Louisiana news briefs

Pearl River boy recovering from alligator bites
SLIDELL (AP) — A 12-year-old Pearl River boy is recovering from bites from an alligator.
Matthew Kelly said he felt the 10-foot alligator clamp down on his leg and pull him under the water while he and his father were spear fishing Saturday about 30 yards offshore in Lake Pontchartrain in eastern New Orleans.
Matthew’s father, Scott Kelly, says he’s amazed that his son was able to pull the alligator off his leg with his hands and fight off such a large reptile.
The gator’s teeth left deep gashes in the boy’s left leg.
Matthew was taken to Slidell Memorial Hospital, where he underwent surgery.
Matthew is a student at Creekside Junior High, where the mascot is the gators.

Chackbay man dies
in mobile home fire
CHACKBAY (AP) — Authorities say a 55-year-old Chackbay man died in a mobile home fire over the week.
The Lafourche Parish Coroner’s Office pronounced Michael Reed dead at his home on La. 20 Saturday morning.
State Fire Marshal Butch Browning says the source of the fire is under investigation but no suspicious activity is believed to have occurred.
Browning says the home’s electrical system is being evaluated since the fire appeared to have been ignited through an extension cord. He says no working smoke alarms were found in the home..

New charge filed against
ex-star of reality show
BATON ROUGE (AP) — New rape charges were filed Monday against Will Hayden, former star of the reality TV show, “Sons of Guns.”
The sheriff’s office in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, said they’ve charged Hayden with forcible rape after a woman reported Hayden raped her 22 years ago.
Deputies said the woman was 12 at the time of alleged attack, which happened while she was staying with Hayden and his family after her family was displaced by a house fire.
Hayden, 49, was initially booked Aug. 8 with child molestation. He posted $150,000 bond but was re-arrested Aug. 26 for aggravated rape against the same victim. He was being held with bond set at $250,000 bond when the new forcible rape charges were filed. Bail on the new charge hasn’t been set.
According to an affidavit seeking an arrest warrant, the latest alleged victim, now 34, tells authorities when she was 12 Hayden asked her if she “wanted to get high” and she said yes.
After smoking marijuana, her account in the affidavit continues, Hayden placed his hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming and lay on top of her. It says he then removed her pajama bottoms and panties and raped her.
Afterward, Hayden told her not to tell anyone what happened, she told investigators. She said she was reluctant to come forward because she did not know if her family would believe her. “However, approximately four years ago she told her husband that she was raped by the defendant when she was 12 years old. Detectives were able to confirm this after an interview with him,” the affidavit states.
The Discovery Channel canceled “Sons of Guns” after Hayden’s Aug. 26 arrest.
“Sons of Guns” began airing in 2011 and followed Hayden’s family-owned custom firearms business. Episodes often showed Hayden and his adult daughter, Stephanie, helping customers find weapons, including rifles. Other scenes showed the process of making the guns, images from firing ranges, and ammunition tips.

State Democrats back ex-Gov. Edwards in 6th District
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana’s Democratic Central Committee is endorsing former Gov. Edwin Edwards in the race for the state’s 6th Congressional District seat.
Monday’s announcement acknowledges that the conservative southeast Louisiana district, now represented by Republican Bill Cassidy, is “challenging terrain” for a Democrat. It makes no mention of the four-term former governor’s corruption conviction and the eight years he spent in federal prison.
Cassidy is giving up the seat to run against Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu in the Nov. 4 election.
“The Louisiana Democrat party is increasingly out of touch with our state’s mainstream, and today’s endorsement only reinforces the sad state of their party,” said Jason Dore, executive director of the Republican Party of Louisiana, in an emailed statement late Monday.
Two other Democrats are in the 13-candidate field but neither is well known and neither reports having raised any campaign money. Nine Republicans and a Libertarian also signed up for the race.

Nov. 20 hearing set in Jindal Common Core lawsuit
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Gov. Bobby Jindal will have to wait a few months to have his day in federal court in his lawsuit against the Obama administration over the Common Core education standards.
U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick set a Nov. 20 hearing date to consider the Republican governor’s claims.
In his lawsuit, Jindal accuses the U.S. Department of Education of illegally manipulating federal money and regulations to force states to adopt Common Core, by offering $4.3 billion in grants and policy waivers that encouraged states to adopt uniform standards and testing.
Jindal, considering a 2016 presidential campaign, says the Obama administration’s actions violate the state sovereignty clause in the Constitution and federal laws that prohibit national control of education content.
Even opponents of Common Core question the lawsuit’s likelihood for success.

Audit: 20 guns missing from Brusly Police Department
BRUSLY (AP) — The Brusly Police Department is now working with state and federal investigators to recover 13 missing firearms reported in an audit the Town Council received Monday night.
The auditors said 20 guns were unaccounted for instead of the seven a state investigation alleged former police chief Jamie Whaley misappropriated while in office.
The report, which the Town Council commissioned after Whaley’s second arrest in June for malfeasance, states that six of the missing guns have already been recovered.
The audit says one of the missing firearms will never be recovered.
The audit also outlines a laundry list of other questionable administrative practices within the police department under Whaley’s tenure, including certain bank transactions on police department financial accounts and improperly maintained personnel files for officers.

Councilman pleads to lesser charge in fatal crash
CONVENT (AP) — State prosecutors say they did not have enough evidence to bring a negligent homicide charge against St. James Parish Councilman Terry McCreary in a September 2013 fatal crash that led to the death of a 74-year-old Paulina man.
The 64-year-old McCreary pleaded no contest Monday to careless operation in the Sept. 5, 2013, crash in Lutcher.
Preston O. Barras Jr. died nearly two weeks later from his injuries in the head-on collision. McCreary and the driver of a third vehicle were also injured.
The plea means McCreary, a first-term councilman, avoided possible jail time and the risk of being required to step down from office.
District Attorney Ricky Babin recused his office from the case because it represents the Parish Council.