Bud Light chips in $5K for Tigerland footbridge, accomplice's trial sheds new light on ex-deputy's sex crime case

The Advocate's Top Headlines

with Jennifer Wadsworth | Assistant metro editor

Good morning! Below are some top stories from the past day.

Bud back better

With so many people clambering across the demolished remains of the Bob Pettit Boulevard bridge to get to their favorite Tigerland bars, a beverage distributor kicked off a crowdfunding campaign for a pedestrian path with a $5,000 donation from Bud Light.

"This is us as a community doing what’s right to make that place safer," the Mockler Beverage Company president told us. "And quite frankly it probably should have been done years ago."

Accomplice's trial sheds new light on sex crimes case

Though she was tried separately from Dennis Perkins, the ex-deputy's name loomed large in the case against Melanie Curtin, who was convicted last week of helping him rape an unconscious victim. With Perkins' own prosecution yet to come, reporter James Finn looks back at what we learned from the testimony in Curtin's trial.

Deadly roads

Louisiana roads saw their deadliest Thanksgiving weekend in seven years this past month, with 20 fatalities in a few-day span. The troubling figures track with the national trend, which recorded fewer traffic injuries because the pandemic reduced the number of cars on the road, but more deaths because of a spike in reckless driving.

Will Sentell has the story.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!