The band director of LSU’s Tiger Band, Roy King, is no longer employed at the university after an investigation led to several allegations. Halen Doughty has more…
CUT 1 (32) “I’m Halen Doughty”
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Legislation to prevent second trimester dismemberment abortions passed in a House committee. Emelie Gunn has more…
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Roy King, the band director of the Golden Band from Tigerland for the last five years, is out of job today. LSU put him on administrative leave earlier this month to conduct an internal investigation and he was notified of his dismissal in a letter from the university. King’s attorney, Jill Craft, says King was shocked when he was notified.
LSU says they’ve provided King with a letter outlining the reasons for his firing and it’s based on an investigation that found King did not follow policies, procedures and financial safeguards meant to protect the Tiger Band and LSU. Craft says one of the accusations is over petty cash in a secretary’s desk that went missing, which she says King had nothing to do with. Craft says King is also accused of nepotism.
CUT 4 (06) “nepotism violation”
Craft says the worst part is that King was notified of his termination via letter, which she says is unbelievable after 18 years of service to the university. She says if King hadn’t checked his mail yesterday, he would have found out through the news.
LSU’s statement on King’s dismissal also announced that Dr. Dennis Llinas, the associate director of bands, will serve as the temporary band director.
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Two people have died after a mosquito-abatement airplane crashed in the woods near the Slidell City Airport last night. Slidell Police Sgt. Daniel Seuzeneau says two planes were finishing up their rounds and landing at the airport when one plane began flipping, struck a powerline, and went down into a wooded area. …
Seuzeneau says the downed powerlines caused small fires around the crash site. He says once fire fighters put out the blaze, they discovered the bodies of the two pilots.
Seuzeneau says the investigation is being turned over to the FFA. He says the St. Tammany Parish Coroner identified the pilots as 68-year-old Wayne Fisher of Slidell and 59-year-old Donald Pechon of Covington.
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Harry Morel, the former District Attorney in St. Charles Parish, plead guilty to obstruction for harassing a witness in an attempt to destroy evidence for a federal grand jury that targeted the longtime prosecutor. The charge stems from an investigation into allegations Morel requested sexual favors in an exchange for lenient plea deals from female defendants. FBI Special Agent in Charge Jeff Sallet says Morel held the freedom, and the lives, of these defendants in his hands.
Sallet says there were at least 20 victims of Morel’s crimes. Morel faces up to three years in prison and he’ll be sentenced in August for the obstruction charge. St Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne highlighted some of the evidence against Morel. He told a story about a key witness who contacted Morel for assistance with her DWI case.
Keim was later found dead in her home, shortly after the story of Morel’s case was published online. Keim’s cause of death is listed as “unclassified” at this time, and the investigation is ongoing. Morel was the DA in St. Charles Parish for 33 years and resigned in 2012. Champagne says they’ve been investigating the allegations made against Morel for a while.
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A bill to prevent second trimester abortions, where doctors use forceps to abort a fetus was approved by a House committee. Lafayette doctor Damon Cudihy says spoke in favor of the bill and gave graphic testimony of what goes on during a dismemberment abortion…
Doctor says you are wrong if you believe this does not inflict pain of the unborn child. He says the hardest part of the dismemberment is removing the baby’s head.
Pro-choice attorney Ellie Schilling says this legislation presents significant legal problems by prohibiting the most common procedure used in second trimester abortions. She says this will most certainly be declared unconstitutional.
Schilling says this is the safest way to perform a second trimester abortion. Also, she says the language in the bill confusing to understand.
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