Bossier Sheriff’s deputies honed their active shooter skills this week as they learned how to safely and efficiently respond to a call or situation involving a perpetrator with a gun, or a hostage situation.

“We say it every day, ‘It’s not a matter of if, but rather when’ when it comes to an active shooter situation in our area,” said Bossier Sheriff Julian Whittington. “Ensuring our deputies are trained to be proactive and keep a situation like that from arising in the first place, or being able to properly respond if it does, is vital. Lives will depend on it.”

The Sheriff’s Office converted an old warehouse in Plain Dealing into a place that has cardboard walls, rooms and fake furniture to simulate a home or workplace. The deputies then go through training exercises in response to various scenarios such as an active shooter in a school or shopping center, a gunman in a courtroom, a hostage situation, workplace violence or an alarm call at a residence or business.

“We’re teaching them basic skill sets like ‘slicing the pie’ and ‘quick peek’ that they can use in a variety of situations,” said Capt. Al Langley, an active shooter instructor with 30 years in law enforcement. Langley says the training is a proactive approach to handling these volatile situations and ensures officer safety and quick removal or elimination of the threat.

“Some of our scenarios are based on events that have already happened, and we are using simunitions to make it as real as it can get,” he continued. Simunitions are a specific type of ammunition used by law enforcement and the military that provide a simulated effect of gun fire with the sound and smell, but are still non-lethal training ammunition.”

The three days of training was held for deputies who work security for the Bossier Parish Courthouse, bailiffs, and some Patrol deputies who haven’t been through basic SWAT and advanced training. For trainee Deputy Tony Broadway, having the proper skills to respond to these dangerous situations, along with the right mindset, gives him the confidence to know he’ll be ready to respond.

“When we get 10-8 [ready for duty], I’m always thinking, ‘never get complacent’,” said Broadway, who patrols the Haughton area. “You may work one call like a domestic, and you may get 12 calls and they are smooth sailing, but it may be that 13th one, and it’s all different. Never get complacent…never let your guard down. Training like this is very important.”

For Sgt. Guy Whiddon, supervisor for bailiffs in the Bossier Parish Courthouse, his job is about being prepared to take care of anything from the front door to the courtroom. With recent shootings at courthouses in Texas and Delaware, training for the “what-if” becomes even more vital.

“The courthouse is dangerous – you’ve got criminals up there every day,” said Whiddon, a 10-year veteran with the Bossier Sheriff’s Office. “You’ve got what we call ‘pots and pans’ which is civil court, with people getting divorces, protective orders, non-support…people get mad up there. Hopefully we can control it here with our mouths first [de-escalate a situation with verbal commands], and if not, we’ve got to be prepared for the next step.”
Langley also noted that criminals today seem to have a different mindset.

“In the past, our suspects have typically had negotiable issues – wanting to free these people or see those people, wanting money or something like that,” he said. “The problem is people who are doing these shootings now seem to have no negotiation, and they’re just going in to do damage until they can’t do damage anymore.

“If it happens, we are going to be ready,” he assured. “We’re going to do everything we can, number one, to prevent it, and number two, be ready to take care of the situation if it does happen so we can stop it as fast as possible.”

My Mother’s Day was one of the best ever.  My 18-year-old and I went on “The Spirit of the Red” cruise on the Red River. It’s a short ride, but it was such a beautiful day. I took some really cool pictures I thought I’d share with you.

It’s only a 30-45 minute ride on The Spirit of the Red and Captain Sandy Jackson takes you up Cross Bayou. He has loads of information to share with passengers about the history of the Red River and Shreveport.

Angelina Masiki is a K945 VIP and she is proof positive that it pays to be a K945 VIP! She won a three-night stay in New Orleans along with a three-day pass to Jazz Fest to see Maroon 5 for both she and her husband. They also received his and her iPad minis courtesy of Interscope Records!

Angelina said they had a great time and that the trip was a quasi-honeymoon for she and her man! It was wet and rainy, but the Quarter was hopping and the music was incredible.

Thanks for listening, Angelina!

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The traffic lights at the intersection of Bert Kouns Industrial Loop and Youree Drive in Shreveport near IHOP and Walmart were knocked down by an 18-wheeler into the middle of the busy intersection Tuesday afternoon around 3 p.m.

The lights fell near IHOP and Walmart, cutting off one end of the street from the other.

We received the below pictures from a 710 KEEL listener, Leigh Anne Jones,  who also told us that at least one car appeared to have metal on top of it. No injuries have been reported so far.

