BATON ROUGE - Senators have delayed a vote on a controversial bill that would prohibit enforcement in Louisiana of any federal bans on assault weapons.

Postponement Tuesday came after opponents repeatedly called the measure unconstitutional.

Following a barrage of questions about the effort to usurp federal laws and several attempts to attach unwieldy amendments, Republican Sen. Rick Ward deferred a vote on the House-approved measure.

He can seek a vote another day.

Meanwhile, the Senate overwhelmingly approved other gun-related measures that would make it a misdemeanor to release or publish the names and addresses of people who own or have applied for concealed handgun permits and allow off-duty federal and state certified law enforcement officers to carry weapons on school campuses.

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BATON ROUGE - Drivers of the Elio, a three-wheeled vehicle to be manufactured in Shreveport, won't have to wear helmets.

The Louisiana House gave final passage to the bill by Shreveport Rep. Barbara Norton with a 90-1 vote Tuesday, sending it to the governor's desk.

Because the Elio has three wheels, it's considered a motorcycle under federal and state safety regulations.

Norton's bill modifies the definition of autocycle to include enclosed motorcycles with a roll cage. That change means Elio occupants won't have to wear helmets or get a special "M'' endorsement on their driver's license as required of motorcyclists.

Officials with Elio Motors, located in the former General Motors plant in Shreveport, said the helmet requirement could harm sales.

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BATON ROUGE - Motorists in Louisiana will have to add tweets and Facebook updates to the list of activity banned while driving, in addition to texting.

A bill prohibiting posting to social media sites while driving gained final approval with a 34-1 Senate vote on Tuesday. It now heads to Gov. Bobby Jindal's desk.

Violators will face a traffic fine of up to $175 for the first offense and up to $500 for second and subsequent violations.

The bill by Livingston Republican Dale Erdey closes what he called a loophole by adding accessing, reading and posting to social media sites, such as the popular Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, to the prohibited-while-driving list.

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THIBODAUX - An oilfield service company plans a new $10 million headquarters in Gray and a $20 million manufacturing and fabrication plant at a Louisiana port.

President and CEO Hank Danos says Danos & Curole Marine Contractors LLC is considering at least two ports. The manufacturing site to be selected will be decided within three months.

Gov. Bobby Jindal says the expansion will create 426 new jobs over the next five years - 326 at the headquarters site and the rest at the manufacturing site.

The two announced the plans Tuesday in Thibodaux.

Danos will continue fabrication at its current headquarters in Larose.

The company considered moving its headquarters to Alabama, Mississippi and Texas.

Louisiana Economic Development is providing a performance-based $1.5 million grant for infrastructure improvements.

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PINEVILLE - Cleco Corp. is sending a 34-member crew to Oklahoma City to help Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company restore power to customers after a tornado destroyed its electric system.

The crew is expected to arrive in Oklahoma on Wednesday.

Cleco's mutual assistance coordinator, Floyd Pittman, says after seeing the damage left in the storm's wake, Cleco's crews head there with the expectation of not repairing lines for OGE but helping them to rebuild their system.

OGE serves more than 801,000 customers in Oklahoma and western Arkansas. At this time, approximately 30,000 customers are reporting power outages.

Pittman says the crew will stay and work in Oklahoma "for as long as they need us."

Cleco, headquartered in Pineville, La., serves about 283,000 customers in Louisiana.

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GRAY, La. - State police say a 24-year-old Raceland woman has died from injuries she suffered in a head-on collision April 27 with a driver troopers allege was drunk.

Jeneva Billiot died over the weekend at University Hospital in New Orleans, where she was taken after the crash.

Troopers say 31-year-old Brandon Cheramie, of Galliano, was southbound on La. Highway 1 around 10 p.m. when he struck a northbound car driven by 31-year-old Benjamin Sanchez, also of Galliano.

Cheramie received minor injuries and refused treatment. Sanchez received moderate injuries and was taken to Lady of the Sea Hospital. Billiot was a passenger in Sanchez's car.

Troopers say Cheramie was booked with DWI.

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KENNER - Police say an intoxicated mom left her 3-month-old daughter inside of a parked sport utility vehicle while she socialized at a Kenner bar.

Kenner Police tells The Times-Picayune that the infant was strapped into a baby carrier inside the vehicle -- with the keys in the ignition and the engine running -- for about an hour.

A witness alerted police after noticing a baby alone and asleep inside of an SUV around 11:35 p.m. Saturday.

Police say 41-year-old Lavenia Suren, the baby's mother was found inside the bar.

Suren allegedly smelled of alcohol, swayed as she stood and had slurred speech.

Suren was booked with child desertion and released on bond.

It was unclear whether she has an attorney.

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BATON ROUGE - Louisiana authorities have suspended the explosives licenses of a company accused of improperly storing millions of pounds of a military propellant in Louisiana.

Louisiana State Police spokesman Julie Lewis says Explo System's state explosives licenses will remain in revocation pending civil and criminal investigations.

Explo Systems had a multimillion-dollar military contract to dismantle military propellant charges.

The company was blamed for the evacuation of Doyline, La., last year when millions of pounds of a propellant called M6 was discovered haphazardly stored, some of in boxes outside at Camp Minden, a Louisiana National Guard base.

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LAFAYETTE- Police say 19 Comeaux High seniors face misdemeanor charges after they allegedly vandalized the school over the weekend.

Lafayette police Cpl. Paul Mouton says the students received misdemeanor summonses for criminal mischief and criminal trespassing for vandalizing the school grounds.

