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Tuesday, January 6, 2009
TODAY'S NEWS
NEW YORK -- In a year of prolific offenses, Drew Brees stood out like -- well, Dan Marino. Brees came so close to Marino's NFL record for yards passing that the New Orleans Saints quarterback won The Associated Press 2008 NFL Offensive Player of the Year award.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President-elect Barack Obama says the nation probably faces huge deficits for years to come, but heavy spending is needed now to spur the economy. Obama said Tuesday the deficit appears on track to hit $1 trillion soon.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Social Security Administration, envisaging the near-future prospect of 10,000 baby boomers applying for benefits every day, has put together a new online service that will allow people to get their benefits without ever traveling to a Social Security field office.
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality has validated its 2008 air quality data, which shows all of Louisiana in compliance with two standards. Historically, the only area in Louisiana area that has remained out of attainment for the ozone standard was the five-parish Baton Rouge area of Iberville, West Baton Rouge, Ascension, Livingston and East Baton Rouge parishes.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu says she had a positive meeting with President-elect Barack Obama's pick to be homeland security secretary. Landrieu met with Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano on Monday.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House and Senate have convened for a new Congress that will immediately confront the country's struggling economy.
After Mayor-President Kip Holden was sworn into office for a second term Monday, he attributed his landslide victory as evidence local voters are tired of the divisive politics of the past.
Authorities searched a southern Louisiana marsh by boat Monday for clues that might determine what caused a helicopter crash that killed eight people bound for an offshore oil platform.
Police are looking for a man who shoved a 1/8-inch drill bit in the back of a man’s head when the victim wouldn’t show the assailant his cell phone.
A sobriety checkpoint set up in Livingston Parish led to 10 DWI arrests Saturday, State Police said in a news release. Between the hours of 10 p.m. Saturday and 3 a.m. Sunday, more than 500 vehicles passed through the checkpoint in Walker on La. 447 south of U.S. 190, Trooper Russell Graham said in the news release.
The state health agency used excess cash — much of it one-time money — to avoid most of the $118 million in spending reductions required under a Jindal administration budget-balancing plan.
Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center wrapped up 2008 with a $28 million shopping spree that included 60 acres spanning from the hospital’s Tau Center near Essen Lane to Interstate 10, two nearby outpatient surgery centers and an office building on Perkins Road.
The widening of Interstate 10 from the I-10/12 split to Siegen Lane will soon force speed limits to be trimmed to 50 miles per hour through the construction zone, officials said Monday.
A state judge ordered a 19-year-old man released from Parish Prison on Monday because prosecutors were not prepared to try him on an attempted second-degree murder charge stemming from the brutal beating and burning death of another man in 2007.
WATSON — A quirky, two-mile bottleneck on La. 16 in Livingston Parish that has bedeviled motorists for years is history. A $7.7 million project to widen the state highway from two lanes to four between Denham Springs and Watson is open to traffic after 11 months of construction and years of pushing by local leaders to fund it, state and local officials said Monday.
A dozen jobs at the state’s war veterans homes will be eliminated to reduce costs, Veterans Affairs Secretary Lane Carson said. “The only thing we could cut was those positions,” Carson said.
NEW ORLEANS — Newly sworn Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro Jr. acknowledged Monday he has sought the state’s permission to file for bankruptcy protection. The rare step is not necessarily imminent.
TICKFAW — Tangipahoa Parish sheriff’s deputies arrested three Hammond men in a Sunday morning home invasion during which a homeowner was shot and wounded.
Livingston Parish sheriff’s deputies arrested two more people in a counterfeiting scheme, bringing the total arrested in the case to five, deputies said.
WALKER — The town’s administration looks a lot like the former East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office after Bobby Font took over as mayor and Fred Raiford became his chief of staff Monday.
The next Enviroschool organized by the state Department of Environmental Quality is scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday at the DEQ Conference Center, 602 N. Fifth St.
LAFAYETTE — Former School Board member and state Rep. Rickey Hardy’s request that the state take over three low-performing schools in Lafayette Parish is a bit premature and an overstep of the legislator’s authority, say board members who represent the targeted schools.
LAFAYETTE — The Lafayette Parish School Board will select its leadership for the coming year at its Wednesday meeting. For two years, members have elected Carl LaCombe as president. Greg Awbrey has served as vice president for one year.
ABBEVILLE — The Vermilion Parish Police Jury voted Monday to re-elect Gerald Butaud and Ronald Darby as its president and vice president, respectively, for a second consecutive year.
