By KELLY P. KISSEL There's a bar fight occurring along West Chimes Street. Mattress Direct owner Ty Hingle wants to reopen a Murphy's Bar, but neighbors say a party place just off the LSU campus is no longer an appropriate use for the building. A local board took up the issue last night. The original Murphy's opened in 1980 and remained popular into the 1990s. It closed after a student celebrating his invitation to join a fraternity died of alcohol poisoning after a night of drinking. The mother of a fraternity pledge who died in 2017 opposes the re-opening. Rae Ann Gruver says the desire to re-open Murphy's shows a "lack of respect." The storms that rolled through southern Louisiana yesterday grew worse as they moved eastward. By the time the storms had gone through Alabama and Georgia, more than six people had died. Historic Selma, Alabama, was among the places hardest hit by the violent weather. Another Louisiana politician wants to be the state's next governor. A Slidell Republican senator announced this morning she will seek the state's highest office. Sharon Hewitt wants to replace Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat who cannot seek re-election because of term limits. Two statewide officeholders are already in the race, and the lieutenant governor and a U.S. senator have opted against running. We're offering a chance to pick up a subscription to The Advocate, The Acadiana Advocate and The Times-Picayune for six months for the paltry sum of $1. Everything you need to fill out is right here on one page. | 