KATC - Always On

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) Ku Klux Klansmen say they'll protest Saturday at the University of Mississippi. Grand titan Shane Tate of Tupelo says members are unhappy because Ole Miss Chancellor Dan Jones told the band to drop a pep song after some fans had been chanting "the South will rise again."... more »

GRANBY, Colo. (AP) The death of the mother of New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees has been ruled a suicide. Mina Brees, an attorney from Austin, Texas, died on Aug. 7 while visiting Colorado. This week Grand County coroner Brenda Bock concluded that she died of a prescription drug overdose... more »

KENNETT, Mo. (AP) The fate of a black school teacher charged with assaulting police officers is now in the hands of a jury. A jury of 10 white women, one black woman and one black man began deliberating the case of Heather Ellis late Friday. Ellis, now a teacher in... more »

MONROE, La. (AP) Marcus Clark is Louisiana's newest Supreme Court justice. On Thursday, Clark took his oath of office much the same way he campaigned for the seat with a display of his experience as a deputy, prosecutor and judge. Hundreds of people attended the swearing-in ceremony at the Monroe... more »

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) Ku Klux Klansmen say they'll protest Saturday at the University of Mississippi. Grand titan Shane Tate of Tupelo says members are unhappy because Ole Miss Chancellor Dan Jones told the band to drop a pep song after some fans had been chanting "the South will rise again."... more »

KENNETT, Mo. (AP) Testimony in the trial of Heather Ellis has concluded with Ellis, her cousin and aunt telling the jury it was police who were abusive to her. The 24-year-old school teacher from Louisiana is accused of cutting in line at the Kennett Walmart in January 2007, then becoming... more »

NEW ORLEANS (AP) A federal grand jury has indicted a Louisiana businessman on charges he defrauded investors out of roughly $19.5 million in what prosecutors call a Ponzi scheme. The 63-count indictment handed up Friday says Matthew B. Pizzolato used investor funds to buy such personal luxuries as cars, furniture,... more »

GRETNA, La. (AP) Another Jefferson Parish corrections officer has been arrested. Col. John Fortunato, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, says 41-year-old Cecelia Mani, of Metairie, is accused of stealing bond money while working in the jail's intake center. Mani was booked Thursday with one count of theft after investigators... more »

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) The state Board of Ethics has formally asked the Louisiana 1st Circuit Court of Appeal to review a decision by a panel of administrative law judges that dismissed conflict-of-interest charges against a key Jindal administration floorleader on ethics issues. In September, the panel ruled that the... more »

KENNETT, Mo. (AP) Heather Ellis has taken the witness stand in her trial about a case with strong racial overtones. The 24-year-old school teacher from Louisiana is accused of cutting in line at the Kennett Walmart in January 2007, then becoming belligerent and refusing to leave after store managers asked... more »

CHALMETTE, La. (AP) Law enforcement officials in St. Bernard Parish have been busy since a new truancy law went into effect last year. So far, around 30 parents have been arrested for their kids being late or not going to school. Truancy officers say parents are called in two or... more »

NEW ORLEANS (AP) Matthew Scoggin, known for playing the piano at debutante balls and other high society events in New Orleans, was convicted of sexually abusing his 9-year-old niece. The Times-Picayune reported a jury in state court returned a guilty verdict Thursday on a charge of indecent behavior with a... more »

OPELOUSAS , La. (AP) A Lafayette Parish sheriff's deputy was cited for allegedly slashing a vehicle's tire in the parking lot of Walmart. Jean Phillip Joubert, a five-year veteran of the department, was issued a summons on Thursday for criminal damage to property. He was placed on administrative leave pending... more »

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is alerting hunters that flooding conditions along the Ouachita and Boeuf rivers will reduce the available hunting area within the Boeuf Wildlife Management Area in Caldwell Parish. After reviewing river forecasts and topographical data, officials estimated that about half... more »

HOUMA, La. (AP) After months of evading capture by teams of Wildlife and Fisheries specialists, a wayward Louisiana black bear seems to be calling Dularge his new home. A multi-agency taskforce of bear specialists equipped with heat-sensing night-vision goggles, tranquilizer guns and snare traps were not able to capture and... more »

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) A Walker native already serving a life sentence in Georgia for a 1995 murder has been indicted in the 1985 rape and beating death of a 19-year-old woman inside her Baton Rouge home. On Thursday, an East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury charged 54-year-old Vernon Kennedy... more »

WATSON, La. (AP) State police are investigating a fatal hit-and-run accident on La. Highway 1026. Troopers say 56-year-old Richard C. France of Denham Springs apparently was struck from behind as he pushed his bicycle in the eastbound traffic lane. Investigators tell The Advocate of Baton Rouge that shortly after daybreak... more »

CLINTON, La. (AP) East Feliciana Parish sheriff's deputies have booked a man facing an aggravated rape charge with two additional counts, accusing him of inappropriate behavior with a student on his school bus in 2008. Sheriff's Detective Don McKey told The Advocate of Baton Rouge that 38-year-old William Staton of... more »

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) A Baton Rouge Fire Department spokesman say a dog playing with a pillow too close to a space heater is to blame for a house fire. Spokesman Curt Monte told The Advocate of Baton Rouge that firefighters were called around 4 a.m. Thursday to find a... more »

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) A 27-year-old Baton Rouge man has been indicted in the Sept. 4 stabbing death of his former girlfriend at an assisted living facility where she worked. On Thursday, an East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury charged Fredrick Jermaine Taylor with second-degree murder in the killing of... more »