Louisiana news briefs

Houma man sentenced to 5 years in heroin overdose death
HOUMA (AP) — A 35-year-old Houma man has pleads guilty to negligent homicide in a heroin overdose death.
Terrebonne Parish Assistant District Attorney Dennis Elfert says Jason Parfait accepted the maximum sentence of five years in prison on Tuesday.
Houma Police had charged Parfait with second-degree murder in the Sept. 13, 2013, death of 27-year-old John Foshee, of Raceland. However, a grand jury indicted him Dec. 18, 2013, on a charge of negligent homicide instead.
Elfert declined to comment further on the guilty plea.
Houma police have said Foshee was addicted to heroin and often used the drug with Parfait.

BESE approves contract to aid special ed overhaul
BATON ROUGE (AP) — The state’s top school board has approved a $251,000 contract to help with a problem-plagued law that is supposed to assist some special education students in earning a high school diploma.
The agreement approved Wednesday is with the LSU Human Development Center, which is part of the Health Sciences Center in New Orleans.
The center will assist the state Department of Education in training educators and parents who aid the students.
Those groups are called Individual Education Program teams.
A 2014 state law allows the teams to craft alternate paths to graduation for special education students who qualify, regardless of how they fare on standardized tests that other students have to pass.

Panel divided on how to reform film tax credit program
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Louisiana’s generous film incentive program, which by the most recent estimates costs taxpayers about $170 million a year, could and should be better designed to get the state a bigger return on its investment.
On that point there was general agreement among five opinionated panelists Wednesday who convened to discuss the state’s program, which has helped Louisiana become the nation’s busiest locale for feature filmmaking.
But there was no consensus on how to change it, raising questions about what reforms, if any, will be proposed in the legislative session that begins in April.
Will French, president of the Louisiana Film Entertainment Association, said he’s not ready to accept the findings of various studies showing that the film program is a net loser for the state.

Proposed incorporation of Satsuma opposed
SATSUMA (AP) — An effort to incorporate the Livingston Parish community of Satsuma is getting pushback from some landowners who say the move is nothing more than a land grab.
Landowners and local businessmen are questioning why roughly 4,500 acres of vacant land were included in the proposed 6,500-acre town.
The incorporation issue will go to voters March 28.
Developer Garry Lewis said Wednesday that he owns about 2,000 acres in the proposed town limits. Lewis says about 1,800 of those acres have “not one human inhabitant.”
Lyndon Arledge, co-chairman of the incorporation effort, denies accusations of a land grab. He said becoming a town is the best way for residents to have a say in commercial developments that may affect their community, especially the proposed airport.

State audits find $31M in unclaimed life insurance
BATON ROUGE (AP) — State Treasurer John Kennedy says audits of life insurance company policies have uncovered more than $31 million in Unclaimed Property for beneficiaries in the past eight years.
The Treasury Department discovered the benefits after comparing the outstanding policies of a dozen insurance companies with the Social Security Death Master File. The reviews turned up a number of policies, including one $500,000-plus payout, where heirs didn’t realize the policies existed.
The audits are just one component of the Unclaimed Property Program. Since 1972, the Unclaimed Property Program has returned more than $338 million to nearly 570,000 Louisiana citizens.

Audit: Grand Isle gas utility fund ran $310K deficit
GRAND ISLE (AP) — An audit finds Grand Isle’s gas utility fund ran a $310,000 deficit and failed to move fee revenue for garbage service to the town’s general fund.
In an audit released Monday, the gas fund owes $370,338 to the general fund, which pays for the government’s day-to-day operations.
The audit also found Grand Isle failed to retain $630,900 in surplus money in its waterworks account to pay off debt it took out through bonds to build its waterline. Town officials said Jefferson Parish has taken over the utility and the town has made its bond payments.
Town officials said the fluctuating price of gas is partly to blame for the utility shortfall.

126,000-plus La. residents enrolled for health coverage
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Federal health officials say more than 126,000 Louisiana residents have signed up for health insurance through the federal marketplace.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released the latest enrollment data Wednesday, saying 126,454 people in the state had selected an insurance plan by last week.
About 102,000 Louisianians signed up through the entire enrollment period last year.
Enrollment continues until Feb. 15 under the government-subsidized private insurance program, which was created through President Barack Obama’s health overhaul. Those who don’t sign up during that time may have to wait until next year.
The federal health department says 91 percent of Louisiana consumers who registered for an insurance plan within the first month after enrollment began Nov. 15 were eligible for federal subsidies to help cover their costs.

Schedler: Jindal cut proposal would force worker furloughs
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Secretary of State Tom Schedler says he may start furloughing employees as early as next week because of cuts being considered by Gov. Bobby Jindal.
The Jindal administration asked agencies to devise scenarios for budget cuts that might be needed before the fiscal year ends June 30, to cope with falling oil prices. Schedler’s office was given a target of stripping $3.8 million from its $77 million budget.
Schedler said Wednesday that would force him to ask for civil service approval to require all his workers to take one unpaid day off in each pay period for the next five months.
Jindal administration spokeswoman Meghan Parrish says actual cuts won’t be decided until after the state income forecast is revised Jan. 26. She says the administration is just reviewing possibilities.

Woman pleads guilty in illegal bail bond scheme
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a 36-year-old New Orleans woman has pleaded guilty to her role in an illegal jail bail bond scheme.
Nicole Carrie pleaded guilty Wednesday to a one-count bill of information charging her with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, according to U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite.
Prosecutors say Carrie allowed her name, bail bond license and contracts with an insurance company to be used to operate an illegal bail bonding business in New Orleans.
Sentencing was scheduled for May 13.
She faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and three years of supervised release.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and federal prosecutors worked with the Metropolitan Crime Commission, the New Orleans Police Department and the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office in the investigation and prosecution of Carrie.

8-month sentence, $209,000 forfeiture in gambling case
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — U.S. Attorney Kenneth Polite in New Orleans says a 79-year-old Abita Springs man has been sentenced to eight months in prison on gambling charges.
Frank Frabbiele had pleaded guilty to charges of illegal transmission of wagering information and money laundering. Polite’s office says Frabbiele operated a sports gambling operation from January 2008 until early April of last year. He used a betting website based in Costa Rica to track, record, and register bets and clients.
He was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Helen Berrigan.
In addition to the eight-month prison sentence he was ordered to forfeit more than $209,000.