PM Newscall September 4, 2014

The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office says a man who set up a scholarship fund to honor a Slidell woman who died in the car crash is accused of stealing money from the account. Michelle Southern has that…:

CUT 1 (35) “reporting”

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A judge in New Orleans says BP’s reckless conduct is what caused millions of gallons of oil to gush into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Michelle Southern reports.

CUT 2 (35) “reporting”

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The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office says a man who set up a scholarship fund to honor a Slidell woman who died in the car crash is accused of stealing money from the account. 19-year-old UNO student Hayley Howard was missing four days in March before her car was found in water near Lake Ponchartrain. Captain George Bonnett.:

CUT 3 (09) “was missing”

Bonnett says 29-year-old Jonathan Holcomb was one of the people responsible for setting up the charity account and organizing the fundraising run/walk. He says an investigation determined that man opened the bank account and was stealing the proceeds…:(Holcomb is charged with felony theft.)

CUT 4 (11)  “personal bank account”

Bonnett says Holcomb, who is from Mississippi, was not friends with the family before Hayley’s death but had approached them and offered to help raise funds in her name. He says there were other people involved with the fundraiser who noticed a significant amount of money missing from the account so they called the cops…:

CUT 5 (12) “for personal use”

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A judge in New Orleans says BP’s reckless conduct is what caused millions of gallons of oil to gush into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Eric Smith is the Associate Director of the Tulane Energy Institute. He says this ruling means the bill BP would have to pay for the disaster quadruples under the Clean Water Act…:

CUT 6 (05)  “that is authorized”

There was a trial regarding the spill dealing with fault last year, and the US District Judge Carl Barbier delayed the ruling until today. It says BP is 67 percent to blame for the spill, while rig owner Transocean takes 30 percent and contractor Halliburton takes 3 percent. Smith says the fine is based on the number of barrels of oil spilled..:

CUT 7 (09) “by a factor of four”

Smith says Judge Barbier chose the maximum allowable to charge BP. He says the oil giant will appeal this ruling…:

CUT 8 (13) “18 billion dollars”

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Louisiana State Police announce the arrest of 21 sex offenders in Calcasieu Parish busted for using social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Sgt. James Anderson says “Operation Off Limits” included cooperation with several other law enforcement agencies…

CUT 9 (05)  “networking sites”

State law prohibits registered sex offenders convicted of certain crimes involving minors from accessing social networking sites. He says the investigation revealed that numerous sex offenders were utilizing social networing sites in violation of Louisiana state law…

CUT 10 (04) “them yesterday”

The 21st sex offender was arrested for failing to provide sex offender status notification on her social media page. Anderson says investigators will continue to target registered sex offenders who choose to ignore laws that are designed to protect others…

CUT 11 (04) “are possible

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According to new a study compiled by Forbes Magazine, the Houma-Thibodaux area ranks No. 8 among America’s fastest-growing small cities. Story contributor Joel Kotkin says they looked at things like job growth, income growth and population growth…:

CUT 12 (13) “energy related towns”

Kotkin says Houma-Thibodaux posted the lowest unemployment rate in the nation at 2.8 percent in February. He says of the top 10 fastest growing small cities, five are energy driven boom towns with high wage employment…:

CUT 13 (05) “are going to do well”

Kotkin says there are many small cities, like Houma-Thibodaux, that are generating lots of good jobs that translate into high wages. He says because the cost of living is so low, people living in those areas are enjoying a middle class lifestyle…:

cut 14 (10) “San Francisco Bay area”