he longest serving District Attorney in the Fourth Judicial District, Jerry Jones, is retiring after 26 years, because of health reasons. Michelle Southern has more…

CUT 1 (31) “I’m Michelle Southern”

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Congressman Charles Boustany is suing author Ethan Brown and publisher Simon and Schuster for making prostitution allegations. Emelie Gunn has more…

CUT 2 (27)  “I’m Emelie Gunn”

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An anonymous clown threat in Bossier parish led to the arrest of a 14-year-old girl. Lt. Bill Davis with the Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office says the teenager made an online threat against her school.

CUT 3 (09)  “very seriously”

Davis says they identified the juvenile as being behind the fake Instagram account, and she was subsequently arrested for terrorizing. He reminds the public that these clown threats are no laughing matter.

CUT 4 (10)  “a threat”

Davis says the juvenile’s Instagram threat from a fake account with the word “clown” in it was enough to raise authorities’ concern. He encourages parents to talk to their kids about being responsible online.

CUT 5 (09)  “cross the line” 2x

Davis says today they are speaking to students at all of the high schools in Bossier Parish. 

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Congressman Charles Boustany has filed a lawsuit against author Ethan Brown and publisher Simon and Schuster after a recently released book claims Boustany had relationships with prostitutes in Jefferson Davis Parish.  Loyola Law Professor Dane Ciolino says this will be an uphill battle, because it’s hard to prove Brown wrote these allegations with actual malice.

CUT 6 (11) “or defamation”

The book, “Murder in the Bayou” claims Boustany frequented a Jennings motel, the Boudreaux Inn, looking for prostitutes. Ciolino says it’s very difficult to prove an author intentionally lied. He says very few public officials succeed in libel or defamation lawsuits.

CUT 7 (10) “or falsity”

Brown stands by what he wrote in his book. Boustany is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by David Vitter. Ciolino says by filing this lawsuit, it shows Boustany is serious about putting these allegations to bed. He says there is no way this will be resolved before the November 8^th election, but it makes a statement.

CUT 8 (09) “publisher”

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Congressman Garret Graves is holding a town hall meeting in Baker tonight to chat with homeowners recovering from the historic flooding. Graves anticipates he’ll hear from families showing a desire to recover but the inability to do so because of government obstacles. He says there are many things getting in the way of victims getting back to a normal life.

CUT 9 (09) “assistance”

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at the Redemption Life Fellowship Center. Graves says he’ll be headed back to Washington D.C. in a few weeks to create legislation for more federal aid. He expects there will also be a lot of discussion in the meeting about the FEMA requirement to elevate homes and what additional measures the federal government should take to protect residents in the future.

cut 10 (07)  “other projects”

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One of north Louisiana’s strongest advocates for women and young people, District Attorney Jerry Jones, is retiring after 26 years as DA of the Fourth Judicial District. Jones says his health does not allow him to continue in his position, as he was recently injured in a car accident. He says he hopes to find a way to stay in the practice by helping his son, who is also an attorney.

Cut 11 (12) “lot of em”

During his five terms as DA, Jones helped pass numerous laws that aim to help women, including the Domestic Abuse Battery Law that provides stiffer penalties for domestic abusers and the Domestic Abuse Aggravated Assault law that made it a crime to threaten a spouse with a dangerous weapon. He says these pieces of legislation helped reduce domestic violence in Ouachita and Morehouse parishes.

cut 12 (10) “70 percent”

Jones also helped write several bills that were passed to support children, like Caylee’s Law, which increased penalties for sex crimes against children under 13. He also established programs such as Teen Court, Adolescents at Risk, and Juvenile Drug Court to help give young offenders a second chance.

