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  • Louisiana Reports Its First Death From Vaping

    Louisiana Reports Its First Death From Vaping

    BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana has reported its first death from vaping-related lung injury.

    The Louisiana Department of Health says the person who died was among 30 people in Louisiana with the ailment ranging in age from 17 to 71.

    The agency says privacy laws keep it from releasing information about the person who died.

    Investigators with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention haven’t found a single device, ingredient or additive in common among more than 2,000 illnesses reported nationwide since March.

    Elements they’re investigating include a thickener called vitamin E acetate, which is used in THC vapes. The state agency says 17 patients reported smoking a combination of nicotine and THC.

    The department is advising people against vaping.

  • Police Chief: 3 People Killed In Oklahoma Walmart Shooting

    Police Chief: 3 People Killed In Oklahoma Walmart Shooting

    DUNCAN, Oklahoma (AP) — Two men and a woman were fatally shot Monday morning outside a Walmart store in southwestern Oklahoma, and the shooter is among the dead, authorities said.

    Two victims were shot inside a car and the third was killed in the parking lot just before 10 a.m. outside the store in Duncan, Police Chief Danny Ford said.

    Authorities did not immediately describe a motivation for the shooting. Stephens County District Attorney Jason Hicks authorities said during a news conference Monday afternoon that there was never an active shooter inside the store and he described the shooting as an isolated incident. He did not further explain.

    Two bodies covered with sheets were visible in the parking lot Monday afternoon. One body was in the driver’s seat of a red, two-door car. The other body was lying on the ground next to the vehicle.

    Bullet holes were visible in the car’s windshield. Police said in a Facebook post that a handgun was found at the scene. At the news conference, Ford described the gun as semi-automatic but said he had no further details. He said the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation was still processing the scene.

    He said he believed nine shots were fired.

    Authorities have not released the identities of those killed but did confirm the shooter was among the dead. Ford said all three knew each other but declined to describe their relationships or other identifying information pending notification of immediate family.

    Police have also interviewed witnesses to the shooting, Ford said.

    Aaron Helton, of Duncan, said he was parking outside the Walmart where he planned to buy groceries when he heard about nine gunshots.

    “I arrived and there were three bodies,” Helton said.

    Walmart spokeswoman LeMia Jenkins said in an email that no staff members were involved in the shooting and the store was not evacuated. Ford told The Associated Press that based on the social media posts of the woman who was killed, he believed she may have been a Walmart employee at some time.

    Duncan is about 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of Oklahoma City. The Walmart is in a commercial center that includes a sporting goods store and a dollar store along U.S. Highway 81, the main road that passes through Duncan heading south toward Texas.

    ___

    Associated Press reporter Cedar Attanasio in El Paso, Texas, contributed to this report.

  • Voting Suit Challenges Mississippi Law On Citizenship Proof

    Voting Suit Challenges Mississippi Law On Citizenship Proof

    JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A new federal lawsuit challenges a Jim Crow-era law in Mississippi that requires naturalized U.S. citizens to show proof of citizenship when they register to vote.

    The lawsuit was filed Monday by the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance.

    A Mississippi law enacted in 1924 requires naturalized citizens to show a certificate of naturalization or another similar document that proves citizenship when they register to vote. Mississippi residents born in the U.S. must only check a box on a voter-registration form to say they are citizens.

    The lawsuit says the system is unconstitutional because it treats one group of citizens differently from others.

    The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the Mississippi Center for Justice are among the groups representing the plaintiffs. The Lawyers’ Committee said in a news release that Mississippi is the only state that requires naturalized citizens to prove citizenship before registering to vote.

    “The Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause itself draws no distinction between citizens born or naturalized in the United States. In the eyes of the Constitution, they are one and the same,” the lawsuit says. “Naturalized citizens are American citizens in every sense of the term, and they must be treated as such.”

    The lawsuit is filed against Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, who is the state’s chief elections officer. Hosemann declined to comment on the lawsuit Monday, spokeswoman Anna Moak said.

    The suit says the Mississippi law “discriminates against naturalized citizens who might not have ready access to their naturalization certificates,” particularly those whose certificates have been lost or stolen and who cannot afford a $555 filing fee for replacement copies.

