Louisiana news briefs

3 multi-vehicle crashes, 1 death on foggy La. road
DONALDSONVILLE (AP) — Three separate traffic accidents over about a mile-long stretch of foggy highway involved an estimated 20 vehicles and left one person dead in southern Louisiana, state police said.
“Troopers and first responders are here trying to piece together and determine exactly what happened,” Trooper Jared Sandifer said in a telephone interview from the scene.
“Probably the largest factor was the weather,” Sandifer said. “Extremely foggy conditions this morning.”
The accidents were reported around 5 a.m. today on La. 1 near the town of Donaldsonville, roughly 40 miles west of New Orleans. Several injuries were reported but Sandifer said none were believed to be life-threatening.
The fatality happened in a crash involving six vehicles, state police spokesman Capt. Doug Cain said.
Sandifer said several of the vehicles involved were hauling sugar cane. It appeared that a car had rear-ended a sugar cane truck in one of the accidents.

Jindal to appoint interim mayor for Port Allen
PORT ALLEN — Gov. Bobby Jindal’s office says he will appoint an interim mayor for Port Allen soon.
Monday’s announcement came after a special meeting of the Port Allen City Council was canceled. Councilman Hugh Riviere says a vote appeared headed to another 3-2 vote along racial lines, which he says wouldn’t do anything to unify the community.
Voters recalled former Mayor Deedy Slaughter in November after a number of scandals involving questionable spending and actions in office. The mayor pro tem has been acting as mayor since then.
Once Jindal makes the appointment the new interim mayor will need to be sworn in and can begin working immediately. The interim mayor will serve until a special election is held in April.

ATC suspends alcohol
sales at 3 Lafayette clubs
BATON ROUGE (AP) — State authorities have suspended alcohol sales at three Lafayette businesses.
Troy Hebert, commissioner of the state’s Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, ordered the immediate suspension of alcoholic beverage permits for Scotty’s Ice House, The Keg and BED Niteclub and Lounge on Saturday.
Hebert’s office said Monday that The Keg and Scotty’s Ice House were both cited for their fourth violation of sales of alcohol to minors. BED Niteclub was suspended because their security personnel were found openly smoking marijuana on several occasions inside the club and for multiple sales to minors.
Hebert said the suspensions come after a 90-day sting operation revealed more than 60 violations in the Lafayette-area and follow a meeting with more than 25 club owners to discuss the ramification of violating state law.

Suit against congressional districts withdrawn
BATON ROUGE (AP) — A lawsuit by three Baton Rouge residents challenging the shape of Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District has been dropped.
The plaintiffs filed a notice of dismissal Monday, saying they won’t pursue it. The notice gave no reason for the decision.
The lawsuit had criticized the district, currently represented by U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond of New Orleans, as racially gerrymandered and ignoring traditional political and geographic boundaries that should have been considered.
State lawmakers drew the district along the Mississippi River from New Orleans into Baton Rouge to preserve the 2nd District as a majority black district.
The lawsuit sought to have the state’s six congressional districts redrawn by a panel of three judges, instead of lawmakers.
Plaintiffs attorney Chris Whittington wouldn’t explain why his clients dropped the lawsuit, citing attorney-client privilege.

New cameras record all Thibodaux police doings
THIBODAUX (AP) — Small cameras are now part of the uniform for Thibodaux police.
The cameras clip onto the front of a uniform to record on-duty interactions.
Police Chief Scott Silverii said the cameras will help keep both police and the public accountable.
“It puts everybody on the same playing field,” he said.
They were bought with a $15,000 grant from the Thibodaux-based Lorio Foundation.
Officers are to activate the cameras whenever they interact with a civilian or are called out to a situation — not as a “trap” but to collect information and accurately document events.

8 former workers sue Times-Picayune and its parent
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Eight former employees of The Times-Picayune have sued the newspaper and parent Advance Publications Inc., alleging their layoffs violated a longstanding “job security pledge” and age discrimination laws.
The plaintiffs were 46 to 59 years old when they lost jobs ranging from warehouse worker to reporter. Suits filed last week in Orleans Parish Civil District Court claim they either were not allowed to apply or applied unsuccessfully for lower-paid replacement jobs.
Times-Picayune publisher Ricky Mathews did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
All eight plaintiffs said they relied on a longstanding company pledge not to fire non-union workers because of economic or technological changes.
According to The Mobile Press-Register, an Advance publication, publishers in the chain told employees in 2009 that the pledge would be eliminated in 2010.