Louisiana

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Cops: La. Mom Killed Toddler With Down Syndrome

She told them it was a 'mercy killing'

(Newser) - Cops in Belle Chasse, Louisiana say a mother showed no sign of remorse when confessing to killing her 17-month-old son by injecting him with hand sanitizer. Erika Wigstrom, 20, faces a charge of first-degree murder and a potential death sentence for killing her son Lucas, who was born with Down...

Death Row's Longest Serving Inmate Goes Free

All-white jury convicted Glenn Ford of murder in 1984

(Newser) - In 1984, Glenn Ford, who is black, was wrongfully convicted by an all-white jury in the murder of an elderly white man in Louisiana. He spent the next three decades on death row—but yesterday afternoon, he was finally set free, the Atlantic reports. During the case, Ford had cooperated...

HOA to Family: Take Down Sailor's Welcome Sign

Attorney says sign can only be up 2 weeks before, after leave

(Newser) - Anthony Marsiglia is in the Navy, currently deployed on an aircraft carrier, but coming home in the next few weeks. His family had a "welcome" sign hanging outside their Louisiana home for him—until their Lafayette homeowner's association instructed them, via attorney, to take it down. The Frenchman'...

Dad Not Guilty of Decapitating Disabled Son

Jeremiah Wright was accused of dismembering his boy

(Newser) - A Louisiana man accused of dismembering his disabled, 7-year-old son and leaving his head in a yard was found not guilty by reason of insanity on Friday, WDSU reports. Jeremiah Wright, 32, was arrested in 2011 for the gruesome killing, and told investigators that he believed his son Jori Lirette—...

Death-Penalty States Scramble to Find New Drug

Even though it takes 10 minutes longer to kill people

(Newser) - A new drug for fatal injections is not only hard to find, it takes twice as long to kill people. US death penalty states like Texas, Missouri, and Louisiana are struggling to find lethal drugs for capital punishment, thanks to a worldwide ethical embargo against pharmaceutical companies selling drugs to...

Deep South Braces for 'Paralyzing' Winter Storm

Schools closed; hundreds of flights canceled

(Newser) - The next big winter storm is reportedly on its way, and this time, it's the Deep South that will be feeling its effects. The Weather Channel sees 40 million people in the path of Winter Storm Leon, which an expert says could bring once-in-a-generation weather; another calls the storm...

David Vitter Running for Governor in Louisiana

And emerges as an immediate frontrunner

(Newser) - Conservative Sen. David Vitter announced today what pretty much everyone in Louisiana already knew: He's running for governor in next year's election, reports Roll Call . Bobby Jindal can't run again because of term limits, and Vitter "stands a pretty decent (if not better) chance of winning,...

Christmas Fire Kills 3 Siblings in Louisiana

10 family members, including 6 kids, escaped with minor injuries

(Newser) - It was a Christmas morning that nightmares are made of: A fire ripped through a mobile home in Louisiana in the early hours yesterday, killing three siblings and landing their parents in a hospital burn unit, WDSU reports. The fire started in the kitchen and living area where four children,...

Louisiana: We'll Keep Duck Dynasty on the Air

Show's creator played gay porn star in movie

(Newser) - With Duck Dynasty on the ropes , it's Louisiana to the rescue. Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne has written a letter to the show's cast offering "to use his influence among Louisiana’s growing motion picture industry to seek out alternative production options" in case A&E axes the...

How One Woman Caught a Criminal the FBI Couldn't

Skip tracer Michelle Gomez finds people for a living

(Newser) - Finding Ryan Eugene Mullen was a tall order: Neither the FBI nor three private investigators could find the man wanted for stealing $2 million from federal agencies. But when a debt collection agency called Michelle Gomez—whose job, as a skip tracer, is to track down missing items and people...

Latest Secession Attempt: Baton Rouge's Richer Side

St. George wants to split off from Louisiana capital

(Newser) - A drive to create a new school district has snowballed into a push to split Louisiana's capital in two, with the largely wealthy and white southern part of Baton Rouge moving to secede and become the city of St. George, the Raw Story finds. The new city would have...

6 States Defy Pentagon on Gay Military Benefits

Couples being forced to travel to federal bases to get ID card needed for benefits

(Newser) - In 44 states, the gay spouse of an active-duty National Guard member can register for a military spouse ID card at his or her partner's base and begin getting federal marriage benefits. But in six states, it's not so easy. As the New York Times explains, bases in...

Frenzied Shoppers Empty Walmarts After Food Stamp Glitch

Company decided to allow purchases despite card error

(Newser) - Thanks to a much-publicized glitch that shut down food stamp programs in 17 states this weekend , food-stamp debit cards stopped showing spending limits in some areas—and Louisiana Walmart shoppers wasted no time in cashing in on the situation. They raided store shelves at two different locations, causing such a...

As Storm Barrels Toward Gulf Coast, FEMA Recalls Furloughed Workers

Tropical Storm Karen is year's first cyclone

(Newser) - Tropical Storm Karen is barreling toward the US , and that means a return to work for some FEMA employees. The furloughed workers have been called back with the cyclone due to hit the coast between Louisiana and Florida. Thanks to the shutdown, however, some weather satellite images "may not...

Louisiana, Florida Under Hurricane Watch

Tropical Storm Karen forms in Gulf of Mexico

(Newser) - Tropical Storm Karen has formed in the Gulf of Mexico, and the National Hurricane Center says it has a "near 100%" chance of turning into a hurricane or cyclone in the next two days, CNN reports. A hurricane watch is in effect from Grand Isle, La., to Indian Pass,...

Black Panther Freed After 41 Years in Solitary

Judge overturns conviction for murder of La. prison guard

(Newser) - Herman Wallace is a free man after 41 years in solitary confinement in Louisiana prisons—but he may just have days to live. Wallace, one of the "Angola Three" found guilty of the 1972 murder of a guard, was diagnosed with advanced liver cancer this year, the New Orleans ...

Huge Sinkhole Swallows Trees in Crazy Video

Louisiana's sinkhole now covers 24 acres

(Newser) - Remember the 12-acre sinkhole that forced evacuations in Louisiana's Bayou Corne? Well, it's gotten a whole lot bigger—and hungrier, apparently. A video from the Assumption Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness shows the sinkhole, now doubled in size to 24 acres, eagerly eating up a bunch of trees...

29% of La. Republicans Blame Katrina Mess on... Obama

Despite the fact that he was still in Congress at the time

(Newser) - Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans more than three years before President Obama took office—but even so, 29% of Louisiana Republicans say in a new poll that they think Obama was more to blame than then-President George W. Bush for the poor federal response to the disaster. Another 44% say...

Cops: Drunk Cowboy Rides Horse Into Bar, Ropes Victim

Roping took place in the parking lot, but still

(Newser) - A "highly intoxicated" Louisiana cowboy brought home the top prize in his own personal rodeo: Charges of battery, public intimidation, and disturbing the peace. James Mouton managed the feat by riding his horse into a saloon in the city of Scott, reports the Smoking Gun . At some point he...

Hostage Killed in Louisiana Bank Standoff

Gunman killed after shooting 2 hostages

(Newser) - A man who took hostages at a bank in rural Louisiana shot the two remaining hostages, killing one of them, before being shot and killed by police, authorities said. During negotiations with law enforcement yesterday, the suspect—identified as 20-year-old Fuaed Abdo Ahmed—said he was going to kill the...

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