NEWS FOR MONDAY 020612
BY DAVE GRAICHEN

PINEVILLE POLICE SAY CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING APPARENTLY CAUSE THE DEATH OF 55-YEAR OLD EMMA HARPER AND HER 17-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER EBONY HARPER. POLICE SAY THEY WENT TO THE HOME SATURDAY AFTERNOON, AFTER A CALLER REPORTED THAT THE WOMEN WERE UNRESPONSIVE. INVESTIGATORS SAY A GENERATOR APPARENTLY WAS BEING USED INDOORS FOR ELECTRIC POWER, AND ITS EXHAUST FUMES WERE NOT VENTED TO THE OUTDOORS. THOUGH IT’S BELIEVED THE DEATHS WERE ACCIDENTAL, AUTHORITIES HAVE ORDERED AUTOPSIES ON BOTH WOMEN.

RECENT RAINS HAVE ELEVATED WATER LEVELS IN CANE RIVER LAKE, ALLOWING THE ENTIRE LAKE TO REOPEN TO BOATING TRAFFIC.  PARTS OF THE LAKE MUST BE CLOSED WHEN THE WATER LEVEL DROPS BELOW 96 FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL. THE LEVEL DROPPED TO 93.4 FEET LAST SUMMER BECAUSE OF THE DROUGHT BUT THIS PAST WEEK WAS BACK UP ABOVE 96 FEET.

STATE POLICE REPORT A PEDESTRIAN WAS KILLED IN A HIT-AND-RUN SATURDAY ON LA. HIGHWAY 1 IN SIMMESPORT. TROOPERS SAY THE BODY OF 36 YEAR OLD LEVI JONES JR OF MARKSVILLE WAS FOUND IN THE SOUTH LANE OF LA. HIGHWAY 1 AFTER AN UNIDENTIFIED VEHICLE STRUCK HIM AROUND 3 P.M. JONES WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD AT THE SCENE.
THE DRIVER OF THE VEHICLE JUST KEPT ON GOING..

A NEW ORLEANS LAWMAKER PROPOSES A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO STRIP THE GOVERNOR'S POWER TO GRANT PARDONS. REP. AUSTIN BADON SAYS HE FILED HIS LEGISLATION AFTER PUBLIC OUTRAGE IN MISSISSIPPI THAT OUTGOING GOVERNOR HALEY BARBOUR PARDONED FOUR CONVICTED KILLERS. BADON'S BILL WOULD REQUIRE AMENDING THE STATE CONSTITUTION; SO IT WILL NEED TWO-THIRDS MAJORITY APPROVAL IN BOTH CHAMBERS, BEFORE GOING TO VOTERS ON A FALL BALLOT. BADON'S BILL HAS BEEN PRE-FILED FOR THE SPRING LEGISLATIVE SESSION THAT STARTS MARCH 12TH.

A TEENAGER CONVICTED OF KILLING HIS PARENTS AT THEIR WESTERN OUACHITA PARISH HOME, HAS BEEN SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON. SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD DALTON FLETCHER WAS SENTENCED FRIDAY IN THE BOSSIER PARISH COURTHOUSE TO TWO LIFE SENTENCES WITHOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF PROBATION, PAROLE OR SUSPENSION OF SENTENCE. FLETCHER WAS CONVICTED OF TWO COUNTS OF SECOND-DEGREE MURDER IN DECEMBER FOR THE SHOOTING DEATHS JOHN AND TAMMY FLETCHER IN SEPTEMBER 2010. HE PLEADED NOT GUILTY BY REASON OF INSANITY.

NOW THAT SUPER BOWL 46 IS IN THE BOOKS, THE PLANNING STEPS UP A NOTCH FOR SUPER BOWL 47 IN NEW ORLEANS. LT. GOVERNOR JAY DARDENNE SAYS 2002 WAS THE LAST TIME THE SUPER BOWL WAS PLAYED IN THE MERCEDES-BENZ SUPERDOME AND THE KEY IS TO PUT ON A GREAT EVENT, SO THE N-F-L WILL WANT TO COME BACK IN A FEW MORE YEARS. DARDENNE SAYS THEY ESTIMATE NEXT YEAR'S SUPER BOWL WILL GIVE THE ECONOMY ABOUT A 450-MILLION DOLLAR BOOST. HE SAYS HOSTING THE GAME ALSO GIVES THE CITY AND STATE PUBLICITY YOU CAN'T PUT A DOLLAR-FIGURE ON.

STATE FIRE MARSHAL BUTCH BROWNING SAYS A MAN HAS BEEN ARRESTED FOR A SERIES OF ARSON FIRES IN THE KAPLAN AREA. BROWNING SAYS A NINE MONTH LONG INVESTIGATION INTO SUSPICIOUS FIRES ENDED SATURDAY WITH THE ARREST OF 56-YEAR-OLD FELICIAN PRIMEAUX. BROWNING SAYS PRIMEAUX IS IN THE VERMILIAN PARISH JAIL, CHARGED WITH 12 COUNTS OF SIMPLE ARSON. THE BUILDINGS BURNED INCLUDE THE OLD KAPLAN RICE HOUSE AND OTHERS. BROWNING SAYS PRIMEAUX MAY HAVE CHOSEN EMPTY TARGETS, BUT HIS ALLEGED CRIMES STILL COULD HAVE HURT SOMEONE.

A LIVINGSTON PARISH STATE REPRESENTATIVE HAS PRE-FILED LEGISLATION THAT WOULD MAKE FAILURE TO REPORT A MISSING CHILD A CRIME. SHERMAN MACK SAYS HE DECIDED TO WRITE THE BILL BECAUSE OF THE CASEY ANTHONY TRIAL. HE SAYS HE FEELS THERE NEEDS TO BE A LOUISIANA LAW THAT STATES A "CARETAKER" MUST REPORT A MISSING CHILD TO PROPER AUTHORITIES WITHIN 24 HOURS.

A STOMACH VIRUS OUTBREAK DELAYED THE DEPARTURE OF THE CRUISE SHIP "VOYAGER OF THE SEAS" FROM NEW ORLEANS IN ONE OF THREE OUTBREAKS OF ILLNESS ABOARD U.S.-BASED CRUISE SHIPS REPORTED OVER THE WEEKEND. THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION NOTIFIED LOUISIANA ON FRIDAY THAT A CRUISE SHIP MIGHT BE COMING IN WITH A NOROVIRUS OUTBREAK. STATE EPIDEMIOLOGIST RAOULT RATARD SAID SUNDAY, ABOUT 200 PASSENGERS ON THE NEW ORLEANS SHIP BECAME ILL FROM THE VIRUS, WHICH CAUSES VOMITING AND DIARRHEA AND SPREADS RAPIDLY IN CLOSE QUARTERS SUCH AS CRUISE SHIPS AND NURSING HOMES.

EARLY SUNDAY MORNING, SINGLE VEHICLE CRASH, CLAIMED THE LIFE OF A MONTEREY WOMAN. STATE POLICE SAY 46 YEAR OLD SHEILA FARRAR WAS KILLED WHEN HER VEHICLE LEFT HIGHWAY 129 IN CONCORDIA PARISH AND STRUCK A BRIDGE RAILING. FARRAR WAS NOT WEARING HER SEAT BELT AT THE TIME OF THE CRASH. ROUTINE TOXICOLOGY TESTS ARE PENDING. THE CRASH REMAINS UNDER INVESTIGATION.