Louisiana news briefs

Chesney, Shelton, Lambert on Bayou Country lineup
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Kenny Chesney, Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert, some of country music’s biggest stars, will headline the 2015 Bayou Country Superfest, held annually over Memorial Day weekend at LSU’s Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge.
Organizers unveiled the festival lineup Wednesday.
Chesney performs Saturday, May 23, along with Brantley Gilbert, Tyler Farr, Colt Ford and Kristian Bush. Shelton and Lambert will entertain fans Sunday with artists Kip Moore, David Nail and Cassadee Pope.
Two-day ticket packages go on sale Thursday, Nov. 13, at 10 a.m. through BayouCountrySuperfest.com, AXS.com or by calling 888-611-8184.
On May 22, Taylor Swift will return to Tiger Stadium for a show that’s part of her “1989” world tour. Tickets for that event are sold separately.
In 2010, Swift headlined opening night of the Superfest’s inaugural Memorial Day weekend.

Body found in canal
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A man drinking with friends on a sailboat was found dead floating in the industrial canal near SeaBrook Marine.
Port of New Orleans spokesman Matt Gresham says the group of friends woke Wednesday morning to find the man missing. He says they searched the harbor area and found his body floating near the yacht repair facility.
New Orleans and Harbor police units responded about 7:30 a.m. Gresham says the man appears to be in his 60s and an autopsy is pending from the Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office.
Gresham said authorities do not suspect foul play was involved in his death.

Disappearances
OK’d as evidence
in murder case
LAKE CHARLES (AP) — An appeals court says prosecutors who accuse a Mississippi native of killing his first wife in Calcasieu Parish may also bring evidence about the disappearances of two other women.
Louisiana’s 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday in the second-degree murder case accusing Felix Vail of killing Mary Horton Vail in 1962.
The three-judge panel says prosecutors may bring evidence about Vail’s girlfriend Sharon Hensley and his second wife, Annette Carver-Vail, even though there’s no direct evidence that Vail “disposed of” them. Hensley has been missing for 41 years and Carver-Vail for 30.
The judges say Vail’s apparent lack of direct involvement would minimize what it calls “impermissible negative inferences about his character.”
They say prosecutors must prove that Vail committed other crimes that bear on Mary Vail’s death.

New Orleans police officer faces theft charge
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A New Orleans police officer has been suspended and is facing a federal theft charge.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Orleans said Wednesday that 39-year-old Tracie Medus was charged this week with theft of government funds. A bill of information charges that Medus obtained $158,700 from the Louisiana Road Home Small Rental Property Program — money that prosecutors say she knew she was not entitled to.
Medus has not responded yet in court. A hearing date was pending. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said a conviction on the theft charge carries a possible prison sentence of up to 10 years.

SU system begins search for new leader
BATON ROUGE (AP) — A Southern University System search committee hopes to have recommendations for a new system president next month.
At its first meeting Wednesday, the panel outlined a process for naming a replacement for Ronald Mason, whose contract expires June 30, 2015. The process includes a two-week application period, interviews in early December and a recommendation to the board by Dec. 12.
“We’re going to have to work harder, but I believe it can be done,” search committee Chairman Joe Gant said. “It’s incumbent upon us to get a leader to lead this ship.”
The group isn’t using an outside search firm. All applicants’ names will be public.
The Board of Supervisors decided in August not to extend Mason’s contract past June 30. The vote followed months of infighting and at least one board member calling for Mason’s immediate resignation.
Some, including Mason, say the system should merge the jobs of system president and flagship campus chancellor, as LSU has done. This search committee is only looking for a new president, Gant said.
Longtime finance administrator Flandus McClinton Jr. is serving indefinitely as acting chancellor while the system board considers choices.
The Southern University Law Center chancellor’s contract will expire next year. The board gave Freddie Pitcher a six-month extension, through June, and granted a similar extension to Agriculture Chancellor Leodrey Williams.

UL Lafayette names assistant VP for research
LAFAYETTE (AP) — The University of Louisiana at Lafayette has named communicative disorders professor Jack Damico the university’s assistant vice president for research.
Vice president for research Ramesh Kolluru says Damico will continue as a professor, as well.
The university wants to increase its research and development spending to $100 million per year over the next five years. Over the same time, it also wants to nearly double the number of doctoral students to 100 per year, and to help 10 new companies each year with research and innovation.
Damico helped create the university’s doctoral program in applied language and speech sciences.
He has published widely in research publications in the fields of applied linguistics, communicative disorders, diversity education and social science. Damico also has written or edited 12 books.

Father pleads guilty in accidental shooting case
BATON ROUGE (AP) — A Baton Rouge man whose 4-year-old son accidentally shot and killed himself with his father’s gun in February 2012 has pleaded guilty in state court to negligent homicide and weapons charges.
Shawn Marquis Dean Sr., 28, had pleaded guilty in federal court in October 2012 to drug and gun charges. One of the federal firearm charges related directly to the gun involved in Shawn Dean Jr.’s accidental death.
Dean was sentenced Monday to nearly 10 years in federal prison, and Tuesday to seven years in state custody. The prison terms are expected to run concurrently.
Police investigators believe Dean left his handgun out and within reach of his son, who grabbed it and accidentally shot himself in the head on Feb. 8, 2012.

$2.2M to educate young breast cancer survivors
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A $2.2 million social media campaign will educate and support young breast cancer survivors in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, according to LSU Health New Orleans.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave the medical school’s School of Public Health a five-year grant to lead a coalition developing the campaign. Other members are the Mary Bird Cancer Center, the University of Mississippi Medical Center and the University of Alabama-Birmingham School of Nursing.
The goal is helping young breast cancer survivors get the services they need, says a news release.
Younger women tendency to have more aggressive disease, and many must deal at the same time with working and developing careers or going to school, maintaining relationships and raising young families.
Information will include family history and genetic risks, psychosocial health and support, reproductive health and fertility, family support, and health monitoring. The campaign also will cover ways to reduce risk, such as keeping a healthy weight, reducing tobacco use and reducing excessive alcohol use.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 11 percent of all new cases of breast cancer in the United States are in women younger than 45 years of age. From 2007 through 2011, there were nearly 4,400 such cases across the three central Gulf states. Forty percent of cases were in African American women.
While breast cancer diagnosis and treatment are difficult for women of any age, young survivors may find it overwhelming, LSU says.
Three years ago, the School of Public Health and the cancer center created an online program called SurviveDat. LSU says the three-state coalition will build on that.
Each state will develop local resource lists and events. LSU Health New Orleans will put information designed for everyone out in all three states.