Louisiana news briefs

2 arrested in probe of St. Landry animal shelter
OPELOUSAS — Deputies say the former director of the St. Landry Parish animal shelter and a current shelter employee have been arrested on animal cruelty and theft counts.
Sheriff Bobby Guidroz, who announced the arrests at the St. Landry Parish Council meeting Wednesday, said deputies booked former director Patricia Street and employee Troy Gallo on animal cruelty and theft of not more than $500, following an investigation by his office.
The sheriff declined to elaborate on the arrests.
He says Street and Gallo bonded out of the parish jail shortly after they were booked.

Cleco customers getting refund, lower rates
BATON ROUGE — Cleco Power customers will see a reduction in their bills and get a refund under a rate plan approved by the Louisiana Public Service Commission.
Cleco is based in Pineville.
The approval extends Cleco Power’s formula rate plan for four years, reducing its base rates for customers by $34 million. That’s equal to an annual decrease of $84 for an average residential customer’s bill.
The one-time refund totals $22 million, or $46 for an average residential customer. Cleco said Wednesday the refund will be included on September bills.
Cleco said the plan also includes a rate of return and mechanism to fund future growth transactions for the utility.
Cleco Power serves about 284,000 customers in Louisiana.

Ex-casino blackjack dealer,
4 others accused of cheating
NEW ORLEANS — A former blackjack dealer at Harrah’s Casino and four others are wanted for cheating and swindling more than $32,000 from the business.
Louisiana State Police began investigating in May after Harrah’s notified them of possible cheating.
Breana Lewis, 24, of New Orleans, who worked at the casino for about a year, was allegedly seen illegally awarding bets to four patrons who apparently knew her and were at her table. The bets cost Harrah’s $32,022.50.
Arrest warrants have been issued for Lewis, Cornelius Wells, 34, and Clifford E. Carter, 31, both of New Orleans; Jeffery Sheridan Jr., 25, of Angie and Annette Davis, 43, of Gretna. Each faces two counts of conspiracy to commit cheating and swindling and two counts of cheating and swindling.
Authorities ask anyone with information about their whereabouts is asked to contact state police at 504-533-6919.
Lewis has been at large for three weeks, state police said. She had been expected to meet with investigators but failed to show up, and authorities “haven’t been able to locate her in the New Orleans metro area,” said Melissa Matey, a state police spokeswoman.
The alleged scheme unfolded during two late-night sessions on May 17 and May 22 when four players “who appear to personally know each other and personally know Lewis” played at the casino, according to court documents. Lewis allegedly awarded the players “bets that were not winners” under blackjack guidelines, according to felony arrest warrants, which allege that Lewis was seen “cheating and swindling” by her supervisor.
“Their actions appeared to be preplanned, and these four patrons were wagering on just the blackjack table Lewis was dealing on over these two days,” Master Trooper Jeffery Argrave wrote in an affidavit.
The scam cost the casino $4,325 during one sitting and $27,697.50 during the other, according to the warrants.

Watts named new West Baton Rouge schools chief
PORT ALLEN — School board members named Zachary’s high school principal to be the new superintendent of West Baton Rouge Parish Schools.
The board Wednesday named Wesley Watts to replace Superintendent David Corona, who announced his retirement last October.
Watts has been Zachary High School’s principal since 2010. The school district has repeatedly been ranked one of the best-performing schools in the state.
Watts earned a master’s degree in education from the University of Southern Mississippi. He also served as Central High School’s athletics director and basketball coach from 1998 to 2009

Centric Pipe to expand Bossier City facility
BATON ROUGE — Centric Pipe LLC is making a multimillion dollar investment in northwest Louisiana.
Gov. Bobby Jindal and SB International Inc. President and CEO Satish Gupta announced Wednesday that Centric Pipe, an SB International affiliate, will spend $32.5 million to renovate and expand the former Northwest Pipe facility in Bossier City.
Dallas-based SB International bought the facility in March. Centric Pipe will manufacture and supply welded-steel pipe and tubular products for domestic oil and gas clients. The new investment will add equipment and a rail spur to the facility, creating 82 new jobs, with an average annual salary of $50,000.
The company has begun hiring and expects to start facility upgrades and construction of the rail spur by the first quarter of 2015. Project completion is expected by the end of 2017.

