Saints and Pelicans owner Tom Benson announces ownership of both teams will transfer to his wife, Gayle, upon his death. Eric Gill reports…
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The woman who has assisted law enforcement locally and nationally in identifying human remains, Mary Manhein, announces she is retiring from the LSU FACES Laboratory after more than 30 years. Michelle Southern reports…:
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Saints and Pelicans owner Tom Benson announces ownership of both teams will transfer to his wife, Gayle, upon his death. This move effectively cuts out Benson’s daughter, Renee, and grandchildren, Ryan Leblanc and Rita Benson Leblanc, from the sports franchises. The voice of the Saints, Jim Henderson, says this had to be an agonizing decision for Benson to make…
Benson stated that this change in succession is necessary for the long-term success of both teams. There are reports that there was tension at team headquarters with Renee, Rita, and Ryan. Henderson says if you looked closely, you could observe the strain…
Henderson says this is a very bold move on Benson’s part. It was expected that Rita would succeed her grandfather in leading the sports empire. He says Rita was suspended a couple of years ago for lack of attention to the job and that could have weighed on Benson enough to make this change…
CUT 5 (08) “or not should have”
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The woman who has assisted law enforcement locally and nationally in identifying human remains, Mary Manhein, announces she is retiring from the LSU FACES Laboratory after more than 30 years. Also known as “The Bone Lady,” Manhein has consulted on hundreds of forensic cases including mass disasters…:
CUT 6 (13) “and what happened to them”
Manhein says her last day is April 30th and she’ll then turn over the reins of the program to another generation. She says some of the most rewarding work she’s done was in the aftermaths of Hurricanes Katrina and Issac in which they were able to assist cemeteries who were having problems with graves…:
Manhein says she’s loved that her job has enabled her to work with families of victims in helping resolve cold cases of unidentified persons. She says through the cold case “hit” program, they’ve had instances where the DNA from an unidentified person get matched up with someone from across the country…:
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The Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Department has arrested a 24-year-old woman in the May 2014 death of her fiance’s 3-year-old son. After an eight month investigation, Brittany Marie Prejean of Rayne is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Keaghyn Parsons. Spokesperson Maxine Trahan says Prejan was often left to care for the toddler…
Prejean was caring for the toddler the day of his death. Trahan says an autopsy was performed on Parsons and the Calcasieu Parish Coroner ruled his death a homicide. Trahan says it was determined that the child had a perforation of the small intestine…
Trahan says the cause of death was from a perforation of the small intestine due to blunt force trauma. She says Prejean was booked into the Acadia Parish Jail… (No bond has been set, at this time.)
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The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is offering a $10,000 reward for information about the whooping crane that was shot in Vermilion Parish then later died late last year. Spokesman Adam Einck says the reward money is coming from several sources including the operation game fees, the LDWF foundation…:
Einck says the whooping crane is one of the world’s most endangered birds and they want to make it clear that there are serious repercussions from killing one. He says this is now the 6th bird that has been shot and killed in Louisiana…:
Einck says if you have any information on this case, you can report it online at wlf.louisiana.gov. He says LDWF is putting a lot of resources, time, effort and money into bringing the whooping cranes back to a sustainable population in Louisiana…:
cut 14 (07) “put on them”
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The New Orleans City Council today approved a smoking ban at bars and casinos by a 7-0 vote. This is a big win for supporters who say it’s a public health issue for workers and patrons of these establishments. Tonia Moore is with the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco Free Living. She says they are thrilled this initiative had so much support…:
cut 15 (09) “city of New Orleans”
The opposition was mostly from business owners who were worried such a smoking ban would threaten revenue. Moore says they hope to see many other municipalities in Louisiana follow suit and ban smoking in bars after this historic day…: