The North Mobile Post

    Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum won the Louisiana Primary on Saturday night. The win adds yet another southern state to Santorum’s growing collection of wins. Santorum won Tennesse on Super Tuesday, and picked up wins in Mississippi and Alabama on March 13. He still trails front runner Mitt Romney in the overall delegate count.

    Romney failed to seriously challenge Santorum in Louisiana despite winning a few primaries since Santorum’s last wins in the South. Romney picked up wins in Hawaii, Illinois, and Puerto Rico since Santorum took Alabama and Mississippi. Tonight’s primary shows that Romney has still not convinced southern conservatives that he is the right candidate for them.

    The next state up for grabs is Wisconsin. Pundits are saying this could be make or break for Santorum. If he wins that state he might have a chance at preventing Romney from reaching 1,144 delegates, the number needed to clinch the nomination. If that happens there will be a brokered convention, where anything is possible. Santorum has narrowly lost the previous big mid-western contests in Ohio and Michigan. If Santorum loses Wisconsin, the math may be to great for him to overcome.

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    The identity of the soldier who killed 16 Afghan civilians has been released. Staff Sgt. Robert Bales was an 11 year veteran. The 38 year old was on his fourth tour of duty in a war zone. Though originally from Ohio, he was stationed in Washington state. He was deployed to Afghanistan in December, working with special forces who were tasked with village stability alongside locals.

    Bales was told he would not have to go to Afghanistan, but plans were changed and he ended up being deployed. He was not happy with the decision, and did not want to depart. He suffered injuries during previous tours in Iraq. It is being speculated that perhaps a concussive head injury he sustained in Iraq may have affected him mentally. It has also been reported that the day before the shooting a friend of his had his leg blown off in an attack. All of these factors may have led to Bales snapping.

    Investigators have discovered that Bales was drinking the night the murders took place. Drinking coupled with possible post traumatic stress disorder is a recipe for disaster. Bales then armed himself with weapons and night vision goggles and set out into the night to commit the grizzly murders in two different villages.

    Everyone who knew the Staff Sgt. has expressed shock at what happened. Be it family or neighbors, they all claim there was no sign that he was about to go berserk. The attack seemingly came from nowhere. Bales arrived Friday night at the Fort Leavenworth military prison in Kansas. It is the nation’s only maximum security military prison. He has not been charged yet, but charges are surely coming.

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    Poll results have begun to come in on Super Tuesday. Ten states will be voting to award their delegates in the Republican presidential nomination. President Obama is running unopposed as the Democratic nominee. Former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has won the state of Georgia. Speaker Gingrich was expected to take the state as he had wide leads in most polls going in.

    The polls have also closed in Virginia and Vermont as of the writing of this article, but the results are to early to call. Speaker Gingrich and Rick Santorum were not on the ballot in Viriginia, so the winner will either be Mitt Romney or Ron Paul. Romney had an early lead in both states.

    Tight races were expected in both Ohio and Tennessee. Rick Santorum had been leading in Ohio, but Romney was on his tail the past few days. That state has been critical in previous elections. It is a crucial swing state. No Republican has ever become president without carrying Ohio, and no one has won the nomination since 1980 without winning the state.

    This is the day most have predicted Mitt Romney would finally pull away from the pack. Now that is no longer a certainty. Changes in the rules that have most states awarding proportional representation of their delegates has made the task of winning the nomination much harder. There is a possibility that none of the nominees will have enough delegates to win the nomination after all of the primaries are over.

    If that scenario plays out there will be a brokered convention. That would take place when the Republican National Convention is held from August 27-30 in Tampa, Florida. If this happens, the candidates and power brokers behind the scenes would negotiate to determine who the nominee would be. This is a nightmare scenario for the GOP as whatever nominee is chosen would have a very weak standing.

    Rumors have persisted that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, or Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels could be chosen as the nominee if one of the current candidates fails to win the needed delegates to secure the nomination. That is probably a long shot. If Mitt Romney has the most delegates he will probably be awarded the nomination. Even he if fails to reach the needed amount of delegates he will have won the crucial swing state of Florida and possibly Virginia and Ohio.

    This is an important night for the Republican party. It would greatly benefit them if one candidate, anyone at this point, takes control of the primaries. President Obama is gaining momentum, and barring more bad news between now and November could be quite formidable. The sooner they unite under one banner and begin to challenge him instead of each other, the better their chances will be.

**Update** Fox News now projects Mitt Romney will win both Virginia and Vermont.

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    The Associated Press is reporting that the identity of the lone death in Alabama from the recent string of tornadoes has been revealed. 57-year-old Todd Hodge was killed in Tallapoosa County on Friday. He died when an EF-2 tornado hit his home. In total 37 people were killed across four states: Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio.

    On Friday at least six tornadoes struck across Alabama. The counties of Autauga, Chambers, Chilton, Coosa, Dallas, Limestone, Madison, and Perry were all reportedly hit. The strongest twisters recorded were EF-3s.

    The week started and ended on a deadly note. Earlier in the week Missouri and Illinois were hit by tornadoes and suffered multiple fatalities. The resort town of Branson, Missouri was devastated by the storms. The week ended in the barrage that laid waste to Kentucky, Ohio, Alabama, and Indiana. This busy start to tornado season follows one of the busiest seasons on record in 2011.

    A shooting at Chardon High School in Chardon, Ohio left four students injured Monday morning. One suspect was taken into custody. There is no word yet on the seriousness of the injuries. The shooting occurred around 7:30AM Monday morning. Chardon is a small town of around 5,000 residents. It is located about 30 miles east of Cleveland.

***Update*** One of the five students injured in the shooting has died. No names have been released. The shooter is now believed to have been a student at the school and was using a handgun that is now being traced to find its owner. The incident occurred in the school cafeteria.