NEWS FOR MONDAY 120511
BY DAVE GRAICHEN

LOUISIANA COULD GET SOME SEVERE WEATHER TODAY, AS ANOTHER PACIFIC COLD FRONT MOVES ACROSS THE STATE. STATE CLIMATOLOGIST BARRY KEIM SAYS WE SHOULD EXPECT CLOUDY, RAINY WEATHER FOR MOST OF THE STATE TODAY AND TOMORROW THAT HAS POTENTIAL TO DUMP AS MUCH AS 5 INCHES OF RAIN. KEIM SAYS THE RAINY WEATHER PATTERN SHOULD PERSIST THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON, WITH LOWS TONIGHT REACHING THE 40'S, A TEMPERATURES STAYING COLD ALL DAY TUESDAY. KEIM SAYS NO HARD FREEZES ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS WEATHER SYSTEM.

LOUISIANA POLITICIANS ARE ECSTATIC OVER LSU'S SPOT IN THE BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR THE STATE'S ECONOMY. GOVERNOR BOBBY JINDAL SAYS WHEN OUR SPORTS TEAMS DO WELL, PEOPLE TEND TO SPEND MORE MONEY. LT. GOVERNOR JAY DARDENNE SAYS THE TIGERS SUCCESS THIS YEAR HAS BEEN GREAT FOR THE STATE IN TERMS OF TOURISM.

THE CHAIRMAN OF THE LSU BOARD OF SUPERVISORS HAS DIED AT THE AGE OF 62 OF CANCER. BENJAMIN W. MOUNT DIED SATURDAY AT HIS HOME IN LAKE CHARLES. SURVIVORS INCLUDE MOUNT'S WIFE, STATE SEN. WILLIE MOUNT OF LAKE CHARLES; HIS MOTHER AND TWO SISTERS. THE IOWA NATIVE WAS APPOINTED TO THE BOARD IN 2006 BY FORMER GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO AND REAPPOINTED LAST YEAR BY GOV. BOBBY JINDAL. HE BECAME CHAIRMAN THIS YEAR.

FORMER LSU SYSTEM PRESIDENT ALLEN COPPING HAS DIED. HE SERVED AS SYSTEM PRESIDENT FOR 14 YEARS BEGINNING IN THE MID-1980S AND WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PENNINGTON BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH CENTER. COPPING DIED THURSDAY AFTER A LENGTHY ILLNESS AT THE AGE OF 84.

AFTER BEING DIAGNOSED WITH A NON-AGGRESSIVE FORM OF CANCER, LT GOVERNOR JAY DARDENNE HAD HIS PROSTATE REMOVED AND IS AT HOME RECOVERING. THE SURGERY WAS PERFORMED LAST WEEK AT TULANE MEDICAL CENTER IN NEW ORLEANS. DARDENNE SAYS HE IS RECOVERING NICELY. THE CANCER WAS DETECTED DURING A ROUTINE CHECKUP. DARDENNE'S DOCTOR SAYS THE LT GOVERNOR IS IN EXCELLENT HEALTH AND IS EXPECTED TO MAKE A FULL RECOVERY.

THE US UNEMPLOYMENT RATE HAS DROPPED TO 8.6 PERCENT, THE LOWEST IT'S BEEN SINCE MARCH OF 2009. THAT'S ALSO DOWN NEARLY A HALF A PERCENT SINCE OCTOBER OF THIS YEAR. BUT LSU ECONOMIST DR LOREN SCOTT SAYS THE RATE WENT DOWN BECAUSE OVER 300,000 THOUSAND PEOPLE GAVE UP LOOKING FOR WORK. EMPLOYERS ADDED 120,000 JOBS LAST MONTH. DR SCOTT SAYS WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE, THAT IS NOT NEARLY ENOUGH JOBS.

49 YEAR OLD BRADLEY CATHEY OF GLENMORA WAS KILLED IN AN EARLY MORNING CRASH SATURDAY. STATE POLICE REPORT BRADLEY’S VEHICLE LEFT THE TURKEY CREEK ROAD AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED AND STRUCK SEVERAL TREES, FLIPPING OVER SEVERAL TIMES. THE REPORT SAYS CATHEY WAS NOT WEARING A SEATBELT AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT. TROOPERS ALSO BELIEVE ALCOHOL WAS A FACTOR IN THE CRASH.

