BC-LA--Louisiana-News Digest,ADVISORY, LA

Louisiana at 12 p.m. on Wednesday

Good afternoon, Louisiana editors.

If you have any contributions for or questions about the report, call 1-800-662-7717. To report technical problems: 1-800-469-1362. AP stories, along with the photos that accompany them, can also be obtained from http://www.apexchange.com. Reruns are also available from the Service Desk (800-838-4616). The news editor is Brian Schwaner. The breaking news staffer this evening is Chevel Johnson.

TOP STORIES

XGR-TANNING BAN

BATON ROUGE — Anyone under the age of 18 would be banned from using tanning beds, if lawmakers agree to a proposal backed by the House health care committee. New Orleans Rep. Helena Moreno, a Democrat, says her bill would help prevent skin cancer associated with exposure to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight or tanning lamps and beds. The House Health and Welfare Committee advanced the bill to the full House with a 17-1 vote Wednesday. Republican Rep. Richard Burford, of Stonewall, voted against the proposal. Burford says he disagrees with government telling parents how to raise their children. The National Conference of State Legislatures says five states have tanning bans for minors. Washington's Legislature also gave final passage to a similar ban this week. By Melinda Deslatte. UPCOMING: 500 words by about 2:30 p.m.

XGR-SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS

BATON ROUGE — Lawmakers are considering an overhaul to Louisiana's process for reviewing textbooks to give school districts more freedom to decide which instructional materials they want to use. The Senate Education Committee agreed Wednesday without objection to the proposal. Sen. Conrad Appel, the committee's chairman, says he's trying to address concerns that parents have limited input on the teaching materials used in their children's schools. The measure would require the state education department to review instructional materials in English, math, science and social studies to decide whether they meet state educational standards. But districts would decide which books and materials should be used, considering recommendations from review committees of teachers, parents and others. The bill heads next to the full Senate for debate. By Melinda Deslatte. UPCOMING: 450 words by about 3 p.m.

With:

XGR-MEDICAID EXPANSION

BATON ROUGE — It's been slow-going for a national tea party group trying to get state lawmakers to pledge their opposition to Democrats' efforts to expand Louisiana's Medicaid program. The Louisiana chapter of Americans for Prosperity sent the pledge request to all 144 lawmakers in February. A month later, Phillip Joffrion, director of the AFP state chapter, says he has over a dozen signatures. SENT: 130 words.

With:

XGR-NOTES

Notes from the Louisiana Legislature's annual regular session.

LOUISIANA EXECUTION

NEW ORLEANS — A federal appeals court has delayed a judge's order that Louisiana reveal information about the seller and manufacturer of drugs the state uses in executions. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal on Wednesday agreed to stay the order by U.S. District Judge James Brady. Brady ruled last week that state Corrections Department officials must provide the information. Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc and state prison Warden Burl Cain have argued that if they identify how they're getting the drugs, they could have trouble buying more because companies don't want to be known as helping facilitate an execution. The state appealed to the 5th Circuit on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the court agreed to temporarily delay Brady's order while it considers that appeal. By Kevin McGill. UPCOMING: 400 words by about 2 p.m.

LOUISIANA SINKHOLE

BAYOU CORNE — A leading scientist studying the Bayou Corne-area sinkhole that emerged in an Assumption Parish swamp 18 months ago says the hole has shown signs of stabilizing. A CB&I hydrogeologist working for the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources on the sinkhole, Gary Hecox, told about 40 residents and officials at a community meeting in Napoleonville Tuesday that a variety of scientific measurements show the sinkhole is trending toward stability and tracking with past models for its ultimate size. Those models would mean the hole would not reach La. 70 to the north, Bayou Corne to the south or the Bayou Corne community to the west. Hecox said the hole is still growing, but the rate of growth has slowed. SENT: 295 words.

LIVINGSTON-GUSTAV CLEANUP

LIVINGSTON — The Federal Emergency Management Agency says it will seek an investigation into the potentially fraudulent practices of a monitoring firm Livingston Parish hired to oversee debris removal after Hurricane Gustav. FEMA also is considering reneging on the nearly $2 million already allocated for monitoring the removal of leaning trees and hanging limbs from parish rights of way. The agency outlined its position in a 192-page response to Livingston's request for arbitration to resolve the dispute over $59 million in unpaid Gustav cleanup costs. The case is before the U.S. Civilian Board of Contract Appeals. FEMA's response, filed Friday, claims monitors from Professional Engineering Consultants who oversaw the debris removal were inexperienced, poorly trained and specifically advised to document ineligible work and submit fraudulent claims. SENT: 309 words.

