• Week 10 H.S. Football Scores
• 5th Quarter Show
• Game of the Week
• Ceremony At Central Hospital
• Breaking Into A Church Is A Charge Until Itself
• Celebs And Veterans On Hand To See Museum Expansion
• School Lunch Menu for Friday, November 13
• Leesville Toyota Play of the Night
• Warrant To Seize ACORNS Computers And Records
• All Star Band of the Week

What’s Happening in LA?
10/12/08 - 10:00 PM
 RSS Feed

Latest Louisiana news, sports, business, and entertainment:

REPUBLICANS-LANDRIEU
    Louisiana GOP may sanction backers of incumbent Democrat
   
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The Louisiana Republican Party may sanction more than two dozen prominent Republicans endorsing incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu over challenger John Kennedy in the upcoming election.

State GOP Chairman Roger Villere says several party members want to adopt some formal mechanism to censure GOP officials who break with the party’s candidate in a race.

But Villere says any censure resolution or bylaws change will have to wait until after this year’s elections

Several prominent Republicans, including eight parishwide elected officials from are supporting Landrieu over Kennedy.

Villere says Republican Party central committee members previously have adopted censure resolutions of GOP officials who backed Democrats, but they have lacked muscle. He did not say what sanctions may be considered, but party leaders “don’t want this to develop into a trend.”

   
GUSTAV-BLUE ROOFS
    Blue roof program for Gustav ends
   
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says 10,500 blue roofs have been installed to secure houses that sustained roof damage from Hurricane Gustav.

The program ended Saturday.

The temporary plastic roofs generally are good for 30 days - and were free to homeowners.
   
LOUISIANA CORRUPTION
    La. state senator pleads guilty in corruption case
   
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A somber state Sen. Derrick Shepherd has pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering and sent a letter of resignation to the state Legislature.

Shepherd, of Marrero, entered the plea before U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier. At one time, he blasted the government for targeting him after he refused to provide information on other local elected officials. Friday, he apologized to the court, the state, his constituents and his ancestors and hoped for the chance
to—quote—make it right.

Shepherd had been accused of helping Gwendolyn Joseph Moyo launder $141,000 in checks written to her companies, whose accounts had been frozen by the state Insurance Department.
   
GAS PRICES
    Gas prices vary city to city in La.
   
LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) - Louisiana motorists are seeing big variations in gasoline prices around the state, with fuel cheaper in Lake Charles and more expensive in Shreveport, Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

The American Automobile Association says the variation is caused by lingering market disruptions caused by Hurricane Ike last month. Fuel prices normally vary by one or two pennies per gallon from one city to the next, but now the difference is up to 15 cents per gallon.

Of the five cities monitored Friday by AAA, Lake Charles had the cheapest regular-grade gas, averaging $3.21 per gallon. Lafayette had the most expensive, at $3.44 per gallon.

Price variations within cities can mean motorists can benefit by filling up in the right town, at the right station. One filling station in Lake Charles was selling regular for less than $3; some in Baton Rouge were at $3.60.

The statewide average price per gallon is $3.43, compared with $2.69 at this time last year.
   
CONGRESS-LOUISIANA
    2 La. Congress races
   
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A Washington, D.C., nonprofit is downgrading its ranking for the campaign spending in two Louisiana congressional races.

The Center for Responsive Politics said early Friday that the state’s 4th and 6th District campaigns were among the top 10 in the country in terms of money spent by congressional campaigns.

The group now says updated information puts the two races farther down. Western Louisiana’s 4th District is now ranked as the 13th most expensive in the nation. The 6th District, in the Baton Rouge area, now ranks 16th.