Alabama is making a claim they celebrated the “original Mardi Gras.” Michelle Southern has a historical perspective…
Cut 1 (32) “I’m Michelle Southern”
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The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the state does not have to prevent the heat index from going above 88 degrees on Angola’s death row. Jeff Palermo reports…:
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The Alabama state tourism agency has installed ten billboards around New Orleans and south Mississippi, inviting them to celebrate “America’s original Mardi Gras.” They don’t specifically say Mobile, but mileage distance points in that direction. Louisiana Mardi Gras expert Arthur Hardy says Mobile never celebrated their original party on Mardi Gras day…
Hardy says a French explorer was looking for the mouth of the Mississippi. When he sailed up river and stopped for the night, he realized what day it was and the tradition was born…
Hardy says no one should be unduly upset about the claim being made by Alabama. Both have terrific celebrations. But when asked, he makes sure people know where the birthplace of Carnival Season is in America…
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U-S Senator John Kennedy proposes a way to finance large infrastructure projects like a new Jimmie Davis Bridge in Shreveport, widening I-10 in New Orleans and finishing the Comite River Diversion Canal, a flood control project for the Baton Rouge area. Kennedy says the state can generate 150-million dollars if it leverages noncash securities held by the state’s Unclaimed Property Division…
Kennedy says this financing plan would not drain the state’s Unclaimed Property fund. He says residents who go to the state treasurer to claim their lost dollars will be able to do so, because there’s so much of it. He says the current upswing of the stock market makes it a ripe time to convert the noncash securities into cash…
Cut 7 (11) “substantially finish it”
Governor John Bel Edwards calls it an unrealistic proposal and urges Kennedy to help pass a funding bill that would pay for projects like the Comite River Diversion Canal. But the former state treasurer says a similar funding mechanism was used to pay for I-49 North and it could help pay for other projects
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The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled state corrections officials do not have to prevent the heat index from going above 88 degrees on Angola’s death row. Attorney General Jeff Landry says Louisiana argued on appeal that the inmates do not have a constitutional right to be comfortable in jail:
Cut 9 (10) “really ridiculous”
Three death row prisoners filed suit in 2013 arguing excessive heat constituted cruel and unusual punishment, and that remedies are necessary to protect their health and safety. Landry says the Constitution does not require prisons to be comfortable; it requires them to be humane…:
The decision overturns the lower court ruling in favor of the inmates’ claim which ordered the state to reduce the heat during the summer months. Landry applauds the Fifth Circuit’s decision and says that these are death row prisoners that shouldn’t be afforded pleasant conditions…:
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A Denham Springs woman, who is the sister of CNN anchor Don Lemon, drowned in a pond. 58-year-old L’tanya Grimes died Wednesday night in the Livingston Trace subdivision. Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard says someone saw her fishing one minute and then she was gone…
After arriving on the scene, Ard says a search and recovery operation began…
A CNN spokesperson confirmed that Grimes is the sister of Lemon, who originally is from Port Allen. The body has been sent for an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.
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Shreveport police say they are investigating the discovery of male body found in a trunk of burned out vehicle. Corporal Marcus Hines says The Shreveport Fire Department responded to a call and found the 1998 Mercury Grand Marquis on fire last night. He says due to the severity of the burns, they can’t identify the victim, but will start where they can in solving this homicide…
Hines says they are hopeful some witnesses will come forward to help them solve this strange case…
The body has been sent for an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.
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