Louisiana news briefs

Paincourtvile man, 52, dies in Assumption crash
BELLE ROSE (AP) — State police say a 52-year-old Paincourtville man died in an Assumption Parish accident.
The Friday night accident happened on La. 308 in Belle Rose. A pickup truck driven by Gerald Miles ran off the road at a curve, spun back across the road, struck an embankment and overturned.
Miles, who was not wearing a seat belt, died later at Prevost Hospital in Donaldsonville.

New Orleans honored for murder reduction program
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The U.S. Conference of Mayors has named New Orleans one of the nation’s most livable cities, honoring Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s NOLA for Life program, launched in 2012 with the aim of reducing murders in the city.
Landrieu accepted the award Saturday at the conference’s meeting in Dallas. West Sacramento, California also won an award among cities with more than 100,000 residents.
The program, the majority of which is funded with private money, focuses on reducing shootings among young men, doing more to prevent violence, improving job opportunities, cutting neighborhood blight and strengthening the police department.
In 2013, there were 155 murders in New Orleans, a 20 percent decline from 193 in 2012. In the first three months of this year, the murders were down by nearly 30 percent.

Grand Ole Opry member Jimmy C. Newman dead at 86
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Grand Ole Opry member Jimmy C. Newman, known for mixing Cajun and country music, has died.
Opry publicist Jessie Schmidt said Newman died in Nashville on Saturday after a brief illness. He was 86.
Newman’s first Top 10 country hit, “Cry, Cry, Darling,” came 60 years ago, in the summer of 1954. That same year he joined Shreveport-based radio show “The Louisiana Hayride,” where he performed alongside Johnny Horton, Elvis Presley and others.
He joined the Opry in 1956, after notching five straight Top 10 records, including “Seasons Of My Heart.” In 1957, Newman earned his highest-charting record with “A Fallen Star,” which reached No. 2 on the Billboard country chart and No. 23 on the pop chart.
Originally from Louisiana, Newman added the “C” to his stage name in the early 1960s, saying that it stood for “Cajun.” The French Acadian-sounding “Alligator Man” hit the Top 40 in 1962, and Newman recognized that a Cajun-country blend would set him apart and honor his roots. He took pride to be considered the first Cajun artist to join the Opry.
Career honors include induction into the Cajun Music Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

Man arrested in woman’s stabbing death on beach
GRAND ISLE — A man who authorities say stabbed his girlfriend to death on a Grand Isle beach has been arrested.
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office said Sunday that 28-year-old Randy Marcel of Chauvin is jailed on suspicion that he stabbed 34-year-old Jennifer Dorzier, also of Chauvin.
The sheriff’s office says witnesses saw an arugment between the two, who had been dating for about five years. One witness saw the stabbing and called police. Marcel fled but was arrested by Grand Isle police and sheriff’s deputies.
Dorzier’s 1-year-old daughter was on the beach at the time of the stabbing. She is in state custody. Sheriff’s spokesman Glen Boyd said the child is not Marcel’s daughter.

Parish offers warrant amnesty
THIBODAUX (AP) — People with outstanding warrants in Lafourche Parish can take advantage of an amnesty program that ends this week.
Through June, offenders will be able to pay the fines associated with the warrants to avoid arrest. The bench warrant fee of $150 will be waived.
Most misdemeanor warrants through state District Court in Lafourche Parish will be eligible, but not Municipal Court warrants. A list of people with about 10,000 outstanding warrants is posted on the Lafourche Sheriff’s Office website.

Lafayette teachers sent surveys about budget
LAFAYETTE (AP) — The Lafayette Parish School System will send out email surveys this week to all district teachers to get more input on how to proceed with the proposed 2014-15 budget.
Superintendent Pat Cooper said the results should be compiled before the next school board budget meeting, scheduled for Thursday.
The district is facing a deficit of about $23.5 million for the next fiscal year.
Last week, Cooper and other officials proposed cutting millions of dollars in programs and personnel, including about 300 positions. The board took no action on those proposals, and is instead taking time to review the entire budget and submit their own suggestions for consideration.

3 men accused of stealing $1,500 in crab traps
CHALMETTE (AP) — St. Bernard Parish sheriff’s deputies have arrested three men in the theft of 37 crab traps.
Sheriff James Pohlmann said the traps were recently stolen from separate crabbers in the Delacroix Island area. The traps are worth more than $1,500 total. The arrests were made after a joint investigation with the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
Pohlmann says 28-year-old Jeremy Encardes and a 17-year-old were arrested on June 18. Encardes faces two counts of theft of crab traps and three counts of possession of stolen property. The teen was booked with three counts of possession of stolen property.
Pohlmann says 22-year-old Christopher Areas Jr. was booked with three counts of theft of the traps.

Tiger can stay at truck stop
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Tony the Tiger can stay in his quarters at a Grosse Tete (TATE) truck stop.
Gov. Bobby Jindal has signed into law Senate Bill 250, granting an exception for the tiger.
The bill, which the governor sent to the Secretary of State’s Office as part of a huge batch of signed legislation, now is Act 697.
The animal rights groups had pressured the governor to veto it while truck stop owner Michael Sandlin asked Jindal to keep Tony in the only home he’s ever known.
The bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Rick Ward III, a Republican from Maringouin, applauded the governor’s decision Friday.
Sandlin told Nola.com/The Times-Picayune (http://bit.ly/1qyxh49 ) that he was relieved the threat of Tony being taken is gone.