T-Mobile has announced the top 40 finalists in its Friday Night 5G Lights competition, launching a new phase in which small-town schools across the country compete by division for a million-dollar home field upgrade.
The 40 finalists are divided into four regional divisions. Every finalist school will receive $25,000 and will host a T-Mobile home game celebration. Fans can also vote daily online to help their school advance.
Natchez High School is listed as a finalist in the South division, and Covington High School in Louisiana is also a South division finalist. Voting is available at FridayNight5GLights.com through the 25th.
In another update, the parents of a Lafayette Parish teenager who was killed in a mass shooting at the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge in April have filed a lawsuit against the mall. The lawsuit alleges that mall management failed to provide adequate security, which the plaintiffs say led to the shooting.
The teenager, identified as Martha Odom, was 17 and a student at Ascension Episcopal School. Investigators said Odom and friends were in the mall on Odom’s senior skip day when a man opened fire in the food court. Odom was killed, and five others were injured. Investigators identified the shooter as Markel Lee, and a grand jury indicted him in August on multiple charges, including second-degree murder.
Emergency management officials in Mississippi are also urging residents to prepare for Hurricane Isaias. The storm is forecast to intensify rapidly and bring strong winds and a life-threatening storm surge to the Florida Panhandle, southern Alabama, and southern Mississippi when it makes landfall on the northern Gulf Coast late tonight or early tomorrow. Heavy rain and flooding are possible into the weekend across areas as far inland as the Tennessee Valley. Officials say residents in flood-prone areas should have evacuation plans in place.
Entergy Mississippi said it is monitoring Hurricane Isaias and that crews are ready to respond quickly and safely once conditions allow.
Louisiana’s Agriculture Commissioner Dr. Mike Strain said the state’s sugarcane harvest is progressing. Strain said concerns existed before the growing season because the recently detected sugarcane pest known as the “cane mealybug” could reduce yield. He said the concern has not been borne out, but that the biggest challenge so far is getting sugar to mills. Strain noted some mills have not received enough truck drivers due to H-2B visa limits.
In local river updates, the Mississippi River level at Natchez Valley is 23.63 feet and falling.
