1. WHEN IT’S TIME FOR ‘PLAN C’ Facing a revolt by the rank and file, House Republicans scuttle plans to vote on the so-called Plan B, a proposal to avoid the “fiscal cliff.” 2. HOW BIG PHARMA IS CASHING IN ON HGH ABUSE An AP investigation shows that a federal crackdown on illicit foreign supplies of human growth hormone has driven record sales of the drug.
3. A WEEK LATER, REMEMBERING SCHOOL SHOOTING VICTIMS Many plan a moment of silence at 9:30 a.m. Friday, and buildings in Connecticut with bells have been asked to ring them 26 times.
4. WHERE CHRISTMAS WILL BE WHITE, AND ROADS TREACHEROUS Whiteout conditions in the Midwest are closing interstate highways and canceling flights of holiday travelers.
5. EGYPT GEARING UP FOR PROTESTS AHEAD OF CONSTITUTION VOTE Backers of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi head toward the presidential palace while liberal and secular groups camp out at Cairo’s downtown Tahrir Square.
6. JAPAN’S NEXT LEADER WANTS FREER REIN FOR MILITARY Shinzo Abe vows a review of post-WWII security policies and proposes ideas that range from changing the name of the military to revising the constitution.
7. FACEBOOK EYES NEW REVENUE Users would pay $1 to send messages to the inboxes of non-friends under a service the social network is testing.
8. THE END MAY BE NEAR. JUST NOT THIS NEAR The Mayans’ appointed time comes and goes with no sign of the apocalypse.
9. ‘SANDY CLAUS’ DELIVERS TOYS TO STORM-STRICKEN KIDS Michael Sciaraffo is playing the role of Saint Nick and heading out to storm-ravaged homes to deliver new toys to kids whose play rooms were destroyed by floodwaters.
10. NHL CANCELS GAMES THROUGH MID-JANUARY The impasse with the players union has caused more than half the season to be lost — and the rest is now in danger.
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 go public this year.
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.