MOREHOUSE SCHOOLS

BASTROP — Superintendent George Noflin presented the Morehouse Parish School Board with a plan to close schools, change grade configurations, reduce staff and change employee yearly status to balance the district's budget. The board room was standing-room only Tuesday when Noflin presented the plan the board directed him to create in October. Noflin was tasked with finding $3.4 million in the district's budget using any one or all of three methods provided by the board — revising job descriptions, reducing employees and consolidation. The proposal, which was accepted as his recommendation by the board but not approved Tuesday, would include closing two schools — Cherry Ridge Elementary and H.V. Adams Elementary — and changing the grade configurations at the remaining elementary schools. SENT: 299 words.

OPELOUSAS-PAY CUTS

OPELOUSAS — The Opelousas Board of Aldermen has voted to again have its Budget Committee take up a proposal by Mayor Donald Cravins Sr. to reduce the salaries of the aldermen and mayor. But this time Cravins put numbers to the proposal: cutting the mayor's salary by $11,022 a year and the aldermen's salary and vehicle stipend by $2,869 a year. Cravins stressed during the past several months that in his opinion both the mayor and aldermen earn too much for a city the size of Opelousas. The salary reduction issue has been placed on the meeting agenda every month since October. But the aldermen have either refused to discuss the issue at a regular meeting or sent it back to the Budget Committee for consideration. SENT: 215 words.

BATON ROUGE-COUNCIL ON AGING

BATON ROUGE — The East Baton Rouge Council on Aging continues to operate at a deficit of about $400,000 a year and a new audit out this week questions the agency's viability due to increasing demands that outpace funding. Council on Aging Executive Director Tasha Clark-Amar said leaders are working to address the financial issues without affecting the seniors they serve. At this time, there are no plans to cut back services, as is suggested in the audit. The Council on Aging, which operates 14 senior centers throughout parish and runs the meal delivery program for low-income seniors, receives funding from the city-parish, state and federal governments, in addition to grants, donations and other outside fundraising efforts. Clark-Amar said fundraising has become a key focus of efforts to address budget issues. SENT: 254 words.

LOUISIANA COLLEGE LAWSUIT

ALEXANDRIA — A former Louisiana College vice president filed a lawsuit against the school and its president, Joe Aguillard, claiming he was improperly fired in the wake of filing a whistle-blower complaint against Aguillard. Timothy Johnson, executive vice president at Louisiana College until July 31, named Aguillard and the private Baptist school in Pineville as defendants in a petition for unspecified damages. The lawsuit was filed in 9th Judicial District Court in Alexandria. Johnson's lawsuit states that that his contract was not renewed when it expired July 31, 2013, in retaliation for a whistle-blower complaint Johnson filed against Aguillard in December 2012. Board of Trustees Chairman Tommy French said he did not wish to comment on the lawsuit. SENT: 239 words.

LAFAYETTE CHARTER SCHOOL

LAFAYETTE — Lafayette parents now have until March 31 to sign their children up for new charter schools set to open in August. Working with a local board, the management company Charter Schools USA plans to open the Lafayette Renaissance Charter Academy in northern Lafayette Parish. So far, spokeswoman Colleen Reynolds says the company has received 295 student applications. Meanwhile, Reynolds said the Acadiana Renaissance Charter Academy has drawn 505 applications. That school will open in Youngsville. Both schools will serve students in kindergarten through sixth grade next year, with plans to add more grades in future years. SENT: 194 words.

ENTERTAINMENT/LIFESTYLE

CARVER THEATER

NEW ORLEANS — Carver Theater developers have announced an April 30 opening date for the long-shuttered venue in New Orleans' Treme neighborhood. The theater suffered serious damage in 2005 when federal levee failures led to flooding across New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. SENT: 121 words.

LOUISIANA IN BRIEF

Editors: The following brief items moved Wednesday on AP's Louisiana wire and may be of interest for your Thursday editions.

