Louisiana

The US House passed a bill that would allow Louisiana residents impacted by the 2016 floods to become eligible for grant money, even if they received low interest loans to help with their recovery. Baton Rouge US Representative Garret Graves, the bill’s sponsor, says this opens up recovery money to thousands.

Graves says that the bill would make "thousands of people eligible for Restore Louisiana grants even if they received a loan or were approved  for a loan."

Cooler weather this year has extended the usually brief gnat season, making trips out to the river a bit unpleasant for some. If you’re looking to make an outdoors trip, LSU Ag Center entomologist Sebe Brown says understand these pests don’t work like mosquitos.

Brown says that gnats will be abundant near "flowing water."

For those looking to brave gnat infested rivers, Brown has a non-scientific, but country tested protection plan.

First Assistant Kyle Ardoin will take over the agency that handles elections starting May 8th . Ardoin is replacing Secretary of State Tom Schedler, who submitted his resignation papers in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal. Ardoin knows he’s been put in charge during a pivotal time for the department.

Ardoin says, "The purchasing of new voting equipment and the perfection of the 2018 congressional midterm elections are high profile, high stakes, and high impact for voters across this state." 

The investigation by Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Investigators into the recent theft of two UTV’s has led to the arrest of one suspect and a warrant for a second.  Jeremy Burton, Jr., age 17 of Monroe, has been arrested and booked into OCC charged with two counts of Theft of a Motor Vehicle.

A former Baton Rouge police officer who fatally shot a black man nearly two years ago, setting off widespread protests and clashes with police, now faces a misdemeanor charge for an unrelated incident in which he allegedly slapped a suspect.

An attorney for Blane Salamoni told The Advocate the ex-officer received a court summons Friday for a simple battery charge. The lawyer, Brant Mayer, said Baton Rouge police issued the summons even though the alleged victim said he didn't want to pursue charges.

A Louisiana businessman who pleaded guilty to defrauding investors out of hundreds of thousands of dollars has been sentenced to more than three years in prison.

U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles on Wednesday sentenced 52-year-old William Todd Cutrer, of Addis, to 42 months in prison and ordered him to pay more than $500,000 restitution to his victims.

Cutrer pleaded guilty in October to mail fraud.

Louisiana's spring shrimp season will open Monday in a portion of state inshore waters.

The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission convened a special meeting Thursday to set the date for the opening in waters from the eastern shore of South Pass of the Mississippi River westward to the western shore of Freshwater Bayou Canal. The season opens at 6 a.m.

The Louisiana Public Defender Board has reached a compromise on a new plan intended to more fairly distribute state funds used to pay lawyers who represent indigent defendants.

The Advocate quotes State Public Defender James T. Dixon Jr. in a Saturday report as saying the plan should prevent the state's  42 district public defenders offices from failing. But, he says any plan would have "winners and losers" because there is not enough money.

The Louisiana Red Cross is joining a national push to install hundreds of thousands of smoke detectors in homes around the country. “Sound the Alarm” will see Red Cross volunteers visiting homes to install alarms, and educate families on fire safety. Greater New York Regional CEO Josh Lockwood says its been a wildly successful program so far.

Lockwood says despite big publicity pushes, reinforcing the importance of fire safety, many homes still lack a working smoke detector.