The state took steps to reduce Louisiana’s massive prison population last year and Jim Shannon reports there’s legislation in this session to lower the jail count even more…
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Louisiana is getting nearly 6 million dollars from the feds to buy new voting machines. Matt Doyle has the story.
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A suspect involved in a reported domestic disturbance in New Llano (New Lan-no) was shot dead by a Vernon Parish Sheriff’s deputy on Easter Sunday. Sheriff Sam Craft says 60-year-old Bobby Hinton tried to shoot the unidentified sheriff’s deputy moments after he arrived on the scene…
After calling for backup and medical personnel, Craft says both the deputy and Hinton were transported to a hospital…
Cut 4 (13) “followup surgery.”
Craft says the injuries the deputy sustained are non-life threatening. He says domestic calls are the most dangerous calls deputies have to respond to and they are trained for to keep the situation from getting out of control…
Cut 5 (06) “fire immediately.”
The female who called in the incident was not injured.
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Baton Rouge Police investigators have decided against charging a man in the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old. Sergeant L’Jean Mckneely says the teenager, Ke’irie Grayer, pointed a gun at a 25-year-old and tried to rob him, as he walked out of a convenience store
Cut 6 (10) “justifiable shooting”
Mckneely says they are turning over their evidence to the District Attorney’s office, leaving open the possibility that the D-A could purse charges…
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A suspect has been arrested and charged with first degree murder in connection to a weekend shooting in Natchitoches. Police spokesperson Kelly Parks says 21-year-old Jaquarious Ardison of Campti shot Jamel Haskett after an argument at a Shop Right on Saturday night
Parks says the suspects exchanged fire in the parking lot, which led to Haskett being shot multiple times.
Ardison turned himself in Sunday afternoon, and is being held in the Natchitoches Parish Detention Center.
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Louisiana will receive 5.8 million dollars from the federal Election Assistance Commission to purchase thousands of new voting machines as part of a proposed 50 to 60 million dollar plan to overhaul the state’s aging voting equipment. Secretary of State Tom Schedler says we have a looming crisis with our decade old voting booths.
Cut 10 (12) “precarious position.”
Bids will begin for the new machines May 1st.
Schedler says the new machines will function much like the older ones, but feature newer, crisper screens and be easy to set up.
Louisiana has not been mentioned as a state whose voting machines or election system were compromised during the 2016 election, but Schedler says state agencies are routinely targeted by hackers, which is why we need the new rigs.
Schedler is aiming to complete the replacement project by 2020.
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Louisianans for Prison Alternatives is actively lobbying the legislature to not only maintain the 2017 justice reforms passed but to enact even more measures to reduce the prison population by 50-percent over the next 10 years. Colleen Gielskie (gel-skie) is a spokesperson with Louisiana prison alternatives.
Louisiana for prison alternatives has four bills in this session aimed at reducing the prison population. Gielskie says the so-called three strike law and high mandatory-minimum sentences are largely to blame for such long prison sentences and they would like to change that in this session…