Ralph Hall, oldest-ever member of US House, dead at age 95

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Former Texas Rep. Ralph Hall, the oldest-ever member of the U.S. House and a man who claimed to have once sold cigarettes and Coca-Cola to the bank-robbing duo of Bonnie and Clyde, has died at age 95.

The Republican and World War II pilot died at his home in Rockwall on Thursday morning, said Ed Valentine, Hall's longtime strategist. Asked about a cause of death, Valentine simply cited Hall's age, saying he hadn't been suffering from any known long-term health problems.

Hall was 91 when he left the House after being defeated in a 2014 Republican primary runoff election by John Ratcliffe. The former U.S. attorney was less than half Hall's age and well-schooled in digital and data-heavy campaigning.

An avid jogger, Hall marked Memorial Day 2012 — when he was 89 — by skydiving to honor American service members. That Christmas, he became the oldest member of Congress' lower chamber, breaking the record set by North Carolina Rep. Charles Manly Stedman, who died in office when he was 89 years, 7 months and 25 days old.

Read more: https://newsok.com/article/feed/9443456/ralph-hall-oldest-ever-member-of-us-house-dead-at-age-95

This wouldn't have happened if it was Coca-Cola

A man we assume was already sufficiently over-caffeinated stole an 18-wheeler Pepsi truck late last month.

The soda truck thief, Steven Allen Hart, jumped into the truck and drove off with it while workers were unloading product from the back. The truck’s actual driver had to jump out as Hart made his getaway.

The man’s girlfriend called police to report her boyfriend was driving the truck around a parking lot and looking for her. Hart later told police they had an argument and he stole the truck to get to the airport. Don’t feel too confused; we don’t understand his plan either.

Once police spotted him, Hart — probably with a fresh Pepsi in hand — led them on a 30-minute chase around Tulsa.

Read more: https://www.okgazette.com/oklahoma/chicken-fried-news-caffeine-slinger/Content?oid=5790389

True confession: I've thought about hijacking the Pepsi truck too.

LSU, Will Wade telephone tapping is dark turn in federal college basketball probe

BATON ROUGE — At this rate, LSU could be the first team in college basketball history stripped of a conference title before it actually wins it.

On the afternoon after a truly magnificent victory Wednesday by second-year wunderkind basketball coach Will Wade's LSU team at Florida ... the Yahoo Sports and the FBI's hammer fell again on LSU.

Hard.

And this time, it's really bad for Wade and for LSU. Period.

It involves Wade in a FBI-taped conversation in June of 2017 talking to agent runner Christian Dawkins about money for then-Scotlandville High star player Javonte Smart, who scored 15 points in the No. 10 Tigers' thrilling, 79-78 overtime win at Florida Wednesday night.

"Dude, I went to him with a (expletive deleted) strong offer about a month ago," Wade said in a phone conversation in June of 2017 with Dawkins, according to the FBI in a Yahoo Sports story published on Thursday afternoon.

Read more: https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/sports/college/lsu/2019/03/07/latest-lsu-turn-federal-probe-college-basketball-darkest-yet/3095326002/

Shreveport financial advisor part of largest elder fraud sweep

The most recent coordinated sweep of elder fraud cases was the largest ever, surpassing last year’s nationwide sweep, and involved more than 260 defendants from around the globe who victimized more than 2 million Americans, most of them elderly, according to a news release from Attorney General William P. Barr and U.S. Attorney David C. Joseph.

In the Western District of Louisiana, the sweep included the indictment of Gregory Alan Smith, 56, of Shreveport, and Kirbyjon H. Caldwell, 65, of Houston, Texas, both charged with defrauding investors out of more than $1 million.

According to the indictment returned by a federal grand jury on March 29, 2018, Smith used his influence and status as the operator and manager of Smith Financial Group LLC in Shreveport, and Caldwell used his influence and status as pastor at a Houston church to lure investors into sinking their money into what they thought were high-return investments. Instead of investing the funds, the defendants used them to pay personal loans, credit card balances, mortgages, vehicle purchases and other personal expenses. Some of the victims were seniors.

The Department took action in every federal district across the country, through the filing of criminal or civil cases or through consumer education efforts. In each case, offenders allegedly engaged in financial schemes that targeted or largely affected seniors. In total, the charged elder fraud schemes caused alleged losses of millions of more dollars than last year, putting the total alleged losses at this year’s sweep at over three fourths of one billion dollars.

Read more: https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/crime/2019/03/07/shreveport-financial-advisor-part-largest-elder-fraud-sweep/3095977002/

Cross-posted in the Louisiana Group.

Earlier threads:

Louisiana financial planner, Houston pastor indicted
https://www.democraticunderground.com/107838656

Houston megachurch pastor and spiritual adviser to George W. Bush - indicted on fraud charges
https://www.democraticunderground.com/107838657

Shreveport financial advisor part of largest elder fraud sweep

The most recent coordinated sweep of elder fraud cases was the largest ever, surpassing last year’s nationwide sweep, and involved more than 260 defendants from around the globe who victimized more than 2 million Americans, most of them elderly, according to a news release from Attorney General William P. Barr and U.S. Attorney David C. Joseph.

