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A businessman gets results, after making a public plea to help him find the man who he says ripped him off.more>> A businessman gets results, after making a public plea to help him find the man who he says ripped him off.more>> A former federal prosecutor tells a local community activist he's had enough of her comments.more>> A former federal prosecutor tells a local community activist he's had enough of her comments.more>> Lawmakers move one step closer to stripping financial control of the Coroner's Office from Dr. Peter Galvan, and the St. Tammany Parish coroner and many of his higher-paid staff could be close to getting their paychecks cut.more>> Lawmakers move one step closer to stripping financial control of the Coroner's Office from Dr. Peter Galvan, and the St. Tammany Parish coroner and many of his higher-paid staff could be close to getting their paychecks cut.more>> Senators postponed a vote Tuesday on a controversial bill that would prohibit enforcement in Louisiana of any federal bans on assault weapons, after opponents called the measure unconstitutional.more>> Senators postponed a vote Tuesday on a controversial bill that would prohibit enforcement in Louisiana of any federal bans on assault weapons, after opponents called the measure unconstitutional.more>> Lawmakers are looking for ways to create roadblocks for Planned Parenthood's construction of a new facility in New Orleans that would provide abortions in addition to other health care services for women.more>> Lawmakers are looking for ways to create roadblocks for Planned Parenthood's construction of a new facility in New Orleans that would provide abortions in addition to other health care services for women.more>> A 41-year-old man is living and breathing with a heart made of plastic. Alfred Williams received the first Total Artificial Heart transplant in the Gulf South three months ago at Ochsner.
more>> A 41-year-old man is living and breathing with a heart made of plastic. Alfred Williams received the first Total Artificial Heart transplant in the Gulf South three months ago at Ochsner.
more>> Three years after the Gulf oil disaster, areas of the South Louisiana marsh fall silent.
more>> Three years after the Gulf oil disaster, areas of the South Louisiana marsh fall silent. Researchers expected the wildlife population to be impacted by oil in the first year and then bounce back. In some areas, that has yet to happen.more>> TripAdvisor users are giving New Orleans enough positive feedback to make the city one of the website's top U.S. tourism destinations for 2013.more>> TripAdvisor users are giving New Orleans enough positive feedback to make the city one of the website's top U.S. tourism destinations for 2013.more>> While the New Orleans area isn't spared of tornadoes, it rarely sees storms as powerful as the one that hit near Oklahoma City. But five months ago, people in nearby McNeill felt the brunt of an EF-3 tornado.
more>> While the New Orleans area isn't spared of tornadoes, it rarely sees storms as powerful as the one that hit near Oklahoma City. But five months ago, people in nearby McNeill felt the brunt of an EF-3 tornado.
more>> State Police continue their investigation into a deadly accident involving a 15-year-old girl who was driving without a license and transporting three younger siblings, most of whom did not have on seat belts.
more>> State Police continue their investigation into a deadly accident involving a 15-year-old girl who was driving without a license and transporting three younger siblings, most of whom did not have on seat belts.
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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Dozens of states have slashed spending on mental health care over the last four years, either because of the recession's toll on revenue or a new zeal to shrink government.
But that trend may be heading for a U-turn in 2013 after last year's shooting rampages by two mentally disturbed gunmen.
The reversal is especially jarring in statehouses dominated by conservative Republicans, who aggressively cut welfare programs but now find themselves caught in a crosscurrent of pressures involving gun control, public safety and health care for millions of disadvantaged Americans.
Shelley Chandler is executive director of the Iowa Alliance of Community Providers. She says lawmakers in some states have begun to recognize that their cuts "may have gone too deep."
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