NEW ORLEANS
Police: Man kills two, himself
The man authorities say shot and killed a woman he’d been romantically involved with and a police officer who had tried to help her died late Friday, hours after shooting himself in the chest during a standoff with authorities on a New Orleans bridge. Col. John Fortunato, spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, said Sylvester Holt, 32, was pronounced dead at 11:14 p.m. Friday. Authorities said Holt shot himself in the chest after threatening for hours to jump off a bridge spanning the Mississippi River. Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand said during talks with authorities on the bridge Holt admitted shooting Westwego police officer Michael Louviere, 26, and Simone Veal, 32. Police said Holt had recently found out Veal was pregnant with her new boyfriend.
ALBANY, N.Y.
Birth control access expanded
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday he was requiring health insurance companies to cover medically necessary abortions and most forms of contraception at no cost to women, a move that further protects and safeguards coverage under the federal Affordable Care Act. The state department of financial services is mandating that health insurers in New York provide for at least one form of FDA-approved contraception exceeding a month’s supply at a time. And women must be provided medically necessary abortions without co-pays or deductibles.
INDIANAPOLIS
Trucker loses all his marbles
A trucker lost his marbles in the Indianapolis area and caused a bit of a traffic headache Saturday. State police told TV station WXIN that a truck carrying 38,000 pounds of marbles lost its trailer, spilling its contents onto southbound Interstate 465. The marbles were on the shoulder and median. There were no injuries, but a lane of traffic was affected by the cleanup during much of the day.
TEANECK, N.J.
Habitual toll evader arrested
Transit police arrested a New Jersey man who avoided paying tolls nearly 900 times and owes more than $56,000 in unpaid tolls and fees, authorities said. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police said an officer stopped Alesandel Rodriguez’s car Friday after it failed to post a payment in an EZ-Pass lane on the George Washington Bridge. Authorities said the car was missing front and rear license plates. Police also learned there was a warrant for his arrest.
Compiled from wire reports