NEWS FOR MONDAY 082012
BY DAVE GRAICHEN

FUNERALS WILL BE HELD THIS WEEK FOR THE TWO ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST PARISH SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES GUNNED DOWN THURSDAY IN LAPLACE. DEPUTY JEREMY TRICHE WILL BE LAID TO REST TODAY, WHILE DEPUTY BRANDON NIELSEN ‘S FUNERAL IS WEDNESDAY. TWO OFFICERS WHO WERE ALSO SHOT, BUT SURVIVED, ARE STILL HOSPITALIZED. THEIR CONDITIONS HAVE NOT BEEN RELEASED.

BRANDON SCOTT LAVERGNE HAS SPENT HIS FIRST WEEKEND AT THE LOUISIANA STATE PENITENTIARY AS HE BEGINS A LIFE SENTENCE FOR THE MURDERS OF U-L LAFAYETTE STUDENT MICKEY SHUNICK AND LISA PATE OF CHURCH POINT. ANGOLA WARDEN BURL CAIN SAYS LAVERGNE'S CELL IS IN A HIGH SECURITY AREA. LAVERGNE AGREED TO A PLEA DEAL ON FRIDAY IN ORDER TO AVOID THE DEATH PENALTY. CAIN SAYS LAVERGNE WILL HAVE LITTLE INTERACTION WITH THE OTHER PRISONERS AND HE'LL NEVER HAVE A CHANCE AT FREEDOM.

JEFFERSON PARISH AUTHORITIES REPORT A 22-YEAR-OLD MAN AND HIS 19-YEAR-OLD GIRLFRIEND WERE SHOT AND KILLED IN THEIR CAR WHILE THEIR 4-YEAR-OLD GIRL AND 4-MONTH-OLD BOY WERE IN THE BACK SEAT. WILLIE ODOM OF HARVEY AND SHAWNA GIROD OF AVONDALE WERE KILLED ABOUT 1 A.M. SATURDAY. INVESTIGATORS SAY MORE THAN A DOZEN BULLETS HIT THE CAR, BUT DID NOT HIT THE CHILDREN. AT THIS POINT, INVESTIGATORS DON'T KNOW WHY THE TWO WERE KILLED, AND THEY SAY THE HAVE NO SUSPECTS.

IN A WEEKEND HOME INVASION, ROBBERS SHOT AND ROBBED A MAN, THEN SET HIS HOUSE ON FIRE, BUT HE ESCAPED BY JUMPING FROM A WINDOW 14 FEET ABOVE GROUND. THE INCIDENT OCCURRED EARLY SUNDAY MORNING IN GRAND ISLE. POLICE REPORT, THE ROBBERS GOT $900, SHOT AND KILLED THE MAN'S DOG AND THEN TORCHED THE BUILDING.
THE VICTIM IN STABLE CONDITION AT UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL IN NEW ORLEANS.

REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL MITT ROMNEY HAS A FUNDRAISER IN METAIRIE TONIGHT. ROMNEY SUPPORTERS WILL HOLD A RECEPTION AND DINNER AT TWO PRIVATE HOMES. POLITICAL ANALYST CLANCY DUBOS SAYS THIS EVENT IS LESS ABOUT CARRYING LOUISIANA IN THE NOVEMBER ELECTION AND MORE ABOUT RAISING MONEY TO CAMPAIGN IN SWING STATES. THE RECEPTIONS WILL COSTS SUPPORTERS FIVE TO TEN-THOUSAND DOLLARS A COUPLE, WHILE THE DINNER IS 50-THOUSAND DOLLARS A PLATE. GOVERNOR JINDAL AND SENATOR VITTER ARE LISTED AS HONORARY HOSTS. DUBOS SAYS THESE ARE THE ONLY KINDS OF STOPS ROMNEY WILL LIKELY MAKE IN LOUISIANA BETWEEN NOW AND NOVEMBER.

