Latest news for May 21, 2012

• Showdown on new district

  A plan to set up a new school district in southeast Baton Rouge, which has rocketed through the Legislature, faces a showdown vote in the state House on … Continue reading →

• Police and fire briefs for May 21, 2012

  Authorities arrested at least nine people suspected of driving while intoxicated in East Baton Rouge Parish — including a 35-year-old man on a third-offense DWI — and booked them into Parish Prison between 2:30 p.m. Saturday and …

• Library architect contract in limbo

  After twice being approved by the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council, the $19 million downtown library faces yet another hurdle as the council is set to consider again Wednesday whether to approve a contract for the project’s architect. The library project has won council approval twice …

• Couple arrested for selling alcoholic drinks from home

  BAKER — Police arrested a husband and wife Friday in illegally selling alcoholic beverages in a restaurant they created inside their Hovey Street home, Police Chief Mike Knaps said. Alteen and William Profit created a makeshift restaurant in their 1957 Hovey St. residence, complete with …

• Around Livingston for May 21, 2012

  Children's advocacy training to begin Child Advocacy Services will conduct a Darkness to Light Stewards of Children training from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday at North Oaks Livingston Parish Medical Complex, 17199 Spring Ranch Road, Livingston. Participants will learn the seven steps to protect children, Child Advocacy officials said. The training …

• Legislative calendar

  Session Day 43 of 60 legislative days. ISSUES TO WATCH MONDAY SB673 To establish the Juban Crossing Economic Development District Fund as a special fund in the state treasury and to provide for the disposition of certain sales tax proceeds within Livingston Parish in …

• Washington column for Monday, May 21, 2012

  U.S. Rep. Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia, successfully had legislation amended into the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act bill that would give all Americans suspected of terrorism and arrested on U.S. soil initial access to the nation’s court system. The Republican-controlled …

• Struggling with HIV stigma

  In the city with the nation’s highest rate of new HIV cases, the downtown Baton Rouge commemoration Sunday evening of International AIDS Memorial Day took on a special sense of urgency. “We’re not adequately addressing the epidemic here,” Jack Carrel, administrator for the Baton Rouge …

• Man seeks freedom

  KROTZ SPRINGS — A staff sergeant with the U.S. Air Force plans to claim justifiable homicide when he stands trial next month for manslaughter in the May 2010 shooting death of his wife’s ex-husband, who, according to police …

• American Queen docks in BR

  For the first time since 2008, the American Queen, the largest steamboat ever built, made a stop in Baton Rouge over the weekend. The American Queen, recently refurbished by its new owner, the Great American Steamboat Company, arrived at the downtown dock near the USS Kidd …

• Forecasting food problems

  Weather data, satellite imagery and computer modeling could provide a tool that would allow regulators to forecast a norovirus outbreak in oysters in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a researcher at LSU. Zhiqiang Deng, associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at …

• Council settles with arrested man’s family

  LAKE CHARLES — The Lake Charles City Council has approved payment of $125,000 to the family of a man who died after being arrested in 2007. A civil case had been filed by the family of Seldon Deshotels, who died after being stunned by …

• Lake Pontchartrain bridge set to reopen

  SLIDELL — In the four months since the U.S. 11 bridge over Lake Pontchartrain closed for repairs, the owner of Michael’s Restaurant halted lunch service, and borrowed money to stay in business. Michael Frederic said that, in the end, he “gave it to God,” …

• Registry quantifies false convictions exonerated in U.S.

  WASHINGTON — More than 2,000 people who were falsely convicted of serious crimes have been exonerated in the United States in the past 23 years, according to a new archive compiled at two universities. There is no official record-keeping system for exonerations of convicted criminals …

• Donors wary of Romney

  WASHINGTON — Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney and his party raised a sizable $40 million last month from donors who want him to replace President Barack Obama. But even as Romney solidifies his position as the eventual GOP nominee, many supporters who backed his primary election challengers …

• Resolve against gay marriage grows stronger for some

  When President Barack Obama announced his support for gay marriage, supporters and pundits declared it symbolic of a historic shift in American attitudes. But as the attention fades, the fact remains that voters in 31 states have rejected gay marriage and more are lining up to do so.