News for Tuesday 020513

By Dave Graichen

The Superintendent of Louisiana  State  Police  believes  local  law enforcement  in  The  Bayou  State  is  ready if there was an active shooter  situation in one of our schools.  Col  Mike  Edmonson  says

there are  over  19-hundred schools in Louisiana and there are plans in place with local  law enforcement if a gunman enters a school. He says there's great cooperation,  which will be a huge benefit in the

time of a crisis.

On that note, Students yesterday afternoon alerted faculty to a fifth-grader who was showing off a revolver in his backpack at Horseshoe Drive Elementary School. The weapon was found by the school resource officer and the student was taken into the custody. The officer reported The .22 caliber revolver was not loaded, and no ammunition was found.

NFL  Commissioner  Roger  Goodell recapped his thoughts on the Super Bowl Monday morning and indicted  the  power  outage  would  have no effect on New Orleans' chance to host another Championship game.  He says  the  incident was unfortunate and they are still investigating the exact reason  half  the  lights went out in the Superdome in the third quarter. Gooddell said the city of New  Orleans did a spectacular job hosting the big game.

However, An  article  in  Forbes magazine is  suggesting that New Orleans not  be allowed to host another Super Bowl  until  it replaces what it calls the  "outdated" Superdome.

You've probably noticed by  now  the big recent spike in gas prices. The  American  Automobile Association  says  the  current  statewide average for a gallon  of  regular  is  $3.34 cents which is about 15 cents higher than it was at the start of the year.

State health officials say they've seen a drop-off in the number of flu  cases. After the holidays, there were reports doctor offices were  flooded with people suffering from flu-like symptoms. But Department of  Health and Hospitals Immunization Director, Dr. Frank Welch, says a  public awareness campaign to fight the flu bug has helped.  Welch says the state is still reporting widespread flu cases, but  influenza activity has been declining.

Governor  Bobby  Jindal's  office  says  a  Houston  based  company, "Genesis Energy" is expanding  its  operations  in  Baton  Rouge and plans to build a pipeline that will connect to the Exxon plant. They

say the planned expansion will create 50 new jobs with an average of $80,000 a year plus benefits.

Detectives from the Rapides parish sheriff’s office report when they arrived at a Sieper residence to serve warrants on, they found 20 year old Walter Benoit watching child pornography on his computer.  Benoit  was already wanted on warrants for indecent behavior with a juvenile and sexual battery. He can now add a few charges to that list. Benoit was arrested and charged with two counts of pornography involving juveniles and for the warrants - one count of indecent behavior with juveniles and two counts of sexual battery. Benoit was booked into the Rapides Parish Detention Center.

Baton  Rouge  businessman Jim Bernhard is apparently a top contender to replace Steven  Chu  as  the  country's  next  Energy  Secretary. Bernhard   is   CEO  of  the  Shaw  Group,  a  Fortune  500  company

headquartered  in   the   Capitol   City.   Northeastern   Louisiana Congressman  Rodney  Alexander  says  Bernhard has proven leadership skills,   and   can   develop  ideas  for  making   America   energy independent. Alexander  hopes  President  Obama  will   give   Bernhard   serious consideration for the Cabinet Post.

Police in Monroe are looking for  the person responsible for hitting and killing a pedestrian late Saturday night. They say witnesses saw a white Mitsubishi Galant with white tinted windows struck a man and

flee the scene. The victim was pronounced  dead from his injuries at a local hospital.

The Livingston Parish man accused of brutally attacking his pregnant wife and killing their unborn child  had  his  bond revoked in court today. Jeffrey Reynolds, of Walker says he was under  the  influence

of illegal "bath salts" last October, when he attacked his wife. She survived the attack, the baby

did not.

The  Oscar-Winning Team at Shreveport's  Moonbot  Studios  now  says they're  working  on  a new project: a video game. Founders Williams Joyce and Branden Olendenburg says the game "Golem" needs pledges of $750,000 by March 26th to be funded.