A Mandeville Police officer is dead and another is wounded following a Friday afternoon shooting near the intersection of Louisiana Highway 22 and U-S 190. Police Chief Gerald Sticker says the fallen officer is 58-year-old Captain Vinny Liberto Junior…
Cut 13 (12) “…years that is grieving.”
Liberto is a Brother Martin grad who served in the U-S Marine Corps and joined the Mandeville Police department in 1994. He leaves behind seven children. State Police has charged 21-year-old Mark Spicer of Covington with the fatal shooting of Liberto. The other officer shot is expected to survive.

L-S-P says the incident started when a Mandeville Police officer initiated a traffic stop on Spicer’s vehicle, who refused to stop. During the course of the pursuit, Spicer crashed the vehicle. He got out and started shooting.

The gubernatorial candidates tangled during the first televised debate about the state’s 4.45 percent sales tax, which is higher than when Governor Edwards took office. Edwards defended maintaining the sales tax at it’s current level to ensure budget stability, but Republican challenger Eddie Rispone says the surplus is evidence that taxes are too high.
Cut 9 (10) “surplus”
Republican Congressman Ralph Abraham echoed those sentiments.
A new poll from Nexstar Media group finds that 47% of respondents support a higher gas tax if used on a $14 billion backlog on transportation projects. JMC Analytics Pollster John Couvillon says voters are more likely to be in favor of a tax with a specific direction.
Cut 3 (12) “…into a pot.”
On the topic of gun control, Couvillon says 58% support limitations on the Second Amendment, 33% want zero limitations, and 27% back outlawing automatic rifles.