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Friday, July 3, 2009
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NEWS
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WASILLA, Alaska (AP) -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin made a surprise announcement Friday that she is resigning from office at the end of the month without explaining why she plans to step down, raising speculation that she would focus on a run for the White House in the 2012 race.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An area of moderate drought has spread further west across south Louisiana. And abnormally dry conditions have extended further north in neighboring Mississippi. NEW ORLEANS (AP) — State officials are reviewing a planned appeal to FEMA on the agency's position that Louisiana has not proven it's owed nearly half a billion dollars to replace a New Orleans hospital damaged by Hurricane Katrina. WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Founding Fathers left one legacy not celebrated on Independence Day but which affects us all. It's the national debt. What can you expect from your holiday weekend weather? WBRZ Meteorologist Dave Nussbaum has the details in your forecast. Oil prices hovered above $66 a barrel Friday in light holiday trading a day after grim unemployment numbers from the U.S. and Europe sent prices tumbling. By mid-afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for August delivery was down 16 cents to $66.57 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Thursday, it fell $2.58, nearly 4 percent, to settle at $66.73. Breakfast With 2une In reporter Whitney Vann covers the pre-July 4th parade in Baton Rouge. Local Lincoln-Mercury dealers are sponsoring the largest Fourth of July fireworks show in Louisiana's Capital City. Boating activity will pick up on the Fourth of July holiday weekend as Louisiana residents take to the water to beat the summer heat. WASHINGTON (AP) -- First you paid to insure your car. Soon you may have to add health insurance premiums to that stack of monthly bills as well. Gov. Bobby Jindal approved legislation Thursday creating a new public school curriculum with lowered academic standards, waving aside objections from education advocates who say the change will produce high school graduates who lack basic English and math skills. State officials have revoked the license of the Baton Rouge day-care center where a 3-year-old girl died Wednesday after being left for six hours in a van parked outside the center. A 27-year-old man was arrested Wednesday for allegedly stabbing his father in the back, causing him to suffer a collapsed lung and undergo surgery, court records show. Area law enforcement agencies plan to crack down on drunk drivers this July Fourth weekend — on the roadways and waterways. Since May, 11 people have died in boating accidents across the state, and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries agents have announced plans to heavily patrol area waterways. The group developing plans for a proposed traffic loop around Baton Rouge has decided where it wants to build a bridge across the Mississippi River for the northern portion of the loop. State school board official Tammie McDaniel, of Oak Ridge, said she is not resigning for now, at least until she discusses the matter with Gov. Bobby Jindal. City-parish, state and federal offices and courts are closed today in observance of Independence Day. LIVINGSTON — Livingston Parish President Mike Grimmer said Thursday he supports ending the so-called “speed van” program but said its fate is in the hands of the Parish Council. ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Jurors in the trial of former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson heard secretly recorded conversations Thursday that put them at the table of a $1,000 dinner where FBI agents said he solicited a bribe. Perkins Rowe developer Tommy Spinosa and his construction firm owe more than $71,000 to three companies that provided services during the building ofthe mixed-use development, a pair of new lawsuits allege. The state Department of Social Services has the authority to unilaterally revoke licenses of child-care centers under a new law that went into effect Tuesday. Gov. Bobby Jindal signed into law Thursday legislation aimed at ending debate over when a restaurant becomes a bar operating in violation of state law. A former Louisiana day-care operator pleaded guilty to a charge of mail fraud this week after allegedly trying to defraud the state of $130,000. For a single day last week, 42 employees of the state parks system were out of a job. The workers got pink slips June 24. A day later, the notices were rescinded after the Louisiana Legislature added funding for state parks and historic sites. A Houston company sued by Louisiana environmental groups has responded by removing 400 gas line meters containing mercury and plans on cleaning up 800 potentially mercury-laced sites. State highway authorities and area public officials plan to join on Tuesday morning in marking the opening of the new La. 1 bridge over Bayou Lafourche in Leeville. The interim pastor of Fairview Baptist Church on Braddock Street was arrested Wednesday for allegedly opening several lines of credit using the church’s name and tax identification number. An Erath man accused of sending sexually explicit e-mails to a 16-year-old deaf student pleaded no contest Thursday to a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile. CLINTON — Former Police Chief Eddie Stewart began running the town’s Police Department this week as an interim appointee of the mayor. The YWCA Greater Baton Rouge, in a news release, has announced two recipients of its 16th annual Racial Justice Award, which recognizes exceptional and creative contributions toward the elimination of racism. The Louisiana Board of Ethics filed charges against a former Livingston Parish Council member and a company his wife owned alleging violations of state conflict-of-interest laws. A judge stood by his earlier decision Thursday to dismiss a lawsuit that seeks to stop the state takeover of eight failing Baton Rouge public schools. HAMMOND — Deputies arrested an Amite woman for allegedly stabbing a Hammond woman twice in the shoulder early Thursday morning, the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office said. The state Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling ordering a new trial for a man convicted of cocaine possession, a conviction that East Feliciana sheriff’s deputies and prosecutors say indirectly led to a slaying in the village of Wilson. About 70 business and government leaders from Jackson, Miss., plan to visit Baton Rouge next week to learn about things the city is doing that have proven successful, Mayor-President Kip Holden’s office said Thursday. There are plenty of ways to celebrate Independence Day, including these events today and Saturday. NEW ROADS — One of the area’s most celebrated traditions, the annual False River Independence Day Boat Parade, is scheduled to start 1 p.m. Saturday. NEW ROADS — The Pointe Coupee Parish Police Jury on Thursday banned the use of fireworks in the unincorporated areas of the parish, citing the dry weather. Anyone planning to attend Saturday’s fireworks show in downtown Baton Rouge should show up early, police said Thursday. GONZALES — While a ban on open burning remains in effect for Ascension Parish, some burning and use of fireworks for the Independence Day holiday are permitted within certain areas and guidelines, a news release said. ABBEVILLE — On Wednesday, Pecan Island School will have a new owner. That’s when sealed bids for the 48-year-old school building will be opened. The sale will yield at least $750,000 — the minimum bid allowable for the property. LAFAYETTE — While it will not ease congestion at the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center, the jail’s new booking area will improve the process required to get a suspect into the jail. LAFAYETTE — Two city-parish council members are proposing that local government phase out funding for nonprofit groups. The proposal, by council members William Theriot and Jared Bellard, is scheduled to be introduced at Tuesday’s council meeting. OPELOUSAS — The St. Landry Parish School Board unanimously voted Thursday to give employees a $1,380 pay raise beginning in September. Today's funeral notices. |
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