Louisiana news briefs

Louisiana abortion law enforcement ban stands
BATON ROUGE (AP) — A federal judge in Baton Rouge says he won’t drop his temporary order against enforcing Louisiana’s latest abortion law.
Judge John deGravelles says he’s keeping the order in effect until a March 30 hearing about whether to continue the ban until there’s a verdict in the case.
The new law requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic.
The temporary order forbids any penalties against doctors who perform abortions while their applications for admitting privileges are pending.
The judge had asked attorneys whether the decision by clinics in New Orleans and Baton Rouge to drop their challenge should affect his order.
He wrote Thursday that he had learned that only one of six doctors performing abortions in the state has admitting privileges, and the other five have applied for such privileges. He also wrote that he learned that if the other five are denied admitting privileges, the doctor who could still legally perform abortions would stop because of fear for his safety.
If that happened, he wrote, Louisiana women would be denied their constitutionally protected access to abortions.

Jindal: ‘Islam has a problem’
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Gov. Bobby Jindal will tell a conservative think tank that “Islam has a problem” with extremists and will call on Muslim leaders to condemn acts of violence in the name of religion.
Those are included in the prepared remarks released by Jindal’s office in advance of the possible presidential candidate’s Monday speech to the Henry Jackson Society in London.
Referencing the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris, Jindal will say that Islamic leaders who don’t agree with such actions must work to stop them. The Republican governor’s speech calls on Muslim leaders to denounce the people who commit such attacks as enemies of Islam.
According to the prepared remarks, Jindal will add: “If they refuse to say this, then they are condoning these acts of barbarism. There is no middle ground.”

Hayden pleads not guilty to rape charge in Livingston
LIVINGSTON (AP) — Will Hayden, former “Sons of Guns” star, has pleaded not guilty to one count of forcible rape in a Livingston Parish court.
The 49-year-old Hayden is accused of sexually abusing an 11-year-old girl, and attacking another victim 20 years ago.
Hayden entered the plea Thursday.
Last week, Hayden, founder of Red Jacket Firearms, pleaded not guilty to one count of aggravated rape in Baton Rouge. In that incident, he’s accused of raping a young girl multiple times between March 2013 and August 2014.
Frank Holthaus, Hayden’s lawyer, told reporters last week the allegations against his client were untrue and that Hayden is ready to fight the claims made against him.

Trooper pay raise questioned amid state budget troubles
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Lawmakers are questioning plans for a nearly $15 million pay raise for state police as Louisiana grapples with deep financial problems.
The raise is up for consideration Friday by the joint House and Senate budget committee.
Col. Mike Edmonson, superintendent of the Louisiana State Police, says the money is needed to keep trooper pay competitive with other law enforcement salaries. Current starting salary for a trooper is $35,609. Edmonson’s proposal would boost that to $46,610.
Dollars for the trooper pay raise would come from a more than $50 million fee hike on uninsured motorists that lawmakers passed in the last legislative session.
Lawmakers say that money might be better spent keeping services from closure as Louisiana faces a $1.4 billion budget shortfall next year and a possible deficit this year.

Man who held woman
at trailer park killed
PINE PRAIRIE (AP) — A man was shot and killed by police Thursday after he took his girlfriend hostage in a trailer in rural Evangeline Parish, according to State Police.
The man has not been identified. State Police say the incident remains under investigation.
State Police spokesman Brooks David says the situation began about 9:30 a.m. at the Easton Oaks mobile home park after authorities received a report of screaming and gunfire in a trailer.
David says a woman in the home broke out a window and screamed for help.
David says when the man was visible in the window, “a trooper fired one round at the subject, killing him.”
Police rescued the woman, who was not harmed. She also has not been identified.

Shreveport woman pleads guilty to stealing benefits
SHREVEPORT (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a Shreveport woman has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $39,000 in Social Security benefit payments.
U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley says 49-year-old Stephanie D. Lynn pleaded guilty Thursday before U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. to one count of theft of government funds.
According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, from May 2009 to December 2013, Lynn cashed and used her deceased son’s Social Security benefits to which she was not entitled. She also didn’t inform the Social Security Administration that her son had died and submitted paperwork stating that he was alive in order to continue receiving the checks. The total taken was $39,435.
Lynn faces up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and restitution. Sentencing is set for April 29.

