Auto insurance rates for Progressive and LA Farm Bureau customers are going down later this summer. Matt Doyle has the story.
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A deadly dispute over a man between a woman and her ex’s new love interest results in a 23 year prison sentence. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
cut 2 (29) I’m Kevin Barnhart”
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Progressive and Louisiana Farm Bureau are dropping their auto insurance rates on the heels of the state’s largest insurer, State Farm, also lowering their rates. Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon says the three insurers combined account for just over 50 percent of all Louisiana auto policies…
State Farm owns a third of the state’s policies at a million drivers, Farm Bureau has 220,000 policies, and Progressive owns 175,000.
This comes after a failed attempt to pass legislation in the legislative session that proponents say would have spurred further rate decreases. Donelon says part of the reason for the cuts appears to be a lowered cost of business due to…
The Insurance Commissioner says the rest of the decreases can be chalked up to aggressive moves by insurers to try to undercut the competition for new policies…
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Three people are dead after an alleged drunk driver slammed into a vehicle that broke down in the middle of the Westbank Expressway in Harvey last night. State Police trooper Monroe Dillon says the three victims were on the upper level of the overpass and standing near the broken-down car when the collision occurred.
One of the three victims, 49-year-old Claude Williams, was a pastor at Celebration Church. Williams was the driver of the stalled vehicle.
Dillon says they can’t be certain at this point, but it appears some of the victims were bystanders who had responded to the stalled vehicle and were attempting to help before they were killed.
The broken-down vehicle was facing oncoming traffic.
Dillon says the deaths are a tragic reminder that if your vehicle begins to break down, do everything you can to get it out of lanes of traffic.
40-year-old Todd Williams of New Orleans was arrested and booked into prison on several counts, including Vehicular Homicide.
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A Houma woman will spend 23 years in prison for stabbing another woman to death in a dispute over a man. The homicide took place in July 2017 at Miranda Gilley’s apartment. Terrebonne Parish Assistant DA Chris Erny says Gilley pulled out a tactical knife during a physical confrontation.
Prosecutors say Gilley had invited the victim, 24-year-old Jessica McGehee, over to her apartment to fight. Gilley claimed she acted in self-defense. Erny says the jury had several options on the charges, but ultimately decided to go with a lesser charge of manslaughter, which carries a maximum 40-year sentence.
Cut 10 (06) “…still a homicide.”
Erny says he was not surprised by the lack of the maximum sentencing, as they were aiming for 30 years. The judge’s decision not to give Gilley the maximum sentence came as the result of the defendant’s youth and not having a criminal history.
Cut 11 (11) “…it, she didn’t.”
Gilley will be eligible for parole after 15 years.
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A 15-year-old is dead and two other minors are in critical condition after they were ejected from an SUV in a rollover crash south of Ponchatoula on I-55 last night. State Trooper Dustin Dwight says they suspect the driver, 38-year-old Viola Oliver II, was impaired as she attempted to exit at US 51 when the vehicle began to roll
Cut 12 (11) “…fatal injuries.”
Oliver was trapped in the vehicle and had to be rescued by the Ponchatoula Fire Department.
None of the children involved appear to have been buckled up, and Dwight says it’s a good reminder that you can get into a lot of trouble for driving kids around who are not clicked in…
Dwight says it’s a tragedy that could potentially have been avoided by strapping the kids in with a child safety seat. He adds state police will install them in your vehicle free of charge…
15-year-old Solomon Short died from his injuries at a local hospital.