Good morning, Louisiana and Mississippi editors.
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TOP STORIES-LOUISIANA
MOTHER'S DAY PARADE SHOOTING
NEW ORLEANS — Gunmen opened fire on people marching in a neighborhood Mother's Day parade in New Orleans on Sunday, wounding at least 19. The shooting — described by the FBI as a flare-up of street violence — shattered the festive mood surrounding the parade that drew hundreds of people to the 7th Ward neighborhood of modest row houses not far from the French Quarter. Cell phone video taken in the aftermath of the shooting shows victims lying on the ground, blood on the pavement and others bending over to comfort them. Chevel Johnson.
AP Photos LADP101-0512131545, LADP102-0512131551, LADP105-0512131557, LADP104-0512131552, GFX152-0512131856, LAORS106-0512130000, LAORS105-0512131541, LAORS104-0512131541, LAORS103-0512131541.
NEW ORLEANS RESTAURANT SQUABBLE
NEW ORLEANS — Brennan's, a New Orleans restaurant that famously invented the Bananas Foster dessert six decades ago, is more recently known for a long-running family clash over ownership of the French Quarter eatery. Infighting among relatives of the restaurant's late founder, Owen Edward Brennan, flared up last month when a shareholder meeting led to a standoff inside the restaurant. Police were called to intervene. The heated confrontation ended with a temporary truce, but the tangled family dispute is heading to court. By Michael Kunzelman.
KATRINA-HOME DEMOLITION
(Information in the following story is from: The Sun Herald, http://www.sunherald.com)
PASCAGOULA, Miss. — Jackson County supervisors have ordered an Ocean Springs couple to tear down their Hurricane Katrina-damaged home within a month. The Sun Herald reports (http://bit.ly/15mNcJy) that supervisors told Rikki and Patricia Autmon that if they don't have the work done the county will do it and assess them for the expense.
MONROE-BLIGHT
(Information in the following story is from: The News-Star, http://www.thenewsstar.com)
MONROE, La. — The city of Monroe has torn down 70 dilapidated structures so far this year and more are to face the same fate. Once a structure is razed, Public Works operation manager John Simon says a property owner is responsible for upkeep of the site, including mowing. If that task falls on the city, Simon says the property owner will be billed on their tax and revenue bill for the service.
FILM-STAIRCASE COLLAPSE
(Information in the following story is from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com)
BRUSLY, La. — About 15 people are recovering after a staircase collapsed during filming of a TV miniseries at the Cinclare Sugar Mill Historic District just north of Brusly. A spokesman for the West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office told The Advocate (http://bit.ly/10jA43h) crews were filming a scene for "Bonnie and Clyde," a miniseries about the notorious bandits, shortly after midnight Saturday when the wooden staircase gave way.
ANGOLA 5
(Information in the following story is from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com)
ST. FRANCISVILLE, La. — Over the objections of a prosecutor, the last defendant awaiting trial in the 1999 beating death of a Louisiana State Penitentiary security guard has won his fourth trial delay. Steven Lemoine and Nick Trenticosta, attorneys for inmate Barry S. Edge, last week sought postponement of the May 20 trial because Trenticosta's father is facing open heart surgery at about the same time. The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/YDm83n) Judge Jerome M. Winsberg granted the request Thursday but did not set a new trial date.
LOUISIANA NEWS IN BRIEF
UNO-GRANT
NEW ORLEANS — The National Science Foundation has awarded a $315,000 grant to the University of New Orleans to help support the school's summer undergraduate research program for three years. The program is heavily focused on exposing minority students to scientific research.
TOLL REFUNDS
(Information in the following story is from: The Times-Picayune, http://www.nola.com)
NEW ORLEANS — More than $20,000 has been distributed to Crescent City Connection account holders since a failed referendum to extend the New Orleans bridge tolls for 20 years. State transportation officials say requests for refunds on toll tags and tickets have increased while wait times to process the requests have decreased.
ST HELENA-SCHOOL BUYOUTS
(Information in the following story is from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com)
GREENSBURG, La. — The St. Helena Parish School Board has approved a plan to offer early retirement buyouts to some staff members. The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/11Y3hir) certified employees would be offered $5,500 to take early retirement, and noncertified employees would be offered $3,000.
LSU-DEAN APPOINTED
BATON ROUGE, La. — Damon Andrew has been hired as dean of LSU's College of Human Sciences and Education. He had been serving as professor and dean of the College of Health and Human Services at Troy University in Alabama. He will join LSU on July 1.