Comeaux High Principal Joe Craig tells The Advocate the students didn't spray paint or destroy property, but the school wasn't fit to open Monday.

Craig says they dumped trash barrels, turned over yard furniture. In the cafeteria, he says they turned over furniture and threw eggs against windows.

Craig says some students urinated by the cafeteria, toilet-papered trees, wrote expletives and drew lewd pictures in chalk on sidewalks and buildings.

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NEW ORLEANS - Louisiana's state-regulated casinos all won less money in April than in March. The drop totals $35.8 million.

State police figures show most also won less than they did a year ago. The big exceptions were 8.7 percent one-year increases at both L'Auberge Lake Charles and the slots casino at the New Orleans Fair Grounds.

April winnings totaled $196.4 million, up $4.9 million from April 2012 - before the L'Auberge of Baton Rouge opened.

Harrah's New Orleans took in $25.8 million, 18.3 percent below March and 3.9 percent below April 2012.

Riverboat casinos won $137.9 million, down 14.5 percent from March but up 4.9 percent from a year earlier.

Slot-machine casinos at four race tracks won $32.7 million, down 16.7 percent from March and 1.5 percent from April 2012.

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NEW ORLEANS - A federal judge has dismissed one of the two counts in the indictment of a former BP executive who was charged with concealing information from Congress about the amount of oil leaking in 2010 from the company's blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico.

U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt cited two reasons Monday for dismissing the obstruction of Congress charge against David Rainey, who was BP's vice president of exploration for the Gulf.

Engelhardt said he dismissed the count because the indictment failed to allege that Rainey knew of the pending congressional investigation he was charged with obstructing.

The judge also ruled that the obstruction count must be dismissed because it wasn't clear that it applied to subcommittee investigations.

Rainey still faces one count of making false statements.

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OPELOUSAS - A new scam has emerged in St. Landry Parish in the form of letters directing the recipient to pay a firm $83 for a copy of a deed to their property.

The Daily World reports the St. Landry Parish Clerk Charles Jagneaux offers the same service for no more than $6.

The letter looks much like an invoice, with a box in the upper right hand corner that lists "amount due" as $83 and gives a "due date."

Jageneaux said his office supplies the same copies for $1 per page.

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MARSKVILLE - A 21-year-old inmate who escaped Friday from a work detail in Marksville has been captured.

Avoyelles Parish sheriff's deputies tell The Town Talk that Marksville police arrested Christopher W. Roy Saturday. Deputies say Roy was found hiding in a closet.

He was taken to the Avoyelles Parish Dentition Center and booked with simple escape.

Roy has been in the Avoyelles Parish Jail since Nov. 11, 2012, and was scheduled for release in 2015. He is serving time for revocation of his probation and unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling.

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BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's ethics board says an LSU Board of Supervisors member can serve on the governing board and also lead a private group that wants to take over operation of LSU's Shreveport hospital.

The Board of Ethics signed off an advisory opinion clearing the way for Dr. John George to continue in both roles, saying that wouldn't run afoul of state ethics laws.

The Biomedical Research Foundation is negotiating a deal that could let it take over the operations of two LSU-run hospitals. George will be working as CEO of the foundation.

The Advocate reports that the ethics board said since George would work in an uncompensated capacity as CEO, it removes any conflict of interest. Also, the board says George can recuse himself from Board of Supervisors decisions involving the hospitals.

image: LSU

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PINEVILLE - Rapides Parish sheriff's deputies say a complaint from a homeowner has led to an arrest. . The homeowner contracted a Pineville man for repairs after the Christmas 2012 tornado damaged his home.

Deputies tell The Town Talk 58-year-old Joe Jaime was arrested and booked into the Rapides Parish Detention Center Friday on a charge of home improvement fraud. Jamie later was released on a $2,500 bond.

Deputies say the homeowner contracted with Jaime, owner of Joe & J General Contractor, to make repairs after Jaime told the homeowner that he was a licensed contractor.

Authorities say the complaint was filed after the homeowner learned Jaime wasn't able to secure the proper building permits and that he did not have a Louisiana contractor's license.

It was unclear whether Jaime has an attorney.

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BATON ROUGE - A new audit says the state education department had gaps in its monitoring of the academic performance of Louisiana's charter schools.

The review, released Monday by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor's Office, looked at charter school monitoring activities during the 2011-12 budget year.

The audit says the Department of Education didn't verify that school-reported data used to calculate performance was reliable. It says the department couldn't prove that it comprehensively reviewed the legal obligations required of charter schools.

Auditors say the education department complied with requirements for monitoring the schools' financial performance.

In a written response, Superintendent of Education John White says the department uses the same data verification process for traditional public and charter schools. He says the department has updated its method for ensuring legal obligations are met.

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LAFAYETTE - Shoppers can prepare for the hurricane season while saving some pennies during the state's Hurricane Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday.

The 2013 sales tax holiday begins at 12:01 a.m. May 25 and ends at 11:59 p.m. May 26.

Louisiana law spares those shopping for hurricane-related purchases from paying the state's 4 percent sales tax on the first $1,500 in purchases of such items as portable generators, storm shutter devices and smaller items, such as portable light sources, cell phone batteries and food storage coolers.

Byron Henderson, spokesman for the Louisiana Department of Revenue, says the sales tax holiday was created by the legislature in 2007, to encourage residents to prepare for hurricane season, which starts June 1.

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