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NEW YORK (AP) -- The stock market lost ground for a third straight day as investors grew uneasy about a rising dollar and spiking demand for the safest government debt.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- With no margin for rebellion, Senate Democratic leaders pushed ahead Friday toward a crucial weekend test vote on their sweeping health care bill amid indications the rank-and-file would stand together on President Barack Obama's signature issue.

Two games remain in the regular season, and a 10-win season is still in sight for LSU. The Advocate's Randy Rosetta answered your questions about the Tigers' chances Saturday and about other issues in an online chat today.
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•Tiger Tracks -- LSU Football Blog

Despite strides in U.S. steel production, Nucor Corp. isn’t yet ready to pull the trigger on a more than $2 billion pig iron mill that could come to St. James Parish, a state official said.

Three nominees to the Terra Industries Inc. board of directors — who were backed by fertilizer rival CF Industries — have been elected over Terra candidates, according to unofficial results at Terra’s annual meeting today.

Imperial Sugar Co., the Sugar Growers & Refiners of Breaux Bridge, La., and Minneapolis-based Cargill have secured a $100 million tax-exempt bond offering to finance the new construction of the largest sugar refinery in the United States, creating about 500 construction jobs and 145 permanent jobs in the New Orleans-Baton Rouge area.

Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon will hold a press conference at 11 a.m. Monday to discuss the insurance coverage issues consumers have encountered when their homes have defective drywall imported from China.

The LSU AgCenter has been awarded a $2.84 million federal research and extension grant for improving sweet potato production efficiency, quality and food safety.

American Electric Power utility subsidiary AEP Southwestern Electric Power Co. plans to pay $94 million for the transmission and distribution assets of Valley Electric Membership Corp., which serves 30,000 member customers in eight parishes south of Shreveport.

The state Board of Ethics has formally asked the Louisiana 1st Circuit Court of Appeal to review a decision by a panel of administrative law judges that dismissed conflict-of-interest charges against a key Jindal administration floorleader on ethics issues.

A man wanted in the rape of another man earlier this week surrendered to authorities late Thursday, a spokesman with the Baton Rouge Police Department said today. Samuel J. Moore, 25, was booked into Parish Prison on a count of aggravated rape, Cpl. L’Jean McKneely said.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House is on a collision course with Catholic bishops in an intractable dispute over abortion that could blow up the fragile political coalition behind President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

The interstate is now open after an early-morning accident. Two people were taken to the hospital after an accident around 2:30 a.m. involving an 18-wheeler and a car on Interstate 12 east of Walker near Highway 447.

Chef KD tells us the trout bite is on, and rigging your bait is essential when fishing under a cork.

The LSU Tiger baseball team wraps up their fall practices with one final night of work.

A physical therapist started a fundraising group so kids with special needs have a chance to ride a bike

Evelyn Holden, the sister of Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden, has pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges

Four people were arrested after gunfire erupted at a trailer park on Kleinpeter Road in Baton Rouge.

A man from Ponchatoula was arrested Thursday accused of bilking at least 200 investors out of $11 million.

Southern Lab's Taurean Nixon spent his time and money raising awareness for breast cancer.

A sister of Mayor-President Kip Holden pleaded guilty Thursday in an ongoing federal probe of bribery in the local criminal justice system. Two other people also pleaded guilty, bringing the total to seven since October. Evelyn J. Holden, who worked in the property records section of the East Baton Rouge Parish Clerk of Court Office, could be sentenced to as many as five years in prison for conspiracy in aid of racketeering.

Update: Interstate 12 is open again as of 6:38 a.m. Two people were taken to the hospital after an accident around 2:30 a.m. involving an 18-wheeler and a car on Interstate 12 east of Walker near Highway 447.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate health-care bill released Wednesday contains at least $100 million to plug an upcoming financial loss in Louisiana Medicaid health insurance for the poor.

LSU System President John Lombardi is satirically proposing a federal bailout for higher education nationwide. In presenting “The Higher Education Foundations Act,” Lombardi contends the federal government should fund each public college to the tune of $5,000 per full-time student — half the baseline cost to educate an undergraduate per year — to maintain the quality of the nation’s colleges.

AMITE — State fraud investigators and sheriff’s deputies arrested a leading Hammond businessman Thursday accused of operating a Ponzi scheme that cost at least 200 investors an estimated $11 million and funded his lavish lifestyle.

Mayor-President Kip Holden said Thursday a north-south split among voters was partly to blame for Saturday’s defeat of his $901 million capital improvements tax package; nevertheless, he said he might consider reintroducing a third bond proposal to voters before his term ends.

The state Department of Education is so bureaucratic and unresponsive to children that it needs to be overhauled from top to bottom, a member of the state’s top school board said Thursday.

The state agriculture department should have nearly all of $44.5 million in disaster recovery grants and loans in farmers’ hands by Christmas, the head of the agency told legislators Thursday.

Federal regulators Thursday allowed Entergy Corp.’s subsidiaries in Mississippi and Arkansas to withdraw from an agreement that includes hundreds of millions of dollars in refunds for the utility’s Louisiana customers.

State officials on Thursday nixed a push to hold a property tax election the day after Christmas for a St. Tammany Parish fire district. Members of the state Bond Commission weren’t swayed by a parish official’s offer to severely punish the fire chief for forgetting to schedule the election earlier. The oversight prompted the plea for an emergency election.

California-based Primoris Services Corp. announced today it has signed a $135 million deal to acquire Baton Rouge-based James Construction Group LLC, one of the largest privately owned construction companies in the Southeast.

A Baton Rouge attorney who years ago made an unsuccessful run for secretary of state was arrested Wednesday for allegedly raping a man earlier this week at his home.

