News for Thursday 102413

By Dave Graichen

 

Alexandria police are looking for a 21-year-old woman in connection to the shooting death Monday of an 18-year-old woman on Lee Street.  Police describe Stormy Cofer, of Alexandria, as being about 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighing between 130 and 140 pounds. Her hair is colored reddish, according to the release. If you know the whereabouts of this woman, contact the APD.

 

If  you  plan  on  buying  tickets  to LSU football games and you're worried about the price going up and  by how much, you're just going to have to wait a while longer. The LSU  Board  of  Supervisors   had scheduled  the  item  for  a  vote this coming Friday, but the board decided to wait a while before deciding what to do. They'll now vote on the ticket price hikes at their December meeting.

 

Since  the  Grambling  State Football team decided not to show up to its game on Saturday, their  opponent Jackson State says it plans to sue. The Mississippi university  claims the cancellation of the game cost  them  millions  of  direct and indirect  dollars.  The  game  was  also Jackson State's homecoming which the university says  draws thousands  of  fans.  Tickets  are  being  refunded  and

businesses are reporting losses.

 

Two Louisiana congressmen  John  Fleming  and  Charles  Boustany are calling  for the resignation of Health and Human Services  Secretary Kathleen Sebelius  because of the ongoing issues with the Affordable Care Act. Boustany says  people are finding it difficult to purchase insurance because  of  technical  glitches  in the system.  Fleming  plans  to  file  legislation to stop collection of personal  data  when  people sign up for  the  Affordable  Care  Act because he's afraid the information would not be kept confidential.

 

Members  of  the  state  House and Senate Insurance committees heard yesterday from state and local officials who are concerned about impacts of dramatic rate increases  for  flood  insurance  in Louisiana. St. Charles Parish President VJ St. Pierre Jr. says FEMA  has told their residents that flood insurance rates could be as high as 35-thousand dollars. An  estimated  18-thousand  Louisiana policies will see their  rates skyrocket  because  of  changes  to  the  National  Flood  Insurance

program.

 

A Baton Rouge woman is now facing two  years in prison after a judge suspended 15 years of her 17 year sentence  for a road rage incident that  claimed  the lives of five people just south  of  the  capitol

city. Kelsy Hall  was  convicted  of  negligent homicide in the 2011 accident. The other defendant accused in  the  deadly  crash,  David Leger, will be standing trial early next year.

 

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is offering a reward for tips on who illegally killed a black bear in Avoyelles Parish earlier this month. A citizen reported finding the bears remains  in some woods a few miles south of the Grassy Lake Wildlife Management Area. A necropsy revealed  the bear had been dead for about five to six days and that it had been shot in the head. Agents also collected an arrow nearby and think the bear might have been shot with an arrow first.

 

Caddo Parish deputies arrest four people who were allegedly involved in  the theft of 63 semi-automatic guns delivered to a Shreveport gun  distributor. Sheriff's office spokesperson Cindy Chadwick says they were  called into investigate after the freight company noticed some of the guns

were gone. Chadwick says their investigation led them to a 21-year-old  security guard  who was on duty at the freight company on the day the guns arrived.  Three more people were arrested as their investigation continued.  Chadwick says they have yet to recover any of the guns and it's likely the semi-automatic weapons have already been sold.

 

The  police  department in Many will be posting pictures on Facebook of people who  loaded up their Wal-Mart buggies with groceries while the  food  stamp system  was  experiencing  a  computer  glitch  and balances couldn't  be checked. They simply loaded up and walked out. Investigator Jo Ann  Carter  says  they're targeting people who were specifically taking advantage of the October 12th frenzy.

 

Police in  Richwood  say  a  woman  is  under  arrest  for allegedly slapping  a  child  on a school bus then doing the same to  the  bus river. They say 32-year-old  Menza  Hudson entered the bus where her child and another child were fighting  and  got in the middle of it. She is booked with cruelty to a juvenile.

 

The  St. Landry Parish Sheriff's office say a  man  is  booked  with negligent  homicide  in  the death of a motorcyclist for leaving his truck on the side of the road when it ran out of gas -- then was hit

by the cyclist who died. They say Marcus Amos didn't leave lights on to warn others.

 

A former Livingston Parish deputy sheriff 38-year old Jeremy Brister of  Denham  Springs  has  been sentenced to one year in prison after pleading guilty to contributing  to  the  delinquency of a juvenile.

Brister  was arrested in January of last year  on  three  counts  of indecent behavior  and  one  count  of  molestation  of  a  juvenile involving a 15-year old girl. He will also have to serve one year of

supervised probation, pay a 15-hundred dollar fine and register as a sex offender.

 

Today the 107th Louisiana State fair opens in Shreveport. The fair is  taking extra safety precautions this year to make sure there are not any  accidents on the carnival rides. State Fair General Manager Chris  Giordano says that a third party has been hired to make constant  inspections throughout the duration of the fair.  There have been mechanical errors the last two years that resulted in  injuries, including a four year old boy who was severely hurt in 2011.

 

A freshman on the LSU football team is in trouble with the law. LSU  police say they arrested defensive back Jeryl Brazil after he allegedly  grabbed a woman by the throat and threw her onto a sofa.  Captain Cory Lalonde says the incident occurred last week at  the West Campus Apartments. Coach Les Miles says Brazil has been suspended indefinitely. He's only  played in one game this season. He was an All-State player at Loranger  High School last season.