    This is the second Jim Crow-era Mississippi election requirement to be challenged in federal court in recent months. African American plaintiffs sued the state in May over a part of Mississippi’s 1890 constitution that requires a candidate for governor or other statewide office to win a majority of the popular vote and to be the top vote-getter in a majority of the 122 state House districts. If no candidate clears both hurdles, the race is decided in the state House — a provision inserted to maintain white control over the state’s top offices.

    U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III ruled days before the Nov. 5 election for governor and other offices that he would not immediately block the multi-part election process, but he wrote that he has “grave concern that at least the Electoral-Vote rule is unconstitutional.”

    ____

    Follow Emily Wagster Pettus: http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus.

  • Man rescued from river after he jumps off Mississippi River bridge Monday

    Man rescued from river after he jumps off Mississippi River bridge Monday

    NATCHEZ — A Natchez man jumped from the eastbound Mississippi River bridge between Natchez and Vidalia Monday morning and was rescued within an hour, law officials said.

    Vidalia police officer Craig Godbold said he responded to a call about a man — whose name has not been released — jumping from the bridge at approximately 7 a.m. Monday and found a car parked on the bridge.

    Godbold said officers were able to see the man swimming in the river from the bridge and contacted the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office, the United States Coast Guard and Two J Ranch in Vidalia that owned a tugboat close by on the river.

    “The tugboat operators were able to contact another boat that was on a collision course with the man in the water, and they were able to launch a rescue boat and pull the man to safety,” Godbold said.

    Godbold said the man was in the water approximately 30 minutes from the time officers arrived until he was rescued.

    The man was treated at Riverland Medical Center in Ferriday and transferred to another medical facility for a mental evaluation, officials said.

    “We’d like to thank everyone involved with this rescue,” Vidalia Police Chief Joey Merrill said. “Continue to keep this man and his family in your prayers.”

    Information from: The Natchez Democrat

    By Sabrina Robertson

  • US Officials Granting $29 Million For Coastal Protection

    US Officials Granting $29 Million For Coastal Protection

    NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Projects to protect Texas marshes from erosion and an Alaskan village from the Bering Sea are getting help from some of the 44 grants awarded Monday by the National Coastal Resilience Fund, a public-private partnership assisting communities threatened by storms and flooding from rising and warming seas.

    The $29 million in grants announced Monday are being matched by nearly $60 million from government agencies and nonprofits in 20 states, the District of Columbia and two U.S. territories.

    The fund partnership was created last year after severe weather caused a record $306.2 billion in damage in the U.S. the year before. It seeks to blunt the impact of extreme weather, flooding and other threats on diverse areas including wetlands, coastal beaches, rivers, streams, oyster beds and coral reefs.

    Officials from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were announcing the grant recipients at a news conference in suburban New Orleans.

    The Texas General Land Office is getting $3 million, the largest grant on the list, and contributing another $9.5 million to restore about 80 acres (32 hectares) of coastal marshes in Galveston County’s Swan Lake.

    The tiny Native village of Shaktoolik, Alaska — listed in 2009 among a handful of Alaskan communities that should move “as soon as possible” because of coastal erosion and repeated flooding — is matching $1 million from the foundation with nearly $5 million to build a coastal berm to protect the spit of land where the village is located.

    Just under $3 million will go to the University of Miami, to restore more than 125 acres (50 hectares) of coastal reefs off Florida’s Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. The university is matching the grant with another $3 million.

    A grant of $2.4 million, with a matching grant of $2.5 million by Jefferson Parish in south Louisiana, will create up to 70 acres (28 hectares) of marsh, tidal creeks and lagoons along a mile-long (1.6-kilometer) stretch of beleaguered Lake Pontchartrain shoreline.

    The smallest grant, totaling $75,000 and matched by an equal amount of local money, will enable the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management to pay for preliminary assessment and design work to build green infrastructure along 49 acres (20 hectares) along the Quonochontaug Salt Pond.

    Other projects are in California, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, North and South Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Virginia, Washington, Guam and Puerto Rico.

    Four projects in California are receiving nearly $2 million, including $1.4 million to set levees back from a tidal creek area to reduce flooding and reconnect tides to brackish wetlands. The Contra Costa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District is contributing another $12.3 million for the work at Walnut Creek.

    The District of Columbia’s Department of Energy and Environment is receiving $250,000 and contributing $500,000 to develop preliminary designs to restore Oxon Run in the southeast section of the nation’s capital, including plans to remove nearly a mile (1.6 kilometers) of concrete lining the stream bed.

