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KENNER, LOUISIANA (ALBOENEWS) — An oil rig has exploded in Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana, according to local media. The incident occurred on Sunday evening and has caused multiple injuries.

Ten people will be arrested on hazing charges in the death of a Louisiana State University fraternity pledge after a night of drinking, LSU officials said Wednesday. One of the 10 suspects, Matthew Alexander Naquin, also faces a negligent homicide charge in the death last month of 18-year-old Maxwell Gruver, a freshman from Roswell, Georgia, LSU said in a statement.

Breaux Bridge student hospitalized Wednesday; her parents speak out Mothers of autistic children are speaking out after we reported on an investigation into an incident involving a student defending her autistic friend at Breaux Bridge High School last week. Reagan Boudreaux was defending her friend Arron when she was allegedly punched in the face by a football player at Breaux Bridge High School. The St. Martin Parish School Board as well as the Sheriff’s Department is actively investigating the case, but have yet to release any official statement.

[Intro by Topher: a High School cheerleader (small female) was put in ICU by football player. She was defending Autistic student from football player. Football player hit her multiple times. With that, read the article] Correct title: Breaux Bridge student hospitalized Wednesday; her parents speak out [Article takes 6 paragraphs to tell you what I told you in my Intro] BREAUX BRIDGE (LA.) KLFY- The St. Martin Parish the Sheriff’s Department and the St, Martin Paris School Board are officially investigating an incident that left one Breaux Bridge high student hospitalized. Regan Boudreaux, a junior at Breaux Bridge high loved...

When Tropical Storm Nate formed and forecasts put New Orleans in its projected path for this weekend, one big question loomed for residents and business owners: Will the pumps work? "That's now a thought in everybody who lives in New Orleans," said Devin Shearman, a manager at Katie's restaurant and lounge, which flooded during an unexpected rainstorm Aug. 5. It was one of two flash floods this past summer that led to revelations about personnel and equipment problems at the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board, the agency that runs the pumping system that drains the city. Some pumps weren't...

Tropical Storm Nate is emerging from Honduras into the Western Caribbean. Forecast models are in agreement that Nate will continue into the Gulf of Mexico. Oil companies have begun evacuations of offshore platforms. Nate is forecast to reach the northern Gulf Coast this weekend as a hurricane, and the threat of direct impacts from wind, storm surge, and heavy rainfall is increasing from Louisiana through the western Florida Panhandle. Hurricane and tropical storm watches, as well as a storm surge watch, have been issued for a portion of the northern Gulf Coast, and residents in these areas should monitor the...

After a brief pause in tropical activity, another system formed Wednesday in the Caribbean and will likely become Tropical Storm Nate, according to the National Hurricane Center. Tropical Depression 16 is located about 210 miles south-southeast of Cabo Gracias a Dios on the border of Nicaragua and Honduras, the weather service said in its 11 a.m. ET advisory. The system has sustained winds of about 35 mph, moving northwest at 7 mph, and "is expected to become a tropical storm later today or tonight." Meteorologist Adam Klotz has more Video NOAA predicts most active hurricane season since 2010 "On the...

Tropical Storm Nate has formed in the western Caribbean Sea and is increasingly likely to pose a threat to parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast as a strong tropical storm or a low-end hurricane this weekend, after tracking over Nicaragua and Honduras today. It is now likely that Nate will make landfall along the northern Gulf Coast, somewhere between Louisiana and Florida, Sunday. It remains too soon to tell where exactly this landfall will occur. The uncertainty in Nate's forecast track is higher than normal. Most guidance also suggests this landfall will most likely be as a low-end hurricane. However,...

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCDAT1+shtml/041441.shtml 000 WTNT41 KNHC 041441 TCDAT1 Tropical Depression Sixteen Discussion Number 1 NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL AL162017 1100 AM EDT Wed Oct 04 2017 Satellite images indicate that the area of low pressure in the southwestern Caribbean Sea has become better organized since yesterday and is now a tropical depression. GOES-16 one-minute visible data suggest the center is in between two large curved bands of deep convection, not too far from San Andres Island. The initial wind speed is set to 30 kt, somewhat above the TAFB satellite classification, given recent microwave data. An Air Force Reserve Hurricane...

Ever since the tragic shooting in Las Vegas Sunday night, legions of celebrities who have very little knowledge of guns, criminal psychology, mental disorders, or any helpful information. Have taken to Twitter or gone on television to offer their “solutions,” to the problem of mass shootings in America. The latest such incident of ill-informed advice, in the sports world, comes from New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton. On Tuesday, Payton responded to the heinous Las Vegas attack by tweeting claims that, since 1968, more Americans have been killed by guns than have been killed on all battlefields throughout the whole...

