Louisiana news briefs

Bollinger delivers cutter
LOCKPORT (AP) — Bollinger Shipyards has delivered its 12th Fast Response Cutter, the Isaac Mayo, to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The 154-foot patrol craft has a top speed of 31 mph and will be based out of Key West, Florida.
The cutters are named for enlisted Coast Guard heroes. In 1879, the Sarah J. Fort, a three-masted schooner, wrecked on the shores of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, during a raging snowstorm. Mayo, a junior surfman, and his crew rescued the schooner’s sailors despite the weather conditions. Mayo was awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal on Nov. 10, 1879.

Unattended toddlers die in house fire; mother arrested
BASTROP — The State Fire Marshal’s Office said the mother of two toddlers, who died in a house fire, has been arrested after leaving them at home unattended.
Investigators said they are still piecing together their findings in Monday’s tragic fire that claimed the lives of 4-year-old Ta’shae Thompson Johnson and her 3-year-old brother, Clifton Thompson Johnson.
Authorities say 21-year-old Ciarria Johnson left her children unattended for hours as she was having her hair styled.
Johnson was booked Tuesday on two counts of negligent homicide in the death of her children.

Broussard votes to increase water, sewer and garbage fees
BROUSSARD (AP) — The Broussard City Council has agreed to increase utility rates for city residents, bumping up water, sewer and garbage fees.
The new rates are being imposed as part of a 5-year plan to increase utility rates after an audit found the city was losing money.
The monthly residential water rates increased from $6.57 for the first 2,000 gallons to $7.03 for the first 2,000 gallons.
For sewer services, Broussard residents will pay $4.82 a month for the first 3,000 gallons and $2.16 per 1,000 gallons after that.
The garbage fee will increase to $19 a month.
In addition, residents also will see increased fees to activate these services.
The new rates will go into effect on Feb. 1.

Former Opelousas chief seeks $43K in unused annual leave
OPELOUSAS (AP) — Former Opelousas Police Chief Perry Gallow is asking the city for $43,658 to cover more than 1,000 hours of unused annual leave.
The Opelousas Board of Aldermen on Tuesday set aside the request, for now.
Gallow served two terms as police chief before he was defeated in the Dec. 6 runoff by Donald Thompson.
Thompson said Gallow’s request involves payment for 1,032 hours over his eight-year term.
The board voted without opposition to have its Budget Committee review Gallow’s request before making any final decision.
Alderman Julius Alsandor said the board’s delay does not mean Gallow is not eligible to receive the funds.

BESE panel approves
teacher retirement study
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Despite protests from teacher unions and others, a committee of Louisiana’s top school board has approved a contract of nearly $143,000 for LSU to study the state’s nearly $12 billion teachers’ retirement debt.
The yearlong study is supposed to be overseen by Jim Richardson, director of the Public Administration Institute at LSU and a member of the influential Revenue Estimating Conference, which oversees Louisiana’s budget outlook.
The review is supposed to aid a task force of education groups grappling with the issue, including why costs continue to rise.
Chas Roemer, president of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, says similar retirement problems have driven some municipalities into bankruptcy.
The full board is expected to approve the plan today

La. sets Feb. 27 application deadline for voucher program
BATON ROUGE (AP) — The application period has opened for parents interested in sending their students to private school next year through Louisiana’s taxpayer-funded voucher program.
The state education department says applications for the 2015-16 school year are due Feb. 27. They’re available at participating schools or online at www.louisianabelieves.com .
For next year, 129 schools are participating in the voucher program, though only 91 will accept new students.
The program allows students from low- to moderate-income families to apply for government-paid tuition if they would otherwise be assigned to a poorly performing public school — one earning a C, D or an F in state performance rankings.
Nearly 7,400 students are enrolled in the program this year.
Applicants will find out if they’ve gotten a voucher during the week of April 6.

2 endangered monkeys die from cold temperatures at zoo
(AP) Two small endangered monkeys died because a caretaker “overlooked” them and left them out in the cold at a zoo in central Louisiana, officials said.
The cotton-top tamarins, which weigh less than a pound, were left out in the cold last week at the Alexandria Zoological Park, city officials said. A third monkey survived the exposure.
The monkeys are among the smallest new-world monkeys. They’re black and white, with a fan of white hair atop the head. They need temperatures of 76 to 85 degrees. The high last Wednesday in Alexandria was in the 50s while the overnight low was in the teens.
It’s not clear exactly how the monkeys were overlooked or whether they had an outdoor “nest box” with a heating unit. City spokeswoman Cynthia Jardon wrote in an email Tuesday that she couldn’t provide details because of an ongoing investigation. The caretaker resigned Monday, she said.
The monkeys are critically endangered, with about 1,800 in captivity and about 6,000 in a small area of northwest Colombia, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Public Works Director David Gill said in a news release “this appears to have happened as a result of human error and not a system problem.”
Federal inspectors did not find any violations during the zoo’s 2012 or 2011 inspections, the latest available in an online database. Rob Vernon, spokesman for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, said the zoo is fully accredited.
Vernon said zoos are not required to report animal deaths immediately to either the USDA or the zoo association. He did not know whether the tamarins’ deaths had been reported to AZA.
“They do often notify us right away when an animal dies. Then we oftentimes will ask for a report if something seems unusual,” he said.