Motorists are being asked to avoid the intersection of Bert Kouns and Youree Drive for the next several hours while city work crews scramble to restore a traffic signal downed by an 18-wheeler.

The repair work required is extensive and the intersection has been closed to traffic in all directions. There is no immediate estimate for how long the repairs will take but commuters should plan to use alternate routes such as East Kings Highway or Millicent Way until further notice.

We will update this story as more information comes available.

Despite some recent bad press, turns out John Mayer is actually a stand-up guy. The singer made a surprise visit to Shreveport Wednesday on his way to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival to help build a home for a local Army veteran.

Shreveport’s The Fuller Center is spearheading the noble home-building project, which is taking place in Shreveport’s Stoner Hill neighborhood. Crews are building four houses right now, but the area will eventually boast 10 homes for veterans.

Cliff Malone, an Army veteran, is the proud new owner of the house Mayer helped put the finishing touches on. You can hear the Grammy Award-winning singer chatting with the grateful vet in the video.

“You know I’m gonna tell people I know you now,” joked Malone. Laughing, Mayer replied: “That’s what you need to do.”

Check Out Pictures of John Mayer Painting the House

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Shreveport singer Willie Jones isn’t afraid of heights! The former “X Factor” contestant joined us live this morning (April 12) to help kick off the annual Holiday in Dixie festival in downtown Shreveport’s Festival Plaza. Instead of our normal studio, we got extreme, broadcasting live from the top of the festival’s popular Ferris wheel!

Jones hopped into the gondola with us and we took it to the top, where he took in the surroundings — which included Robert nearly losing control of his bladder from fear. (Erin standing up and rocking the gondola didn’t help.)

The singer, who became an instant celebrity following a surprising performance of Josh Turner’s country hit “Your Man,” is currently spending his days recording music for an upcoming album and attending to his massive Twitter following. Seriously — we’re jealous, Willie!

If Jones’ southern hospitality and sense of humor wasn’t enough, he busted out a stunning rendition of “Amazing Grace” while on the ride that soothed Robert’s fears. Well, a little anyway. Just look at him:

Watch ‘Story Time with Willie Jones’

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If you don’t have tickets to Lollapalooza yet, you have missed out on the three-day passes, they’re sold out already. So, the other two options are single-day tickets or VIP tix.

The full lineup won’t be announced until April 9, so if you get your tickets now you’ll just have to hope it is worth the money. Sounds like some kind of Obama thing don’t it? The Chicago Tribune has found out who some of the acts are, Mumford & Sons, Phoenix, the Killers, the Postal Service and the National.

Lollapalooza will be Aug. 2-4 in Chicago’s Grant Park. Check here for prices on VIP/Platinum passes.

A Few Pictures From Last Year

What looked to be the start of a dreary day for Easter on the Bayou turned out to be a great day full of fun. There were many colorful, candy-filled eggs scattered throughout the woods for the children to hunt, good food and other fun activities for the families to enjoy.

The gates opened about 8 a.m. and the Easter egg hunting and activities began at 10. Children enjoyed bouncy houses, inflatable slides, face painting booths and an inflatable rock climbing wall. Vendors such as McAlister’s and Newk’s Restaurants, as well as the event sponsor, MetroPCS, had booths set up down by the picnic area where some families enjoyed lunch down by the water. Overall, a good time was had by all.

We captured plenty of photos during Easter on the Bayou, so be sure to check them out to see if you recognize anyone! Happy Easter!

“An amazing experience of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit moving through the people, the cardinals, the saints, and our new Pope. Inspiring to have the opportunity to pray at St. Peters during the entire experience. To be able to be a part of the blessing of Pope Francis was incredible before his blessing on the church. Love you all. Each of you were in my prayers throughout the experience,”

Enter to win a chance to #BREAKFREE from everyday life with a trip to Miami!

You and a guest could win an all-expense paid trip to Miami — plus, the lucky grand prize winner will also receive two Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE phones and $500 in spending money. After you enter the contest, be sure to share it with your friends on Facebook or Twitter to double your chances of winning!

Two grand prize winnerswill each receive: Hotel and airfare for two Two Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE phones $500 spending money Contest ends on: 3/31 at 11:59PM EST

Share with your friends here, or by using your Samsung Victory with the hashtag #BREAKFREE

Source: Virgin Mobile Presents: #BREAKFREE Flyaway Sweepstakes

Yes, they were serious. People really ARE buying CarLashes. Unbeknownst to me, Jay Leno, Rachel Ray and even CNN have featured them.

