The Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s office says a man is behind bars accused of beating his pregnant girlfriend so badly, she lost their baby. Michelle Southern reporting…:

CUT 1 (30) “reporting”

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The House Health and Welfare Committee approves a bill that would prohibit abortions in Louisiana that are based on the gender of the unborn baby.  Jeff Palermo has the story…

CUT 2 (28) “reporting”

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The Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s office says a man is behind bars accused of beating his pregnant girlfriend so badly, she lost the baby. Captain Dawn Foret says they received a complaint from a concerned citizen that there were multiple instances of abuse involving 36-year-old Tyson Cheavis of Gibson and his 27-year-old girlfriend…:

CUT 3 (08)  “pregnancy recently”

Foret says the victim admitted she went to a local hospital after being attacked by Cheavis and during an examination was informed her unborn child did not have a heartbeat…:

CUT 4 (08)  “with his girlfriend”

Foret says Cheavis admitted to beating his girlfriend when he was aware that she was pregnant with his child in her second trimester. She says he also confessed to causing multiple injuries to the victim that ultimately lead to the death of their unborn child…:

CUT 5 (07)  “feticide”

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Bossier Parish Sheriff’s deputies are searching for a Haughton man wanted for swindling nearly $3000 from a youth baseball league. Lt. Bill Davis says 25-year-old Robert Martin III applied to be a coach for a team in a local league and began accepting payments from sponsors and parents for uniforms and other items. Davis says it’s apparent that everything with Martin was not on the up and up…

CUT 6 (09)  “out the door”

When league officials discovered Martin had a criminal record which made him ineligible to coach the children, they asked him to return the money and any equipment but he never showed up. Davis says it’s obvious Martin had no intention of supporting the league or the players…

CUT 7 (05) “with our children”

Martin is wanted for felony theft. Detectives believe Martin may have fled the area or the state. Davis says they hope somebody comes forward who knows the whereabouts of Martin…

CUT 8 (10)  “pretty low down”

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The House Health and Wefare committee unanimously approves legislation that prohibits an abortion, if the decision to terminate the pregnancy is based on sex selection. Houma Representative Lenar Whitney is the author of the bill and she says the use of abortion as a means for sex selection is a social problem in a number of Asian countries where male children are widely preferred over females…

CUT 9 (09)  “baby girls”

According to the Louisiana Right to Life, sex selection is a significant problem in India and China. Natchitoches Representative Kenny Cox says  Louisiana should not follow what China does…

cut 10 (10) “their population”

The bill heads to the House floor for more debate. Committee Chairman Joe Lopinto read off the list of groups and individuals who oppose the bill, but none of them spoke out against the measure….

cut 11 (12)  “for choice”

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Baton Rouge Representative Dalton Honore has pulled his legislation that would have put recreational marijuana legalization on a ballot. Honore says times are changing and he’s glad the conversation about marijuana has been started this session, but his particular measure had too much opposition and he knew it wouldn’t pass…:

cut 12 (09)  “opposed to it”

The use of pot for recreational purposes is legal in Colorado and Honore says he recently visited with lawmakers there. He says marijuana generated 76 million dollars in taxes for Colorado in the first year and the incarceration rate went way down, but he doesn’t think the people of Louisiana are ready…:

cut 13 (06)  “little farther”

Honore says he talked to everyone on the House Criminal Justice Committee who agreed this might be something to do one day, but not at this time…:

cut 14 (08) “defer this bill”

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The House appropriations committee approves a plan that would allow the state to draw down federal money that can be used to expand Medicaid coverage. Eric Gill reports…

CUT 1 (29) “reporting”

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Former LSU offensive tackle La’el Collins met with Baton Rouge police detectives today. Jeff Palermo has more on what happened…

CUT 2 (28) “reporting”

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The House appropriations committee approves a plan that would allow the state to draw down federal money that can be used to expand Medicaid coverage. House speaker Chuck Kleckley says the plan involves hospitals putting their financial resources together so the state can draw down federal dollars that can be used to provide health care to low income individuals…

