanently bar a governor from returning to office after serving eight years. We explain how the current law lets a governor sit out one term and run again, look at Louisiana’s history of returning governors from Earl Long to Edwin Edwards, and weigh the conservative case for limiting power against the freedom of voters to choose their leaders. In the Top 3 Things You Need to Know, St. George announces plans for its own charter school by 2028 after voters statewide denied the city its own school district. Thrive Academy in Baton Rouge suspends the rest of its football season after a post-game brawl. And two more corrections officers are arrested in Evangeline Parish for allegedly bringing drugs into jail, part of a growing list across the state. A listener texts the AGR text line with a question about whether term limits should apply across all elected offices, and we talk through it. In Digging Deep, we look at rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and his plans for Shreveport, from G-Unit Studios to a downtown entertainment district, and his recent comments that he’s in no hurry to invest further. We look at what he did and didn’t say, what KTBS reported, and the benchmarks he agreed to with the state, and we ask how much a city should give and what a developer owes in return. Speaker Mike Johnson says not to believe the polls, and CNN’s Harry Enten reports a 38-point drop in the Democratic margin among New York’s Jewish voters since 2022. We then turn to the New York attorney general race, where Letitia James faced Republican Saritha Kometreddi in a debate that drew a lot of attention and some strong reviews. We play the exchange about the facts and the law, hear Kometreddi’s opening statement, and discuss what the race says about politics and prosecution. Customs and Border Protection officers stop nearly $700,000 in illegal narcotics in two smuggling attempts at the same port of entry, and we discuss border security and the drop in opioid deaths. We play a game ranking the states by self-reported mental health problems, from Oregon at the top of the list to New Jersey at the bottom, and see what surprises us. Finally, we ask whether another Meet the Fockers movie can survive the politics of its stars. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.

  7. Oct 15

    New Orleans Residents Say Things Are Getting Better: Here’s What Changed

    You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for October 13, 2026. With Election Day on November 3rd and the voter registration deadline here, we start by working out the election calendar. Then we walk through Louisiana’s Amendment 3, which would deny post-conviction bail to people convicted of aggravated sex offenses against children. We explain how bail eligibility works today, discuss a 2017 Baton Rouge case where a man convicted of raping an eight-year-old girl was released to care for his sick mother, and make the case that the justice system should weigh victims’ safety as seriously as defendants’ rights. In the Top 3 Things You Need to Know, a mysterious white powder is mailed to the Louisiana Secretary of State’s office, prompting an evacuation and an FBI response. Lafayette shuts down two local motels it calls hotbeds of crime. And Natchitoches earns the state’s first Class 1 fire protection rating, which could mean lower insurance costs for residents. From there we celebrate Louisiana’s musical legacy, from Louis Armstrong and Fats Domino to Jerry Lee Lewis and the Louisiana Hayride, and Billboard’s 2026 list of the top music business schools, which includes Loyola University New Orleans and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. In Digging Deep, we look at the 40th annual New Orleans quality of life survey, where crime is no longer residents’ top concern for the first time since 1986, and we talk about what’s driving the shift and what still needs fixing, from streets to infrastructure. Next we return to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. We discuss reports that the Justice Department is examining her finances under a federal warrant, the questions around her $30 million net worth disclosure and her birth date, and what administration officials have said about pursuing the matter. We also take a listen to Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed on Meet the Press, where he denied family ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. We compare his answer with his sister’s old social media posts about their family’s history, and we’re careful to note that being Muslim is not the same as belonging to the Brotherhood. Shane Gillis’s Saturday Night Live monologue about gym clothes sparks a debate about modesty, attention, and the messages our appearance sends. We close with the White House’s new press secretary, Katie Zachariah, and the rough reviews of her first briefing, including the Caroline Leavitt comparisons, and ask how fair it is to judge a first day on the job.  Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.

  8. Oct 13

    Firing Squad, Live Stream, Martyr? The Nidal Hasan Execution Debate

    You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for October 12, 2026.  We start with a rough weekend for Louisiana sports. LSU dropped another SEC game, the Saints lost, and we ask whether a $91 million coaching contract should come with championship results. Then we get to some good news. Louisiana has been ranked ninth in the nation for doing business in Area Development’s 2026 rankings, based on a survey of 50 site selection consultants. We go through the rest of the list, including Georgia, Texas, and Tennessee at the top, and the categories where Louisiana shines, like number two for energy costs, number four for grid capacity, and number four for workforce training. We also ask what it all means for keeping Louisiana’s young people at home. In the Top 3 Things You Need to Know, the police chief and assistant chief at Grambling University have resigned, and the university says the move is unrelated to the recent arrest of the student body president. A New Roads city councilman is suing the city over access to its credit card records, in a town where two of the last four mayors went to prison for misusing public funds. And the online voter registration deadline is just around the corner, with early voting starting October 20th. Next, we dig into the debate over the planned execution of Nidal Hasan, set by firing squad for December 3rd. Some Catholic bishops are objecting, Speaker Mike Johnson has raised national security concerns about a live stream, and we weigh in on whether the decision should rest with the victims’ families. In Digging Deep, we ask whether Louisiana should scrap its film industry tax credit. Economic impact has fallen from about $1 billion a year to $185 million, and overseas competition may matter more than other states do. We also take a sobering look at the killing of a Philadelphia police officer and the troubling allegations about why he was targeted. Then in Say What, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sends a scorching letter to Senator Elizabeth Warren, complete with a handwritten Indigenous Peoples Day note at the end. We come back around to the federal investigation of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and what denaturalization could mean. Then we lighten things up with the National Retail Federation’s list of the ten most popular Halloween costumes for dogs. We close with the ugly scene after the Georgia-Alabama game, when bottles and trash rained down from the stands, and ask when fan spirit turns into assault. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.

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About

Join Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr on American Ground Radio - Louisiana Edition as they delve deep into the heartbeat of Louisiana, serving up a gumbo of local and statewide news, and political opinion to boot. Whether you're in NOLA or Natchitoches, Minden or Moss Bluff, grab a seat and savor not just the spicy Louisiana politics, but also the company of friends and family that make this place we call home. 

Information

  • Creator
    American Ground Radio
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    577
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright American Ground Radio
  • Show Website
    AGR - Louisiana Edition