news for wednesday 101712

by dave graichen

A threatening Internet tweet sent Alexandria Senior High students to the football stadium during their first hour class yesterday. Bill Morrison, Rapides Parish School District assistant superintendent of administration, said the school was evacuated to allow authorities to conduct a room-to-room search of the building.  the all clear was sounded  about 9:30 a.m., and students were returned to class.

More information has surfaced  about  the  man  convicted  of killing UL-Lafayette student Mickey Shunick. A search of 33-year-old Brandon  Scott Lavergne's  home during the investigation of Shunick revealed a driver's license of  a  still missing Texas woman. A case file revealed detectives tracked down  the brother of that woman who says  he  kicked  her out of his house because  she  had  too  many personal issues. The brother told investigators he was putting money in  the account of Madeline  Aumiller  but  that  it  had  not been  accessed since April.

A new contract between the city of alexandria and british PETROLEUM energy will save residents about $262,000 a year. The Council adopted an ordinance authorizing the mayor to execute a base contract to buy natural gas from bp. that natural gas delivered to the city by Crosstex LIG, which is the company that currently delivers the natural gas to the city. the city had been looking at the possibility of building it’s own gas pipeline. however, it appears now that crosstex has decided to reduce what it charges the city to deliver the gas. under the new agreement, bp is offering to provide natural gas at 3 cents per MBTU. the current charge is more than three time as high.

more on that fire last friday at martin park elementary school. we told you yesterday A 12-year-old  student  was under arrest for setting  the  school  on fire last week and has been charged with simple arson. you may wonder how authorities were able make an arrest so quickly. Larry King with the Alexandria Fire Department says  they  had  video  evidence  of the boy going into the school shortly before 5 Friday morning  and setting the  fire. king says the fire itself affected three classrooms and he's unsure how long it's going to take to clean everything up.

State safety officials say they're not certain why, but the number of  people killed on motorcycles, bicycles and on foot is going up, while  overall traffic deaths are declining. Louisiana Highway Safety  Commission director John LeBlanc says PEDESTRIAN fatalities were up  almost 18% in 2011.  Overall, 676 people died in highway crashes in 2011; down over 6% from  2010. Motorcycle deaths increased by over 8%. LeBlanc says 2011 was the  fourth straight year reflecting that trend. He hopes the increased  number of motorcycle fatalities is not the start of trend.

For nearly two hours an  American Airlines plane from Miami was held on the tarmac monday at the New Orleans' Armstrong airport after a passenger showed symptoms  of what was feared to be typhoid fever. The sick passenger was taken to  a  local  hospital  and  the  other passengers  were  told  to go home and wash their clothes. Officials have not been able to confirm  from what  illness  the passenger in question was suffering.

According  to  a poll by Shreveport pollster Elliot Stonecipher  the race between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney is too close to call. Stonecipher is predicting  the results will be similar to 2004, when George W. Bush won by a margin  of  less  than  two percent. He also adds a clear sign voters have made up their minds early will be the  turnout for early voting. LOUISIANA’S early voting  begins  on the 23rd.

Officials say a Lafayette man admitted in federal  court  to writing racial slurs on two churches with predominately black congregations, then  trying  to  pin it  on  his  white ex-girlfriend.  They  say 34-year-old  Brian  Crimiel, who is black, plead guilty to one count of damage to religious  property  and  making  a false statement. He will be sentenced at a later date.

Folks  in Webster Parish can breathe easy  after  authorities confirm  the explosion  monday night that shook several homes was an underground bunker that exploded  at  Camp Minden.  They  say  the military will  investigate exactly what happened, but the bunker did hat it was supposed to do. the blast was so strong, some nearby residents reported their windows were broken. one man told police the blast knocked him from his bed.

The Louisiana Supreme Court rules Bernette Johnson will be the court's  next chief justice. The decision ends a dispute between Johnson and  Justice Jeffrey Victory over who would succeed Kitty Kimball. some say Race may have been a factor as Johnson is black. but, Lapolitics.com publisher John  Maginnis says the legal argument was over who had more seniority. This issue was heard by a federal judge, who ruled in Johnson's favor  last month. Maginnis says the Louisiana Supreme Court eventually ruled  on its own today, making Johnson the state's first black chief justice..

A Sports Illustrated cover story  on former LSU football star Tyrann Mathieu indicates the Honey Badger  might  have  broken  NCAA  rules which  could  keep him  from returning to the Tigers next year. The Sports Illustrated article says starting defensive Anthony Johnson's image also appeared in a poster, along  with Mathieu, to promote an event at a Baton Rouge nightclub.  Tiger Rag.com Editor Cody Worsham says Johnson may have also violated an NCAA rule.