March 2018

Spring Cleaning

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Members of the Jennings Garden Club got their hands dirty Tuesday afternoon on Main Street, weeding beds and planting flowers in the area of Founders Park.

Fenton deals with loose dogs

Unrestrained animals a problem for village

FENTON – The board of aldermen here discussed creating an ordinance to deal with loose dogs roaming the village at a Tuesday night meeting.

Fenton Police Sgt. Vernon O’Quinn said the loose dogs have long been a problem for the village and the time had come for the board to pass an ordinance so it could be dealt with.

Northeast braces for heavy snow, winds

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The fourth nor’easter in three weeks pushed its way up the East Coast on Wednesday, the first full day of spring, with high winds and the potential for a foot or more of snow from West Virginia to New England.

Airlines canceled thousands of flights, and school districts throughout the Northeast canceled classes ahead of the storm that’s expected to intensify in the afternoon, with heavy, wet snow likely to knock out power across the region. Shore towns were warned that coastal flooding is possible.

US stocks inch up as investors wait for Fed news on rates

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are mostly higher Wednesday as investors wait for news on interest rates from the Federal Reserve. The Fed is widely expected to raise rates, and investors will be watching closely for clues about how many more increases the central bank may make this year and also for the Fed’s assessment of how the economy is doing.

Eight indicted in white supremacist gang member’s killing

BATON ROUGE (AP) — Eight alleged members or associates of a white supremacist prison gang called the Aryan Circle have been indicted in Louisiana on federal charges in the 2016 killing of a fellow alleged member of the gang.

Court records unsealed on Tuesday show Jeremy Wade Jordan, 38, of Orange, Texas, pleaded guilty on March 2 to the first of two counts in his indictment. The first count in his Dec. 14 indictment charged Jordan with “violent crimes in aid of racketeering” in the murder of Clifton Hallmark in Evangeline Parish.

Audubon Zoo’s newest building turns day to night

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — It’s daylight outside, but with indoor lights simulating a full moon, hundreds of bats flap back and forth. On a nearby wall, what appears to be a talking stone face provides bat fun facts.

It’s the night house at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, and it opens Friday. The Associated Press got a preview Tuesday.

The centerpiece of the $1.6 million night house is the 42-foot-long flight cage for 200 Seba’s short-tailed bats — fruit-eating mammals up to 2½ inches (6.4 centimeters) long, with a foot-wide (30 centimeter) wingspan.

Court: Mexican family can’t sue agent in cross-border death

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A U.S. Border Patrol agent who fired his gun in Texas and fatally wounded a teenager across the Mexican border in 2010 cannot be sued by the teen’s family, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, in a ruling that cited diplomatic and national security concerns.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the case of 15-yearold Sergio Adrian Hernandez. He was killed by agent Jesus Mesa in 2010. The Justice Department has said Mesa was trying to stop illegal border crossings and fired after he came under a barrage of rocks.

Spending talks nearly done, $1.3T bill soon to be unveiled

WASHINGTON (AP) — Negotiators on a $1.3 trillion government spending bill dropped protections for socalled Dreamer immigrants and gave President Donald Trump only a partial victory on funding for his U.S.-Mexico border wall as talks entered the final stage on Wednesday.

A meeting of top congressional leaders produced tentative accords on two tax provisions and a decision to strengthen the criminal background check system for gun purchases. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said an official agreement on the sweeping measure would likely come “very soon.”

Joseph ‘Joe’ A. Rider, Jr.

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SHREVEPORT - Joe lost his battle with Alzheimer’s disease and ALS on March 17, 2018, at the age of 73.

Joe is survived by his wife of over 26 years, Linda Luck. Also surviving are his sister, Debbie Guidry (Luke) and her family, his sister-in-law, Sandra Ryder and her family, his three children, Mark, Scott, and Jodi, 6 grandchildren, and numerous cousins in south Louisiana.

Austin bombing suspect blows self up as SWAT moves in

ROUND ROCK, Texas (AP) — The suspect in the deadly bombings that terrorized Austin blew himself up early Wednesday as authorities closed in on him, bringing a grisly end to a three-week manhunt. But police warned that more bombs could be out there.

The suspect was identified as Mark Anthony Conditt, an unemployed 24-year-old who had attended a local community college. His motive remained a mystery, along with whether he acted alone in the five bombings in the Texas capital and suburban San Antonio that killed two people and wounded four others.