Louisiana news briefs

Gamblers lost more than $234.8M in December
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Gamblers lost more than $234.8 million at Louisiana’s 20 major gambling venues in December, a combined year-over-year increase of 14.4 percent.
Much of that gain came from the addition of a third riverboat in Lake Charles, which draws many of its customers from Texas.
State police reported Tuesday Baton Rouge riverboat casino receipts totaled nearly $22.85 million in December.
The state’s biggest bucks came from Lake Charles’ three riverboat casinos last month. Those receipts totaled $72 million, which was 59 percent more than was collected in December 2013 when Lake Charles only had two riverboat casinos.
Louisiana’s 15 riverboats collected $172.7 million in December, which was 20.7 percent higher than combined collections for December 2013.
The Amelia Belle’s December revenue was $4,194,049, up 3.2 percent from November and 2.5 percent over December 2013 revenue.
The state’s four horse tracks pulled in another $31.77 million in December.

Baton Rouge area home sales up
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Baton Rouge area home sales increased by 3.2 percent in 2014, thanks to more activity in Livingston and Ascension parishes.
There were 8,903 homes sold in the nine-parish area during 2014, compared with 8,625 in 2013, according to figures released Tuesday by the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors’ Multiple Listing Service.
Livingston had the biggest sales gain during the year, increasing by nearly 11 percent over 2013 figures. There were 1,639 sales in the parish during 2014, compared with 1,479 a year earlier.
Ascension had a 3.2 percent sales gain, going from 1,667 in 2013 to 1,720 in 2014.
East Baton Rouge still accounted for the largest percentage of home sales in the region.

Assumption Parish deputies armed with body cameras
NAPOLEONVILLE (AP) — The Assumption Parish Sheriff’s Office has outfitted 31 patrol deputies and detectives with Taser Axon body cameras to record their interactions with the public.
Sheriff Mike Waguespack said deputies and detectives began wearing the cameras, which are about half the size of a cellphone, on their chests Monday after completing required training over the past two weeks.
Waguespack says he decided to outfit his deputies and detectives to maintain officer accountability and better deal with community complaints.
He says images from the cameras, which can hold nine hours of video and have 12-hour batteries, are automatically uploaded and archived into Taser’s cloud-based system.

Mardi Gras chief dies
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Theodore Emile “Bo” Dollis, the longtime Big Chief of the Wild Magnolias Mardi Gras Indians, died Tuesday at his home in New Orleans.
His death was announced by the Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame in a message on its Facebook page. He was 71.
Dollis first masked with the Golden Arrows Mardi Gras Indians as a young teen despite reluctance from his family because of the Indian groups’ reputations for violence. Soon after, he joined the Wild Magnolias as Flag Boy and, by 1964, had risen to Big Chief. Dollis was part of a new generation that rejected violence, focusing instead on costuming.
Dollis was among the first to bring the culture and sound of the Indian culture to national prominence, recording the first commercial album of Mardi Gras Indian music, including the single “Handa Wanda,” in 1970. That same year, he and Monk Boudreaux of the Golden Eagles Mardi Gras Indians appeared at the first New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
In 1974, along with his wife Laurita Dollis, keyboardist Willie Tee, guitarist and singer Snooks Eaglin, percussionist Uganda Roberts and saxophonist Earl Turbinton, Dollis recorded “The Wild Magnolias,” melding Indian chants with sizzling funk.

Deputy shot, Fla. fugitive arrested
DONALDSONVILLE (AP) — Ascension Parish sheriff’s deputies have arrested the man wanted in the shooting injury of one of their fellow deputies.
Sheriff Jeff Wiley says the suspect, 35-year-old John Wesley McMullen, was already wanted by authorities in Lake Wales, Florida, on counts of attempted first-degree murder as well as robbery, arson and other charges.
McMullen was found Tuesday night, hiding in a sugarcane field near Donaldsonville. Wiley says deputies had been searching for McMullen since the deputy was shot in the hand.
Wiley says the incident began Tuesday afternoon when the deputy stopped a vehicle from a description given by Donaldsonville Walmart employees in a shoplifting complaint.
McMullen now faces a charge of attempted first-degree murder of a police officer.

Baptists asked to withhold funds from La. convention
ALEXANDRIA (AP) — A former leader at Louisiana College and a group of pastors are organizing a new Baptist association. They say it will create a “second option” for Louisiana Baptists that would allow churches to keep most of their money on the local level.
Tim Johnson founded the nonprofit Southern Baptist Association of Louisiana.
Johnson said “multiple” pastors also are involved but did not want to include their names for fear of retaliation from the Louisiana Baptist Convention.
The newspaper says LBC officials did not return requests for comments on Tuesday.

4th person dies from wreck injuries
NATCHITOCHES (AP) — Louisiana State Police say a fourth person has died from her injuries suffered in a two car collision in Natchitoches Parish.
Master Trooper Scott Moreau says 10-year-old Kaylee West of Montgomery died Tuesday.
Moreau says a car headed north crossed the center line on U.S. 71 south of Clarence, colliding with another car around 5 p.m. Sunday.

Woman booked
for burning son
OPELOUSAS (AP) — An Opelousas woman has been arrested after her 5-year-old son was treated for burns to his hand and torso that appeared to have been caused by a cigarette.
The St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office says the child’s mother, identified as 26-year-old Jessica Deville, was booked with cruelty to a juvenile Saturday and released on $3,500 bond. If convicted, she faces up to 10 years in prison.
The sheriff’s office, in a statement Tuesday, said the child is recovering and living with his father.

Man arrested for stealing thousands from grandmother
OPELOUSAS (AP) — An Arnaudville man is free on $10,000 bond after his arrest for allegedly stealing more than $36,000 from his 86-year-old grandmother whose account he had access to.
The St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office says Martin Thibodeaux had apparently been pilfering the account for a while. Investigators say he accessed the account 34 times from July 2014 through January. By the time her family brought the woman in person to her bank, $36,230 was unaccounted for and her safety deposit box — which had an undetermined amount of cash inside — was empty.
Capt. Cheyne Platte said Tuesday an investigation found Thibodeaux had gambled large amounts of cash at Evangeline Downs Casino.
Thibodeaux was booked with financial exploitation of the elderly. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.

3 cited for taking oysters from polluted area
BATON ROUGE (AP) — State wildlife enforcement agents have cited three Golden Meadow residents for alleged oyster fishing violations near Bayou Blue in Lafourche Parish.
The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said Tuesday that senior agent Thomas Wolf spotted a vessel harvesting oysters from the unapproved area Saturday. Wolf cited 58-year-old Jeffrey L. Shepard, 50-year-old John Mejia and 34-year-old Talasha C. Nelson.
He also seized and returned four sacks of oysters to the water and the dredges and vessel.
Taking oysters from an unapproved polluted area brings up to a $950 fine and 120 days in jail. The subjects could also forfeit any seized equipment if convicted.

Landreneau to head Louisiana State Parks
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne has appointed Dwight Landreneau as assistant secretary of the Office of State Parks, which manages 22 state parks and 17 state historic sites.
Landreneu previously served in the position under then Lt. Gov. Kathleen Blanco. The agency also manages two state preservation areas, the Louisiana Outdoors Outreach Program, several grant management programs and Poverty Point World Heritage Site.
Landrenau will replace Stuart Johnson, who retired last year after more than 17 years of service. Dardenne, in a statement Tuesday, said Landreneau will start immediately and lead the 441-employee agency for the balance of the term, which ends Jan. 11, 2016.
Landreneau also spent 2½ years as head of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and most recently was associate vice chancellor at the LSU AgCenter.