Hurricane Harvey hit Texas a month ago which knocked out about 30% of the nation’s refining capacity, but things are slowly recovering. Michelle Southern reports…:

Cut 1 (31) “I’m Michelle Southern”

______________________________________

The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office says a man has been arrested for allegedly running over and killing his brother with his vehicle early this morning. Jeff Palermo reports…:

Cut 2 (31) “I’m Jeff Palermo”

______________________________________

An Oklahoma man has been arrested in Lafayette for allegedly breaking into a woman’s home and sexually assaulting her then demanding she drive him to an ATM. Cpl. Karl Ratcliff with the Lafayette Police Department says they were able to catch 22-year-old Devon Bell after a dispatcher remembered a recent call about a suspicious person in the neighborhood.

Cut 3 (10) “sexual assault”

Bell is charged with home invasion, sexual battery, aggravated kidnapping, and criminal trespassing. Ratcliff says this case is also now considered a kidnapping. He says detectives were able to receive surveillance video showing that Bell was in fact the suspect they were looking for.

Cut 4  (11) “here”

Ratcliff says this was a very scary experience for the victim and she called authorities to report the incident after she was away from Bell and felt safe. He says Bell has only been in the area for a few days and police are not looking for other suspects.

Cut 5  (09)  “relatives here”

________________________________________________

It’s been a month since Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas, knocking out nearly 30% of the nation’s refining capacity, but motorists are now starting to see consistent declines in gas prices. That’s according to Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy. He says we’re likely about to start seeing the downward momentum accelerate…:

Cut 6 (09)  “these storms “

DeHann says the current statewide average for a gallon of regular in Louisiana stands at $2.35. He says with the switch-over to winter-blend gasoline, consumer demand beginning to slow and Gulf Coast refineries getting back closer to normal, consumers can expect to see much lower prices at the pump next month:

Cut 7 (06)  “today”

Hurricane Irma caused mass evacuations in Florida, which DeHann says further crippled the supply in the US….:

Cut 8 (09) “weeks”

__________________________________________________________

A councilwoman in Arcadia has been suspended from her position after she was convicted of stealing more than 37-thousand dollars when she was the town water clerk. Louisiana Inspector General Stephen Street says Patricia Hampton was found guilty of theft charges from an investigation sparked by an audit that found discrepancies in the water department’s records.

Cut 9 (08)  “that way”

Street says Hampton was taking payments for water bills and collecting them for her personal use.

Cut 10 (10) “understand that”

Under Louisiana law, Hampton will be required to resign from the Town Council if the felony conviction is upheld. Street says it’s important to have the Inspector General’s and the District Attorney’s offices involved to hold these individuals accountable.

Cut 11 (11) “to steal”

________________________________________________

The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office says a man has been arrested for allegedly running over and killing his brother with his vehicle early this morning. EBRSO spokeswoman Casey Hicks says they were called about 3:40am..:

Cut 12 (08) “his vehicle” 

Hicks says deputies arrived on the scene in a parking lot to find 30-year-old Stephen Hebert half asleep behind the wheel of a truck that was running..:

Cut 13 (08)  “of the vehicle”

Stephen Hebert is charged with negligent homicide and DWI in the death of the victim, 32-year-old Kirk Hebert, because Hicks says he appeared to be very intoxicated and admitted that he and his brother had been drinking. She says beyond that, the suspect didn’t remember much…:

Cut 14 (09) “his vehicle”

________________________________________________

The U.S. Senate will not vote on a measure co-authored by Senator Bill Cassidy to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Cassidy says they don’t have the support, so they have postponed the vote. He says this is extremely disappointing to many American families who pay too much through Obamacare.

