1. WINTER STORM LASHES NORTHEAST After dumping record snow in Arkansas and causing blizzard conditions across the Midwest, the storm headed to New England.
2. OBAMA RETURNS DAYS BEFORE ‘FISCAL CLIFF’ DEADLINE But no new negotiations are scheduled to avert deep spending cuts and higher taxes.
3. A $1B PLUS SETTLEMENT FOR TOYOTA DRIVERS The agreement over acceleration problems with the Prius is one of the largest in U.S. history.
4. AN AILING FORMER PRESIDENT George H.W. Bush is in intensive care at a Houston hospital, where his fever has worsened and doctors have put him on a liquid diet.
5. A MAP OF GUN OWNERS DRAWS FIRE A New York City-area newspaper’s publication of permit owners’ names and addresses sparked outrage about privacy.
6. WHO HAWAII’S NEW SENATOR WILL BE Brian Schatz, Hawaii’s lieutenant governor, was appointed to succeed the late Sen. Daniel Inouye.
7. WHAT STARBUCKS IS DOING TO AVERT THE ‘FISCAL CLIFF’ Employees in Washington, D.C., are writing “Come Together” on cups to send lawmakers a message.
8. RUSSIA, ENVOY PUSH TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT IN SYRIA Lakhdar Brahimi wants to revive a long-shelved peace plan that never took effect.
9. WHY ZUCKERBERG’S SISTER SAYS HER FACEBOOK PHOTO WENT TOO FAR Randi Zuckerberg tweeted her objection when a marketing director posted a family picture that came up on her Facebook news feed to thousands.
10. HOMELESS IN THE HAMPTONS Churches shelter about 50 people a night who say they grew up in the exclusive waterfront communities, but can’t make ends meet.
There will soon be a whole lot of shakin’ going on at Benny’s Sportshack Supplement Depot, a new concept by Opelousas native Benny Nele. Located at 2002 Johnston St., the supplement shop, smoothie bar and café, featuring hot off the press paninis and wraps, plans to open in late May.
Philip deMahy Sr., a once respected New Iberia ad exec, was sentenced May 2 to spend the next two years (he faced up to 100 years) in a state penitentiary after state and federal investigators found dozens of images depicting children engaged in lewd sexual acts on his personal computer.
This year’s Cool Town issue is all about people who are not native to South Louisiana but made a conscious decision to be here, to be among us, to participate in our culture and contribute to it.
A shelved ordinance transferring $200,000 from a northside drainage project to a south Lafayette development may not break any laws, but it stinks to high heaven.
An effort to restore a shuttered dancehall and document other vacant or razed honky-tonks could serve as a model for saving an endangered species of entertainment.
Lafayette’s gene pool has been host to a long line of eccentric characters who have blurred the lines between crazy, genius, disturbed and curiously entertaining.