THE FAILURE OF TWO RAPIDES PARISH SCHOOL TAXES THE NOVEMBER ELECTION BALLOT COULD MEAN TOUGH DECISIONS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF TWO SCHOOLS IN LECOMPTE, RAPIDES HIGH AND CARTER C. RAYMOND ELEMENTARY. ACCORDING TO THE TOWN TALK, THE TAXES WILL BE UP FOR A VOTE AGAIN NEXT YEAR. THE CURRENT MAINTENANCE TAXES ALREADY ON THE BOOKS WILL GET THE TWO SCHOOLS THROUGH THIS SCHOOL YEAR. AS A RESULT OF THE NOVEMBER ELECTION, FOUR OTHER SCHOOL TAXES PASSED, INCLUDING A BOND ISSUE OF MORE THAN $20 MILLION TO IMPROVE SCHOOLS IN THE PINEVILLE AREA.

LOUISIANA'S TWO U.S. SENATORS ARE ASKING THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION TO DECLARE EMPHATICALLY THAT SEAFOOD FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO IS SAFE TO EAT.
U.S. SEN. DAVID VITTER, R-LA., SAYS THE FDA NEEDS TO "PUBLICLY AND VIGOROUSLY" DECLARE GULF SEAFOOD SAFE AND QUELL FEARS THAT IT'S NOT. "GULF SEAFOOD IS SAFE, AND WE WANT THE FDA TO MAKE SURE THE PUBLIC KNOWS THAT," VITTER SAID.
U.S. SEN. MARY LANDRIEU, D-LA., SIGNED THE LETTER, WHICH SAID "SOME GROUPS CONTINUE TO SPREAD MISINFORMATION AND UNSCIENTIFIC CLAIMS" ABOUT GULF SEAFOOD SINCE THE MASSIVE APRIL 2010 BP OIL SPILL. FDA HAS DECLARED GULF SEAFOOD SAFE TO EAT, BUT THE SENATORS WANT THE AGENCY TO BE MORE VOCAL ABOUT IT AND HOLD A NEWS CONFERENCE TO HIGHLIGHT THE SAFETY OF GULF SEAFOOD.

A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF A NOW-CLOSED PATHOLOGY LABORATORY IN ALEXANDRIA HAS PLEADED NOT GUILTY TO 10 COUNTS OF WIRE FRAUD IN AN EMBEZZLEMENT CASE WHERE U.S. PROSECUTORS ALLEGE THE DEFENDANT STOLE NEARLY $600,000 OVER A PERIOD OF YEARS. LINDA DESELLE ENTERED THE PLEA IN FEDERAL COURT ON FRIDAY. DESELLE WAS INDICTED IN NOVEMBER ON CHARGES SHE FRAUDULENTLY WIRED MONEY BELONGING TO THE ALEXANDRIA PATHOLOGY LABORATORY TO HER OWN BANK ACCOUNT AND TO CREDIT CARD COMPANIES TO PAY OFF HER DEBTS.

THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SHERIFF'S OFFICE SAYS A 39-YEAR-OLD WOMAN IS DEAD AFTER LOSING CONTROL OF HER SUV AND HITTING A NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE. DEON BRUMFIELD SPEARS VEERED ACROSS SIX LAWNS BEFORE HER CADILLAC ESCALADE HIT A HOUSE ABOUT FIVE BLOCKS FROM HER OWN SATURDAY NIGHT. THE CORONER'S OFFICE WILL CONDUCT AN AUTOPSY THIS WEEK TO LEARN THE CAUSE OF DEATH, INCLUDING WHETHER A MEDICAL CRISIS MAY HAVE CAUSED SPEARS TO LOSE CONTROL.

GOVERNOR JINDAL ANNOUNCES HIS THREE APPOINTED MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF ELEMENTARY & SECONDARY EDUCATION HAVE BEEN RE-APPOINTED FOR ANOTHER TERM. MR. JINDAL SAYS THE RETURNING APPOINTEES ARE CONNIE BRADFORD, JOHN BENNETT, AND PENNY DASTUGUE--WHO IS CURRENTLY BESE'S PRESIDENT. JINDAL SAYS BESE WILL, IN THE COMING MONTHS, TACKLE FURTHER EDUCATION REFORMS; LIKE OVERHAULING TEACHER TENURE, LOOKING INTO MERIT PAY FOR TEACHERS WHO EXCEL...AND MORE.

SPORTS..

THE SAINTS WON THEIR FOURTH IN A ROW LAST NIGHT AS QUARTERBACK DREW BREES THREW THREE MORE TOUCHDOWN PASSES IN A 31-17 WIN OVER DETROIT. BREES THREW FOR 342 YARDS TO GO ALONG WITH THOSE THREE TOUCHDOWNS. BUT NEW ORLEANS DEFENSE GAVE UP 409 PASSING YARDS TO ALLOW THE LIONS TO STAY IN THE GAME. COACH SEAN PAYTON ON THE VICTORY. THE VICTORY IMPROVES THE SAINTS RECORD TO 9-AND-3, TWO GAMES AHEAD OF ATLANTA FOR FIRST PLACE IN THE N-F-C SOUTH.