Louisiana news briefs

Public school teacher retirements remain up
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Newly released statistics find the spike in public school retirements eased somewhat, but the numbers are still higher than prior to passage of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s education revamp.
The number of kindergarten through 12th-grade employees in the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana who retired in the fiscal year ending June 30 stood at 2,979. Seventy percent of those who retired had 20 years or more of service credit.
In the two prior fiscal years, there were 3,295 and 3,415 retirements, respectively. The 3,415 retirements came in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013.
State Superintendent of Education John White said economics is the driving factor as teachers, administrators and others make personal decisions on what’s best for the future for themselves and their families.

New Iberia man guilty in death of 4-year-old
NEW IBERIA (AP) — A state judge has found Jamal Charles of New Iberia guilty of first-degree murder and second-degree cruelty to a juvenile in the 2011 death of a 4-year-old girl and the injuring of her 3-year-old brother.
The verdict was released Monday. Charles’ bench trial ended Friday.
Investigators say Charles put the victim and her 3-year-old brother, who suffered burns, in a bathtub filled with water that was 180 degrees. Charles also is accused of beating the girl with a hammer.
Charles’ sentencing is set for Oct. 14.

Audit: About $62,000 missing from Melville utility
BATON ROUGE (AP) — A state audit finds Melville is missing more than $62,000 in payments for utility services from 2012 to 2014, a number that represents roughly 12 percent of utility receipts for that period.
The state Legislative Auditor’s report says the two employees who handle utility accounts for the small St. Landry Parish town deny taking any of the money.
As for where the cash is, Melville Mayor Willie Haynes III said the investigation has yet to locate any of it.
Haynes said the audit report will be forwarded to the St. Landry Parish District Attorney’s Office.
The mayor said the two employees still have their jobs, and the town plans to take no personnel action at this time.

Ethics complaint filed against Sen. David Vitter
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Democratic group has lodged an ethics complaint against Republican U.S. Sen. David Vitter, alleging he violated state campaign finance restrictions.
The American Democracy Legal Fund announced Monday it filed the complaint with the Louisiana ethics board.
It seeks an investigation into a $100,000 fund transfer from Vitter’s federal campaign account to an independent PAC supporting Vitter’s 2015 candidacy for governor. The PAC is called The Fund for Louisiana’s Future.
The complaint says Louisiana law prohibits transfers of a candidate’s federal campaign money to a PAC supporting that candidate.
Vitter spokesman Luke Bolar called the complaint a “baseless attack” from a leftist group. Bolar says Vitter followed the law.
State ethics administrator Kathleen Allen wouldn’t confirm the complaint was filed. The ethics board decides in secret whether to investigate complaints.

Woman pleads
in law firm embezzlement
LAFAYETTE (AP) — A 36-year-old Church Point woman has pleaded guilty in the embezzlement of nearly $200,000 from the Lafayette law firm of Clay Burgess, where she had worked for more than a decade.
Michelle Dana Lavergne entered her plea on Monday.
Lavergne faces up to 10 years in prison on three counts of making or possessing a forged security.
Federal prosecutors said that from 2008 to 2013, she wrote several checks from the firm to herself and another employee, ranging from $350 to $5,500.
Over five years, prosecutors say the total rose to $197,371.
She had worked at the firm for 13 years as a financial secretary and paralegal.

Lafayette School Board passes budget
LAFAYETTE (AP) — The Lafayette Parish School Board has approved a 2014-15 budget.
Superintendent Pat Cooper says the budget breaks the law and he won’t put it into effect right away.
The three board members voted against the nearly $430 million budget Monday night, which includes a general fund of around $265 million. The version approved by the board includes significant cuts to personnel, including teaching positions, counselors and assistant principals. It is unclear exactly how many staff members may have to be laid off, because some of the slots are vacant.
Cooper says the cuts will hurt lower-performing schools. He says state law only allows the board to determine the number of personnel, but that it is up to the superintendent to choose those people and positions.

5 men shot in eastern N.O.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Police are investigating a shooting in eastern New Orleans near a gas station and convenience store that left five men injured.
Officer Frank Robertson says the five men — ages 20, 27, 35, 54 and 60 — were shot around 8 p.m. Monday.
Robertson says the 27-year-old was struck multiple times, while the remaining men were each shot once. He says two of the men were taken to a nearby hospital by ambulance while three arrived by private vehicle.
Their conditions were not immediately available.

Robertson says evidence suggest that one of the men may have been the target of the gunfire.
Lafourche flood control work sparks concern
THIBODAUX (AP) — Concerns about water quality and flooding at a Terrebonne water treatment plant have halted a project to install a pump station that aims to improve drainage in Thibodaux.
Terrebonne Waterworks Manager Mike Sobert said if the roughly $4.8 million project is continued as is, the nearby Schriever drinking water plant will flood and water quality in both Terrebonne and Lafourche could suffer.
Sobert lodged a complaint with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. Until his complaints are addressed, Sobert said engineering and construction permits will not be issued.
The Lafourche Parish Administration sent its plans for the Dugas Canal pump station to the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources and the Army Corps of Engineers to address Sobert’s concerns before the project moves forward.