Today's funeral notices.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President-elect Barack Obama declared the national economy was "bad and getting worse" Monday as he began crisis talks with congressional leaders on emergency action.
Authorities today released the names of those involved in a Sunday afternoon helicopter crash that killed eight and injured one about 10 miles south of Morgan City.
A $100 million state program that paid property insurers to do more business in Louisiana expired Wednesday, and the remaining $71 million will be divided among the state’s property owners, Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said Monday. Property owners will receive state checks of maybe $50 as a result.
John Chavis will be LSU's next defensive coordinator, head coach Les Miles announced officially on Monday. "John Chavis is a tremendous coach who has had a great deal of success over a long period of time in the SEC," Miles said. "You look back at what he's been able to accomplish defensively at Tennessee over the past 14 years and it's hard not to be impressed. "
Sheriff’s detectives want to talk to a man they think has information about a Christmas Eve armed robbery, aggravated burglary and rape, according to an East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office news release issued this morning. According to reports, about 6:30 a.m. on Dec 24, a black man kicked in the front door of a home on the 2000 block of O’Neal Lane.
A 15-year-old boy was shot multiple times Sunday morning and authorities are searching for the shooter, police said in a news release.
The Louisiana Board of Ethics has given a Baton Rouge law firm the go-ahead to do work for LSU on a proposed deal with Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, which is also a law firm client.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Thousands of Israeli troops backed by tanks and helicopter gunships surrounded Gaza's largest city and fought militants at close range Sunday, the first full day of an overwhelming ground offensive in the coastal territory.
A 22-year-old Gonzales man died Saturday morning in a crash in LaSalle Parish, Louisiana State Police said in a news release.
NEW ORLEANS — The New Year means new rules for Louisiana judges. Effective Jan. 1, state judges were required to submit finance disclosure reports to the public; lawyers who are not U.S. citizens can now practice in Louisiana; and there is now a $50 cap on food and drink for judges at social functions.
Tensions between those who want wholesale change in public education in Baton Rouge and those who want to expand on the strengths of the current school system are vividly displayed in responses that more than 400 locals gave to a recent superintendent search survey.
Following more than two decades of cleanup, the last of three federal “superfund” sites in Ascension Parish is off the national priority list but monitoring and cost recuperation continue, federal officials say.
With Bibles now available in a multitude of translations, styles and formats, is there really any need for one more? The Christian publishing house Zondervan thinks there is such a need. On Sunday, members of the congregation at Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge were busy crafting this new Bible, writing out this sacred Christian tome by hand, one verse at a time.
Parish President Mike Grimmer, other elected officials and community leaders plan to attend a groundbreaking Tuesday for the 2009 Children’s Miracle Mansion at Greystone Golf and Country Club, 9214 Greystone Drive, Denham Springs.
Livingston Parish government dipped into its reserves for almost $1.2 million to meet 2008 spending needs, parish records show. The withdrawals more than halved the parish’s general fund reserves, according to the parish’s financial records.
BREAUX BRIDGE — It’ll take about a year to tell the colorful tale of breaking tails. The original Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival will turn 50 in 2010, and locals and volunteers — as well as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Cinematic Arts Workshop — are making yearlong plans to celebrate this area’s preferred crustacean with an hour-long documentary and a historical archive.
WASHINGTON (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson abandoned his bid to become commerce secretary under pressure of a grand jury investigation about political favoritism — an investigation that threatened to embarrass President-elect Barack Obama.
Branum III, David H., Niland’s Funeral Home, New Roads, at 11 a.m.
In his first year as governor, Bobby Jindal dealt with two hurricanes, sparked speculation about his ambitions and made legislators disclose their finances. Next up: Redesigning the state’s health-care system and grappling with a huge budget shortfall.
Earth is closer to the sun today than any other day this year. “It’s an average of 3 percent closer to the sun than on any other day,” LSU astronomer Brad Schaefer said Friday. What does that mean?
A helicopter has crashed in Terrebonne Parish at the Bayou Black Marina, according to the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office.
Mayor-President Kip Holden officially kicks off his second term Monday with inaugural activities that include an interfaith service, an inaugural ceremony and an evening reception in the River Center.
Staff at the Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site in St. Francisville demonstrated 19th-century down-hearth cooking techniques in the plantation’s old kitchen Saturday.
Motorists will start to see orange barrels, signs and surveyors on Interstate 10 Monday as widening begins between the Interstate 10/12 split and Siegen Lane, a DOTD official said.
Authorities arrested at least three people suspected of driving while intoxicated in East Baton Rouge Parish and booked them into Parish Prison between 3 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday, booking records show.
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