Severe cuts possible
for Lafayette schools
LAFAYETTE — Lafayette Parish school officials are prepared to eliminate nearly 300 instructional positions next year because of a potential budget deficit that has swelled to $23.5 million.
Officials predict that about 100 people could lose their jobs next year, including teachers, counselors, administrators and others. The remaining positions are vacant, or would be eliminated through attrition.
On Tuesday, Superintendent Pat Cooper and other district officials presented what Cooper described as a “devastating” proposal for the 2014-15 budget. The School Board has said it does not want to use a portion of a nearly $70 million reserve fund, or money generated from a 2002 sales tax, to help cover the deficit.
Without those options available, Cooper said the only recourse is to cut expenditures.
Cooper has proposed two versions of a general fund budget, one with $272,362,457 in the general fund, the other with $271,522,776. Both reflect increases from the fiscal year 2014 general fund budget of $257,881,191.
The Lafayette Parish School Board has a special meeting today to discuss and possibly vote on the budget proposals.
From The Associated Press.

“Not being able to consider either revenue source, LPSS and the community are set on a course for disaster,” Cooper wrote in a budget statement. “Our children will get less, far less than they deserve. LPSS will lose great teachers and administrators. Public education is now a highly competitive business, and LPSS will no longer be in a position to compete .... Make no mistake — these cuts will be devastating for our school system.”
Cooper has proposed two versions of a general fund budget, one with $272,362,457 in the general fund, the other with $271,522,776. Both reflect increases from the fiscal year 2014 general fund budget of $257,881,191.
The Lafayette Parish School Board has a special meeting Thursday to discuss and possibly vote on the budget proposals.

Opelousas man killed in Wednesday shooting
OPELOUSAS — Police say a 19-year-old Opelousas man has died after he was shot three times.
Police Chief Perry Gallow says officers found the body of Donnie Sam around 1:20 a.m. Wednesday.
Gallow says Sam was pronounced dead by the St. Landry Parish Coroner’s Office.
A motive for the slaying has not been released.
Sorrento council stymied in closing police dept.
SORRENTO, La. (AP) — A divided Sorrento Town Council narrowly approved a $1.14 million budget for the new 2014-15 fiscal year Tuesday night, but was stymied in a bid to defund parts of the town’s troubled police Department.
The attempt to leave the department with no provisions to pay for an officer, a police chief or other expenses failed over public notice concerns raised by Councilman Randy Anny and shared by Town Attorney Matthew Percy.
Had the council majority succeeded, the department could not have funded any officers four months ahead of a possible Nov. 4 ballot measure asking Sorrento voters to abolish the department and the town’s elected chief.
Gov. Bobby Jindal signed Senate Bill 601 into law last week allowing the council to call for that election. The chief’s office has been vacant since the former chief, Earl Theriot Jr., resigned in February shortly before pleading guilty to lying to an FBI agent.
Councilwoman Patti Poche proposed an amendment shifting $132,000 from the department’s proposed $367,350 budget to pay for Sheriff’s Office protection from July 1 to Nov. 30.
The amendment also would have moved the chief’s salary for five months to town drainage funds, zeroed out line items for a police officer and part-time clerk salaries and left about $143,000 after other reductions.
Mayor Mike Lambert, who has advocated to end the department and the elected chief in favor of Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office protection, said after the meeting that the proposed budget amendment will be brought up again, likely coming up for a final vote sometime in mid to late July.
He disputed Anny’s charge the amendment was a “sneaky” move, chalking it up to his and the council’s inexperience with the budget process.