Ruling OKs removal of another Confederate icon

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) – More than a year after four monuments to the Confederate era were removed from the New Orleans landscape, a federal judge has cleared the way for removal of another Louisiana Confederate memorial.  Wednesday’s ruling in the northwest Louisiana city of Shreveport says the Caddo Parish Commission has the authority to remove a monument outside the parish courthouse.  U.S. District Judge Robert James dismissed a lawsuit by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. James ruled that the group failed to prove it had any "private property interest" in the patch of land where the monument sits.  The commission voted 7-5 for removal of the monument last October. It’s unclear when the commission will begin removal, or if the Daughters of the Confederacy will appeal.