In the Western District of Louisiana, the sweep included the indictment of Gregory Alan Smith, 56, of Shreveport, and Kirbyjon H. Caldwell, 65, of Houston, Texas, both charged with defrauding investors out of more than $1 million.

According to the indictment returned by a federal grand jury on March 29, 2018, Smith used his influence and status as the operator and manager of Smith Financial Group LLC in Shreveport, and Caldwell used his influence and status as pastor at a Houston church to lure investors into sinking their money into what they thought were high-return investments. Instead of investing the funds, the defendants used them to pay personal loans, credit card balances, mortgages, vehicle purchases and other personal expenses. Some of the victims were seniors.

The Department took action in every federal district across the country, through the filing of criminal or civil cases or through consumer education efforts. In each case, offenders allegedly engaged in financial schemes that targeted or largely affected seniors. In total, the charged elder fraud schemes caused alleged losses of millions of more dollars than last year, putting the total alleged losses at this year’s sweep at over three fourths of one billion dollars.

Read more: https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/crime/2019/03/07/shreveport-financial-advisor-part-largest-elder-fraud-sweep/3095977002/

Cross-posted in the Texas Group.

Anti-John Bel Edwards ads pulled from radio stations

An attack ad against Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards was pulled from some radio stations this week after the Edwards campaign complained it contained false information. A new version of the advertisement is now running with different wording, according to the group who sponsored it.

The nonprofit Truth In Politics paid for the radio spot to air in 20 markets in Louisiana over the next month. The group said some, but not most, of the stations pulled it after lawyers with the Edwards campaign complained about its content. In order to be consistent, the group said it put together a new ad with different wording that is now running across all markets.

“We voluntarily changed a word or two, and the context of our ad remains the same," said Jay Connaughton, spokesman for Truth In Politics, in a written statement Wednesday (March 6). “They failed in their attempts to silence us, and the ads ran all weekend and continue to run today.”

Truth In Politics cofounder Lane Grigsby is a prominent Baton Rouge area businessman and major Republican donor.

Read more: https://www.nola.com/elections/2019/03/anti-john-bel-edwards-ads-pulled-from-radio-stations.html

Ole Miss student government votes to remove Confederate monuments from campus

Students at the University of Mississippi voted unanimously on Wednesday (March 6) to remove and relocate a statue of a Confederate soldier on the Oxford, Miss. campus, the Clarion Ledger reported. The vote of the Associated Student Body was 47-0; the university’s chancellor will have final say over the proposed relocation to a cemetery on the campus.

The newspaper reported that the statue was donated to the university by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1906. The United Daughters of the Confederacy was an organization that some historians say promoted the Cult of the Lost Cause, which was an effort to glorify the Confederacy and promote white supremacy; the group now denounces efforts by white supremacist groups to promote the Confederate battle flag.

In the resolution, the Clarion Leger reported, the students at Ole Miss said, “Confederate ideology directly violates the tenets of the university creed that supports fairness, civility, and respect for the dignity of each person.”

Arielle Hudson, the vice president of the university’s black student union, told the Clarion Leger that she is tired of having conversations with parents of prospective students who dislike seeing the Confederate statue on tours.

Read more: https://www.nola.com/politics/2019/03/ole-miss-student-government-votes-to-remove-confederate-monuments-from-campus-report.html

Judge approves settlement in Louisiana school religion lawsuit

SHREVEPORT — A federal judge has approved a settlement in a lawsuit over religious activities at a Louisiana school system.

U.S. District Court Judge Maurice Hicks Jr. on Wednesday approved an agreement reached in January between the Bossier Parish School District and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

The group sued the school district in February 2018 after several parents complained their children had been subjected to unwanted religious messages.

Hicks' order calls for the school board to revise part of its religious expression policy.

Read more: https://www.nola.com/education/2019/03/judge-approves-settlement-in-louisiana-school-religion-lawsuit.html

Towboat carrying 13K gallons of diesel sinks near LaPlace

A towboat carrying about 13,000 gallons of diesel fuel sank Thursday (March 7) on the Mississippi River near LaPlace, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The five crew members on board the sinking boat, the St. Rita, were rescued by a good Samaritan towboat, the Rod C.

No injuries were reported and there have been no reported impacts to river traffic, Coast Guard Sector New Orleans said in a news release.

A visible sheen was reported around the boat, which sank around 3 p.m. Thursday. A Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin Helicopter, diverted to conduct an overflight of the sunken vessel, reported the sheen from mile marker 132 to mile marker 117.

Read more: https://www.nola.com/news/2019/03/towboat-carrying-13k-gallons-of-diesel-sinks-near-laplace-coast-guard.html

Jimmy Kimmel Live: EXCLUSIVE - Trump's High School Transcripts Revealed!