News for Wednesday 121212

By Dave Graichen

State Police say a school bus driver was  killed in an accident yesterday  morning in Natchitoches Parish. There were no children on the bus at the  time  of  the  wreck. Authorities say the  driver,  67-year-old Alberta Conlay, had a medical condition which led to the bus leaving the roadway and colliding with several trees and a fence.

Another national report card ranks Louisiana at the bottom of their  list. Louisiana is tied with Mississippi as the least healthiest state  in the nation, according to the United Health Foundation. Doctor Rhonda Randall with the U-H-F says Louisiana is struggling with a high  infant mortality rate, a high child poverty rate and an extremely high obesity rate. For the past twenty-three years the report has ranked Louisiana in the  bottom five among the least healthiest states. Randall says the health  report card should be a call to action for Louisiana residents to change  their lifestyles.

The Public Service Commission will vote again today on a proposal to lower the high rates prison inmates and their families pay for jailhouse  phone calls. PSC Chairman Foster Campbell says it's not the prisoners  who pay the inflated costs for phone calls, it's their families. He says  that's just wrong.  A vote last month on the proposal by the 5-man PSC deadlocked; with two  for, two against and one, Lambert Boissiere abstaining. Fellow PSC  member Clyde Holloway says he intends to, again, vote "no". He says Campbell has an axe to grind.

Tuesday was Jim  Letten's final day in office as the U-S Attorney for the Eastern District  of Louisiana. Letten announced his resignation last week, in the wake of an online posting scandal involving two of

his top prosecutors. Political Analyst Clancy Dubos says Letten will be remembered for his efforts to fight public corruption. Letten served for nearly  12 years as the top federal prosecutor for the  New  Orleans  area.  He  leaves   his   post  as  the  nation's longest-serving U-S Attorney.

The National Transportation Safety Board recommends that ALL states  require convicted drunk drivers to have breath analyzing ignition  interlocks placed on their vehicles; including first time offenders. Highway safety advocate Jim Champagne says that's a good idea. He says just the idea of having one on your car should be a deterrent to impaired driving, if for no reason other than the cost of having one installed.  Louisiana is one of 17 states where interlock devices can already be  ordered on your car--even on a first DWI conviction.

Activists are calling for an independent investigation in  the  case of  a  Dec.  2  officer-involved shooting that claimed the life of a 16-year-old girl.  State  Police  say Darneisha Harris was shot by a Breaux Bridge officer after she ran  into his police car. Action Now director  Rev. Raymond Brown has heard  that  the  office  ran  into Harris and  not  the  other way around. He feels this case should be investigated by the federal government and not state police.

Explo Systems Inc. The explosives recycling company that caused the evacuation of a Louisiana town has come under scrutiny for explosions and its handling of dangerous materials before, and it was so far behind on its rent that the Louisiana National Guard refused to lease it more space. The October explosion wasn’t the first at the Explo facility. A series of at least 10 explosions there in 2006 caused an evacuation of Doyline, shut down Interstate 20 and forced officials to move students to schools in a nearby town.

Former NFL Commissioner  Paul  Tagliabue has vacated the suspensions of four current and former Saints  players  implicated in the bounty investigation.  However,  Tagliabue  did  find  that  three  of  the players,   Vilma,   Smith  and  Hargrove,  did  engage  in   conduct detrimental to the league...but  stressed that the coaches were very much  involved.  Scott  Fujita  was  the   only  player  cleared  of

detrimental conduct.