The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality is taking its fight against waste tires to the people across the state. LDEQ Secretary Aurelia Giacometto (jock-uh-MET-oh) says improperly disposed tires continue to plague the state.

Cut 6 (12) …in drainage ditches.”

DEQ is holding a series of town hall meetings across the state to gain input on potential changes that it can present to Governor Landry.

Having passed up a re-election bid, Baton Rouge Congressman Garret Graves is trying to cram in his legislative priorities in the three-plus months he has left in office. Among the bipartisan bills he’s working on is one which would make it easier for governors to request lump-sum payments for recovery for smaller-scale disasters.

Cut 13 (11)  “…recovery from there.”

Graves is also working on a bill to hold FEMA accountable for delays in payments to disaster victims.

Amidst controversy, Pineville Mayor Rich Dupree is stepping down. Colleen Crain has the story…

Cut 2 (34) “…I’m Colleen Crain.”

A man who Bossier Parish investigators say held a woman against her will for three days and sexually assaulted her is under arrest. The sheriff’s office says 52-year-old Gary Free of Elm Grove held the woman in a cabin at the Red River South Marina before she was able to escape. Free was arrested and booked on numerous charges including second-degree kidnapping and first-degree rape.