Everywhere else it’s just Tuesday, but in south Louisiana it’s Fat Tuesday. There are big parades in New Orleans, Lafayette and Lake Charles. A couple of parades roll in New Roads and there’s a children’s parade in Shreveport today. Dress warm, it’s a chilly Mardi Gras day.

Why catch beads when you can run around and try to catch chickens? That’s what is happening to celebrate Mardi Gras today in Eunice. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
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The man accused in last September’s fatal shooting of LSU Basketball player Wayde Sims has asked a Baton Rouge judge to reduce his 350,000 dollar bail. Dyteon Simpson sent a letter to the judge stating he’s totally remorseful. LRN Legal correspondent Franz Borghardt says the note may actually hurt his case for a lower bail, because it sounds like an admission
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Simpson’s letter says he has a five-month old kid and the child’s mother needs dad at home.

Louisiana and two other states are working with a national nonprofit called Shatterproof that will create a rating system for addiction centers. State health department spokesperson Bob Johannessen says addiction is a difficult struggle, but having information about the quality of addiction treatment programs will help make the recovery process easier to handle…
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The rating system will go live in 2020.