BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – Gov. Bobby Jindal says he’s not changing his mind: He intends to veto a 4-cent per pack cigarette tax renewal passed by Louisiana lawmakers.

Jindal received the bill this week and said he will reject it within the 10 days he has before the renewal would become law without his action.

On Friday, the governor said, "We’ve got 10 days. We’ll get it back to them in that time period. There’s no mystery here. We’re going to veto it."

The cigarette tax generates $12 million annually and expires in June 2012.

Supporters of the tax renewal are hoping to hold together a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate, the super-majority it took to pass, to also override the governor’s veto.

Jindal says he doesn’t expect an override, however.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – A former Louisiana wildlife official has pleaded guilty to plotting to take payoffs from a landfill company owner’s businesses for his work in trying to keep a rival landfill closed.

Former Wildlife and Fisheries Commissioner Henry Mouton faces up to five years in prison following Wednesday’s guilty plea to conspiring to receive bribes as a public official.

The 54-year-old Lafayette resident was accused of hiding his financial motives when he lobbied congressional members to keep the Old Gentilly Landfill closed. He allegedly wrote letters several U.S. senators, an official with the Environmental Protection Agency in Dallas and a colonel with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The landfill owner whose companies allegedly paid Mouton more than $463,000 hasn’t been named, but the indictment says Mouton touted River Birch Landfill.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – The head of a new coalition of public school
leaders and teachers says the group expects to weigh in soon with
its view of statewide standardized test scores.

Improvements in New Orleans schools that were taken over by the
state after Hurricane Katrina gave a boost last week to the
arguments of those who say the New Orleans model – which includes
numerous public schools being run by independent charter
organizations – is working.

Jack Loup, head of the new Coalition for Louisiana Public
Education, said the group will discuss the latest figures at its
next meeting, possibly as early as this week. Loup said the group
isn’t against reform but questions the effectiveness of using
public money for private entities.

The large-scale turnover of most New Orleans schools to the
state, which in turn handed over many of those schools to
independent charter organizations, has drawn heat from some in the
education establishment ever since it began in the months following
Hurricane Katrina. But backers of the move got a boost last week
with the latest round of test scores showing significant
improvement in the city.

So much so that John White, the new head of the Recovery School
District, which now oversees most New Orleans schools and a growing
number in other areas of the state, was ready to declare the debate
over.

"This moment will not go unnoticed here, it will not go
unnoticed in Baton Rouge and across the state and it should not go
unnoticed in Washington and across the country," White said during
a news conference at a charter school housed in a series of raised
portable buildings in eastern New Orleans, an area still badly
scarred by the 2005 floods. "The New Orleans system of schools
works. Period. End of story. And we cannot go back to a system that
does not put children’s needs first. These results should close the
book on that question."

Loup isn’t yet ready to concede the point. A leader of the
Coalition for Louisiana Public Education, Loup said Friday his
group of data and will discuss the test score data at its next
meeting, possibly this week. The coalition, which was formed
earlier this year, includes representatives from the state school
boards and principals associations, two major teacher unions and
other teacher organizations.

Among those groups are critics of the state takeover of failing
schools and the accompanying loss of jobs for many New Orleans
teachers and other school employees. They have opposed other ideas
pushed by Paul Pastorek, who recently left the state education
superintendent post to return to the private sector. For instance,
they successfully fought Pastorek-backed efforts in 2010 to lessen
some of the power local school boards exert in local
superintendents’ day-to-day management of school systems.
Loup says his group is sometimes falsely accused of supporting a
failed status quo. Not so, he says. They do question, he said, the
use of public money to support private entities, such as charter
organizations.

White said in interviews that he is not dedicated solely to
charters but to whatever models are working. Still, his support of
the charter-heavy New Orleans model was evident last week as the
results of standardized test scores were released. A state analysis
of the scores included the news of a 5 percent jump in the number
of students scoring at the "basic" level – defined by the state
as demonstrating fundamental knowledge and skills needed to move to
the next grade level.

The percentage of RSD-New Orleans fourth-graders meeting
promotion standards in the state’s LEAP promotion tests – a
combination of "basic" and "approaching basic" scores on
different subjects – grew from 58 percent last year to 64 percent
this year. Eighth-grade rates improved from 50 percent last year to
60 percent. The percentage of fourth-graders achieving an overall
"basic" score leveled off at 53 percent, same as last year, but
eighth-grade "basic" scores jumped from 37 percent last year to
50 percent this year.

And the percentage of eighth-graders in the New Orleans RSD
schools achieving basic level increased by double-digit percentages
in all four LEAP test subjects – English, math, science and social
studies.

Statewide, the news was generally good as well. State education
officials say betterment in most subjects and grade levels and in
42 of the state’s 70 school districts is proof that policies
implemented over the last decade are working. Those policies
include "high stakes" testing as a hurdle for promotion for
fourth-and eighth-graders, and standards that can lead to greater
state involvement, including takeovers, when local schools are
failing. That’s what has happened on a large scale in New Orleans
and a smaller scale in Baton Rouge, Caddo and Pointe Coupee
parishes.