The Library Board voted 4-2 Thursday to accept a committee recommendation to build a south branch library at the proposed Rouzan mixed-use development at Perkins Road and College Drive. Board members Dan Reed, Stanford O. Bardwell Jr., Kizzy Payton and Beth Tomlinson voted yes. Members Tanya Freeman and Don Browning voted no. Board member Jamie Griffin left the meeting early, but said before he left he supported the recommendation.

A U.S. District Court grand jury Thursday indicted the security guard who claimed she was attacked while working at LSU but later admitted she had stabbed herself. Dale Marine Noel, 47, 2912 Caroljack Drive, was indicted on one count of making a false statement to a federal investigator. If convicted,

A Walker native already serving a life sentence in Georgia for a 1995 murder was indicted Thursday in the 1985 rape and beating death of a 19-year-old woman inside her Baton Rouge home.

Organizers of two technology-focused high schools proposed for downtown urged a surprisingly cordial East Baton Rouge Parish School Board on Thursday to reverse its August denial of their proposal. Board members discussed the proposal Thursday but plans to vote yes or no at a special meeting Dec. 3.

GONZALES — The Ascension Parish Council adopted a $106.2 million budget for fiscal 2010 Thursday that calls for $25.3 million in spending on roads and drainage but takes a conservative approach on operating revenue. The council adopted the budget and amendments unanimously.

Around Baton Rouge for Nov. 20, 2009

Henry Ted Haugabrook walked down South Street early Saturday morning to take a look at the charred remains of the 70-year-old blue, wood-frame house where Leroy McKneely lived.

A man wanted in the fatal shooting of Quincy Demond Gaines, 26, surrendered to authorities on Thursday, a Baton Rouge Police Department spokesman said. Brandon Charles Warner, 23, 400 Evergreen St., is accused of shooting Gaines, 158 S. 11th St., at 9:52 a.m. Wednesday, Sgt. Don Kelly said.

LIVINGSTON — Livingston Parish School Board members unanimously adopted an agreement Thursday night that allows a contractor to build a new field house for Albany High School at no cost to the school system.

A 27-year-old Baton Rouge man was indicted Thursday in the Sept. 4 stabbing death of his former girlfriend at an assisted living facility where she worked.

GALLIANO — Louisiana State Police are asking the public’s help in finding the hit-and-run driver accused of killing a Cut Off man nearly a year ago, troopers said Thursday.

LAFAYETTE — A planned downtown cultural district would offer a 4-cent sales tax break on art and income tax incentives to restore homes, apartments and businesses. The city is seeking state approval for the special district under a program created in 2007 to encourage artistic hubs as a tool for economic growth and revitalization.

ST. MARTINVILLE — The St. Martin Parish Juvenile Detention Center is a model for juvenile centers elsewhere in the state, Rubye Noble, executive director of the Louisiana Council of Juvenile & Family Court Judges, said Thursday.

NEW IBERIA — The Iberia Parish School Board on Wednesday unanimously chose the 3.51 percent bid from Morgan Keegan for the purchase of $15 million in bonds for a number of school projects.

LAFAYETTE — A proposal to transform N.P. Moss Middle School into the district’s new career and technical high school will be discussed during a 6 p.m. meeting Dec. 9 at the school.

ABBEVILLE — A Baton Rouge-based engineer informed the Vermilion Parish School Board of dropping oil and gas revenue from School Board lands at a meeting Thursday.

LAFAYETTE — Two people were robbed at gunpoint early Thursday on Jefferson Street, according to a Police Department news release.

Residents can dispose of old analog television sets, computers, telephones and other electronics on Saturday at Ascension Parish’s TV and Electronics Collection Day. The event is from 8 a.m. to noon at the Ascension Civic Center in Sorrento, said Scott Rabalais, Ascension public information officer.

WASHINGTON — The foreclosure crisis likely will persist well into next year as high unemployment pushes more people out of homes, pulls down housing prices and raises concerns about the broader economic recovery.

CLINTON — East Feliciana Parish sheriff’s deputies booked a man facing an aggravated rape charge with two additional counts Thursday, accusing him of inappropriate behavior with a student on his school bus in 2008.

WATSON — Louisiana State Police are investigating a fatal hit-and-run accident that occurred Thursday on La. 1026.

LOS ANGELES — Mall of Louisiana operator General Growth Properties Inc., which filed the largest U.S. real estate bankruptcy case in history earlier this year, said Thursday its lenders have agreed to restructure some $8.9 billion in shopping mall mortgage loans.

The Research Park Corp., which operates the Louisiana Technology Park on Florida Boulevard and is a part-owner of the Bon Carré Business Center next door, adopted a 2010 budget Thursday that’s about 2 percent larger than in 2009.

GRAND CANE — The man killed in a natural gas well blowout in DeSoto Parish has been identified as 58-year-old James Dennis, of Bullard, Texas, authorities said.

JEFFERSON — Tim Whitmer, Jefferson Parish’s embattled chief administrative officer, announced his retirement Wednesday as federal investigators began subpoenaing records of his private company’s insurance work with government agencies.

The Mississippi River ferry serving St. Francisville and New Roads will operate this weekend on a reduced schedule because of a personnel shortage.

THIBODAUX — Thibodaux’s next mayor and City Council will get pay raises that will cost taxpayers an extra $28,434 a year.

COVINGTON — An inmate who had been in the St. Tammany Parish since last month committed suicide, the sheriff said.

Sallie Johnson Farrell, who is credited with helping to build a statewide network of libraries in Louisiana, died Nov. 12, at Ollie Steele Burden Manor. She was 99.

Obituary Notices for Nov. 20, 2009

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