The band director at Westgate High School in New Iberia has been arrested, after he was found hiding in a 16-year-old girl’s closet. Halen Doughty has more…

CUT 1 (30)  “I’m Halen Doughty”

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A bill to give legislators a say if recipients of food stamps should have to work to receive assistance has been approved by the House. Emelie Gunn has more…

CUT 2 (30)  “I’m Emelie Gunn”

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The Iberia Parish School system says the employment status of its band director at Westgate High School is very much uncertain at this time after he was found hiding in a 16-year-old girl’s closet. Lt. Col. Bobby Webre with the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office says 30-year-old Jeremy Conner of Baton Rouge was alone with the juvenile when her mother came home.

CUT 3 (07)  “her home”

Webre says the juvenile invited Conner into her home. Webre says the girl does not attend the school where Conner teaches, and it’s unclear how the two met.

CUT 4 (08)  “parish”

Webre says Conner has been communicating with the juvenile since last year, and he admitting to sending her inappropriate texts. Webre says there are important lessons to be learned here.

CUT 5 (07)  “their career”

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The House approved a bill to allow lawmakers to have a say in whether food stamp recipients should be required to work to receive federal assistance. But Bogalusa Rep. Malinda White disagrees, because as many as 16-thousand people in the oil industry recently lost their jobs. She says these people rightfully pay their bills and have suffered enough.

CUT 6 (09) “to eat”

Author of the legislation, Monroe Rep. Jay Morris, believes a group of lawmakers should decide if childless adults who are not working should get food stamps. He says he doesn’t want anyone to starve and he knows jobs are hard to come by in a lot of areas, but…

CUT 7 (10) “every day”

The legislation will now head to the Senate. White says she’s seen abuse to the system but she’s also seen need. She says there is a time and place in America where we have to have a safety net.

CUT 8 (09) “need it”

The bill passed 56 to 28. Morris says this legislation is only giving lawmakers a say in the decision if food stamp recipients should be required to work, not deciding at this moment.

CUT 9 (10) “that route”

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The 4th Annual ever-growing Louisiana International Film Festival is underway in Baton Rouge. LIFF brings a huge variety of movies to the big screen during the 4 day event, including big budget studio films, and regionally focused productions. Kelsey Grammer is making an appearance at the screening of his new film “Breaking the Bank”, which he says is about an investment bank takeover.:

cut 10 (09)  “like that”

The festival added a new category this year called, “Southern Perspectives,” which includes nearly a dozen movies telling stories about the south. They include “Bogalusa Charm” – about small town culture, and “After the Spill” – which unveils details of the BP oil spill in the Gulf. Grammer says in some ways his film, Breaking the Bank, is an indictment on the system…:

Cut 11 (07) “might happen”

You can get more information about the festival at lifilmfest.org. Grammer, who starred in Cheers and Frasier, says he loves being in Louisiana and attending movie festivals like this because his passion for the movie industry will never go away. He says these events are great learning experiences..:

cut 12 (06) “all things”

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The Bureau of Labor Statistics finds employment in Louisiana rose for a third straight month. Spokesperson with the Louisiana Workforce Commission Aaron Caffarel says this is encouraging news. He says the number of people employed grew by nearly 8-thousand from February to March.

Cut 13 (07)  “ever recorded”

Caffarel says more and more people are entering the workforce and those unemployed are steadily seeking jobs. He says jobs in the construction industry are increasing more than they have since post-Hurricane Katrina construction shot up in 2006.

cut 14 (08)  “region”

Caddarel says jobs in the oil and gas sector continue to drop but they’re working hard to find workers in that industry new employment. He says the unemployment number has ticked up to 6.1 percent, up from 5.9 percent in February.

cut 15 (10) “labor force” 

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The first test burn of explosives is successful at Camp Minden in Webster Parish. Emelie Gunn has more…

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A proposal that would prevent local governments from removing confederate monuments without a waiver from a state board fails to get enough support from a House committee. Halen Doughty has more…

CUT 2 (30)  “I’m Halen Doughty”

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A bill to increase the fine for not wearing a seatbelt has been approved by the House. The fines would go up to $50 for a first offense and then to $75 for additional offenses. New Orleans Representative Walt Leger says increasing the fine should drive up the number of motorists who wear a seatbelt.

CUT 3 (07)  “on this”

The measure passed on a 62-34 vote and now moves to the Senate. Leger says this increase will save lives, as well as dollars.

CUT 4 (08)  “their seatbelts”

Currently the fine for a first offense of not wearing a seatbelt is only $25 in Louisiana. Leger says the fine here is one of the lowest in the country. He says even with this increase, the fine still ranks lower than many other states.

CUT 5 (08)  “higher fine”

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The Louisiana National Guard at Camp Minden in Webster Parish successfully conducted their first test burn of 88 pounds of M6 propellant. Col. Pete Schneider says over the next 30 days they’ll ramp up different amounts until they reach the full capacity of about 800 pounds. He believes it’ll take about a year to burn all of the propellant that was improperly stored by Explo Systems.

CUT 6 (07) “M6 free”

Camp Minden took control of the M6 in 2012 after the propellant started randomly exploding because it was illegally stored. Schneider says a large burn chamber was built in Oklahoma and was transported to Camp Minden in February. He says it took 4-thousand engineering design hours to build the chamber, which will burn the 15 million pounds of explosives over the next year.

CUT 7 (10) “done safely”

Schneider says they’re safely monitoring the system to ensure the 15 million pounds of explosives are safely burned. He says EPA standards must be met throughout the disposal process.

CUT 8 (07) “working properly”

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A bill to prevent the removal of confederate monuments did not get out of a House committee today. The legislation would create a seven-member statewide board that would get to decide if a monument more than 30 years old should be removed. Shreveport Representative Thomas Carmody says removing or renaming monuments that tell the stories of our state is one method of erasing the past from public memory.

CUT 9 (06) “our story”

Carmody says although Louisiana has a dark history, you cannot change what has already happened. He says the only way to have a brighter future is to learn from past mistakes.

cut 10 (07)  “the truth”

Shreveport Representative Sam Jenkins opposes the bill. He says this proposal would not allow local governments to decide what they want to do with their own property.

Cut 11 (11) “for me”

New Orleans Representative Joseph Bouie says it is currently left up to local municipalities to decide what they want to display, or not display, in their city. He says each city should be able to decide what kind of monuments they want to have.

cut 12 (08) “monuments”

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The forecast team at Colorado State University calls for the 2016 Atlantic Hurricane season to be near-average. Research scientist Phil Klotzbach, lead author of the report, says they predict there will be 12 named storms…:

Cut 13 (06)  “hurricane season”

Klotzbach says the El Nino is dissipating which is why they are predicting a more active season than in 2015, but northern Atlantic Ocean temperatures are still cooler than average…:

cut 14 (09)  “average hurricane season”

Klotzbach says their next forecast will be out the day hurricane season begins on June 1st. He says the probability of a major hurricane, which is cat 3-5, hitting the Gulf Coast is about 30%…:

cut 15 (06) “of a major hurricane” 

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