Lockport triple homicide trial set

Lockport triple homicide trial set
THIBODAUX (AP) — Prosecutors say a trial date has been set for a man charged in a 2012 triple homicide in Lockport.
District Attorney Cam Morvant II said 37-year-old David Brown is scheduled to stand trial Sept. 14 on three counts of first-degree murder.
Brown is accused of stabbing 29-year-old Jacquelin Nieves and her daughters, 7-year-old Gabriela and 1-year-old Izabela, Nov. 4, 2012, in their apartment.
Morvant said he expects the trial to last through Oct. 23, and state District Judge John LeBlanc has set aside that month and a half for the case.
Brown is also accused of allegedly sexually assaulted Jacquelin and Gabriela and set the family’s apartment on fire to cover up the killings.

LeJeune will not seek Lafayette job
LAFAYETTE (AP) — Burnell LeJeune says he will not apply for the job of Lafayette Parish superintendent.
LeJeune has served as the interim superintendent since Nov. 10, 2014.
LeJeune said he plans to retire in July, after 40 years of work in the Lafayette Parish School System.
LeJeune says he is committed to moving forward as the interim superintendent in the coming months.
The school board fired Pat Cooper as superintendent in November, then appointed LeJeune to the interim role days later.

New airline to offer flights between N.O., Panama
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Latin American airline will begin flying non-stop between New Orleans and Panama in June.
Copa Airlines on Thursday announced it will begin nonstop service four times a week on June 24. From Panama, the company says travelers can make connections to 55 other Central and South American destinations through the airline’s Hub of the Americas at Tocumen International Airport in Panama City.
Copa Airlines will depart New Orleans on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 6:55 a.m. and arrive at Copa’s Hub of the Americas at Tocumen International Airport in Panama City at 10:19 a.m.
The return flight will depart Panama on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 6:33 p.m. and arrive in New Orleans at 10:02 p.m. The flight time is about three and a half hours.

Lineup announced for 2015 French Quarter Fest
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Allen Toussaint, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ellis Marsalis and Monk Boudreaux and the Golden Eagles are among the more than 1,400 local musicians on tap to perform at this year’s French Quarter Festival.
The 32nd annual four-day event will be held April 9-12, and is free. The festival is held on 23 stages throughout the French Quarter.
Bridgewater, the Grammy- and Tony-winning jazz singer who’s also host of NPR’s “JazzSet,” will join trumpeter Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra April 12. Mayfield and the orchestra will appear all four days of the festival.
On April 10, the Dixie Cups, known for the New Orleans classic “Iko Iko” and nationally for “Chapel of Love,” will headline.

Man linked to death of woman stuffed
in trash arrested
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans police have arrested a 42-year-old man in connection with the November stabbing death of a woman whose body was found stuffed in a garbage can.
Evangelisto Ramos was arrested Wednesday in Port Fourchon by U.S. Customs Border Protection and the Greater Lafourche Harbor Police.
Police said Ramos will be extradited to New Orleans and booked with second-degree murder.
A city inspector found Trinece Fedison’s body in a garbage can on Nov. 26. Investigators said at the time that Fedison’s body had been there between 12 and 24 hours.
Police said she was stabbed multiple times.

Crowley man fatally shot while trying
to flee robber
CROWLEY (AP) — Police say a 24-year-old Crowley man died after he fled a vehicle to get away from a passenger who tried to rob him before shooting him.
Crowley Police Chief K.P. Gibson said Daniel Tezeno Jr. died from his gunshot injuries at Acadia General Hospital around 2 a.m. Thursday.
Gibson says police are looking for a 24-year-old suspect.
He says the suspect faces one count of first-degree murder.

Terrebonne president to retire
HOUMA (AP) — Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet says he won’t run for another political office after his term expires at year’s end.
Caludet issued a statement Thursday saying he would not seek re-election.
Claudet said he will be happy to step out from under the microscope of elected office and into retirement.
Claudet, nearing the end of his second four-year term, expressed pride in each of the construction, flood protection, coastal restoration, road and recreation improvements the parish has made under his administration.

Man sentenced
to 15 years for firing into crowd
PLAQUEMINE (AP) — An Addis man convicted on two counts of attempted second-degree murder for firing into a crowd at a convenience store has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Shannon Holmes Jr., 21, will have to serve his time without the benefit of parole or probation.
Holmes was sentenced last week by state Judge William DuPont.
Holmes surrendered to police in June 2013 after he was accused of firing 12 shots into a crowd at the Circle K store in Plaquemine. Police say Holmes had gotten into several physical altercations that night while attending a high school graduation party.
Police say two people were injured after Holmes opened fire in a crowd of about 20 people loitering in the gas station’s parking lot.

Special ed overhaul triggers arguments
BATON ROUGE (AP) — A task force has voted to form yet another panel to try to resolve problems plaguing a state law aimed at making it easier for students with disabilities to get a high school diploma.
Thursday’s decision followed nearly four hours of often pointed exchanges on who bears the blame for troubles surrounding a law that took effect in August.
Some backers of the overhaul contend the state education department has fallen short on providing educators with crucial guidance.
But Jamie Wong, director of special education policy, said her agency has supplied districts with a wide array of information and more is coming next week.
The state has about 80,000 special education students and one of the nation’s lowest high school graduation rates for students with disabilities.

Baker school being eyed for state takeover
BAKER (AP) — Baker school Superintendent Ulysses Joseph says school officials should know in the next three weeks whether Bakerfield Elementary School will be taken over by the state.
Bakerfield Elementary has received a grade of F from the state Department of Education for the past four years, making it a target for takeover by the state-run Recovery School District.
If the school is taken over by the state, teachers could potentially lose their jobs, since they would have to reapply through the Recovery School District.
Joseph says Tuesday night that negotiations are underway between the school district and RSD. He says any changes made, such as a takeover of the school, would be effective in the 2014-15 school year.