LOUISIANA CORRUPTION

NEW ORLEANS — A New Orleans businessman, who said he tried to bribe former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, and who pleaded guilty to bribing former Plaquemines Parish Sheriff Jiff Hingle in exchange for a contract, has been sentenced to 15 months in prison. Aaron Bennett was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval. SENT: 120 words.

CALCASIEU SUPERINTENDENT

LAKE CHARLES — The Calcasieu Parish School Board has voted to approve the superintendent application packet recommended by the Superintendent Search Committee, with only a few minor revisions. R.L. Webb, committee chairman, said that by the board approving the packet on Tuesday, the superintendent position officially opened Wednesday. SENT: 89 words.

HOME INVASION ARREST

LAFAYETTE — A 54-year-old Lafayette man who police say robbed a woman during a home invasion in February has been arrested in Marksville. Lafayette Police Cpl. Paul Mouton says Robert Lavergne was picked up on the warrants alleging home invasion and first-degree robbery. SENT: 92 words.

COUPLE MISSING

NEW ORLEANS — Nearly three weeks after a Reserve couple was reported missing, authorities say a body found Monday afternoon in the Intracoastal Waterway in eastern New Orleans is that of 29-year-old Lakeitha Joseph. St. John the Baptist Parish deputies say the Orleans Parish coroner's office used dental records to help make identification late Tuesday. Joseph's husband, 34-year-old Kenneth Joseph, is still missing. SENT: 130 words.

OUACHITA SCHOOLS

MONROE — A loss of students and midyear adjustments to the Minimum Foundation Program money distributed to local school districts will cost Ouachita Parish Schools about $700,000 before June 30. Ouachita Parish School Board members learned about the decrease in funding in a board meeting on Tuesday. SENT: 110 words.

PRISONER CAPTURED

ST. MARTINVILLE — Authorities say a St. Martinville prisoner who walked away from a work detail was captured nearby a short time later. St. Martin Parish sheriff's spokeswoman Maj. Ginny Higgins says 23-year-old Delanius Narcisse, of St. Martinville, left the other prisoners working near Washington Street Tuesday and was captured a short distance away. SENT: 79 words.

NEW IBERIA SHOOTING

NEW IBERIA — Iberia Parish sheriff's deputies are searching for a suspect in the fatal shooting of a 24-year-old New Iberia man. Lt. Anthony Green said Uriah Joseph was shot multiple times about 1 p.m. Tuesday. Green says a warrant for second-degree murder has been issued for a suspect in the case. SENT: 64 words.

UNCLAIMED PROPERTY

BATON ROUGE — Louisiana's Treasury Department says it refunded more than $188,000 in unclaimed money at a weekend event in Gretna. Treasurer John Kennedy said the refunds from bridge tolls, which ended last year at New Orleans' Crescent City Connection, ranged from $10 to $40. Kennedy added that there were several larger property claims, including one for $16,000. SENT: 113 words.

DRUG STING

PORT ALLEN — West Baton Rouge Parish authorities arrested 23 people through a multi-agency, six-month drug sting titled "Mardi Gras Clean-Up." SENT: 60 words.

UNO DONATION

NEW ORLEANS — Global oilfield services company Schlumberger has donated $1.3 million in oil and gas exploration software to the University of New Orleans. In a news release, the Houston-based company says the investment is part of a broader effort to support geosciences studies at the university. SENT: 130 words.

BUSINESS IN BRIEF

LWCC-DIVIDEND

BATON ROUGE — The board of directors of Louisiana Workers' Compensation Corp. has declared a 2013 dividend of $69.1 million that will be paid to qualifying policyholders in April. More than 16,000 policyholders will receive a portion of this dividend. Individual dividend awards are based on a calculation that takes into account policyholders' premium and longevity with LWCC over the past five years. SENT: 130 words.

SPORTS

GRIZZLIES-PELICANS

NEW ORLEANS — The Memphis Grizzlies continue their bid to move up into one of the final Western Conference playoff spots Wednesday night when they visit the New Orleans Pelicans. Tip-off 7 p.m. UPCOMING: 750 words. With AP Photos.

SPORTS IN BRIEF

SAINTS-THOMAS

METAIRIE — The Saints have agreed to terms with running back Pierre Thomas on a two-year contract extension. The move was announced Wednesday morning as the second day of NFL free agency heated up. SENT: 126 words.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.