1. U.S. TO SEND MISSILES, TROOPS TO TURKEY The Pentagon says it will send Patriot air defense missiles and 400 troops to Turkey as part of a NATO force meant to protect Turkish territory from potential Syrian missile attack.
2. KERRY NOW FRONT-RUNNER FOR TOP DIPLOMATIC POST The Democratic senator vaults to the head of Obama’s short list of secretary of state candidates after U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice suddenly withdrew from consideration.
3. NEGOTIATIONS CENTER ON MORE MODEST “CLIFF” DEAL The White House and congressional negotiators eye a deal to extend current tax rates for most Americans, raise rates for top earners but leave other, vexing issues for the new year.
4. RUSSIA ROLLS BACK ASSESSMENT ON SYRIA A day after a senior Russian official was widely quoted as saying Assad was losing control, Russia’s Foreign Ministry insists Moscow’s stance on the crisis hasn’t shifted.
5. HOW AMERICANS VIEW CLIMATE CHANGE About 4 out of 5 now think temperatures are rising and that global warming will be a serious problem for the United States if nothing is done about it, a new Associated Press-GfK poll finds.
6. JENNI RIVERA’S PLANE UNDER INVESTIGATION The company that owns a luxury jet that crashed and killed the Mexican pop superstar had two planes seized by federal drug enforcement agents this year.
7. KIM RISES IN NORTH KOREA A gamble by North Korea’s young leader pays off, at least in the short term, projecting Kim Jong Un to his people as powerful, capable and determined. 8. THIS HOOPSTER CREATES A STIR, BUT NOT HOW YOU MIGHT THINK Gabrielle Ludwig, 50, became the first transsexual to play intercollegiate basketball as both a man and a woman when she suited up for the Lady Saints at Mission College in Santa Clara, Calif.
9. THIS FANTASY BECOMES A REALITY A Marquette University student gets his wish and completes course work centered on the writings of “The Hobbit” author J.R.R. Tolkien.
10. BENGALS IMPROVE PLAYOFF POSITIONING Quarterback Andy Dalton accounts for two touchdowns and Cincinnati’s defense forces five turnovers in a 34-13 win over Philadelphia to slide into last wild-card spot.
In rendering his ruling, District Judge John Trahan all but called the real estate developer a liar for inconsistencies in his accounts of what prompted him to punch a school teacher unconscious.
Frank’s Casing Crew, now doing business as Frank’s International, will make its final appearance on ABiz’s list of the Top 50 Privately Held Companies in Acadiana this year, and once again it will likely be at the top with more than $1 billion in annual revenues. The 75-year-old company specializing in tubular fabrication and installation services to the oil and gas industry plans to offer shares of its stock to the public for the first time.
The defeat, or rather highjacking of House Bill 420 in the final days of this year's Legislative Session, say Reps. Vincent Pierre and Terry Landry, is the result of the propaganda spread by one unidentified local media outlet and an unnamed former state Representative, but nothing to do with the original legislation's lack of checks, balances or details.
City-Parish Council Chairman Brandon Shelvin heaped steady doses of condescending ire on a Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Louisiana executive while failing to reveal his financial ties to a BC/BS rival.
Abbeville native David Primeaux was a popular professor until his death late last year, and while he was successful at camouflaging a dark past, he couldn’t outlive it.
Tehmi Chassion’s failure to recuse himself in the school board’s selection of a group health benefits provider raises ‘serious questions’ on whether he violated state ethics law.
He’s a singer. A songwriter. A piano man. A family man. He’s even got his own Wikipedia entry. He’s David Egan. And he knows ancient secrets about the monolithic stones of Stonehenge that he’s not willing to share.