Governor Bobby Jindal has formed an exploratory committee in efforts to help him in deciding whether or not to make a presidential run in 2016. Eric Gill reports…

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The state senate begins the process of approving House-approved bills that raise an estimated 615-million dollars in state revenues. Jeff Palermo has the story….

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Flash Flood Watches and Warnings have been issued across north Louisiana as heavy rains have pounded the area throughout the morning. Jason Hansford with the National Weather Service in Shreveport says they’ve had reports in the Shreveport area of up to six inches of rain this morning…

CUT 3 (07)  “Bossier City areas”

There have been reports of flash flooding across north Louisiana this morning. In Ruston, police say an 11-year-old was killed when the car he was riding in was swept away by flood waters. Hansford says up to 5 inches of rain fell in the Monroe area this morning…

CUT 4 (06)  “Caldwell Parish”

He says the Caldwell Parish town of Columbia has reported in excess of seven inches of rain this morning and sandbagging operations have been put in place. Hansford says these rains could last into the afternoon and dump a significant amount of additional rain across north Louisiana…

CUT 5 (10)  “Columbia, Louisiana”

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Governor Bobby Jindal has formed an exploratory committee in efforts to help him in deciding whether or not to make a presidential run in 2016. Jindal has been considering a run for several months and has stated he will make a final decision by the end of June. Michael Henderson, Director of LSU’s Public Policy Research Lab, says this is not a surprising move…

CUT 6 (08)  “of the moments”

This is seen as a sign of how serious Jindal is about running for the GOP presidential nomination, despite the low numbers the governor has received in recent polls. Henderson says this exploratory committee will help Jindal gain financial support and get his name out there…

CUT 7 (11) “gain some momentum”

The exploratory committee has launched a website, BobbyJindal-dot-com, for supporters to receive updates on the governor’s efforts. Henderson says Jindal does not seem deterred by the lack of support the surveys indicate. He says it’s a little early too early in the process to place too much emphasis on poll numbers…

CUT 8 (10)  “the poll numbers”

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The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s office arrests four including the ex-husband of a 54-year-old woman who has been missing since early April in an apparent murder for hire plot. Detectives believe 64-year-old Hamid Ghassemi hired a man who worked for him, 33-year-old Daniel Richter of Walker and two other associates, to kill Tahereh Ghassemi. State Police Col Mike Edmonson says the confessions were chilling…:

CUT 9 (06)  “no remorse”

Richter, 17-year-old Skyler Williams and 20-year-old Tyler Ashpaul, both of Denham Springs, are all charged with first-degree murder, second degree kidnapping and arson. Hamid Ghassemi is charged with principal to murder, kidnapping and arson and solicitation for murder. Apparently the three suspects who shot and killed the woman split $10,000 paid to them by Hamid Ghassemi for the murder of his ex-wife. Edmonson says this is pathetic…:

cut 10 (09) “a human body”

An autopsy revealed the victim died of a gunshot wound to the head. Detectives discovered Tahereh Ghassemi’s body Saturday buried in a heavily wooded area in St. Helena Parish. They say during questioning, Ashpaugh told detectives he went with Williams and Richter to the woman’s house where they put her in the trunk of her vehicle and transported her to the burial site. Edmonson commends law enforcement for bringing the family closure…:

cut 11 (09)  “her body”

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The Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee approved a eleven tax bills that have also passed out of the House. The measures raise an estimated 615-million dollars to help stave off large cuts to public colleges and universities and the state’s health care system. Some of the bills reduce rebate and tax credit programs for businesses. Benton Senator Robert Adley on why they need this legislation to pass…

cut 12 (10)  “hospitals and universities”

All of the tax bills head to the Senate Finance Committee for more discussion. Many of them face heavy opposition from business lobbyist groups. Adley understands their concerns, but the legislature is trying to raise revenue to avoid major cuts to health care and higher ed

cut 13 (07)  “health care”

The senate panel also agreed to increase Louisiana’s cigarette tax by 32-cents, which means the state tax on a pack of cigs would be 68-cents. But New Orleans Senator JP Morrell indicated the proposed tax could go up even more as the bill moves through the legislative process

cut 14 (09) “final disposition”

