State Superintendent of Education John White says after the first day of PARCC testing, concerns that there would be widespread non-participation did not bear out. He says preliminary findings show more than 320,000 students took the test associated Common Core which is about 99% participation…

cut 10 (13) “in the test”

He says 50% of non-participants were in Calcasieu Parish.

Shreveport Representative Barbra Norton has filed a bill for the upcoming legislative session that would make it illegal to supply a child 12 or under with an Uzi sub-machine gun. She says kids are not big enough to handle such a large weapon in a safe manner…

cut 7 (11) “concern about that”

She feels that the risk for a tragedy is greatly increased when a Uzi is in the hands of a child.

Jury selection begins today in Lafayette in the first-degree murder trial of Seth Fontenot, accused of a 2013 shooting that killed 15-year old Austin Rivault and injured two others. Fontenot claims he fired to scare the teens, who he thought were breaking into his truck, not to hurt them. Legal analyst Tim Meche says this will be a tough case for Fontenot…

cut 4 (10) “the consequences”

He says Fontenot appears to be going after a manslaughter verdict. With a manslaughter conviction, Fontenot could face up to 40 years in prison.