Schilling Distributing Company has decided to remove Bud Light signs that feature the NFL and the Saints from stores that get their beer from Schilling. The company issued the following statement today: Schilling Distributing Company has made the decision to pull all Bud Light point-of-sale material featuring the NFL and New Orleans Saints marks following last weekend's National Anthem protests. Schilling has been locally Veteran-Owned through three generations since 1950, and it strongly supports our Nation's flag and law enforcement. Schilling believes that while everyone has a right to peacefully protest, doing so at the expense of our National Anthem...

The spectacular blizzard of confetti that fluttered down during "(I Wanna) Rock and Roll All Nite" had barely settled Saturday (Sept. 30) at the Gretna Heritage Festival when the Kiss concert took an unexpected turn toward the patriotic. "It's always cool to love your country," frontman Paul Stanley told the mostly appreciative audience. Joined by Gretna politicians, the singer-guitarist congratulated Army Major Steve Roberts for his 30-plus years of military service. "Some people believe that freedom is free," he said. But Kiss, Stanley said, appreciates military sacrifice.In an odd visual juxtaposition of symbols, Stanley, dressed in a glittering black, midriff-exposing...

BATON ROUGE, LA. — A federal judge has ruled that Black Lives Matter is a social movement that can't be sued over an officer's injuries during a protest following a deadly police shooting in Baton Rouge last year. A Baton Rouge police officer sued Black Lives Matter and DeRay Mckesson, a prominent activist in the movement. But U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson ruled Thursday that Black Lives Matter is not "an entity of any sort," and like the tea party or civil rights movement, it can't be sued.

The Saints were one of several teams across the NFL to have players that sat down or took a knee during the national anthem before Sunday's game against the Panthers. Cameron Jordan, Mark Ingram, Sheldon Rankins, Adrian Peterson and Kenny Vaccaro, among others, remained seated on the Saints' bench. The repercussions came in on Monday, with Louisiana House Representative Kenny Havard seizing the opportunity to threaten to redirect state funds away from the Saints. "Disrespecting our national anthem and flag in the name of social injustice is the highest form of hypocrisy," Havard said in a statement on Monday, per...

Louisiana State Rep. Kenny Havard expressed his desire to cut millions in state tax dollars, exemptions and credits allocated to the New Orleans Saints, the NFL and associated groups, the Advocate reported. His Monday announcement came one day after a group of Saints players protested the national anthem before their Sunday game against the Panthers. "The very reason (the Saints) have the privilege and opportunity to play professional football while being paid millions is because someone in uniform died protecting their right to do so. It is a disgrace to the men and women of this nation and state who...

A 23-year-old white man whom police call a "person of interest" in the fatal shootings of two black men in Baton Rouge has been released from jail after his arrest on drug charges. Baton Rouge Police Sgt. Don Coppola, a department spokesman, said Monday that Kenneth Gleason "has not been cleared" and remains a "person of interest" in the investigation of the killings.

People in New Orleans, Louisiana, have been voicing their discontent about the intrusion of the Interstate 10, or I-10, Freeway in their lives ever since it was completed in 1990. After years of debating and studying, they are ready to repair the damage it has caused with what they are calling a Cultural Innovation District. The community will not remove the Interstate since the city cannot afford it, and in the end, the cost of removing it wouldn’t measure up to its value, according to studies conducted. As a result, the city and designers decided to meet halfway and resurrect...

Traditionally Free Republic has tried to keep truly important topics to one or two threads. I am creating a prayer and comment thread to parallel the Irma threads and keep down the childlike quips that are slowing down the other threads. Have a religious comment? Have a relative in need of prayer? Please post it here. The other threads are slow enough with all the graphics, which becomes more important as people try to evacuate, moving to cell and tablet communication. So please play nice and move discussions here.

As most of the nation celebrates the volunteerism so evident in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, a sense of disquiet seems to be afoot among fans of Big Government. People who spontaneously organize impressive responses might make the public feel as though government doesn’t have all the answers, and that self-reliance beats waiting for the government to solve their problems. Why, that's troubling. Something like this mental process must have prompted New Yorker editor David Remnick to greenlight this article, titled, “Why does American need the Cajun Navy?” Benjamin Wallace-Wells (you already guessed the author would have a hyphenated last...