News for Friday 113012

By Dave Graichen

State Police is advising residents in the Doyline area to leave  their homes and businesses for safety reasons a massive clean-up at  Camp Minden. State Police Captain Doug Cain  says about a million pounds of improperly stored black powder explosive,  though stable, has to be moved. Cain says this evacuation is not mandatory, but residents who choose  to evacuate will need to be out by Saturday morning when they begin  moving the product. The cleanup could take as long as 48 hours. Schools in Doyline will be closed Monday.

Early voting for the December 8th runoff elections ends tomorrow. Voters  are asked to decide a number of local issues, a Supreme Court judgeship  and who will be Louisiana's next congressman for District 3. In Alexandria, Two seats on the city council will be decided.  Early voting runs today and tomorrow, 8:30 am to 6 pm. The runoff  election is next Saturday.

Another active and memorable hurricane season ends today. The 2012  hurricane season, which saw 19 named storms, including Hurricane Isaac,  which made landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River on August  28th. State Climatologist Barry Keim says 2012 goes down as a tie for  the third busiest season in recorded history. Keim says this is the third straight hurricane season with 19 named  storms. But he says there has not been a U-S landfall of a major  hurricane in seven years, which is unprecedented. Keim says Isaac and  Hurricane Sandy were very destructive, despite being classified as  Category one storms.

The search committee in charge of seeking a new president for Louisiana  Tech University has named Doctor Leslie Guice as the sole finalist.  Guice is currently the school's executive vice president and V-P for  research and development. U-L System board chairman Wayne Parker calls  Guice a strong higher education leader.  Parker says the University of Louisiana system board will have the final  say on whether to appoint Guice as Tech's next president. The U-L system board will consider Guice's appointment next Tuesday.

Former LSU football star Tyrann Mathieu released a statement to ESPN  he's turning pro today. Mathieu's stellar career at LSU ended in August  after he reportedly failed multiple drug tests. He was also arrested in  August on a simple marijuana possession charge. Draft analyst Mike  Detillier says teams will be interested in Mathieu, despite his troubles.  Detillier says because of Mathieu's off-the field problems, the Honey  Badger has gone from a sure-fire second round pick to a fourth or fifth  round selection.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries seeks the public's  help in locating the person responsible for illegally killing a black  bear in Avoyelles Parish.L-D-W-F spokesperson Adam Einck says a hunter  found the dead black bear laying on an all-terrain vehicle trail 20  miles northwest of Marksville. A reward of six-thousand dollars is being offered for any information  leading to the arrest of the person responsible.

The Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the number of  non-fatal workplace injuries and illness cases in Louisiana is  ranked second lowest in the nation. Louisiana Workforce Commission  Office Workers Compensation Director Wes Hataway says the key component for cost containment in workers

compensation is to make sure employees don't get injured in the  first place. He says these improving numbers mean employers are  doing a good job of teaching safety in the workplace.