THE 150 RESIDENCES THAT ARE AFFECTED BY AN EVACUATION ORDER SINCE AUGUST FOURTH, BECAUSE OF A LARGE SINKHOLE IN ASSUMPTION PARISH HAVE BEGUN RECEIVING FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FROM TEXAS BRINE. THE COMPANY OWNS THE CAVERN THAT IS THE LIKELY CAUSE OF THE SINKHOLE. COMPANY SPKS SONNY CRANCH SAYS THEY ARE TRYING TO PROVIDE WEEKLY HOUSING ASSISTANCE. CRANCH SAYS A CHECK IN THE AMOUNT OF $875 PER WEEK WILL BE ISSUED TO A REPRESENTATIVE OF EACH HOUSEHOLD IN THE AFFECTED AREA. HE SAYS THIS WILL CONTINUE AS LONG AS THE EVACUATION ORDER IS IN PLACE.

THE LOUISIANA LOTTERY CORP. SAYS AN EASY 5 TICKET BOUGHT IN ALEXANDRIA IS WORTH $197,130. IT WAS THE ONLY JACKPOT WON IN BIG-MONEY GAMES SOLD SATURDAY IN LOUISIANA. THAT MEANS WEDNESDAY'S ESTIMATED JACKPOT FOR EASY 5 FALLS TO $50,000. THE ESTIMATED POWERBALL JACKPOT RISES TO $50 MILLION.

CONSULTANTS HELPING LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY FIND A NEW SYSTEM PRESIDENT HAVE PRESENTED THREE POSSIBLE WAYS TO DEVELOP THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING TWO THAT WOULD CONSOLIDATE THE JOBS OF SYSTEM PRESIDENT AND CHANCELLOR OF THE FLAGSHIP BATON ROUGE CAMPUS. ONE WOULD GRADUALLY MERGE FACILITIES SUCH AS THE PENNINGTON BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH CENTER INTO THE BATON ROUGE UNIVERSITY WHILE OTHER CAMPUSES AND HOSPITALS STAY ON THEIR OWN. ANOTHER WOULD PUT OFF CHOOSING A NEW SYSTEM HEAD UNTIL THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS CAN CONSOLIDATE THE SYSTEM. THE THIRD SCENARIO OUTLINED BY CONSULTANTS FROM THE ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNING BOARDS OF UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES WOULD LEAVE THINGS AS THEY ARE.
WILLIAM JENKINS, WHO HAD SERVED AS BOTH PRESIDENT AND CHANCELLOR BEFORE HE RETIRED IN 2007, IS INTERIM PRESIDENT AND CHANCELLOR SINCE THE BOARD FIRED JOHN LOMBARDI IN LATE APRIL AND CHANCELLOR MICHAEL MARTIN LEFT TO BECOME HEAD OF THE COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM.

A DEMOCRAT IS IN THE RACE FOR LOUISIANA'S NEWLY REDRAWN 3RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. LAKE CHARLES ATTORNEY RON RICHARD WILL CHALLENGE LAFAYETTE REPUBLICAN CHARLES BOUSTANY AND NEW IBERIA REPUBLICAN JEFF LANDRY.

THE NEW ORLEANS HORNETS HAVE GIVEN COACH MONTY WILLIAMS A FOUR YEAR EXTENSION ON HIS CONTRACT. THE NEW DEAL COMES AS THE 40-YEAR-OLD WILLIAMS HEADS INTO THE FINAL YEAR OF THE FIRST HEAD COACHING CONTRACT HE SIGNED IN 2010. NEITHER THE TEAM OR WILLIAMS WOULD DISCLOSE THE TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT.

A 26-YEAR-OLD MAN HAS BEEN BOOKED WITH FIRST-DEGREE MURDER OF A 53-YEAR-OLD WHO DIED AFTER A HOLDUP, APPARENTLY FROM A HEART ATTACK. BRIAN WRIGHT OF BATON ROUGE WAS BOOKED SATURDAY WITH MURDER OF TERRANCE BOOKER, ALSO OF BATON ROUGE, WHO DIED AT A HOSPITAL SATURDAY AFTERNOON.