A Homer man has been arrested in connection with the murder of a 68-year-old Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office employee. Emelie Gunn has more…
================
The NCAA has announced sanctions against UL-Lafayette as a result of a former assistant football coach violating rules by arranging fraudulent entrance exam scores for five prospects. Eric Gill reports…
===================
In his inaugural address, Governor John Bel Edwards spoke of raising the minimum wage in Louisiana. Many wonder what kind of affect an increased minimum wage would have on business and workers. LSU Economist Jim Richardson says it really depends on how much minimum wage would be raised…
Louisiana’s current minimum wage is the federally mandated wage of $7.25 per hour. Richardson says he’s heard talk of raising the state’s minimum wage to $8.50 to $10.10 per hour. He says a hike in minimum wage could cause businesses to re-think how they do business…
Supporters of a higher minimum wage say putting more money in worker’s hands will allow them to spend more and help spur the economy. However, Richardson says this wage hike would not be free money and that money currently belongs to someone…
============================
As the Powerball jackpot is now up to 1.5 billion dollars, many people are teaming up to buy tickets in bulk. Legal analyst Tim Meche says there isn’t anything illegal about pooling money to purchase a bunch of tickets but make sure the person holding the tickets is someone you trust.
Meche says a verbal agreement is all you should need when buying with a group. He says if you believe there needs to be a written contract, maybe you should rethink the group purchase.
Meche says always sign the back of your ticket.
============================
Louisiana State Police and the Homer Police Department have arrested a Homer man for allegedly murdering a 68-year-old Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office employee. 35-year-old Jermaine Johnson is charged with second degree murder. Webster Parish Sheriff Gary Sexton says the victim’s, Sulyn Prince, daughter called in a welfare concern on Monday when she couldn’t make contact with her mother.
Sexton says Homer police called L-S-P after realizing they might need extra assistance. He says Prince’s body was found by K-9’s in a shallow grave in a wooded area behind her home.
Sexton says Prince worked for his office for as long as he’s been sheriff and was an experienced employee in the corrections division. He says she was a pleasure to work with and dedicated to her job.
Cut 11 (09) “sheriff’s office”
============================
UL Lafayette has been placed on two years probation and will lose three scholarships for next season and the following season as a result of a former assistant football coach, who violated NCAA rules by arranging fraudulent entrance exam scores for five prospects. Jay Walker, the voice of the Ragin Cajuns, says the NCAA sanctions could have been worse…
The NCAA also fined the school $5,000 and imposed recruiting restrictions. The school had already voluntarily vacated all victories from 2011 season because of the violations. Walker says the NCAA has ordered the school to do the same for the 2012-2014 seasons for games the ineligible players participated in…
He says the identities of the ineligible players have not been made public. Walker says the NCAA investigation found no one at UL-Lafayette, including head coach Mark Hudspeth, had any knowledge of this taking place…
cut 14 (06) “responsible for it”
============================
Today, Governor John Bel Edwards signed an executive order to expand Medicaid in Louisiana. Edwards spoke alongside legislators and community leaders, as well as patients he said would benefit from the federally funded health insurance. He says these are low income adults who were too poor to qualify for subsidized care on the health insurance exchange:
cut 15 (11) “financial security”
Edwards says by July 1st, they expect more than 300,000 citizens to enroll under the new Medicaid eligibility. Edwards says to qualify, a family or individual must have income at 138% of the federal poverty level. He says this will help keep the working poor from slipping further into poverty..: