ABC26 News

An NOPD officer responding to a burglar alarm at a house in Lakeview shot and killed the homeowner’s Doberman on the back porch of the house Monday.

Patrick Coleman, the owner of the dog, is distraught. He says he is considering suing the NOPD. And the Humane Society and LASPCA are looking into the incident.

Police say the dog, along with another Doberman, came running out of a doggie door and the officer was fearful for his life. That’s why he shot at the dogs.

Coleman, though, questions why the officer had to shoot. He says the 4-year-old Doberman, Jax, was partially crippled after a recent back surgery. And Coleman says police told him that his other dog, Scarlet, was the attacker. Scarlet was not hurt.

The LASPCA investigated at the home after the shooting and said it seemed justified. They released this as part of a statement:

The LA/SPCA recognizes that misconceptions about large breed dogs such as Dobermans, Rottweilers, German Shepherds, for example, being aggressive may have played a role in the tragic chain of events. Most dogs will bark at someone entering their yard unable to differentiate between an intruder and a police officer. Sadly, when the officer was approached by the dog, the officer felt that he needed to protect himself from a potential attack.

For the first time in 11 years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will open the Bonnet Carre Spillway today. Heavy rains in the Mississippi River Valley have raised the water level in the river high enough to prompt the Corps to open the spillway.

Opening the spillway, located almost 33 miles upriver from New Orleans, will divert river water to Lake Pontchartrain, taking stress off of levees down river. The Corps expects the spillway to remain open for 2-4 weeks.

Here's a map of the Bonnet Carre Spillway, pointing out the location of the flood control structure and the floodway:

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Some facts about the control structure from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers:

• The spillway control structure is 32.8 miles upriver from New Orleans.


• It is 7,000 feet long.


• There are 350 bays, each 20 feet long.


• There are 20 timbers per bay – 7,000 in all.


• The spillway has been opened eight times before today: 1937, 1945, 1950, 1973, 1975, 1979, 1983, and 1997.


• 250,000 cubic feet of water can flow through the spillway per second.

• The floodway covers 7,623 acres.


• It is 5.7 miles long from the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain.


• The spillway width at the river is 7,700 feet.


• At Lake Pontchartrain, the spillway is 12,400 feet wide.

The New Orleans Archdiocese released its plan to close and merge 27 parishes.

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The red markers (click on markers for more info) are parishes that will merge with another parish and change their places of worship to the new parish.

The blue markers are parishes that will close and combine, forming a new parish. The parishioners will name the new parish.

The green markers are parishes that will become a mission of a neighboring parish. The parish’s church will remain open as a place of worship as part of the existing parish.

The purple markers are parishes that will share a pastor with another parish. The parishes will continue to operate independently with independent lay leadership and maintain all parish activities, but will share a pastor.

The yellow markers are parishes that currently operate on the campuses of local universities. They will no longer be considered parishes, but Campus Ministry Centers. Pastoral services and masses will go on as already scheduled.

For a list of all the parish changes click here.

Al Copeland loses his battle with cancer while undergoing treatment in Germany. From Popeyes Chicken to his personal problems and extravagant lifestyle, how will you remember the man who many call the Chicken King?

About 44% -- almost half -- of the policy holders of Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance are in Jefferson and Orleans Parishes.

But most of that 44% are not in the hurricane-flooded areas of the east bank. They are on the west bank.

After Katrina, many westbankers – and people all over Louisiana – got dropped by their insurance companies because they were customers for less than three years. Their only choice for insurance was the insurer of last resort: Citizens.

ABC26 News anchor Liz Reyes told the story of one of those 44%, Deanna Theiss. She lives in Marrero. Her insurance company canceled her policy even though she made a claim of less than $2,000. She was a policy holder for less than three years.

She signed on with Citizens when no other companies would take her. Her insurance doubled, and she had to take on a part-time job to make the payments.

Why is Citizens Insurance so high? By law, it must charge 10% more than private companies so it can't compete for customers.

But, since Katrina, there's not a lot of companies competing in our region. So, homeowners like Theiss have to pay 10% more than going with a private company.

Go to ABC26.com and watch Liz’s story and tell us what you think about Citizens' rates. Are homeowners being punished because of a lack of competition? What about a temporary reduction of Citizens' rates until more companies start writing policies?

Let us know what you think in the comments section.

