Louisiana news briefs

Baton Rouge man booked in Craigslist car scam
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Police have arrested a man accused of using Craigslist to swindle thousands of dollars from shoppers in Baton Rouge who thought they were buying affordable used cars from him.
Cpl. L’Jean McKneely Jr. said 30-year-old Larry Anthony Sherman was arrested Monday during a traffic stop in New Orleans and booked on five counts of felony theft.
Authorities have been looking for Sherman since late January when he was implicated in an online scheme that spanned at least two months.
Police say victims reported meeting Sherman, paying him cash, then never receiving the car he promised them.

Jonesboro gets first
audit opinion in 5 years
JONESBORO (AP) — The town of Jonesboro received its first audit opinion in five years, giving officials a final look into the questionable financial practices of former Mayor Leslie Thompson.
The qualified opinion included nine control deficiencies and three instances of noncompliance.
Fiscal Administrator Kenneth Folden said just getting the opinion shows the town is moving in the right direction and has taken many steps to correct its fiscal chaos.
The audit, prepared by J. Walker and Company of Lake Charles, outlines numerous accounting discrepancies, including no controls to ensure that ad valorum taxes collected for the fire department and street maintenance were spent for their intended purposes.
The audit also found improper use of town vehicles and found the mayor ignored a 2011 court-ordered injunction and continued to improperly pay himself $25,846 more than what the salary ordinance allowed.
Thompson was convicted of three counts of malfeasance in office in September. Thompson is serving a six-year sentence in prison.

State: Record low
for 2013 boating fatalities
BATON ROUGE (AP) — State wildlife officials report a record low of 13 boating fatalities for Louisiana in 2013.
The previous low for boating fatalities was 19 in 1992 with a high of 79 in 1974 — the first year boating incident statistics were recorded. Since 2010, Louisiana has averaged 25 boating fatalities a year.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’ Enforcement Division’s Boating Safety Program released the data last week.
The department attributes the drop in boating fatalities primarily to the state’s mandatory boating education class. Since 2003, more than 50,000 boaters statewide have been certified.

800 new technology jobs announced for Bossier City
BATON ROUGE (AP) — A computer services company announced Tuesday that it plans to open a new technology center in Bossier City, creating 800 new jobs and bolstering efforts to position northwest Louisiana as a center for cybersecurity work.
Computer Sciences Corporation will build its new facility — which will focus on cloud computing, cybersecurity and software development — at a research park in the region that also houses the Cyber Innovation Center, which is located next to Barksdale Air Force base and collaborates with Louisiana Tech University.
“Northwest Louisiana is going to become one of America’s new technology hubs, enabling the region to attract technology partners of CSC as well as other technology companies attracted to the growing IT workforce here,” Gov. Bobby Jindal said in a statement.

Substitute teacher accused of sex with student
LEESVILLE (AP) — A Vernon Parish substitute teacher is free on bond after being accused of having a sexual relationship with a student.
The Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Office arrested 39-year-old Cindy Martinez on a misdemeanor charge of prohibited sexual conduct between an educator and a student. She posted bond shortly after being arrested on Friday.
Authorities did not provide details of the gender or age of the student allegedly involved.
Officials say Martinez was a substitute teacher in the parish. They declined to say what school Martinez was working at when the alleged relationship occurred.

Insurance Dept.: 62,000
face canceled health plans
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon’s office says the number of people in Louisiana who won’t be able to keep their current insurance coverage because of the federal health overhaul has dropped to 62,000.
President Barack Obama allowed insurance companies the option for one year to keep offering consumers plans that would otherwise be canceled.
Ileana Ledet, a spokeswoman for Donelon, says Blue Cross Blue Shield was the only company doing business in Louisiana in the individual market that offered the “transitional relief” to stave off cancellations.
She says 31,240 policyholders will be able to keep plans that otherwise would have ended because they don’t meet federal requirements under Obama’s health law.
However, that’s only one-third of the 92,800 people in Louisiana that companies said had existing plans that didn’t meet requirements.

Jindal chief of staff
leaving the administration
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Gov. Bobby Jindal is losing his chief of staff.
Paul Rainwater, who has worked in several major roles for the administration since Jindal took office in 2008, is resigning to “pursue opportunities in the private sector,” the governor’s office announced Tuesday.
Rainwater’s resignation will take effect on March 3, a week before the regular legislative session begins. Jindal’s communications director, Kyle Plotkin, has been named to succeed Rainwater as chief of staff.
“Paul is a good friend, and what I admire most about him is his willingness to serve no matter what the position is or what the work entails,” Jindal said in a statement. “From leading our state through multiple storm recoveries to helping make state government more effective and less expensive for taxpayers, he has approached every job with a servant’s heart.”
Rainwater held four different positions in the Republican administration, at one point working as the governor’s top budget adviser, the commissioner of administration. Before that, he was Jindal’s deputy chief of staff and had worked as executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, the state’s former hurricane response agency.
Plotkin has worked for Jindal since November 2008, first as press secretary.
The governor called him a trusted adviser. Before working in the Jindal administration, Plotkin worked on the U.S. Senate campaign of state Treasurer John Kennedy and on Mitt Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign. He’ll be Jindal’s fourth chief of staff as governor.
Plotkin will be paid a $165,880 salary, less than the $204,697 that Rainwater received.
The resignation also will lead to a reshuffling of communications staff, with deputy communications director Michael Reed taking over Plotkin’s old job and Shannon Bates moving into Reed’s position.