Cut 15 (11) “afford”

Cassidy says on a bi-partisan level, lawmakers believe Obamacare isn’t doing well. He says the alternative is Senator Bernie Sanders’ bill which has 15 co-sponsors to create a single payer plan…

Cut 16  (09)  “federal government”

There’s yet another reality show with northeast Louisiana ties that is quickly becoming the latest TV craze. Jeff Palermo reports…:

Cut 1 (30) “I’m Jeff Palermo”

______________________________________

Baton Rouge Rep. Ted James strongly disagrees with a fellow lawmaker who wants to cut state tax dollars to the New Orleans Saints. Emelie Gunn has more…

Cut 2 (29) “I’m Emelie Gunn”

______________________________________

Louisiana ranks third in the country in the rate of women who are murdered by men. Michael Farrar gets reaction from the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence…

Cut 3 (30) “I’m Michael Farrar”

___________________________________________________

There’s yet another reality show with northeast Louisiana ties that is quickly becoming the latest TV craze. Rednecks 4 Hire follows three men who do nasty jobs that nobody else wants to deal with. David Yelton says he and Mike Myers and Kevin Dodd will do almost anything…:

Cut 4  (08) “”beaver damns”

Yelton says the three of them know each other from church, and decided to work together to help people out. He says everything you see on the show actually happened the exact way it’s presented…:

Cut 5  (05)  “no way to script it”

Yelton says so far they’ve filmed 6 episodes which air on the CW at 6:30am on Saturdays, and 12:30pm on Sundays. You can also like Rednecks 4 Hire on Facebook, and watch the show through their YouTube Channel. Yelton says people like it most when he gets hurt….:

Cut 6 (11) “filming the whole thing”

________________________________________________________

Congressman Clay Higgins is another lawmaker voicing his disapproval of NFL players refusing to stand during the national anthem. Higgins says growing up, football season was always something he looked forward to and found it grounding in times of instability. But he says now it’s sickening to watch.

Cut 7 (08)  “America”

Higgins says there was a time when the NFL was patriotic but he says this group of players has hurt what the NFL once stood for.

Cut 8 (11) “my field”

Higgins says these athletes have the right to disrespect the national anthem and he has the right to turn off the TV.

Cut 9 (11)  “to me”

____________________________________________________

Baton Rouge Representative Ted James says fellow House member Kenny Havard is wrong to suggest that the state should stop providing tax dollars to the Saints because they had players who did not stand for the national anthem. James says Havard must have forgotten that legislators take an oath to uphold the constitution and that violates the first amendment.

Cut 10 (09)  “black athletes”

In the 2016 legislative session, Havard was in hot water after he made a joke suggesting strippers should weigh under 160 pounds and be young. James hopes Havard is only seeking attention because it’s obvious the protesting athletes are not disrespecting our military. He says he welcomes a discussion if the lawmaker genuinely wants to talk about incentives and address the deficit problems in our state.

Cut 11 (10) “approach it”

James hopes this is just grandstanding and suspects Havard is not alone with this sentiment.

Cut 12 (11) “the table”

__________________________________________________________

Once again Louisiana ranks in the top five for the rate of women who are murdered by men. The Violence Policy Center looked at the latest data available, which is 2015, and found the rate in Louisiana is double the national average and the Bayou State has the third highest rating in the country. Executive director of the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Mariah Wineski, says the report saddens her

Cut 13 (09) “this data”

Wineski says one factor is inadequate funding for domestic violence services, for those seeking immediate safety….

Cut 14 (09) “our state”

Wineski says another factor is easy firearm access for abusers. She says state and federal law prohibit many abusers from possessing firearms, but Louisiana lacks any consistent process for actually implementing these prohibitions

Cut 15 (09) “their guns”

____________________________________________

25th ranked LSU continues preparations today for its final nonconference game of the year as the Tigers will host Troy on Saturday night. Last week, LSU focused on not committing penalties and they only had three called against in the Syracuse game. Head Coach Ed Orgeron says they look to get more consistent on offense this week…

Cut 16  (24)  “this week”

The Tigers had trouble protecting their quarterbacks last Saturday as Syracuse did a good job of pressuring Danny Etling and Myles Brennan. Orgeron says the offensive line can’t get beat in one-on-one battles…

Cut 17 (12)  “one on ones” 

Coach “O” says expect to see true freshman Myles Brennan continue to get snaps while the game is still on line. Brennan played three series in the Syracuse game and guided the team on a touchdown and threw an interception in another. Etling says it’s important he stays in a rhythem and have the proper mindset…

Cut 18 (09) “supposed to do” 

Etling threw two touchdown passes last week to Drake Davis and Stephen Sullivan. The Q-B says these are two wide receivers who should keep getting better as the season goes along…

Cut 19 (20)   and learn“