Latest news for May 16, 2012

• Police investigate McClelland shooting

  Baton Rouge police are investigating the fatal shooting of a man at the Palm Apartments on McClelland Drive, police spokesman Cpl. L’Jean McKneely said. The shooting occurred … Continue reading →

• Preliminary report: Guist died of natural causes

  Assumption Parish Sheriff Mike Waguespack is reporting that preliminary autopsy reports for Mitchell Guist, 47, indicate the star of the popular Swamp People reality show died of natural causes. Guist’s manager, friend and part time employer, Todd Alexander, confirmed that Ascension Parish Coroner John Fraiche talked to …

• Judge ends Evangeline desegregation lawsuit

  LAFAYETTE — A federal judge on Wednesday ended the federal desegregation lawsuit against the Evangeline Parish School Board, drawing to a close years of federal oversight of the parish’s public school system. The desegregation case has spurred major changes over the past decade, including …

• Boxer: BP fine money for La. to be included

  WASHINGTON – The chairwoman of the nearly 50-member conference committee on federal transportation legislation does not mince words that the RESTORE Act language that directs BP fine money to Louisiana and other Gulf Coast states will definitely remain a part of the final bill. “It …

• EBR retail sales up 7 percent

  Retail spending rose 7 percent in March and for the quarter, as businesses and consumers continued to spend at a higher rate than a year ago, the city-parish Finance Department reported Wednesday. Total spending in East Baton Rouge Parish was $716.3 million in March compared with $669.8 …

• Police arrest two, seize drugs and pirated movies

  ZACHARY — Police arrested a 12-year-old on drug charges and a Zachary man on numerous counts involving pirated movies after searching a car stopped for a traffic violation Tuesday night, Police Chief David McDavid said. Officers booked Gary Sloate, 57, 8923 W. Vernon Drive, with …

• 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 is being conducted under a decade-old agreement with federal authorities, an attorney for the city-parish says. Greg Mitchell, a …

• 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 …

• ‘Stabilization’ funds intended to offset cuts

  A bill that would have given Louisiana’s college systems the ability to charge full-time students up to $300 in new fees each semester effectively died in the House Education Committee on Tuesday. The proposed “stabilization” fee of up to $25 per credit hour in House Bill 1078 …

• 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 …

• Police and Fire Briefs for May 16, 2012

  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 …