State News

• News - State

  La. businessman charged over campaign donations

  

  Posted 8:17 AM 5/24/2013 by AP

  NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A Houma businessman accused of funneling campaign contributions to Louisiana's two U.S. senators over the legal limit has been charged with making false statements to the Federal Elections Commission.The federal charge filed Thursday against Cenac Towing owner Arlen (More)

  
  

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• News - State

  DOTD installs enhanced equipment at sinkhole

  

  Posted 8:14 AM 5/24/2013 by AP

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - State officials have installed enhanced monitoring equipment along Louisiana 70, near the Assumption Parish sinkhole.The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development says the improvements will provide broader observation and greater accuracy in (More)

  
  

• News - State

  Ex-cop's sentence reduced in kickback scam

  

  Posted 8:37 AM 5/23/2013 by AP

  A former New Orleans police captain who was convicted of plotting to arrange a contract to provide security for Entergy at inflated rates and then skim off the top has had his prison sentence reduced by more than three years. A federal appeals court panel in January upheld Michael Roussel's (More)

  
  

• News - State

  Baton Rouge council purchases hospital

  

  Posted 8:24 AM 5/23/2013 by AP/CS

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The former Woman's Hospital is officially on its way to becoming a new public safety complex for Baton Rouge Police and the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office. The Advocate reports the Metro Council voted Wednesday to (More)

  
  

• News - State

  Ascension Parish hiring 50 new teachers

  

  Posted 8:22 AM 5/23/2013 by AP

  Ascension Parish is looking to hire 50 new teachers. The Advocate reports the school board is poised to hire the new teachers in an effort to ease staffing levels due to continued growth. Funds needed to hire the new teachers are listed in the (More)

  
  

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  St. Amant church parking lot used for drug deals

  Posted 8:21 AM 5/23/2013 by AP

  Ascension Parish deputies have arrested a 38-year-old man for allegedly dealing prescription pills out of a church parking lot. Narcotics detectives say they started looking into anonymous tips that drugs were being sold at a church in the St. Amant area on May 16. Four days later (More)

  
  

• News - State

  Bollinger delivers 6th cutter to Coast Guard

  

  Posted 8:17 AM 5/23/2013 by AP

  Bollinger Shipyards, Inc. has delivered the sixth fast response cutter to the U.S. Coast Guard.
  Executive vice president of new construction Chris Bollinger says the 154-foot Paul Clark was delivered to the 7th Coast Guard District in Key West, Fla.
  It will be stationed at Miami, where the Coast Guard is scheduled to commission the vessel in August.

   

   

  
  

• News - State

  Truck driver pleads guilty to mail theft

  

  Posted 8:14 AM 5/23/2013 by AP/CS

  NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Federal prosecutors say a driver hired to transport mail admitted to stealing parcels from the post office in Gray. The Courier reports 49-year-old Joel Raymond Polaski, of Thibodaux, faces up to five years in prison and a fine of (More)

  
  

• News - State

  Baton Rouge council purchases hospital

  

  Posted 8:12 AM 5/23/2013 by AP/CS

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The former Woman's Hospital is officially on its way to becoming a new public safety complex for Baton Rouge Police and the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office. The Advocate reports the Metro Council voted Wednesday to (More)

  
  

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• News - State

  Ex-bookkeeper admits theft, sentenced to 30 months

  

  Posted 7:52 AM 5/23/2013 by AP/CS

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A former bookkeeper for a Baton Rouge firm has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison after admitting she stole over $217,000 from her employer and an insurance company. The Advocate reports 49-year-old Cynthia D. (More)

  
  

• News - State

  Angola guard arrested in Livingston home invasion

  

  Posted 7:46 AM 5/23/2013 by AP/CS

  DENHAM SPRINGS, La. (AP) - Authorities say a 40-year-old corrections officer assigned to the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola has been arrested in a Livingston Parish home invasion case. Lori Steele, Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office spokeswoman, tells (More)

  
  

• News - State

  Man found fatally shot in car on I-10

  

  Posted 7:44 AM 5/23/2013 by AP/CS

  NEW ORLEANS (AP) - New Orleans police are investigating a fatal shooting on Interstate 10.
  
  Police say a man's body with multiple gunshot wounds was found inside a car Thursday morning near the I-10-U.S. Highway 90 split.
  
  Police have not identified the victim or released a motive for the slaying.

  
  

• News - State

  Pollock man killed in Grant Parish crash

  

  Posted 7:42 AM 5/23/2013 by AP/CS

  POLLOCK, La. (AP) - State police are investigating a single vehicle crash that claimed the life of a Pollock man. The accident happened late Tuesday night on U.S. Highway 165 just south of Pollock. Trooper Scott Moreau says 76-year-old Coy E. Kirtland was northbound when (More)

  
  

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  Inmate with cancer dies in custody

  

  Posted 7:41 AM 5/23/2013 by AP/CS

  NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A 50-year-old man in Orleans Parish custody has died of cancer. The sheriff's office, in a statement Wednesday, said John C. Alexcee died Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. at the interim LSU Hospital in New Orleans. Alexcee was being held on a $3 million bond for (More)

  
  

• News - State

  Man faces murder charge in toddler's death

  

  Posted 7:38 AM 5/23/2013 by AP/CS

  THIBODAUX, La. (AP) - A 24-year-old man has been arrested, accused in the death of his girlfriend's 20-month-old son. Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre says Emmanuel Hernandez, a Mexican National, was booked late Tuesday after being transferred from the custody of immigration (More)

  
  

• News - State

  Trial postponed for alleged N.O. drug ring members

  

  Posted 7:37 AM 5/23/2013 by AP/CS

  NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A federal judge has postponed the trial of several alleged members of a violent New Orleans drug ring, including a man once described by police as one of the city's most dangerous criminals. That man, alleged ringleader Telly Hankton, and 12 other defendants were (More)

  
  

• _Continuous News

  Authorities push seatbelt safety

  

  Posted 4:12 AM 5/22/2013 by AP

  Between now and June 2, officers from 132 agencies will participate in the state's largest-ever concentrated effort to increase the use of seatbelts. This year's "Click It or Ticket" campaign includes stepped-up enforcement, broadcast advertising and public education in an effort to raise (More)

  
  

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  La. restaurant chain to pay $100K in back wages

  

  Posted 4:11 AM 5/22/2013 by AP

  A Louisiana-based restaurant chain has agreed to pay more than $100,000 in back wages to 135 chefs and servers following a Labor Department investigation. The department said Tuesday that its agreement with New Llano-based Hana Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar will benefit employees who (More)

  
  

• News - State

  $100K donor spurs new gifts for Loyola

  

  Posted 4:09 AM 5/22/2013 by AP

  Loyola University in New Orleans says a recent $100,000 donation to the university came with one big condition. The anonymous donor pledged the money if the university obtained 2,500 new donors from March 15 to May 12. The university says in a news release that it exceeded the (More)

  
  

• News - State

  Lawsuit against St. Bernard president dismissed

  

  Posted 8:28 AM 5/21/2013 by AP

  A federal judge has dismissed former St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro's defamation lawsuit against current Parish President Dave Peralta and several other parish employees. The Times-Picayune reports the judge said that while Taffaro's suit (More)