WOOD CARVINGS-NEW ORLEANS
NEW ORLEANS — An artist from Florida is turning some dead New Orleans trees into figures of birds and musical instruments. The Times-Picayune reports (http://bit.ly/YBr1Ki) that wood sculptor Marlin Miller is creating the figures in time for the Bayou Boogaloo festival, which takes place next weekend.
HANDLING LEAD
BATON ROUGE — The LSU AgCenter will sponsor a class May 23 for contractors seeking to be certified to handle lead in home renovations. The program will be held at the LaHouse Resource Center in Baton Rouge from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. LaHouse director Claudette Reichel says the class helps contractors in complete lead renovation, repair and painting rules of the federal Environmental protection Agency. After completing the course, attendees take a certification test, administered through the National Center for Healthy Housing.
BUSINESS
OIL JOBS
(Information in the following story is from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com)
LAFAYETTE, La. — Plains Exploration & Production Co. is building a $20 million facility in Broussard to support deep-water Gulf of Mexico oil and gas operations. The Lafayette Economic Development Authority and company officials said the new project comes after PXP's decision last year to pay $5.5 billion for oil company BP's interest in several deep-water oil and gas fields in the Gulf.
ECONOMY-FACT-FINDING
(Information in the following story is from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com)
BATON ROUGE, La. — Business and political leaders from the Baton Rouge and New Orleans areas will visit Tampa and Orlando, Fla., Nov. 3-5 to get ideas for developing a regional economy for southeast Louisiana. The Advocate reported (http://bit.ly/12bCiAe) that the trip will be led by the Baton Rouge Area Chamber and Greater New Orleans Inc., an economic development partnership.
LOUISIANA MEMBER EXCHANGES
OPELOUSAS REDEVELOPMENT
OPELOUSAS — A major renovation project is underway in the Greenwood Subdivision area of Opelousas. Thanks to a $675,000 Louisiana Community Development Block Grant, 48 homes in the working-class neighborhood are being upgraded. Included in that total are five homeowners who will be receiving new three-bedroom homes. Laura Balthazar, the city's chief administrative officer, said those homes are to replace existing structures that had to be demolished. "This one was infested with termites. There was nothing we could do to save it," said Balthazar, pointing to a lot at the corner of Pujo and Colorado streets where a new foundation was being poured. "This is about uplifting the neighborhood," said Alderwoman Jacqueline M. Martin, who represents the area. "I just thank God that we have the funding and it's finally underway." She said the neighborhood has a special place in her heart. By William Johnson, The Daily World.
TEACH FOR AMERICA
NEW ORLEANS — Fresh out of college and eager to make a difference, Hannah Sadtler and Derek Roguski joined Teach For America in 2008 and headed into New Orleans public schools along with 300 other corps members. Sadtler, 28, hailed from Boston, and Roguski, 27, grew up in Tallahassee, Fla. However, it wasn't long into their first school year that both found themselves questioning whether they were having the positive impact they envisioned. After their required two years, the pair stopped teaching to pursue a different role in education and in 2010 founded The New Teachers' Roundtable. By Kari Dequine Harden, The Advocate
TOP STORIES-MISSISSIPPI
WARREN CIRCUIT CLERK
(Information in the following story is from: The Vicksburg Post, http://www.vicksburgpost.com)
VICKSBURG, Miss. — An unfinished 2012 audit of Warren County says Circuit Clerk Shelly Ashley-Palmertree owes the county more than previously thought and supervisors will ask for payback this week. The Vicksburg Post reports (http://bit.ly/10BTNIk) the five-member board will meet in special session to demand the clerk repay fees beyond the state-set cap for fee-based public officials.
LAMAR COUNTY-TORNADO
(Information in the following story is from: The Hattiesburg American, http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com)
HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Lamar County School District officials said a Feb. 10 tornado caused $7 million in damage to Oak Grove High and its baseball and football facilities. The Hattiesburg-American reports (http://hatne.ws/14fwzeb) the district has a $50,000 insurance deductible it hopes to have covered by the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.
RAYMOND BATTLEFIELD
(Information in the following story is from: The Vicksburg Post, http://www.vicksburgpost.com)
RAYMOND, Miss. — The farm where Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant listened to the Battle of Raymond and calculated his plans to reach Vicksburg has received a historical marker. The marker at Dillon's Farm, where Grant camped 150 years ago about six miles west of Raymond, was the first of 18 to be erected as part of the Grand Gulf-Raymond Scenic Byway, which was authorized by the state in 2004.