  • Land Affected By Keystone Pipeline Leak Bigger Than Thought

    Land Affected By Keystone Pipeline Leak Bigger Than Thought

    BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A crude oil spill from the Keystone pipeline in eastern North Dakota has turned out to have affected almost 10 times the amount of land as first reported, a state regulator said Monday.

    North Dakota environmental scientist Bill Suess said the leak reported on Oct. 29 is now estimated by state regulators to have affected about 209,100 square feet (19,426 square meters) of land near Edinburg. State regulators had said the leak affected about 22,500 square feet (2,090 square meters) of land.

    Calgary, Alberta-based TC Energy, formerly known as TransCanada, estimated its pipeline leaked an estimated 383,000 gallons (1.4 million liters) of oil. Suess said that estimate has not changed.

    The cause of the spill is still unknown. An affected portion of the pipe has been sent to a third-party laboratory for inspection, as required by federal regulators.

    TC Energy said the pipeline returned to service on Nov. 10 after approval of a repair and restart plan by the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

    The company has not given an estimate on the land that was affected, Suess said. The initial estimate by state regulators was “a quick and dirty look at it,” he said. “We did have some surface expansion since then.”

    The company reported late Sunday that it had recovered about 337,550 gallons (1.2 million liters) of oil, along with 141,834 gallons (536,900 liters) of oily water, Suess said.

    Cleanup crews and state regulators remained at the site on Monday. Some wetlands were affected, but not any sources of drinking water, he said.

    TC Energy has said people were at the site working around the clock to clean up the spill. Suess said the cleanup work was cut to daylight hours on Monday.

    The company has referred questions to its website but has not updated it in more than a week.

    TC Energy has put up berms around the affected area and is excavating contaminated soil from the entire site, at depths of up to 6 feet (1.8 meters), Suess said. The oily soil is being stockpiled and will be taken to a landfill in Sawyer, North Dakota, he said.

    “We really don’t have any risk of anything spreading at this point,” he said.

    Crude began flowing through the $5.2 billion pipeline in 2011. It’s designed to carry crude oil across Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and through North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri on the way to refineries in Patoka, Illinois and Cushing, Oklahoma. It can handle about 23 million gallons (87 million liters) daily.

    It is part of a system that also is to include the proposed $8 billion Keystone XL pipeline designed to transport the oil from western Canada to terminals on the Gulf Coast.

    The proposed Keystone XL pipeline has drawn opposition from people who fear it will cause environmental damage.

  • Army Training: No Thanksgiving Hunts In 2 Louisiana Areas

    Army Training: No Thanksgiving Hunts In 2 Louisiana Areas

    BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Extensive Army training will close two Louisiana wildlife management areas near Fort Polk to hunters over the Thanksgiving weekend. That word comes from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

    A news release Thursday said the Fort Polk-Vernon and Peason Ridge Wildlife Management Areas will be closed to hunting from Nov. 29 through Dec. 1.

    The Fort Polk-Vernon WMA is in central Vernon Parish near Leesville. Peason Ridge is in northern Vernon Parish, southeastern Sabine Parish and southwestern Natchitoches Parish near Simpson.

    The department notes that deer hunts will remain open in the Kisatchie National Forest and three other wildlife management areas in the region. Those wildlife management areas are Clear Creek near Leesville, West Bay in Allen Parish, near Oakdale, and Sabine, in Sabine Parish, near Many.

  • Did Louisiana Football Success Boost Edwards? Couldn’t Hurt.

    Did Louisiana Football Success Boost Edwards? Couldn’t Hurt.

    BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — In picking apart Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’ reelection victory in the red state of Louisiana, analysts talk of cross-party voters, the get-out-the-vote effort in New Orleans and the Donald Trump factor. But in a year when both the LSU Tigers and New Orleans Saints appear headed to the playoffs, did Edwards also get an edge from the football factor?

    “I think when the people are feeling good, that probably helps an incumbent. And in Louisiana, football is probably more important to helping people feel good than the economy,” said Jim Engster, the host of a Baton Rouge radio talk show and owner and publisher of Tiger Rag, which covers LSU sports.

    And fans of Louisiana’s two premier football teams definitely have reason to feel good.

    LSU shot to the top of the College Football Playoff rankings after its victory over archnemesis Alabama a week ago, and remains undefeated after Saturday night’s win against Ole Miss — shortly before Edwards secured his own victory against Republican challenger Eddie Rispone.