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The Louisiana Highway Safety Commission begins a statewide “Click It or Ticket” campaign today focusing on back seat passengers, pickup trucks, and low compliance areas. Eric Gill reports…

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May is Foster Care Month which is why the Department of Children and Family Services is making an extra push to recruit foster families. Scott Carwile reports…:

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17-year-old Koryn Hawthorne of Abbeville performs tonight in the finals of NBC’s “The Voice”. Michelle Southern reports…:

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The Louisiana Highway Safety Commission begins a statewide “Click It or Ticket” campaign today focusing on back seat passengers, pickup trucks, and low compliance areas. Their 2014 seat belt survey showed 84-percent of Louisiana motorists buckled up, the highest rate to date. Executive Director Lt. Col. John LeBlanc says this is a statewide campaign, but they will focus efforts in areas of the state where seat belt compliance is the lowest…

cut 4  (05)  “central Louisiana”

Seat belt compliance was lowest in the Alexandria area, 71-percent, followed by Monroe with a 75-percent seat belt use rate. LeBlanc says this campaign is designed to raise those rates as well as the compliance rate for back seat passengers. He says since the state expanded its seat belt law to cover back seat passengers in 2009, the compliance rate has doubled to 55-percent…

Cut 5  (06)  “about that law”

He attributes some of the noncompliance to a lack of awareness about the law for back seat passengers. The campaign, which runs through the end of the month, will also look to make sure those in pickup trucks are buckled up. LeBlanc says they provde extra funding for law enforcement to increase patrols through the campaign…

Cut 6 (09)  “rate goes up”

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The Department of Children and Family Services is recruiting Foster Families, especially those who can take larger sibling groups or children with special needs. DCFS Policy Advisor Kaaren Hebert says because of unsafe living conditions at home, they regularly have children who need a new place to stay. She says children enter foster care almost daily…:

CUT 7 (09)  “scheduling”

May is Foster Care Month which is why an extra push to recruit families is made. Hebert says this month, more than 4300 children will be served by Louisiana’s foster care system and just 2,000 certified foster homes are available. She says that’s a huge deficit for their agency…:

Cut 8  (09)  “older children” 

To find out more about becoming a foster parent, visit www.dcfs.la.gov/foster. Hebert says children do best in families and by having foster homes in all areas of the state, children in foster care can stay close to home and in the same school…:

Cut 9 (10)  “get to remain”

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17-year-old Koryn Hawthorne of Abbeville performs tonight in the finals of NBC’s “The Voice”. Since the start of the season, Hawthorne has impressed judges with her strong voice and commanding stage presence. Her principal at Lighthouse Christian School, Tiffany Spraggins, says the excitement on campus ranges from the youngest in class to the oldest adult

Cut 10 (10) “that night”

Hawthorne had to battle another contestant to advance last week and it was ultimately the Twitter vote that moved her into tonight’s finals. Spraggins says their students were showing teachers how to set up Twitter accounts so they could all vote for #TeamKoryn…:

cut 11 (09) “fun experience”

The show begins at 7pm. Spraggins says Koryn sings through the halls of the school all the time and it’s obvious that music is in her soul…:

cut 12 (11)   “the full record”

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The Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee will discuss today the revenue generating bills that were approved by the House. The lower chamber passed 11 bills that would increase revenues by 615-million dollars. Jeremy Alford, with la-politics-dot-com, says Senate leadership wants to raise even more revenue to offset a one-point-six billion dollar budget gap

Cut 13 (10)  “control over”

The tax bills up for considerationin the Senate would reduce tax breaks businesses currently enjoy, there’s also legislation that scales back the film tax and solar tax credit programs. Alford says the senate will likely look at limiting even further those two programs, plus raising the cigarette tax to a higher amount already agreed upon by the House….

