11:30 Newscast, January 18th, 2017

A new poll from CBS finds President Barack Obama’s approval rating is over 60-percent nationally. Local pollster Bernie Pinsonat says while that might be the case nationwide, it’s certainly not true in Louisiana. He says Mr. Obama’s high favorability nationally is likely because of large states like New York, Illinois and California…:
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The president is leaving office with the third highest approval rating since 1981. President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn into office on Friday.

The state budget deficit for the current fiscal year has dropped to $304 million. Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne said today that recent developments lowering anticipated state general fund spending requirements resulted in a slight narrowing of the budget gap for the fiscal year that ends June 30. Earlier, the revenue gap had been placed at $313 million.

The man who was shot and killed by a Slidell homeowner was high on cough syrup, according to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s office. Halen Doughty Reports…:
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The Ruston Police Department has arrested a man in connection with a December homicide. They say 24-year-old Taylor Keyonta Burr was already in jail on a count of simple burglary in Lincoln Parish; but they believe he may be the suspect involved in the murder of 38-year-old Patrick Mitchell who was gunned down while he was home alone in the middle of the night on December 28th. An investigation into the incident remains ongoing.