CUT 3 (07)  “federal dollars”

Governor Bobby Jindal opposes Medicaid expansion, calling it a bad deal for the state. But Kleckley says this plan could save up to $200 million for the state’s budget. He says this is real money that can be put in the general fund…

CUT 4 (07)  “in Louisiana”

Since this measure is a concurrent resolution, Governor Jindal cannot veto the legislation, but it does need a two-thirds vote of both houses for passage. Kleckley says this measure would set up a mechanism for our next governor to pull from Medicaid expansion money next year…

CUT 5 (09)  “and use it”

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Former LSU offensive lineman La’el Collins met with Baton Rouge police detectives today as part of an investigation into the shooting death of a pregnant woman on April 24th. Collins wore a blue suit for his meeting with investigators and his attorney, Jim Boren, says the All-SEC player cooperated fully…

CUT 6 (07)  “they wanted”

Collins meeting with detectives lasted about an hour and a half. Boren says his client is still NOT a suspect in Brittany Mills’ homicide…

CUT 7 (09)  “lady’s murder”

It’s been reported Collins and Mills had a romantic relationship. Boren would not say whether Collins took a paternity test to confirm whether it was his child that died a week after the shooting. But Boren says the Baton Rouge native is cooperating with the investigation and ready to get his NFL career started…

CUT 8 (08)  “that shortcoming”

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Baker Police arrested a 32-year-old mother of three for allegedly leaving her three children inside a vehicle for up to 45 minutes. Chief Mike Knaps says a witness arrived at a store at the same time as Tesha Thomas and noticed that Thomas left her three children in the car. He says 30 to 45 minutes later, the witness saw the kids still in the car and called police…

CUT 9 (07)  “kids crying”

The children, ages 7-years, 20-months, and 4-months, were left in the vehicle with no air conditioning and the windows rolled up. Knaps says, after officers contacted Thomas inside the store and she told them she only went in to pick up a couple of things. He says Thomas was taken into custody after calling another family member to pick up the kids…

cut 10 (05) “child desertion”

He says when officers found the children, the 4-month-old was screaming and its diaper was soaked. Thomas faces three counts of child desertion. Knaps says it is never safe to leave children unattended in a vehicle…

cut 11 (08)  “of that vehicle”

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State Treasurer John Kennedy announces he’s endorsing US Senator David Vitter for Governor. Kennedy outlined key issues he felt would best be addressed by Vitter…:

cut 12 (11)  “21st century”

Kennedy has previously announced he’ll be seeking re-election in the fall and some speculate he’ll be going after the Senate seat should Vitter become Governor. But Vitter says they have not talked about any other election…:

cut 13 (09)  “being presumptuous”

Kenndy says Vitter respects tax payer dollars and has the ability to take on Louisiana’s fiscal challenges…:

cut 14 (09) “crisis to crisis”

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Shreveport Police are investigating a fatal shooting that claimed the life of a four-year-old boy. Cpl. Marcus Hines says officers were called to a hotel room and and found the boy, identified as Cameron Morris, suffering from a single gunshot wound to the head…

cut 15 (10) “that hotel room”

Hines says it appears Morris was shot accidentally by another juvenile in the hotel room. He says adults were present and detectives are working to determine who was responsible for the children at the time of the shooting. No charges have been filed at this time. Hines says the alleged shooter in this incident is very young…

cut 16 (05) “ten-years-old”

This is National Tourism Week and Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne will tour the state to commemorate the event. Eric Gill has more…

CUT 1 (28) “reporting”

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Three weeks are in the books for the current legislative session and many say lawmakers are still not close to finding a solution to the state’s $1.6 billion dollar budget shortfall. Scott Carwile reports…:

Cut 2 (27) “reporting”

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Planned Parenthood supporters from across the state plan to gather at the Capitol Monday morning to support reproductive heath care access in Louisiana. Michelle Southern reports…:

