news for friday 101912

by dave graichen

the rapides parish sheriff’s department has arrested a  Pineville man after several complaints that he was taking advantage of a 92 year old man. Detectives arrested Delane clark and charged him with burglary, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, criminal damage greater than $500 and possession of stolen items. More charges are pending, as the investigation unfolds.

authorities are still looking for a Woodworth man who fled into some woods yesterday morning after what appears to have been a domestic dispute. the Rapides Parish Sheriff's department  believes 48 year old john mcneal was picked up in a car by a third party. woodworth police  were called to a Bayou Clear Road home shortly before 9 yesterday morning to find a victim who had been battered and had suffered a small neck laceration. the victim was treated and released from a local hospital.

44 year old therand thacker of deville has been found guilty of nine sex crimes and obstruction of justice in a case involving two sisters, one now 20, the other is 16. thacker’s defense was that he was being framed by the girls and these was no physical evidence, only the testimony of the girls.  but, the jury did not buy the argument. thacker, who is disabled with just one arm,  will be sentenced  november 2^nd, he could be facing up to 230 years in prison.

a construction worker on the O.K. Allen Bridge replacement project was seriously injured yesterday when is leg was caught in a piece of. The worker, 26-year-old Robert Williams, suffered a partially severed leg in the accident.

Two New Orleans toddlers  are dead, and their mother is charged with their murder. The 3 and 4-year-old  boy & girl were found last night by  their grandmother; both dead in the  bathtub.  Police  say  the mother,  23-year-old   Chelsea  Thornton,  reportedly  suffers  from bipolar disorder and other mental troubles, and had quit taking her meds. Thornton faces two counts of 1st degree murder.

Could local control of  the  BP  settlement  be  lost.  According to reports out of Alabama unnamed officials have said settlement  talks are  now  favoring putting money toward the Natural Resources Damage Assessment. That program would put dollars solely into making up for natural resources damage  by  the  spill. While the long fought for Restore Act had allowed the direct fines  to be spent more freely on locally chosen projects. A bipartisan group  of Gulf Coast senators, including Louisiana's U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu,  to send a letter of objections  to  the  Justice Department and the President. Our other U.S. Sen. David Vitter, did not sign the letter

The   state  Bond  Commission  has  given  approval  to   a   Jindal Administration plan  to  borrow $350-million for needed repairs and upgrades of rural Louisiana  roads.  The  list  of  targeted project spreads across 37 parishes. The roads in question don't  qualify for any  federal  matching highway money. The debt will be paid  over  a 22-year term, with  money  from license & registration fees ad taxes on commercial vehicles.

NOAA's  Climate Prediction Center anticipates  wetter  than  average conditions across  the  Gulf Coast states during the winter months. But  long-range forecaster  Mike  Halpert  says  they  had  trouble producing a winter  outlook for the United States this year, because an El  Nino  weather pattern did not show up as expected. He says if an El Nino  intensifies,   then   we  can  expect cooler than normal temperatures for this winter.

State  Fire  Marshal  Butch Browning says someone in Winn Parish  is setting fires intentionally  and  he's  determined to catch them. He says there have been over 80 suspicious wildfires  in  the area over the past three years in at around the St. Maurice community. He says the  Arson  Task force will eventually catch those responsible  with the public's help. He says the Confidential Arson Tip line is 225-922-1458.

Budget  cuts to the LSU hospital system  have  impacted  E.A  Conway Medical Center  in Monroe. Administrators sent out layoff notices to 38 employees. The hospital's  emergency room capacity has also been cut by 25%. Intensive Care by 6 beds and surgical by 12 beds.

The state's coastal protection agency says Hurricane Isaac brought 565- thousand pounds of oil to the surface. Coastal Restoration and  Protection Authority Chairman Garrett Graves says they have told B-P  and the Coast Guard the oil clean-up in the Gulf is not complete and  this is proof they are right.  About four-point-nine million barrels of oil spilled into the gulf during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Disaster. Graves estimates there's  still a million barrels unaccounted for.

The 2013 LSU football schedule was released today. It has the Tigers playing Alabama on November 9th, with an open date between and after the game with the Crimson Tide. LSU will still close out the regular season with Arkansas Thanksgiving weekend and Texas A&M is scheduled to visit Baton Rouge on November 23rd.

If the Saints want to get back into the N-F-C playoff picture, a win at  Tampa Bay this Sunday is a must. New Orleans enters the game with a  1-and-4 record and the odds of getting into the playoffs are not good. Tampa Bay comes into the game with a two and three record.