KATC-TV (Lafayette, LA)

LAFAYETTE — Louisiana volleyball is entering its 50th season as a program with plenty of experience returning. The Ragin’ Cajuns held their Vermilion and White Scrimmage ahead of the 2026 season, marking the start of year six for coach Kristi Gray. Louisiana finished 15-11 last season and returns 14 of its 17 players, including All-Louisiana setter Ryleigh Garis.

LAFAYETTE — Louisiana athletics officially kicked off its fall sports calendar with its annual Fan Day at Blackham Coliseum. Fans heard from the head coaches of Louisiana’s fall sports before getting the opportunity to meet players and staff and collect autographs. The event comes as the start of the athletic calendar approaches, with all three fall programs preparing for their respective seasons. “Fan Day is always exciting for us, man,” Louisiana football coach Michael Desormeaux said.

For the second consecutive presidential election cycle, South Carolina will be the first state on the Democratic Party’s nominating calendar in 2028. South Carolina moved to the front of the line in 2024, despite New Hampshire and Iowa historically leading the nominating calendar. Several states vied to be the first to help choose the party’s nominee in 2028. The first few states tend to wield outsized influence in the nominating process.

The All-Star Game is returning to San Francisco in two years. Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred made the announcement Friday that the 2028 Midsummer Classic will be at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. The 2007 game was played in the picturesque waterfront ballpark, featuring Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki's famous inside-the-park home run that bounced off the tricky wall in right-center field.

A shooting involving multiple suspects and five people shot at Virginia State University prompted a campus lockdown and police investigation early Saturday. It happened near the university's Quad Annexes, where campus police and Chesterfield County officers discovered five people suffering from gunshot wounds outside campus dormitories. Officers responded just before 1:30 a.m. and the lockdown was lifted at about 9 a.m., county police said.

Amid rising concerns over police departments’ use of Flock Safety cameras, the company’s founder said he believes the technology would have solved Nancy Guthrie’s missing-person case. “We would have solved that case,” Garrett Langley, founder and CEO of Flock Safety, told Vanity Fair. “One hundred percent,” he added. “There’s no doubt in my mind.” Guthrie disappeared in February after FBI investigators said she was kidnapped from her home in Pima County, Arizona.

For 1,148 residents of the Cleveland area who were crippled with medical debt, the debt was erased thanks to the initiative of 20-year-old Ohioan Ethan Khorana. Khorana currently attends Duke University and is majoring in public policy. "My organization (The Better Future for Cuyahoga) and me, the mission statement we both have is that we're trying to eliminate what we call the three evils of Cuyahoga County, which is poverty, violence, and discrimination," Khorana said.

Jinny Lu, a pug rescued from the dog meat trade in South Korea, won the annual World’s Ugliest Dog Contest on Friday in Santa Rosa, California. This year marked Jinny Lu’s fourth appearance in the contest, which organizers say “champions rescue dogs, celebrates individuality, and reminds us that true beauty comes in all shapes, sizes, and smiles.” The event also highlights dogs that have overcome adversity to find loving homes. Jinny Lu’s owner received a $5,000 prize.

Vice President JD Vance warned Republicans this week not to ignore voters who sympathize with socialism as more Democratic candidates embrace democratic socialist policies. Vance’s comments came after a CNN poll found that one-third of Democratic voters identify as democratic socialists. The poll also found younger voters were more likely to support progressive policies.

LAFAYETTE, La. — The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns held their first fall camp scrimmage, giving coaches and media a first look at 11-on-11 action as the program builds toward a Sept. 5 opener against Lamar. Quarterback Lunch Winfield operated efficiently, taking what the defense gave him rather than forcing throws downfield. Running back Darrell Smith stood out with several big runs while also serving as a reliable option out of the backfield for Winfield.