Louisiana news briefs

More than $100K in marijuana, guns seized in bust
HAHNVILLE (AP) — St. Charles Parish deputies have seized over $100,000 in marijuana and numerous assault rifles in a bust believed to be linked to Mexican cartels.
Police on Sunday arrested two people in a drug-running operation from Houston, Texas to St. Charles Parish.
The incident began with a traffic stop near the 310 interchange. Authorities were searching for the vehicle of 20-year-old Juan Salinas, of Houston. The stop led to a search warrant of a residence in St. Rose, where a second suspect, identified as 36-year-old Lance Cowan, lives.
Authorities found 79 pounds of marijuana stuffed inside a tire. Deputies also confiscated 17 assault rifles, two handguns and $36,880 in cash. Cocaine and prescription pills were also found.
The men each face multiple drug and weapons charges.

Lenny Kravitz added to Jazz Fest
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — After a 10-year hiatus, rocker Lenny Kravitz returns to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
Producers of the festival announced Tuesday that Kravitz is scheduled to perform Sunday, May 3. He last performed at the festival in 2004.
Kravitz joins a lineup that includes Elton John, The Who, Jimmy Buffet, Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga, No Doubt, Keith Urban, John Legend, Ed Sheeran, T.I., Pitbull and Trombone Shorty.
In all, more than 500 acts will perform on 12 stages positioned around the Fair Grounds Race Course.
The festival will run April 24, 25 and 26, and April 30, May 1, 2 and 3.

2 suspects arrested in shooting of Irish police officer
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Authorities have arrested a suspect and his brother in the shooting of an Irish police officer.
The New Orleans Police Department says 40-year-old Melvin Galle Jr. and his brother, Keith, were arrested Tuesday afternoon in the Jan. 27 shooting of 30-year-old Brian Hanrahan.
Both men face charges of armed robbery and attempted second-degree murder. It was unknown if either suspect has an attorney.
Through the course of the investigation, authorities determined that Keith Galle was the second suspect wanted in the shooting.
Police said Melvin Galle befriended Hanrahan and they walked from the French Quarter to a nearby neighborhood. When the men reached the new location, police say Keith Galle allegedly robbed and shot Hanrahan.

La. releases “Child Support Most Wanted” poster
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Louisiana’s social services department has put out its latest “Most Wanted” poster of 14 parents who owe nearly half a million dollars in past-due child support.
The list contains 12 men and 2 women who haven’t paid child support in six months or more. Combined, they owe more than $437,000. The smallest amount owed is more than $11,000.
The poster was released Tuesday by the Department of Children and Family Services. It includes photos, last known addresses and amounts owed — along with a hotline to call if someone knows how to track any of the parents down.
Top on the list is Edward Steven Fields, a 40-year-old professional mover last known to live in Slidell. He owes nearly $79,900 to his three children.
The poster is at: www.dcfs.la.gov/MostWanted.

Roadway deaths drop 29% between 2007 and 2013
BATON ROUGE (AP) — The Louisiana Highway Safety Commission says traffic fatalities dropped by 29 percent between 2007 and 2013.
Lt. Col. John LeBlanc, the commission’s executive director, says the state had 993 traffic fatalities in 2007, compared with 703 in 2013, a drop of almost 30 percent.
LeBlanc says the decrease stems from tougher impaired driving and seat belt laws, more robust law enforcement and public information campaigns on the causes of traffic accidents.
Roadway fatalities fell 2.9 percent from 2012 to 2013, when 651 died.
LeBlanc said in a news release Tuesday impaired driving and lack of seat belts were the chief culprits.
Bicycle and pedestrian deaths also dropped between 2012 and 2013 — 46 percent and 20 percent, respectively.

Tourism group kicks in $2.5M
for N.O. patrols
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans’ tourism industry will put up $2.5 million to help fund extra Louisiana State Police patrols in the city beyond the Mardi Gras season.
State police and other law enforcement agencies traditionally help the city with beefed up Mardi Gras patrols. Now, with the city battling an uptick in violent crime and a busy spring tourism season, plans have been announced to fund overtime for troopers with money from the tourism industry. Hotel rooms also will be provided for troopers brought in from outside the city.
The plan was announced Tuesday by the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau.
State police Superintendent Mike Edmonson said the $2.5 million will help him provide help to the city without hurting his own budget or compromising safety in other parts of Louisiana.
Stephen Perry, president of the NOCVB, said the state police help comes as the city looks beyond Carnival season, which ends on Mardi Gras, Feb. 17, to a busy spring. He said major conventions are planned in New Orleans throughout the spring. And other major spring events include French Quarter Festival and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
“We are running more than 90 percent (hotel) occupancy every weekend,” Perry said.
The announcement comes as residents in and around the French Quarter — a tourist draw as well as a historic residential neighborhood — have expressed alarm over growing crime.
Last summer, a gunfight that broke out on tourist-heavy Bourbon Street killed one bystander — a visitor from Hammond, Louisiana — and hurt 9 other people. More recently, an Irish tourist was shot in another part of town.
Arrests have been made in each case.
Since November, a series of more than 60 robberies in the French Quarter have sparked demands for a greater police presence. Mayor Mitch Landrieu and police chief Michael Harrison acknowledge that the police force of less than 1,200 is well below the ideal number of 1,600, but say recruitment efforts are under way.
They have also announced a stepped up effort to draw retired officers into a reserve force.