News for Monday 093013
By Dave Graichen
The Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's office says the pastor of a local church was shot and killed while he was preaching Friday night. Spokeswoman Kim Myers says 53-year-old Woodrow Karey of Lake Charles walked into the church, shot Pastor Ronald Harris then left. He was arrested a short time later. Myers says they are still working to establish motive.
State Police say a LaSalle Parish Sheriff's deputy has been arrested for battery and forcible rape. Trooper Scott Moreau says 52-year-old Deputy Clarence Breland Jr., of Jena, is accused of the crimes. He says the sheriff's office asked LSP to investigate. The LaSalle Parish Sheriff's office says Breland is currently suspended but he will likely be fired.
The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's office lost one of their deputies in a tragic fatal accident Friday night. Authorities report 24-year-old deputy Dustin Hamilton of Central was headed home after work, when another vehicle slammed into the driver’s side of his car. The other driver sustained serious injuries in the crash. Hamilton was pronounced dead on the scene.
The FBI says a man wanted in Tennessee for raping and kidnapping a teenage girl has been captured in Marksville. FBI spokeswoman Mary Beth Romig says an alert Avoyelles Parish deputy spotted 42-year-old fugitive Charles Parrish and the 15-year-old girl he'd allegedly abducted. The girl was seen leaving the hotel room and returning without Parrish nearby, so it's unknown if she was traveling with him willingly, or was under duress.
The Louisiana Democratic Party says the new national public school student testing standards known as Common Core are a "train wreck", and the state should back away from it. Governor Jindal says there are aspects of Common Core that concern him, but he sees the value in a national testing standard. The state adopted the Common Core standards 3 years ago, as a way to
assure that Louisiana kids get an education that will help them compete with kids in other states for the jobs of tomorrow. The governor says he'll leave Common Core up to Education Superintendent John White and the Board of Elementary & Secondary Education to decide...though he is concerned about federal intrusion into Louisiana education.
Some state employees will be getting pay raises, despite several years of state budget troubles. Commissioner of Administration Kristy Nichols says about 1100 people in her department, and about 300 at Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness will get salary bumps. she says the money comes from successful efforts at streamlining government. This MAY upset state workers in other departments that are NOT set to get raises. Nichols says each agency is free to similarly streamline
operations costs, and do as her office has done. The average increase will be 4%.
Sports..
Two 3-and-0 teams battle it out tonight in the Mercedes Benz Superdome as the New Orleans Saints host the Miami Dolphins.
LSU will have to regroup this week after a tough 44-41 loss to Georgia. The defense gave up nearly 500 yards of total offense and couldn't come up with a key stop late in the game. On a positive note, LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger had a career day with 372 passing yards and three touchdowns.