The improved scores came at a time when the news hasn’t been all
good for public education. For instance, White pointedly noted a
proposed $11 million cut for public education as the Legislature
works on the state budget.

Also, a long-awaited civil trial opened in a New Orleans
courtroom on Monday that could prove costly to the state. Expected
to last for months, the class-action lawsuit is seeking lost wages
and damages for wrongful termination for thousands of Orleans
Parish school employees fired after Hurricane Katrina.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

MARRERO, La. (AP) – A Colombian university head says he ate a few plant stems and drank urine to survive four days in a Louisiana swamp.

Sixty-five-year-old Francisco Piedrahita (pee-ed-DRA-hee-tuh) from Cali, Colombia, was spotted Wednesday from a plane in a clearing several hundred yards from one of the trails where he had gone to photograph male wood ducks on Saturday. He says he left the end of a trail in search of a pond that he later learned had dried up.

Piedrahita says he was unable to make it through the swamp and spent most of the time on an island about 3 1/2 yards long.

Doctors at West Jefferson Medical Center say Piedrahita has made a remarkably quick recovery and was discharged Thursday.

He plans to return to Colombia on Sunday.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

LaPlace – High water has train traffic halted over the Bonnet Carre Spillway.

River water rushing through the spillway washed out part of a railroad bridge that runs parallel to Interstate 10. A portion of the train track running between Kenner and LaPlace is damaged the result of high water that has rushed into the Bonnet Carre Spillway.

That means train traffic is shut down indefinitely. If you drive that stretch of I-10, you can see those railroad tracks from the interstate. It is a busy stretch of tracks used by two Amtrak trains and eight freight trains.

Canadian National Railroad, which owns the track, says the damage was discovered yesterday afternoon and at this point, there is no telling how long the railroad bridge will be out of service for repairs.

“The crew of a northbound Amtrak train reported rough tracks so we sent an inspector out… We’re assessing so that we can begin repairs,” Patrick Waldron of Canadian National said.

The City of New Orleans, which runs between Chicago and New Orleans was on its way back here, but isn’t being allowed past Hammond.

Canadian National says it’s working on alternate routes, but delays should be expected. The railroad also says it had inspectors looking in that area just two hours before the damage was reported.

U.S. government forecasters are predicting several major storms could form this hurricane season that starts June 1st, and with a very high river level in New Orleans, some wonder if the area is more at risk early in the season.

While the 2011 hurricane season prediction is not as extreme as last year, federal forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, expect it’ll be active.  As many as 18 named tropical storms may develop.  Six to 10 of those could strengthen into hurricanes with at least 74 mile per hour winds.  Three to six storms could be major, packing winds of at least 111 miles per hour.

"That’s a lot of storms.  Last year, we had 19.  None hit the United States.  You kind of figure that this year probably will have some impacts on the U.S.  Whether it’s the Gulf, I don’t think they could tell," said FOX 8 Chief Meteorologist Bob Breck.

He said the La Nina weather cycle is winding down.  When it’s in effect, wind shear decreases, meaning storms have a chance to develop and strengthen before being ripped apart.  "This La Nina going away probably is not going to have much effect on this year.  Next year, if we ramp into an El Nino, that should mean fewer storms, but not for this summer," said Breck.

Although hurricane season is fast-approaching, many in New Orleans have the swollen Mississippi River on their minds.  "Now that they opened the Morganza, it’s pretty much stayed the same since last week when we were here," said Kristine Lupoff, a local college student.

The problem is the river is expected to remain very high in New Orleans well into June.  "With hurricane season coming in and high water already here, I just hope that it diminishes by time hurricane season gets here," said Thomas Webb of New Orleans.

"I think it’s very remote that we need to worry about a tropical system that’s going to back up our river when it’s high like that.  I think.. is it possible?  Technically, yes.  Is it likely? No," said Breck.

"Fingers crossed.  Fortunately things don’t happen during June in the Gulf.  It usually takes a little while for the water to warm up and see some serious issues," said Patrick Battle.

Looking back at the hurricane forecast, Breck said with so many named storms predicted, we should be ready.

What’s different in this 2011 season, experts say stronger levees are expected to better protect should a big storm head this way.  Some say a bigger concern for our area is a Hurricane Andrew type storm with 150 mile per hour winds that many buildings can’t withstand.  Storms that are major rainmakers and stall could also exceed our pumping capacity.

It’s been a year since Rockey Vaccarella was diagnosed with Encephalitis, a rare condition that left him almost child like and stole his memories.

The champion who pulled a FEMA trailer from St. Bernard Parish is proving he’s no quitter.

Rockey goes to neurological rehab at Touro Hospital. A therapist helps him recall the most basic things in life.

Encephalitis is an inflammation of the brain caused by viruses, sometimes carried by tics or misquotes. In the worst cases, it causes mental changes like Rockey Vaccarella is facing.

