Two former Destrehan High School teachers accused in a juvenile student sex case have been formally charged in Jefferson Parish. 25-year-old Rachel Respess’ charge was downgraded to failing to report a felony, but 33-year-old Shelley Dufresne, who already pleaded to obscenity with the juvenile in St. Charles Prish, still faces two counts of carnal knowledge of a juvenile in Jefferson Parish. Legal analyst Chick Foret says the two prosecutors persue charges based on solid evidence…:
CUT 8 (10) “phone calls”
It wasn’t immediately clear why the Jefferson Parish case resulted in different charges.

The LSU Ag Center is held a crawfish producers meeting today, helping farmers improve their crop. Judging from the comments of Louisiana Crawfish Farmers Association President David Savoy, farmers are doing just fine. He expects business to start picking up between Christmas and New Year’s, with March and April really taking off.

ULM formally introduced Matt Viator as the new head football coach of the Warhawks today. Viator amassed a 77-33 record in his 10 seasons at McNeese leading the Cowboys to four Southland Conference championships. He says the first order of business is to put together his staff…:
cut 10 (08) “for sure”
Viator replaces Todd Berry who was let go in November.

The US Army Corps of engineers says they have activated levee patrols in southeast Louisiana due to high water levels on the Mississippi River. Spokesman Ricky Boyett says the gauge on the river in New Orleans reached 11 feet which is a “trigger” to start the additional lookouts…:
CUT 12 (06) “bank stability”
He says Baton Rouge south also reached a trigger point. He says, this way, if there are any issues with the levee they can address it now before it becomes a problem. Levels are expected to normalize by the weekend.