10:30 Newscast September 3, 2014

A new review of judicial candidates qualifying for elections in Louisiana shows a vast majority of judges will be elected or re-elected without opposition this fall. Louisiana Lawsuit Abuse Watch is a non-partisan legal watchdog organization and their review found that nearly two-thirds of the district judgeships in the state will be filled by candidates who face no opposition. Executive Director Melissa Landry says the lack of voter input in judicial elections is a big problem…

cut 11 (10) “dangerous thing”

The group analyzed candidate qualifying data from the Secretary of State’s office.

A federal judge told attorneys on both sides of the controversial abortion law they have until a September 30th hearing to give status updates. He temporarily blocked the measure which would require abortion doctors to have hospital admitting privileges. The law still went into effect Monday but the judge wants abortion doctors to have time to submit applications for admitting privileges before being penalized.

A Livingston Parish couple has been sentenced for leaving their 6-month-old daughter in a locked, unventilated vehicle for nearly an hour while they were under the influence of OxyContin. The father, 35-year-old Billy Arthur Henry, was sentenced to four years at hard labor. Lana Henry, the child’s mother, received a suspended seven year sentence. Walker Police Captain John Sharp is hopeful this case will work out for the couple’s children…

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Lana Henry has been placed on probation and any probation violation will send her directly to prison.

Louisiana State Police says a single vehicle accident early this morning in St. James Parish has claimed the life of a Gonzales man. Authorities say 53-year-old Bobby Garantine lost control of his vehicle on Highway 61 south of I-10. They say the vehicle crashed into a tree on the drivers side and became partially submerged in water. Investigators say Garantine was unrestrained at the time and was pronounced dead from his injuries at a local hospital.