Louisiana lawmakers are bogged down in the minutia of passing ethics reform legislation.

Governor Bobby Jindal wants to do away with expensive dinners and other freebies, as well as require lawmakers, and their spouses, to disclose their sources of income.

Lawmakers say they're for ethics reform. But many are fighting some of the reform ideas.

Some argue there's no need to disclose the income of spouses. Others say that they receive free tickets all the time from constituents who genuinely want them to attend a certain event-- an event that they wouldn't attend otherwise.

Many lobbyists are also watching the session. Some feel that the ethics reform ideas will just make their jobs tougher, but will not discourage people from breaking the rules. They add-- there's nothing in the session that will prevent big business in the state from influencing top elected officials.

Are lawmakers going to pass needed reforms? Or will the new ethics rules just be window dressing?

That's what New Orleans Police Superintendent Warren Riley said at a press conference he called this morning to discuss the recent violence near parades. Five shootings since Wednesday, nine people hurt, all either on or within blocks of the Uptown parade route.

Riley said in each shooting, law enforcement was close by. "One of them happened where we have our sky tower, which makes absolutely no sense," he said. Police arrested suspects in three of the shootings -- all teens. Riley called them "young, brazen thugs."

Responding to a reporter's question about how to prevent these types of shootings, Riley asked:

"How do you police a mentality that is so brazen and negligent? How do you change that mindset? What makes that individual do what they do in front of an area where you have that many law enforcement officers? And that's why in three of those incidents, they have been apprehended. It's just crazy."

Do you have an answer for the Chief?

A federal class action lawsuit aims to reimburse drivers who have been ticketed by Jefferson Parish red light cameras. The lawyers who filed the suit say they want the cameras removed unless new guidelines are in place to police the electronic police officers. In Lafayette, a growing group of people is also trying to have red light cams removed from their community.

Redflex is the Australian company that provides the cameras free of charge. It also gets a huge chunk of the ticket revenue, based on a sliding scale. Redflex workers at the company's U.S. headquarters in Scottsdale, AZ, are able to access the DMV records of drivers. Redflex insists all its employees must pass a background check before being hired.

In Jefferson Parish, monthly statistics suggest drivers are changing their habits (if not their routes). The number of red light citations is dropping, and councilman John Young says accidents are less frequent.

State law dictates what must happen for traffic citations under criminal law. Jefferson Parish is avoiding those requirements by categorizing red light citations as civil offenses.

Louisiana's Attorney General Buddy Caldwell sent a letter to the St. Bernard Parish Clerk of Court asking that the criminal case against sheriff deputies Clifford Englade and Mike Minton be dismissed. They were accused of "animal cruelty" in the shooting of dogs in the parish immediately following Hurricane Katrina. The case was brought by former Attorney General Charles Foti.

According to the letter, the new AG determined the case lacked sufficient evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Defense Attorney Pat Fanning said, "There was a lot of heat from the animal rights people, so Attorney General Foti decided to indict a couple of deputies with almost no evidence. When it was reviewed in the calm of the day by another Attorney General, he decided to to the right thing."

What do you think? Did Attorney General Caldwell do the right thing?

Click here to see the report that aired on 1/24/08

We've all thought about it. I'd by this. I'd buy that. But what if you actually won?

Check your tickets -- it could be you. Somebody bought the last night's winning Powerball ticket at a Metairie gas station. $97 million.

No one has claimed the prize yet. That doesn't mean the winner doesn't know he or she won. I mean, I wouldn't tell everyone right away.

But, here are some things you should do right away if you did win.

Sign the back of the ticket so someone else can't claim the prize.

According to the Louisiana Lottery website, you should then call the Baton Rouge headquarters at 1-800-735-5825. You have 180 days to claim the prize.

Financial planners recommend consulting a professional money manager before collecting the prize, like a certified financial consultant or CPA.

Once you get the money, Amy Winchester, a CFA at Morgan Keegan, told us that you should be careful when sharing the wealth with family and friends. They have to follow the same tax laws you do.

Winchester said it can be overwhelming winning so much money all at once. But, if you surround yourself with capable people you can trust, you'll be just fine.

Once again, the winning Powerball numbers are:

9, 18, 19, 38, 47 and the Powerball was 11

If you won, sign that ticket. If not, keep dreaming like me.