So I asked the question, what would possess someone to buy them. So I did some research on the CarLashes Facebook page and found that a lot of the people who buy them give their car’s a personality and name their car. For example:

Then I realized it gives people a good excuse to post pictures of their beloved automobiles in “cute” situations.

Then there are the people who want to “Autopromorphize” (if that was a word, it would mean to make your car look like an animal)

If this is something that tickles your fancy, the prices range from $30 up to $70. You can even bejewel them.

Is this silly, sure, but with a lot of the other stresses in life, seeing someone with CarLashes around Shreveport or Bossier City would be a nice stress reliever.

UPDATE:

It happened, I was at the Wal-Mart in Bossier City on Airline, south of 220 and here is what I found:

Thanks again to everybody who joined us last Friday at Diamond Jack’s for 96.5 KVKI’s Flashback Party! It was a fabulous evening for all featuring another memorable and crazy performance by the band Bag Of Donuts, as well as dozens and dozens of costumes we won’t soon forget. Who can forget our prize winners, Sonny and Cher?

Take a look at the gallery of pics, share them with your friends and start planning your costume for next year’s Flashback Party!

My weekend was full of so much fun with some of my best friends. Saturday, we set up our little tent and grill on East Kings right by the duck pond.

Victoria was our chef for the day and she got marriage proposals for her grilled chicken. It was magnificent. Leslie made a Jack Daniels cake which was yummy! Kasi brought out some special Cherry Vodka Coke concoction…..nice! We hung out and watched the crowd and enjoyed great food and fun!

On Sunday I met up with Tina, Lisa, Kim and many other friends to ride on in the Highland Parade. I had plenty of throws and our float even had a T-shirt gun. It was so fun to watch our guys launch those shirts down the neighborhood streets.

After the rains moved out, the crowds came out in force and the sun was blazing down for another super Sunday of Mardi Gras.

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Contest update: Live Nation Global Touring has confirmed that the remainder of the Lady Gaga Born This Way Ball performances have been canceled. The Lady Gaga #BreakFree To Miami Sweepstakes has been suspended until further notice.

Please check back for more updates.

RECENT SUBMISSIONS

Calling all little monsters! Upload a pic of your best Lady Gaga outfit to win tickets to see her live in Miami. Note: Sharing the contest with friends will double your chances of winning!

Source: Virgin Mobile Presents: #BREAKFREE to Miami Sweepstakes

[UPDATE] Beyonce’s publicist has won at least one battle. She successfully convinced media photo service Getty Images this week to remove six “unflattering” photos of Beyoncé from its library.

[ORIGINAL STORY] We’ve all been the subject of unflattering pictures. And usually, we deal with it. Not Beyoncé. The singer’s publicist has reportedly asked a website to remove some photos snapped of the singer during her Super Bowl 47 halftime performance.

According to Gawker, Beyoncé’s publicist, Yvette Noel-Schure of Schure Media, sent the following note to Buzzfeed about the inclusion of six specific photos the website featured in a post that collected the singer’s “fiercest” moments from her halftime performance at Super Bowl 47 this past Sunday:

Thanks for taking my call. As discussed, there are some unflattering photos on your current feed that we are respectfully asking you to change. I am certain that you will be able to find some better photos.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/lyapalater/the-fiercest-moments-from-beyonces-halftime-show

The worst are #5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 19 and 22.

Thank you very much.

Yvette

Of course, Buzzfeed’s post of Beyoncé’s 33 fiercest moments is still alive and well with the images intact. Because it’s the Internet. And the request is silly.

Here are a few of the photos requested to be removed

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The costumes were amazing with each having a ‘tie’ if  you will back to the year the royalty represented. Queen Lea Ann Breen was resplendent with her fleur-de-lis back piece and King John Favrot rocked a ginormous Louisiana shaped back piece.

Captain Matthew Stevens harkened back to the krewe’s beginning sporting a huge back piece with orange feathers that was first introduced in 2006 at the inception of the krewe. Check out all of the festivities in our photo gallery below.

To find out more about the Krewe of Atlas, click here.

Check out all the great photos we took during the parade and let us know if you see yourself in any of them!

All Photos Courtesy Amanda Currier

Please enjoy my photos and I hope I got to throw you something if you were out there. If I didn’t, please look for me on the Viking Float during the Highland Parade this Sunday.

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