Louisiana news briefs

La. reports 5 West Nile
cases, 1 chikungunya case
BATON ROUGE (AP) — The state health department confirms five new cases of West Nile Virus in Louisiana, bringing this year’s total to 123 reported infections.
The Department of Health and Hospitals said Friday the new infections include one case of serious neuroinvasive disease in East Baton Rouge Parish. There were also two less serious cases of West Nile Fever in East Baton Rouge Parish and one in Iberville Parish. There was also a new asymptomatic case reported in Caddo Parish.
No deaths were reported, leaving the state’s count at five.
The state also reported a new case of chikungunya (chih-kihn-GUHN’-yuh) fever but none of dengue (den-GEE) fever. The person with chikungunya contracted it in the Virgin Islands. So far this year, Louisiana has reported 11 cases of chikungunya and two cases of dengue.

Ex-BP engineer can
travel to China pending trial
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A former BP engineer who won a new trial this year on a charge relating to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill has been granted permission to travel abroad.
A federal judge said Thursday that Kurt Mix will be allowed to travel to China in November to attend his stepson’s wedding and visit with family.
Prosecutors have accused Mix of deleting text messages about the amount of oil flowing from a blown-out well after the Deepwater Horizon disaster. He was convicted on one count in 2013 but won a new trial based on juror misconduct. He has pleaded not-guilty.
His lawyers have said there is ample evidence that the Katy, Texas, man shared information about the flow rate with federal officials investigating the disaster.

Job matchmaking event set at Nicholls
THIBODAUX (AP) — Nicholls State University’s fall employment matching event is set for Wednesday.
The session will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Cotillion Ballroom at the Bollinger Memorial Student Union.
Dozens of employers will be on the Thibodaux campus to connect with job-seeking Nicholls students and graduates.
The cost to participate is $150 for companies and $75 for nonprofits. Participating employers are allowed to bring up to four recruiters.
The event is free for job-seeking Nicholls State students and alumni of the university.
More information is available online at www.nicholls.edu/career.

Public hearing Nov. 12
on fracking issue
MANDEVILLE (AP) — A public hearing on Helis Oil & Gas Co.’s request for a permit to drill a well near Mandeville will be held Nov. 12 at Lakeshore High School in Mandeville.
The state Department of Natural Resources says the Office of Conservation, which regulates oil and gas drilling, will conduct the hearing.
Helis wants to drill a well on an undeveloped tract of land north of Interstate 12 and use the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, method, to extract oil. It’s also seeking a wetlands permit from the Corps of Engineers and a water quality certification from the state Department of Environmental Quality.
Those opposed to the proposed project cite environmental concerns. The Parish Council has filed a lawsuit seeking to block DNR from authorizing the project.

Army: Fort Polk water
safe; has ‘aesthetic issues’
FORT POLK (AP) — Top officials at Fort Polk say the tap water on base is safe to drink, even if it is sometimes brown.
At a town hall meeting last week, an engineer said the water looks gross but is not dangerous.
U.S. Army Public Health Command engineer Steve Clark says system manager American Water is making changes that should clear up the water within 18 months.
Clark worked on tests ordered by the state health department after it was reported in June that trace levels of lead and copper were found in Fort Polk homes.
He says only three of 34 samples were above lead or copper action levels, meaning the required 90 percent were below that level.

Man walking on U.S. 61
at night hit, killed by car
LAPLACE (AP) — Louisiana State Police say a 63-year-old man walking on U.S. 61 at night was hit and killed by a car in LaPlace.
Trooper Melissa Matey says David Curtis of LaPlace was walking north about 9 p.m. Saturday and was hit by a 2012 Chevrolet Impala heading the same direction.
She says the driver submitted to a routine blood test but investigators don’t think impairment and speed were factors.

Cleanup underway
at N.E. La. derailment site
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Cleanup continued early Monday at the site of a train derailment in northeast Louisiana.
The engineer and conductor were injured when a freight train hit a truck Sunday at a crossing in Mer Rouge, derailing two engines and 17 cars of the 87-car train, state police said.
Crews worked throughout the night and could have line open later today, troopers said.
Union Pacific Railroad Co. officials said the conductor’s injuries weren’t considered life-threatening. He was being treated at a hospital in Shreveport. They say the engineer suffered minor injuries.
Mer Rouge Police Chief Mitch Stephens said about 50 houses were evacuated for about two hours due to concerns that a tank car of pressurized argon gas might explode. Another tank of argon, an inert gas used to fill light bulbs and in arc welding, leaked until it was empty, he said.
Stephens said the trailer got stuck on the tracks crossing Highway 165, but trucker Daniel Shackleford, of Freedom, Missouri, was unhurt. Shackleford was hauling a rig owned by Taylor Truck Line of Northfield, Minnesota.
“He saw the train coming and he jumped out of the truck,” Stephens said.

Ascension council approves bonds for sewer system
GONZALES (AP) — A regional sewer system for the northern reaches of Ascension Parish moved one step closer to becoming a reality last week when the council approved ordinances allowing issuance of up to $60 million in revenue bonds.
Funding for the project comes from a $60 million low-interest loan through the state Department of Environmental Quality, part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund.
The parish plans to budget $3.3 million from the parish’s existing 1-cent sales tax to secure the bonds.
Chief Administrative Officer Ken Dawson said a treatment plant for the system likely would be located along La. 73.

Parish may condemn house where deputy killed teen
HOUMA (AP) — The vacant house where a deputy sheriff shot and killed a teenager is going through Terrebonne Parish’s condemnation process.
Cameron Tillman was killed by four bullets fired by a Terrebonne sheriff’s deputy in the abandoned house on Sept. 23
A state police investigation into Tillman’s death is ongoing.
Sheriff Jerry Larpenter said the deputy “feared for his life” when he shot the Ellender High School freshman.
Larpenter claims the teen answered a knock on the door with a BB gun that is a replica of a .45-caliber pistol.
Terrebonne Parish Planning Director Pat Gordon said the property was added to the condemnation list after the shooting.