• West Bank ready to test defenses
The Army Corps of Engineers and levee officials initiated plans Wednesday to test floodgates and patch gaping holes spread across 20 miles of the West Bank's unfinished hurricane barrier in preparation for Gustav.

• Shooting victim dies in an Algiers backyard
A man was shot Wednesday night and found dead in a spot not far from an Algiers apartment complex where -- according to neighborhood residents -- shots were fired weeks ago in the air and in the ground "just for fun."

• Gift of land no help to Lee's charity
In defending his public support of a nonprofit group he created, Jefferson Parish Councilman Byron Lee said the money he doles out from a West Bank landfill settlement represents but a sliver of the Jefferson Sports and Scholastic Foundation's revenue.

• Dad fleeing bust leaves baby, cops say
A Harvey man was booked with child desertion after authorities say he abandoned his 10-month-old daughter in a car when his attempt to buy drugs was interrupted by a Jefferson Parish sheriff's deputy.

• Judge's commute tallies $21,000
Over almost three years, Criminal District Court Judge Arthur Hunter has tapped more than $21,000 in public money to pay for mileage on his commute to New Orleans from Baton Rouge, where he relocated after the flood.

• Push for amphitheater renewed
Almost five years in the making, the Gretna riverfront amphitheater could be a reality as soon as next spring.

• Harvey Tunnel section closed
The westbound section of the Harvey Tunnel will be closed during the day through Friday for cleaning and maintenance, the state Department of Transportation and Development announced.

• Huey Long lane is closed today
Only one westbound lane of the Huey P. Long Bridge will be open for traffic today between 8:30 a.m. and 3 p.m.

• Marrero soldier dies on Afghan patrol
A former Army ROTC instructor at Tulane University who volunteered for duty in Afghanistan last year was killed in fighting there Wednesday, the Defense Department said Friday.

• City fines Higgins Gate owners
The rats, snakes and unsavory smells plaguing Behrman Heights have only worsened during the past year. And neighbors in this quiet Algiers enclave have a culprit: the sprawling, decaying Higgins Gate apartment complex just a few blocks away, which has sat abandoned and mostly untouched in the three years since Hurricane Katrina.

• Amite driver held in deputy attack
An Amite woman who played football locally has been booked with attempted murder after authorities say she tried to run down a Jefferson Parish sheriff's deputy outside a Metairie nightclub in June.

• Parent won't excuse absence
Jefferson Parish School Board member Ellen Kovach did not attend four recent parent meetings on a controversial magnet school plan affecting her district, but she said Friday that her absence had nothing to do with her current campaign for judge.

• Algiers will see new schools under plan
For students in Algiers, the long-awaited $1.8 billion capital plan, unveiled this week by state and local education leaders, promises sparkling new schools, state-of-the-art renovations and a diversification of high school options that could potentially attract pupils from across Orleans Parish.

• FEMA balks at plans for new city hall
Westwego and the Federal Emergency Management Agency can't seem to get on the same page.

• Early ballots can be cast in congressional races
Early voting starts Saturday for two primaries that will determine the Democratic nominees for Congress in Louisiana's 1st and 2nd House districts.

• Habitual offender freed in error is sentenced to life
A New Orleans man mistakenly released nine decades early from a 99-year sentence for attempting to kill a state trooper in Alabama was sentenced Thursday to spend the rest of his life in prison in Louisiana, after a judge found him to be a career criminal.

• Mistake blamed as oaks lost
Among the mounds of dirt and bulldozers near the defunct Belle Promenade Mall in Marrero, there's no longer any sign of the 15 live oaks that used to ring the site.

• 2 Harvey teenagers sentenced for spree
Two Harvey teens admitted to committing three armed robberies and a kidnapping in some of the West Bank's quieter neighborhoods last January and, in a hearing punctuated with fits of tears from their victims and families, were sentenced Wednesday to decades in prison.

• Gretna to enforce property rules
Neighborhood restrictions in Gretna covering everything from landscaping to yard signs to cars parked on streets at night will now be enforced by city inspectors who can fine property owners and issue a court summons on rules that were previously the domain of homeowner's associations.

• Marrero man booked in shooting
A Marrero man accused of shooting a Covington crane mechanic in May turned himself in to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office this weekend.

• Slain teacher remembered as generous
Those who knew Weston "Tony" Verrette, the John Ehret High School teacher killed in his home last week, say he was generous to a fault -- a characteristic that defined him but eventually led to his death.

• Crime down in most areas of Jeff
The crime rate in unincorporated Jefferson Parish was down during the first half of 2008 despite increases in murders and rapes, according to statistics released by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office.

• Designs unveiled for two schools
A sloping roof, an expanded two-story configuration and a courtyard created with younger students in mind are just some of the highlights featured in the latest design drawings for Terrytown Elementary.

• Riverdale shuffle may be gradual
Contrary to a plan already approved by the Jefferson Parish School Board, school officials are now suggesting that wholesale changes to Riverdale High and Haynes Academy for Advanced Studies might not transpire in the 2009-10 school year.

• Hughes rejects plan to stop closings
Archbishop Alfred Hughes Friday rejected a plan that might keep open three small Uptown Catholic parishes, effectively telling parishioners at 93-year-old Blessed Sacrament parish that this Sunday's service will be their last.

• Registrar absolved for mailer
A Republican Party recruitment mailer that appeared to come inappropriately from Jefferson Parish Registrar of Voters Dennis DiMarco was the result of error, not wrongdoing by DiMarco, Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne said Friday.

• Shepherd barred from law practice
The Louisiana Supreme Court has suspended state Sen. Derrick Shepherd's law license pending the outcome of his federal fraud and conspiracy trial.

• Teacher killed in his home
A Jefferson Parish public school teacher was found dead in his Gretna home Friday and police are searching for his missing car.

• CELEBRITY VISIT
Laura Bush dropped in on Edna Karr Senior High School on Thursday to celebrate the start of a grant program that delivers reproductions of American artwork to public schools and libraries nationwide.

• Waste panel gives nod to Slidell firm
An advisory committee gave top billing Thursday to a Slidell waste company to begin hauling garbage from Jefferson Parish curbsides next year.