Baton Rouge Police have arrested a 50-year-old Slaughter woman who is accused of fatally poisoning her male partner. Meshell Hale has been charged with second-degree murder for the death of Damian Skipper, who died from Barium poisioning in 2015. B-R-P-D Sergeant Don Coppola says New Orleans Police started the investigation into Hale after her husband, 42-year-old Arthur Noflin, was found dead and burnt beyond recognition in a truck. Coppola says before Noflin’s death, he complained of the same symptoms that Skipper experienced before his death….
cut 14 (08) “…Damian Skipper”
A warrant details that Hale allegedly purchased 500 grams of barium with a Paypal account.

A town councilman in LaFourche Parish has been charged with his third D-U-I. State Police arrested 39-year-old Wayne Bourgeois of Lockport after he allegedly side-swiped another vehicle. Bourgeois says he regrets the incident and he’ll appear in court July 6th.

The second special session of 2018 ended without a sales tax bill passing that would replace 648-million dollars in expiring sales taxes. A Senate backed tax bill that renewed half of the expiring penny sales tax to fund higher ed, healthcare, and TOPS was six votes short of passage. Louisiana Budget Project director Jan Moller says if the revenue can’t be raised in an expected third special session, 500 million dollars of cuts will be distributed across state government…..
cut 10 (11) “…this budget”
Higher education would be cut by 96-million dollars and TOPS would be funded at 70-percent. University of Louisiana system President Doctor Jim Henderson says its disappointing…
cut 3 (08) “…of those people”