Former Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain is coming to Louisiana to appear with US Senate candidate Bill Cassidy at a series of veterans rallies. The Arizona Senator’s first appearance with Cassidy is Sunday night in Metairie. Political analyst Clancy Dubos says this is evidence of how the Republican Party has turned Louisiana’s US Senate race into a national election…:
CUT 4 (11) “reinforces that”
Monday the pair will make stops in Covington, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and Bossier City.

In a Baton Rouge courtroom Thursday, a former Department of Health and Hospitals worker pleaded guilty to stealing over $1 million dollars from the state to fund her gambling addiction. 47-year-old Deborah Loper was accused of misappropriating Medicaid over payments. Under terms of Loper’s plea agreement, she’ll serve five years in prison, five years probation and she must pay $1,018,423 dollars to the state in restitution. Investigators believe the money was spent at local casinos.

Attorney General Buddy Caldwell says some AT&T mobile customers could receive a refund as a result of a 105 million dollar settlement reached with the cell phone provider over unauthorized text message fees. Chris Styron is an assistant AG and he says this refund is specific to customers who have been “crammed”…:
CUT 7 (11) “a month”
AT&T customers who believe they were billed for charges that were not authorized can file a claim at www.ftc.gov/att.

Wall Street suffered its biggest loss of the year Thursday and the price of oil continues to drop. Statewide the average price for a gallon of regular gas dropped 2 cents to $3.09.