Cut 13 (09)  “normal life”

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The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office announces two high school students have been charged for wearing a clown mask while riding around school. Spokesman Brennan Matherne says the suspects are both 17 and from Raceland. They are identified as Jordan Boudreaux and Taylor Defelice of Central Lafourche High School…:

cut 14 (10)  “on campus”

Matherne says they also had evidence that the two were in the mask because one of them posted a picture on SnapChat…:

cut 15 (10) “certain holidays”

If found guilty, the two face a sentence of no less than six months in prison with a maximum of three years. Matherne says they made it very clear last week that the creepy clown activity that’s been going on throughout the US would not be tolerated…:

cut 16 (10) “country”

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Keep Louisiana Beautiful has unveiled a new slogan they hope will reduce littering in Louisiana. Jeff Palermo has more…

CUT 1 (30) “I’m Jeff Palermo”

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A link between sugary drinks and some cancers has been discovered by researchers at LSU Health New Orleans. Michelle Southern has more…

CUT 2 (30)  “I’m Michelle Southern”

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Louisiana travelers are now able to get federal identification for future domestic air travel, as the state Office of Motor Vehicles began issuing REAL ID licenses today. OMV Commissioner Karen St. Germain says  you’ll need this type of identification in order to fly domestically without a passport beginning in October 2020

CUT 3 (07)  “other identification”

St. Germain says the new REAL ID licenses will cost $13 for a four year duplicate, and $17 for a six year duplicate. She says not only will the ID be required for air travel, it will also be necessary to enter federal buildings beginning in 2020.

CUT 4 (09)  “entire country”

St. Germain says there’s no rush to get the new license if yours doesn’t expire for two or three years. She says your birth certificate, social security card and proof of residency  are needed to get the new REAL IDs and they do not look much different than you current license…

CUT 5 (09)  “compliant”

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A new slogan from Keep Louisiana Beautiful aims to raise awareness about the state’s litter problem. Executive Director of Keep Louisiana Beautiful, Susan Russell, says they hope “Love the Boot, Don’t Pollute” will provide a consistent message to Louisianans not to trash the state. She believes it’s a fitting slogan for the Bayou State, especially the word love.

CUT 6 (08) “that love”

Rogers says the slogan appears on bumper stickers that will be placed on 12-thousand state vehicles. But she says they aren’t stopping there, because they want to get this message out to as many people as possible.

CUT 7 (08) “print materials”

Rogers says they are seeing a decline in litter around the state, and she believes that’s because of the efforts of their 35-thousand volunteers. She says they hope to see less garbage in years to come, as volunteers still had a lot of trash to pick up last year.

CUT 8 (11) “of items”

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Researchers at LSU Health New Orleans found a link between certain types of cancer and sugary drink consumption. Dr. Melinda Sothern with LSU Health New Orleans says they want to be clear that added sugar was found to be correlated to some cancers, not natural sugars.

CUT 9 (08) “fruit drinks”

Sothern says they recommend that people do not have more than three 12 ounce sugary drinks per week. She says consuming these beverages is also linked to obesity and cardio-metabolic diseases. She says a one group of people is more at risk than others.

cut 10 (09)  “be overweight”

Sothern says these young men are more at risk because obesity is linked to cancer, and sugary drinks tend to be more readily available in low-income areas. She says sugary drink intake is associated with the risk of a few specific kinds of cancer.

Cut 11 (09) “and death”

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Hundreds of Denham Springs residents in Livingston Parish who flooded in August could be forced to elevate their homes. Mayor Gerard Landry says about 1200 residents were informed by mail over the weekend that initial FEMA assessments show the structure was “substantially damaged” by the flood:

cut 12 (07) “your home”

Landry says residents should appeal that ruling through the city, and then their permit staff will need to see a pre-flood market value for the home and also an estimate for the cost of repairs. He says there could be up to 900 homes that are below the “substantially damaged” line…:

Cut 13 (06)  “what we require”

Landry emphasizes that these FEMA assessments are just an initial snapshot of the damage each home likely received. He says the thing that worries him the most and what causes the most grief for citizens is the amount of misinformation that is out there…:

cut 14 (09)  “the rest of your life”

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The YWCA of Greater Baton Rouge says they received a substantial donation from Taylor Swift to support flood relief efforts, as part of the pop star’s $1 million dollar pledge to Louisiana. CEO Dianna Payton says the money will go towards building a new Early Head Start Center, because the one at Glen Oaks High School flooded and had to close…:

cut 15 (08) “and floors”

The Early Head Start program provides comprehensive early childhood and family services for low-income children up to three years of age. She says they are very grateful for the multi-Grammy award winning artist’s gift…:

cut 16 (06) “Glen Oaks community”