The state agency that oversees hurricane evacuations says it's prepared with abundant shelter space for when the next big storm hits. Department of Social Services Secretary Ann Williamson says the state exceeded goals for arranging shelter space... Williamson says they can house most of the evacuees in-state, and they've also identified shelter space for Louisiana residents in surrounding states.

Events at the CajunDome are going to cost attendees 8 percent
more--at least for awhile. The Lafayette arena is starting to
collect sales tax on food, beverages, merchandise and so forth, to
comply with a court order. There's a trial on the matter scheduled
for later this year.

Perhaps that's part of the reason FEMA is hoping to close ALL the
hurricane-evacuee trailer parks in Louisiana by Sunday. FEMA
spokesman Andrew Thomas says they're working to get each of the over
400 families still in trailers into more permanent housing.

The U.S. Department of Education awards a 170-million-dollar grant to a consortium of 26 states, including Louisiana, to develop new common assessments for public school students.

An early morning fire Thursday in the 2200 block of Curtis Street kept Baton Rouge firefighters busy for a while. 

Baton Rouge police report that officers responded to a shooting about 3:30 Thursday morning in the 1500 block of North Marque Ann Drive where they found a black male lying in a parking lot who had been shot. 

A bench-clearing brawl in Miami made news as the Marlins outslugged the Nationals 16-10 Wednesday night. 

The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Arizona's controversial Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Israelis and Palestinians have now planned to meet for peace talks every two weeks.