Cut 3 (29) “reporting”

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This is National Tourism Week and Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne will tour the state to commemorate the event. The purpose of this trip is to celebrate the tourism industry state wide. Dardenne says every part of the state has seen increased tourism numbers…

cut 4  (11) “in Louisiana”

The tour runs through Saturday. Dardenne says almost 29 million people visited Louisiana last year, which is over a million more people than the previous record. He says those tourists spent over $11 billion in the state…

Cut 5  (10)  “visiting our state”

Stops include Lake Charles, Bossier City, Alexandria, and Lafayette. Dardenne says New Orleans remains the state’s biggest tourism draw, particularly for international visitors. But he says the other parts of the state are seeing big increases tourism, particularly in north Louisiana…
Cut 6 (09)  “of the state”

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According to a recent InsuranceQuotes-dot-com study, Louisiana is the fifth most expensive state for car insurance. They say rates in Louisiana are 33-percent higher than the national average. Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon says high insurance premiums have been a problem in Louisiana for quite a while…

CUT 7 (10)  “No Pay, No Play”

The “No Pay, No Play” law, which was passed in the ’90s, prohibits an uninsured driver involved in an accident from filing an insurance claim, even if they are not at fault. Donelon says the biggest reason for the state’s high auto insurance rates is the state’s litigation rate…

Cut 8  (11)  “of the state” 

Many think the number of uninsured drivers in the state are to blame for the high insurance rates here, but Donelon says that’s not entirely the case. He says when you combine the 15-percent of uninsured motorists with the 40-percent of drivers who only have the minimum amount of insurance required, that’s not good for insurance rates…

Cut 9 (11)  “to be legal”

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Three weeks are in the books for the current legislative session and many say lawmakers are still not close to finding a solution to the state’s $1.6 billion dollar budget shortfall. Jeremy Alford of Lapolitics.com says there is just as much uncertainty today as there was in January…:

Cut 10 (10) “insists upon”

Alford says it’s a misconception that Governor Bobby Jindal is not staying involved in what’s going on at the Capitol because he’s making it very clear to legislators that the budget will have to be balanced in a revenue neutral way…:

cut 11 (05) “following suit”

Alford predicts it’ll be 15 days out of the end of the session before any real plan starts to take shape. He says legislators could go with an inventory tax repeal which business is in favor of and local governments are opposed to or make certain tax credits non-refundable which the administration is pushing but business is against…:

cut 12 (10)   “neutral manner”

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Planned Parenthood supporters from across the state plan to gather at the Capitol Monday morning to support reproductive heath care access in Louisiana. Spokeswoman Raegan Carter says the plan is to talk to our elected officials about the importance of women having access to high quality healthcare they provide in Louisiana…:

Cut 13 (09)  “citizens”

Carter says the Jindal administration has made it clear they plan to launch a full-blown attack on the true needs of the people of Louisiana. She says they believe families deserve access to healthcare no matter who they are or where they live….:

Cut 14 (08) “screenings”

Carter says basic health care rights are the foundation of freedom and opportunity for women and families. She says they want the message to be clear that politics should be left out of reproductive health care and of what Planned Parenthood provides…:

Cut 15  (09)  “those services”

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The Saints used two of their nine draft picks on cornerbacks. In the third round, they selected Florida State All-ACC player P.J. Williams and in the fifth round they picked Damian Swann, who was a three-year starter at Georgia. Coach Sean Payton likes the versatility of both players…

Cut 16  (12)  “with em”

The Saints first pick in the 5th round is a player most football fans never heard of. Linebacker Davis Tull from Tennessee-Chattanooga, who is a three-time Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year. Payton says they had a high grade on Tull and they were forunate to get him in the 5th round…

Cut 17 (16)  “the nickel”

The saints selected defensive players with six of their nine picks. Payton hopes all of them can contribute in some way..

Cut 18 (17) ”   the draft “‘