    The Saints have notched eight wins so far this season, finding ways to stay atop the NFC South even as record-setting quarterback Drew Brees was sitting out five games with a thumb injury.

    A former high school quarterback and avid football fan, Edwards’ enthusiasm for the teams has mirrored that of rank-and-file fans — only with more access to coaches and players than the average joe in the cheap seats.

    The Democratic governor exchanges text messages and has developed a friendship with LSU Coach Ed Orgeron and attends some team practices. And he has flaunted his fandom on the campaign trail.

    Edwards appeared in a public service announcement with Brees to promote veteran-owned businesses. Orgeron introduced Edwards at a business summit, showing video of the governor throwing passes to LSU players, and later introduced him at a campaign fundraiser. Edwards greeted Orgeron and the entire LSU team when they arrived home after defeating Alabama. The video circulated on social media.

    “I think it was brilliant to go do that,” said Bob Mann, a Louisiana State University mass communication professor and former aide to many Democratic elected officials. “It just had a ring of authenticity to it.”

    The football-themed promotions in the middle of a hotly contested election drew criticism from Republicans, who said Edwards sought to capitalize off the popularity of sports teams that shouldn’t be involved in politics. Rispone also publicly supported LSU and held campaign tailgating events, but he didn’t have the special access of Edwards.

    Edwards supporters suggested the governor simply loves the game, with a wink and nod to the added benefit that videos showing him with Orgeron and Brees might have for his reelection bid.

    Engster said the exchanges make Edwards seem like a regular Louisiana guy, a hunter and family man who loves football.

    “Put it together and it might have been enough to help make a difference,” Engster said. “Every little bit helps.”

  • Trial Goes To Larger Courtroom For Man Charged In 8 Killings

    Trial Goes To Larger Courtroom For Man Charged In 8 Killings

    BROOKHAVEN, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi judge is moving the trial of a man charged with killing a sheriff’s deputy and seven other people.

    But, the judge is denying defense attorneys’ request to delay the trial of Willy Cory Godbolt by at least six months. They wanted more time to prepare.

    Goldbolt has been held without bail since his arrest hours after the killings in May 2017. He is charged with killing the deputy, his own mother-in-law and six others at three houses in and around Brookhaven, in southwest Mississippi’s Lincoln County.

    Goldbolt has pleaded not guilty to four counts of capital murder, four counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, two counts of kidnapping and one count of armed robbery.

    The trial is set to begin in February and the Daily Leader reported that Circuit Judge David Strong signed an order Thursday to move it to neighboring Pike County, where the courtroom is larger.

    Jurors will be chosen from DeSoto County, about 275 miles (443 kilometers) to the north. They will be brought to Pike County.

    Allison Steiner, with the capital defense counsel division of the state public defender’s office, filed a motion to reset the trial date Sept. 29.

    “Feb. 10 is impossible,” she argued in Strong’s courtroom during an Oct. 29 hearing.

    Steiner said when the trial date was originally set, Jason Tate of the Lincoln County Public Defender’s Office was on the defense team with Allison Poor with the state public defender’s office. Poor recently had a baby and is on maternity leave. Tate left the county public defender’s office in July.

    Hazlehurst attorney M.A. Bass Jr. joined the defense team in August, but Steiner said Tate’s departure leaves the defense team unable to prepare adequately with attorneys who have the experience and training required by the Mississippi Rules of Criminal Procedure.

    Steiner indicated that if trial isn’t delayed, an appeals court will likely agree that she was not ready and find error.

    “I think the court will be trying this again,” she said.

    District Attorney Dee Bates’ office is prosecuting other murder cases in a district that covers Walthall, Pike and Lincoln counties.

    “The State of Mississippi has at all times maintained that it will be ready for trial. Additionally, the state would show a delay in this case would jeopardize the rights of other defendants presently charged,” Assistant District Attorney Robert Byrd wrote in court papers.

    ___

    Information from: The Daily Leader, http://www.dailyleader.com

  • Blaze Lee Birthday Cake Winner!

    [vc_single_image image=”1514″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_single_image image=”1515″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][headerText widget_name=”Birthday and Anniversary Cakes Provided By The Markets” level=”h3″ url=”” el_class=””]

    Happy Birthday to Blaze Lee!

    Birthday Cake winner 11/18/19