Cut 14 (09) “entire answer”

Alford says while the legislature is busy looking at ways to raise revenue, they also have to find a tax offset to satisfy Governor Bobby Jindal’s concerns about increased taxes. He says with less than a month to go in the session, there’s a lot of work ahead for lawmakers…

Cut 15  (11)  “totals”

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The Saints held a rookie minicamp over the weekend. A chance for the coaches to get a look at the players that were recently drafted or signed as free agents out of college. That includes third-round draft pick and quarterback Garrett Grayson. Coach Sean Payton says he was impressed with what he saw from Grayson

Cut 16  (13)  “really effective”

Grayson says running a pro style offense at Colorado State should help him learn the Saints playbook…

Cut 17 (15)  “for me”

Grayson says he’s looking forward to learning from starting quarterback Drew Brees…

Cut 18 (20) “a beat’

The New Orleans Police Department report the bodies of a missing mother and her two children were found in a car in New Orleans East. Eric Gill reports…

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The Louisiana House overwhelmingly approves legislation that would ban “sex-selection abortions” in Louisiana, but not without some concerns. Jeff Palermo has the story…

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The Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office has charged a substitute teacher on counts of producing and possessing child pornography and carnal knowledge of a juvenile. Lt. Bill Davis says 26-year-old Christopher Kerr of Bossier City not only used his position as a teacher and umpire to get access to children, he used social media as well. Davis says a prior arrest of Kerr lead to an investigation where these charges were filed…

CUT 3 (06)  “of young girls”

Authorities have identified at least four female victims, aged 13-16, that Kerr either exchanged nude photos and videos or had sexual relations with over the last three years. Davis says they are working to identify even more victims…

CUT 4 (11)  “have unidentified”

Davis says they have at least 30 photos of victims they have yet to identify. He encourages these victims to come forward so they can levy the appropriate charges against Kerr. Davis says this is another reminder to be careful of what you post online…

CUT 5 (06)  “able to see”

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The New Orleans Police Department report the bodies of a missing mother and her two children were found in a car in New Orleans East. They say 25-year-old Michelle McCullum and her children, 5-year-old Caden and 3-year-old Cylie, were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide. NOPD Superintendent Michael Harrison says they received a call from family concerned about the safety of McCullum and her kids…

CUT 6 (10)  “her own life”

Harrison says McCullum told family members she was feeling homicidal and suicidal and was armed with a firearm with the intent to kill her children and herself. He says someone found a vehicle matching McCullum’s this morning with people inside. Harrison says when officers arrived, they found all three shot dead inside the vehicle…

CUT 7 (02)  “very tragic”

A firearm was found at the scene. Authorities are trying to learn more about McCullum’s mental health history. Harrison says the investigation is in its initial stages but they are determined to find out what exactly happened…

CUT 8 (05)  “with the family”

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The Louisiana House approves legislation that would prohibit gender based abortions. The bill’s author, Houma Representative Lenar Whitney, says there have been no documented cases in Louisiana. But she cited an article from Forbes Magazine about pregnancies ending early in US Asian communities because the sex of the unborn child was a girl…

CUT 9 (08)  “bear sons”

Whitney’s legislation passed on an 84-2 vote. New Orleans Representative Walt Leger voted “yes”, but he’s concerned language in the legislation will lead to frivolous lawsuits against abortion doctors

cut 10 (12) “this procedure”

The bill heads to the Senate for more debate. New Orleans Representative Helena Moreno was one of two House members to vote against the measure. She doesn’t like a provision that  requires a woman to know the sex of the fetus, if possible, before an abortion

cut 11 (10)  “more children”

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State Police say one person is dead and another three injured after a pickup truck struck a school bus head-on in Beauregard Parish this morning. Sgt. James Anderson says there were no children hurt in the crash and the investigation reveals a truck crossed a median and hit the school bus despite efforts of the driver to avoid the vehicle….:

cut 12 (11)  “serious injuries”

Anderson says the truck was driven by 21-year-old Vernon Player of Benton and he sustained serious injuries. A passenger in the truck, 22-year-old Terric Glover of Benton died in the crash and another passenger, 25-year-old Gustavo Rodelo-Espinal of Bossier City was ejected from the vehicle and sustained serious injuries. Anderson says the bus was driven by 52-year-old Jess Mullican of DeRidder…:

cut 13 (05)  “of the crash”

Anderson says there were no children on the school bus at the time of the fatal crash. He says they have no idea why the truck crossed the median…:

cut 14 (06) “investigation”

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