State Police say three people were killed in Terrebonne Parish today as a result of a natural gas explosion and fire at Williams Partners’ natural gas facility in Gibson. A cause of the explosion is not known. Company officials say the workers were performing maintenance on the facility which was not operational at the time of the explosion.

Louisiana lost a cooking icon today as internationally known chef Paul Prudhomme passed away at the age of 75. Wendy Waren of the Louisiana Restaurant Association says this is a tremendous loss for their industry…
cut 12 (13) “…John Folse”
Prudhomme was born in Opelousas. The youngest of 13 children strated to gain fame in the early 1980s after opening K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen in the French Quarter.

State Police say a 5-year-old was struck and killed by a passing vehicle on LA 83 in St. Mary Parish last night. Master Trooper Brooks David says the child was outside chasing his dog…:
CUT 9 (09) “in time”
The child died at a hospital. David says the driver of the vehicle was unable to avoid hitting the child and was not cited.

The Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office is mourning the loss of one of its deputies who was killed in an off-duty crash involving a juvenile. Lt. Tommy Carnline says state police responded to the scene where they found 32-year-old Deputy Troy Verheyden dead upon arrival…:
CUT 3 (11) “the intersection”
Verheyden leaves behind a wife and two children.