Marketa Garner Walters, secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services, is concerned about a 15-million dollar hole in her budget. Halen Doughty reports…
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South Louisiana law enforcement are searching for fugitives from the Gremlins Criminal Gang and Michelle Southern says the search is receiving all kinds of attention because of a viral video….
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The secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services tells legislators her department is in need of resources to care for the more than four-thousand children in foster care in Louisiana. Marketa Garner Walters spoke to the House of Appropriations about a 15-million dollar hole in the DCFS budget. Garner says there is a shortage of foster homes…
Walters says DCFS helps families in tough times. They deal with things like child abuse investigation, foster care and adoption, food stamps, child support enforcement and disability determinations. Garner says the process of finding a place to stay can be difficult on children from abusive homes.
Walters says without sufficient funding, people will be laid off at the affected agencies and Louisiana could receive federal penalties for falling short of the national standards for these agencies…
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A federal judge officially rejected Former Saints safety Darren Sharper’s plea bargain in the case where he allegedly drugged and raped multiple women. Legal Analyst Chick Foret says Sharper is facing accusations in three other states and agreed to nine years in jail after pleading guilty in those jurisdictions. But Foret says US District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo believes nine years isn’t enough…
Judge Milazzo gave Sharper until March 3rd to withdraw his guilty plea. Foret says Judge Milazzo said this morning, the original plea deal does not reflect the seriousness of the crime. He says the federal sentencing guidelines recommend a sentence of 15 to 20 years…
Foret says Darren Sharper is in a bad position and the facts keep getting worse. He says Sharper only has three options…
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South Louisiana law enforcement are actively searching for the seven remaining wanted fugitives of the Gremlins Criminal Gang and their search efforts have been boosted by the latest video message from the “Cajun John Wayne.” Captain Clay Higgins with St. Landry’s parish sheriff’s office says the gang is very active in Acadiana and Higgins called out the remaining fugitives in a viral internet video.
The video filmed in front of the police station shows police officers and state leaders standing behind Higgins. It has received over 8 million views on St. Landry Parish’s Facebook page. He says police have arrested 10 Gremlins, and they have warrants for seven more. He says the officers are not afraid of these so-called thugs.
Higgins says all of them are armed and dangerous. Authorities say the Gremlins are responsible for violent crimes including murder, armed robbery, witness intimidation, burglary, drug trafficking, extortion, and brutal beatings. Higgins asks the public to contact police with any information about these crimes of the whereabouts of the wanted fugitives.
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A debate broke out at the state capitol over a tax credit that benefits working individuals with low incomes. Prairieville Representative Tony Bacala has legislation to do away with the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit, which he says will save the state about 50-million dollars a year
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But Democratic state representative Walt Leger says the Earned Income Tax Credit helps the working poor pay for daily life expenses
Leger says in parishes like East Carroll and Madison, over 50-percent of the state’s tax filers receive the earned income tax credit. The New Orleans lawmaker is actually proposing to double the earned income tax credit, which would actually help the state and local economy