Latest news for May 16, 2012

• Attorney: Legal action holding up buyouts

  A legal action that a group of Scotlandville residents filed jointly with an environmental group threatens to derail a $1.4 billion city-parish sewer improvement program that … Continue reading →

• House: Drug test welfare recipients

  The Louisiana House endorsed random drug-testing of 20 percent of the state’s welfare recipients Tuesday after rejecting an attempt to include TOPS recipients. The House voted 65-26 for the measure, which its sponsor promoted as a drug-abuse prevention measure. Fourteen members did not vote. House …

• New school district foes: It would cripple system

  Allowing a slice of East Baton Rouge Parish’s southeastern section to form its own school district would cripple the public school system financially and possibly lead to new desegregation litigation, opponents of the group said Tuesday night. “This splits the parish racially, and it splits the …

• Earlier school day?

  More than 9,000 Catholic elementary school students in East Baton Rouge Parish could be starting their school day at 7:45 a.m. next year, 45 minutes earlier than this year, in a change expected to save the public school system $2 million a year, officials said. Under …

• Bill: Death for killing taxi drivers

  A Louisiana House committee advanced Tuesday Senate-passed legislation that would make murdering a taxicab driver a capital crime. The House Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice recommended without objection that the entire House debate Senate Bill 639. The Senate approved the measure on an April 30 …

• Project list exceeds its budget

  With little discussion, a Louisiana House panel Tuesday advanced a state construction budget that contains more projects than the state can afford. The House Committee on Ways and Means added $32 million in projects to House Bill 2, the $3.9 billion multi-year construction budget. Initial year …

• Reid: Vitter’s tactics slowed NFIP

  WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday he prefers moving forward with a six-month extension of the National Flood Insurance Program rather than the five-year plan by Sen. David Vitter because of “abusive” procedures used by Vitter …

• Guist autopsy pending

  GONZALES — An autopsy was scheduled Tuesday to determine what caused the death of Mitchell Guist, 47, one of the stars of “Swamp People,” the History channel reality television show. According to information released by the Ascension Parish Coroner’s Office, the final determination could take …

• Facility’s possibilities touted

  LAFAYETTE — A 29-acre site in the 1900 block of West Willow Street for the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office’s planned public safety complex gives the office an opportunity to expand its corrections footprint outside downtown, authorities said Tuesday. Sheriff Mike Neustrom and other …

• One man was killed and another wounded Monday night when they were shot while sitting in their car on Oak Park Drive in North Merrydale, an East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff’s …

• 2nd suspect charged in fatal March shooting

  PLAQUEMINE — Iberville Parish sheriff’s deputies on Tuesday arrested a second suspect in connection with a March 30 fatal shooting at a Plaquemine motel. Jason Banks, 41, of Allen Street in Plaquemine, was arrested at 10 a.m. and booked into the Iberville Parish Jail …

• Convent man arrested in fatal shooting

  VACHERIE — St. James Parish deputies have arrested a Convent man in connection with a shooting at the Magnolia Housing Complex in Vacherie that left one victim wounded and another dead. Joseph Monroe Johnson, 26, 10413 Legion Lane, was booked Monday with first-degree murder and …

• Hurricane workshop looks local

  After hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated coastal Louisiana in 2005, state and federal officials took a closer look at what it would take to make communities in harm’s way more resilient to disasters. “We knew we had to come back in a different …

• Council tables proposed oil permits

  AMITE — The Tangipahoa Parish Council declined to adopt a proposed ordinance that would have regulated and required a permit for companies to drill for oil and gas in the parish. The proposal, “An Ordinance to Regulate Oil, Natural Gas, Salt, Sulphur and …

• Board clashes over school staffing

  ST. FRANCISVILLE — West Feliciana Parish School Board members clashed over personnel issues at their meeting Tuesday. Board members Milton Coates and James White objected to advertising for a curriculum specialist and an instructional coach to assist with the implementation of the new teaching standards …

• Board told: Cancel its ‘13th check’ to workers

  CLINTON — The East Feliciana Parish School Board should consider withholding a “13th check” from employees this summer to avoid wiping out the general fund’s small balance in the coming fiscal year, the board’s financial adviser said Tuesday. Certified public accountant Tommy LeJeune said paying …

• Police Jury, school extend pact

  CLINTON — The East Feliciana Police Jury unanimously voted Tuesday to extend its contract with the Slaughter Charter School for another two years. The decision means the school will be able to operate on parish-owned property. The charter school already has a three-year contract …