National Guard opens drone training center
LEESVILLE (AP) — The Louisiana National Guard has opened a drone training center at Fort Polk.
Maj. Gen. Glenn Curtis says the unit has helped train 11 units at the Joint Readiness Training Center since August 2013, with 40 to 50 flight hours per group. It also trains soldiers at the fort and National Guard platoons.
The Guard held a ceremony Tuesday to celebrate the new $5.5 million, 11.5-acre center. It includes a 1,200-foot runway for unmanned aircraft and 10,000 square-foot building.
The drones can be used to gather intelligence or to play the enemy in training sessions.
The Louisiana guard’s unmanned aircraft systems program manager, Warrant Officer 2 Michael Gray, says neither the national training center nor U.S. facilities in Germany has a similar unit with regular training as its mission.

Air patrols soon
over Causeway bridge
METAIRIE (AP) — The Causeway bridge, which links Lake Pontchartrain’s north and south shores, will begin air patrols of the span in an effort to crack down on speeding and other violations.
The new enforcement will start as soon as new signage that alerts drivers of the air-based monitoring is in place at both ends of the bridge.
The patrols will be a partnership with Louisiana State Police, which will provide the plane and pilot for the program. The agency already does air patrols around the state.
The pilots will be able to tell the speed of vehicles by timing them compared with marks in the roadway.
Plans for the new enforcement have been in the works since last fall.

Entergy customers in New Orleans to pay more
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Entergy customers in New Orleans will begin paying for their share of the new $655 million Ninemile 6 power plant in Westwego starting this year.
The charge will affect more than 168,000 customers. Still, NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune reports (http://bit.ly/1u7kBoH) the utility says cheaper natural gas prices will likely cause monthly bills to go down this year.
The company told city officials that beginning in February a typical Entergy New Orleans customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours per month will pay an additional $4.06 monthly for the construction of the power plant. That amounts to $48.72 over the year.
In Algiers, which is served by Entergy Louisiana, the same typical customer will pay an extra $2.18 per month, or $28.34 for the year. Those customers begin paying this month.
Entergy New Orleans said fixed costs related to Ninemile 6 construction are expected to total $21.3 million in 2015 for consumers in the city.
Gary Huntley, vice president of regulatory and governmental affairs for Entergy New Orleans, said customers’ monthly bills are projected to decrease in 2015, mainly due to low natural gas prices.
“It’s very rare that we have an opportunity to add to our generation fleet and what we see is a projection that there will be a lower cost, particularly in the next year,” Huntley said. “It’s a good story I think.”
Ninemile 6, a 560-megawatt, natural gas-fired power plant, was brought into service in December. The unit, located near the foot of the Huey P. Long Bridge, was one of the country’s largest new power generation projects completed in 2014.
The plant is owned by Entergy Louisiana, though Entergy Gulf States and Entergy New Orleans will purchase power from it. Entergy New Orleans agreed to buy 20 percent of the power generated by the facility, about 112 megawatts of capacity total.
Entergy Louisiana and Entergy Gulf States customers in Jefferson Parish and statewide will pay for the remainder of the plant’s fixed costs. Entergy has not announced the projected monthly charge for those customers.
According to Entergy projections, the monthly bill for a typical Entergy New Orleans customer is expected to fall from $103.53 in 2014 to $97.39 this year. In Algiers, the typical power bill is expected to dip from $89.68 per month to $88.24.
Officials said low natural gas prices have lowered the amount Entergy is paying for fuel to run its power plants, translating to lower costs for customers.
The monthly fuel adjustment charge for Entergy New Orleans customers with a typical 1,000 kilowatt hour bill is projected to drop from $38.10 in 2014 to $28.21 this year. The monthly fuel adjustment charge for Entergy Louisiana customers in Algiers are expected to fall from $36.90 in 2014 to $30.14.