CRIME VICTIM FUND
JACKSON — The family of a student killed or injured while boarding or exiting a school bus can now qualify to receive money from the state Crime Victim Compensation Fund. House Bill 710 expands the eligibility for the fund. It has been signed by Gov. Phil Bryant and takes effect July 1. The Crime Victim Compensation Fund provides financial assistance up to $20,000 to victims of violent crime and their eligible family members.
KATRINA-HOME DEMOLITION
PASCAGOULA — Jackson County supervisors have ordered an Ocean Springs couple to tear down their Hurricane Katrina-damaged home within a month. Supervisors told Rikki and Patricia Autmon that if they don't have the work done the county will do it and assess them for the expense. The two-story wood-frame home on Richmond Street has not been habitable since the storm struck on Aug. 29, 2005. After neighbors complained about its condition, the county declared the house a menace to public health.
ALCORN COUNTY-ENVIRONMENTAL FINES
CORINTH — Alcorn County has been fined by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality for violations at the county's rubbish site. The county Board of Supervisors has accepted an agreement with the state to pay the $15,000 penalty in two installments in lieu of a formal enforcement hearing. The Commission on Environmental Quality listed a variety of violations found at the Proper Street dump. The county was notified of the violations in July 2012 and was found to have come into compliance after an inspection in January 2013.
MISSISSIPPI NEWS IN BRIEF
OXFORD-HOMELESS
OXFORD, Miss. — Some community leaders say it's time to consider whether Oxford and Lafayette County should set up a homeless shelter. The Oxford Eagle reports that local groups assisted more than 300 homeless people last year, some of them children.
USM-TORNADO
(Information in the following story is from: The Hattiesburg American, http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com)
HATTIESBURG, Miss. — In just 24 hours, the University of Southern Mississippi Foundation has raised more than $130,000 to support the restoration of the front lawn of the university's Hattiesburg campus that was heavily damaged by the Feb. 10 tornado. The Hattiesburg-American reports (http://hatne.ws/14fwK9o) the foundation used the university's social media platforms last Wednesday to encourage alumni, family and friends to make a gift to the Southern Miss Campus Beautification Campaign. The total amount raised — $130,234.46 — represents 374 gifts from donors in 37 states and the country of Barbados.
NATCHEZ TRICENTENNIAL
NATCHEZ, Miss. — Natchez officials will soon start seeking a manager for the city's 300-year anniversary in 2016. The Natchez Democrat reports that the city leaders have an ambitious goal of setting events for each of the 365 days that year.
BROWNFIELD GRANTS-PASCAGOULA
PASCAGOULA — The federal Environmental Protection Agency says the city of Pascagoula has been given $400,000 to assess abandoned and contaminated sites. The two brownfield assessment grants are worth $200,000 each.
MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE-CHINA
CLINTON — Mississippi College and Hubei Polytechnic University in China have agreed to faculty and student exchanges between the two institutions. The agreement sets up a "2 plus 2 degree" program where a student would spend the first two years at HBPU and the last two years taking classes at MC.
LAMAR RECYCLING
HATTIESBURG — Lamar County has added three drop-off locations to its recycling services. The new locations are in Purvis at Optimist Park, the Northeast Lamar Volunteer Fire Department on Weathersby Road and at the Ben Barrett Community Center in Lumberton. Containers have been added at existing sites — the Oak Grove Volunteer Fire Department on Old Mississippi Highway 24 and the Senior Citizens Center on West Fourth Street.
MISSISSIPPI MEMBER EXCHANGES
WRIGHT ROAD BAND
VICKSBURG, Miss. — He's got the right name — Billy Gene Wright — and he and his wife, Brenda, live on Wright Road in a house built in 1929 by his late father, Sidney Wright, in a community often called Wrightsville. So it's only natural that when friends gather there to play music, they're called the Wright Road Band. They play mostly stringed instruments, usually associated with country music. About a dozen, sometimes more, meet every Tuesday night. By Gordon Cotton, Vicksburg Post. Possible member photo.
RIDGWAY'S WORKSHOP
TUPELO — There's a tree crying out for a treehouse, and it shall be done. The project is in its initial stages, and the grandchildren are happy, especially after helping to hammer the treehouse ladder together. "They can see it, what it's going to be," Ridgway said. "They've hugged that tree. It's really cute." Ridgway is building the treehouse for them. He's also building it for himself, but it's not a bid to recapture lost youth. By M. Scott Morris, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. Possible member photo.
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The AP-New Orleans.
