Louisiana news briefs

 

Iberia deputy fired 

over excessive force claim 

NEW IBERIA — An Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy has been fired after an investigation into allegations of excessive force.

Capt. Ryan Turner, the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesman, confirmed the dismissal. Turner did not identify the employee.

The allegations of excessive force were made in connection with a block party the weekend of New Iberia’s Sugarcane Festival in September. Turner said but Sheriff Louis Ackal plans to have an outside agency investigate.

 

Teacher disciplined 

for students glued to seats 

LAFAYETTE — Lafayette school officials say a J.W. Faulk Elementary teacher has been disciplined following an investigation into how a student or students ended up glued to their classroom desk seats last week.

The teacher, whose name was not released, was suspended with pay when the incident was reported on Oct. 4. Angela Morrison, a district spokeswoman, said at the time that the investigation involved a report that the students glued themselves to their own chairs after the teacher repeatedly told them to stay seated.

Morrison said the investigation involved a teacher who allegedly asked a student or students to sit in seats covered in Elmer’s glue after warning them that they should stay seated.

She declined to provide further details about the incident.

 

3 Colo. men booked, 

cocaine seized at La. airport 

BATON ROUGE — State police say three Colorado men have been arrested and more than 70 pounds of cocaine seized at Baton Rouge Metro Airport.

State police said agents were notified that federal authorities were tracking a suspicious plane flying from McAllen, Texas, to Atlanta. The plane was searched on Tuesday after landing to refuel in Baton Rouge.

The three men were being held Wednesday on $1 million bond. They were booked on counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

They were identified as 55-year-old Vincenzo Salzano, his 32-year-old son, Armando Salzano and 32-year-old son-in-law, Mohammad Iman Nekouie. The elder Salzano and Nekouie are from Aurora, Colo.; Armando Salzano is from Littleton, Colo. Online jail records provided no information about their attorneys.

 

WWII era grenade found 

BATON ROUGE — A bomb squad with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office has detonated a World War II-era grenade that was found on property being renovated along busy Highland Road.

Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Casey Rayborn Hicks said the bomb squad used a robot to move the grenade away from a residence and the roadway before the Wednesday afternoon detonation.

Parts of Highland Road were closed for about 30 minutes before and after the detonation.

Property owner Skip Gill said the grenade was found in dirt he was given by a man who digs pools. The bomb squad is investigating.

 

Iberia Parish president 

vetoes election resolution 

NEW IBERIA — Iberia Parish President Errol Romero vetoed a resolution which would have allowed residents to vote on the rededication of 1.75 mills to help pay for a hurricane protection system.

The resolution would have allowed voters to decide whether to move 1.75 mills out of the 6 mills collected by the parish library system and use it to pay for a 26-mile levee around the coastline.

The chairman of the Iberia Parish Levee, Hurricane and Conservation District, Ronald Gonsoulin, released a statement disagreeing with Romero’s veto.

Gonsoulin said the levee board would continue to search for funding for the levee.

 

B.R. to keep red light cameras 

BATON ROUGE — Baton Rouge will continue to monitor intersections with red light cameras for at least five more years.

The Metro Council voted, 8-4, Wednesday to extend the photo enforcement program with American Traffic Solutions, an Arizona company, which has administered the Baton Rouge camera system since 2008.

Some council members took issue with the fact the city-parish has not penalized a single red light offender for a delinquent payment.

The Advocate reported in September that 40 percent, or 59,000 tickets, have not been paid and officials have done nothing to enforce payment.

Councilman Buddy Amoroso said the city-parish’s failure to enforce payment of the fines will lead to fewer people paying tickets every year.

 

Tax preparers accused 

of filing false returns 

BATON ROUGE — Two tax preparers for Quick Tax Services accused of filing false tax returns that cost the state more than $100,000 have been arrested.

Ebony C. Martin, 33, of Prairieville, and 32-year-old Shantel Banks, 32, of Baton Rouge, were booked into East Baton Rouge Prison this week, on counts of theft, filing or maintaining false public records, computer fraud and criminal penalty for tax evasion.

Justice Department Investigator Danny McAllister wrote in arrest warrants that the women included false business and fake business loan losses when filling out federal 1040 tax returns for the 2012 filing year.

 

Defective drywall: Chinese maker questions ruling 

NEW ORLEANS — A Chinese drywall manufacturer asked a federal appeals court on Wednesday to overturn a judge’s ruling that U.S. courts have jurisdiction over claims that its defective product wrecked thousands of homes.

A three-judge panel from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans didn’t indicate how soon it would rule. It heard arguments Wednesday from lawyers for Taishan Gypsum Co. Ltd. and a group of Virginia homeowners who sued the foreign company.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys argue Taishan can be held accountable in the United States for selling more than $8.5 million worth of its drywall in the U.S. between 2005 and 2008, with much of it going to Virginia-based distributor Venture Supply Inc.

Chinese drywall was used in the construction of an estimated 12,000 to 20,000 homes and businesses, mainly in the South, after a series of destructive hurricanes in 2005 and before the housing bubble burst. The problems caused by defective drywall ranged from a foul odor to corrosion of pipes and wiring.

From The Associated Press.