"It could lead to death if symptoms are untreated," said Dr. Gary Glynn of Touro Rehab and LSU Physical Medicine.

In the greater metropolitan area you may get five or six cases of some type of Encephalitis of which only one or two would be the type he has.

Rockey was at his best in 2006, traveling to Washington with a FEMA trailer. He was the face of Katrina suffering.

Last year the illness was so severe he didn’t remember the trip.

Today, Rockey can’t believe how far he’s come.

"Nancy, I was in a dream world. I didn’t even know I was living. They tell me I was doing things that I don’t even remember, " he said.

Carolyn Vaccarella said at first her husband was unable to speak and walk.

"He couldn’t do daily things he needed to do. Now, he can brush his teeth and get dressed and take a shower," she said.

She has a list posted in her bathroom to help him with what he needs to remember.

"The only thing that makes me good is I know I’m here right now. I still have my wife and people who love me," Rockey said.

It was May 13th of last year when Rockey complained of not feeling well. He swerved in his car, and was arrested for DWI in St. Bernard Parish.

Dr. Glynn says his initial presentation of Encephalitis it appeared he was drunk. Carolyn Vaccarella says by the time he left the jail he had to be carried out.

He spent almost six months in a rehab center in Lafayette from last August to January.

"Rockey keeps a daily log where he writes down everything he has done everything, he has eaten, drank and things he wants to remember in the upcoming days," his wife said.

"It’s quite likely that Rockey will get better than you see him today," Dr. Glynn said.

Rockey’s White House trip is beginning to come back to him. He says he knows South Louisiana is pulling for him.

"I got letters and phone calls. Everybody is saying Rockey we love you, take care of yourself. I was down but not out! I’ll be back," Rockey said.

It’s year number three of the Reggie Bush Football Camp, and the 2011 version is bigger than ever.

" We’ve had a great turnout every year, and every year it seems like there are more and more kids and they are excited to come back out here and learn. All of our coaches are from all over Louisiana, and it has been great," says Bush.

Bush answered the first few questions about his football camp before the talk turned to Twitter, where Bush made some controversial tweets just minutes after the Saints selected Mark Ingram in the first round of the draft.

" Sometimes you write things and you say things and it may come off the wrong way and it may be taken the wrong way. Or you may not even mean it that way or you may regret it. At the end of the day, I probably shouldn’t of tweeted that and I probably shouldn’t of said that. I’m sure a lot of people took it the wrong way and I apologize to the city of New Orleans," says Bush.

Bush says he welcomes Ingram as a teammate and even contacted him after the draft.

"I told him to enjoy his time. I told him to make sure that he enjoys being in the NFL," adds Bush.

As for his own future with the team, Bush made it clear. He wants to be a Saint, but at the right compensation.

"You know that there is going to have to be some sort of paycut, and there is going to be some sort of re-negotiation. So we are going to do the best we can to come to a happy meeting point and hopefully I will be able to play for the Saints for six, seven, eight, ten more years," says Bush.

Neither side can do anything until the lockout is lifted. But in the meantime, Bush’s teammates have been working out at Tulane. Bush has yet to attend, but says that he does plan on coming to some starting this week.

"I’m still trying to figure it out just because of this lockout situation and the contract and you just want to please everybody, but at the same time, you have to protect yourself also.

The record will show that, over the past 25 years, I have written many more positive accounts of our great annual gathering than negative.

The most volatile issue that fans react to year in and year out has been the ever-increasing cost of the event.

Personally, I think 60 bucks is a bargain for the number of quality acts you can see at the Fairgrounds on any given day, particularly since many of these acts would cost $60 alone to see at the House of Blues.

But I am concerned about this admission price being applied to kids.

As a father of three, I anticipate a time in the near future when it will cost me $240 just to get my family inside the gates, never mind the food and refreshments necessary to sustain us for eight hours of wandering to grounds, dancing and generally horsing around.

Currently, Jazz Fest allows kids ten and under to get in for $5. Fair enough. This has allowed me to practically raise my kids at the festival; we’ve been coming since they were infants. It’s in their blood.

And it seems to me a goal of Jazz Fest is to provide a setting for local families to explore and enjoy the broad palette of Louisiana music, food and crafts together.

But. even if the admission doesn’t increase in the next two years – and what are the chances of that? – a typical day at the fest for my family is going to top out at around $400.

I protest.

I usually bring my kids to the festival three times a year and, doing the math, that’s about a $1,000 annul investment to indoctrinate my kids to the exotic charms and complexities of Louisiana culture they won’t find anywhere else.

It’s the teens ans tweens that are being priced out – just the target, and vulnerable, audience we need to keep engaged and interested in our precious culture.

For the cost of a family of four to attend Jazz Fest, I could take my kids to the beach for a week, or enroll them in a month of summer camp.

I’d prefer to introduce them to the magic of zydeco, Dixieland and pecan catfish.

Please, Jazz Fest. Give it a thought. Give us a break.