State Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon says Louisiana’s insurance market is much stronger and more competitive today than it was before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He says this resurgence is the result of many people working together to rebuild a market devastated ten years ago. Donelon says one indicator is the number of insurance companies active in Louisiana…:
CUT 3 (09) “in 2005”

State Police say they are looking for a driver they believe is at fault in a fatal hit and run crash in St. Mary Parish Tuesday evening in Bayou Vista. Trooper Dustin Dwight says the preliminary investigation revealed 31-year-old Mark Montie Jr. of Pineville was pulling out of the Wal-Mart on US 90 and failed to yield to an oncoming motorcycle…:
CUT 6 (06) “the crash”
Dwight says after the crash, Montie stopped on scene and then fled on foot and is being sought by law enforcement throughout the state at this time.

State Police say a suspect who was shot by Union Parish Sheriff’s Deputy and a trooper Tuesday night is in serious condition. Troop F spokesman Michael Reichardt says the Union Parish Sheriff’s office was called out to a disturbance around 10:30pm in Downsville regarding a man who was apparently threatening family members with a firearm…:
CUT 8 (11) “all their commands”
He says the man the pointed his weapon at cops which is when they fired and struck him. The suspect will be charged upon release from the hospital.

A 54-year-old man from East Feliciana Parish charged with a hate crime, now faces a felony cruelty charge for allegedly pulling at the pants of a 12-year-old boy and using a racial slur. The incident was caught on video inside a gas station last month. A grand jury in East Felicana Parish handed down the cruelty indictment against Ronnie Barnes of Clinton.