LRN PM Newscall May 7

It appears that Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne has fired the first shot in Louisiana’s governor’s race. Eric Gill has more…

CUT 1 (30) “reporting”

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The state House approves several bills that will generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to stave off large cuts to higher education and health care. Jeff Palermo has the story…

CUT 2 (31) “reporting”

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State Police announce the arrest of 34 individuals over the last two months following numerous criminal investigations by their Insurance Fraud/Auto Theft Unit. These people were involved in committing insurance fraud, including staged or “jump-in” crashes and falsifying documents to make injury claims. Sgt. Nick Manale says some think these crimes are harmless, but that is far from the truth…

CUT 3 (07)  “across the state”

Manale says these insurance fraud cases affect insurance rates and policies across the state. He says in one case a subject paid a friend to rent a truck and then staged a crash…

CUT 4 (11)  “payment on that”

It is reported that intentional or staged crashes costs the insurance industry billions of dollars each year in fraudulent claims. Manale says police aren’t the only ones watching out for these cases, insurance companies also have their own investigators…

CUT 5 (11)  “acts did occur”

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It appears that the first shot has been fired in Louisiana’s governor’s race. Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne issued a statement calling US Senator David Vitter an absentee Senator after he missed a budget vote in the Senate. Political analyst Clancy Dubos says this is a sign of things to come…

CUT 6 (09)  “at one another”

Dardenne says instead of casting a Senate vote, Vitter was in Louisiana having a beer with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in an effort to boost his gubernatorial bid. Dubos says this campaign has been in the silent phase and hasn’t really gotten rolling yet…

CUT 7 (11)  “at each other”

Dubos says any political campaign has the potential to get personal. He says the more important the job, the more likely it is that rules are thrown out the window…

CUT 8 (09)  “at one another”

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Now that we know that former LSU Tiger La’el Collins was not the father of Brittney Mills’ deceased baby, where does the investigation into the murder go from here? Baton Rouge Police Department spokesman Don Coppola says this is still very much an ongoing active case they are working on…:

CUT 9 (09)  “her child”

Mills was gunned down and killed at her apartment on April 24th when she was 8 months pregnant and though EMS was able to deliver the baby, he died a week later. Coppola says investigators sought Collins out for questioning in the case and requested he take a paternity test because the relationship he had with Mills was a romantic one…:

cut 10 (05) “not the father”

Collins has reportedly signed a 3 year $1.65 million dollar contract with the Dallas Cowboys. Coppola says Collins fully cooperated in the investigation and was never a suspect. He says they are still working to identify one…:

cut 11 (06)  “violent crimes unit”

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The state House approves a series of bills that raises hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues to stave off large cuts to higher education and health care. Before the discussion began, House Speaker Chuck Kleckley explained to legislators how important it is to vote “Yes” on these bills…

cut 12 (10)  “what we are doing”

Among the bills passed today, a 32-cent tax increase on a pack of cigarettes. The author of the measure is Bogalusa Representative Harold Ritchie and he says it will generate 68-million dollars that can go towards health care costs….

cut 13 (10)  “where I want it”

A scale back of  tax credit programs also passed today. And legislators approved bills that will result in higher taxes on businesses. House Ways and Means Chairman Joel Robideaux explained the need to do this, even though there’s opposition from business and industry

cut 14 (12) “movie theaters”