DOTD installs sinkhole monitors BATON ROUGE — State officials have installed enhanced monitoring equipment along La. 70, near the Assumption Parish sinkhole. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development said Thursday that the improvements will provide broader observation and greater accuracy in measuring the area for movement and subsidence. DOTD will be able to use data from the monitoring systems and alert responders via its Traffic Management Center in Baton Rouge to any significant movement or changes in the area near the site. The new equipment includes tilt and accelerometer sensors on the three bridges over Bayou Corne, Grand Bayou and Bayou Choupique, and Shaped-Accelerometer Arrays located within the La. 70 right of way, and at the two closest bridge locations. All of the equipment is in place to measure movement. Three Continuously Operating GPS Reference Stations also have been installed for automated, continuous monitoring of subsidence near all three bridges, and is expected to be fully functional by the end of June. A fourth station is planned for installation along the La. 70 right of way on private property. A fifth station is available for deployment, as needed. Sinkhole lawsuits will be class-action NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in New Orleans says he will grant class-action status to four lawsuits filed over issues raised by the Assumption Parish sinkhole. That’s according to a new court filing Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey also will give Texas Brine Co. 30 more days to directly negotiate stalled out-of-court settlements with evacuated residents lacking legal representation. Grand jury to review $200M Medicaid contract BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana attorney general’s office said a special grand jury was selected Thursday to look into possible criminal activity involving a $200 million Medicaid contract awarded by Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration. Assistant Attorney General Butch Wilson told a judge that the grand jury was being empaneled in Baton Rouge as part of an ongoing investigation into the now-canceled contract for Client Network Services Inc., or CNSI. The Jindal administration scrapped the 10-year claims processing contract on March 21, after details emerged about a federal subpoena seeking information about the contract award. The state attorney general’s office is conducting its own investigation, as well. Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein, a former CNSI vice president, resigned from his state post a week after the Maryland-based company’s contract was terminated. Senate panel OKs cellphone tax BATON ROUGE — A new 2 cent monthly tax on cellphones aimed at helping provide services for people with hearing impairment won the support Thursday of the Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee. The House-backed bill would change the current law by reducing the amount of tax levied per month from 5 cents on landline phones to 2 cents and would broaden the tax to include wireless devices. Data-only wireless devices or prepaid cellphones would be exempt. Representatives from the Louisiana Commission for the Deaf told senators the change was needed because the dollars raised by the existing tax have dropped significantly with the increased use of cellphones. The reworked tax would generate about $1.9 million a year, which would supply about 70 percent of the agency’s annual budget to continue providing services, said Brandi Berkeley, chair of the commission. Pump stations upgraded HOUMA — Officials say newly upgraded pump stations throughout Terrebonne Parish are ready to take on the impending hurricane season. Over the past year, the parish has spent about $20 million on constructing and improving local pump stations to help alleviate flooding caused by hurricanes and other storms. Woman accused of cruelty to juveniles BATON ROUGE — Baton Rouge police have arrested a 28-year-old woman accused of beating her three children, ages 2, 4 and 5, with an extension cord on their back, hip, face, chest and arm. The children told police their mother, Sherrie Ann Stevenson beat them on April 21 because the 4- and 5-year-old let the 2-year-old drink juice without permission. Police booked Stevenson into Parish Prison on Wednesday on three counts of cruelty to juveniles. Charges filed over campaign donations NEW ORLEANS — A Houma businessman accused of funneling campaign contributions to Louisiana’s two U.S. senators over the legal limit has been charged with making false statements to the Federal Elections Commission. The federal charge filed Thursday against Cenac Towing owner Arlen Cenac Jr. is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The 57-year-old Cenac agreed to a $170,000 civil settlement last year with the FEC for funneling thousands of dollars above the legal limit to the campaigns of Sens. Mary Landrieu and David Vitter. Landrieu and Vitter aren’t accused of wrongdoing. Federal prosecutors say Cenac used personal and corporate accounts to purchase cashier’s checks and submit campaign donations in the names of other people without their knowledge. Famed restaurant’s building sold in N.O. NEW ORLEANS — The building housing one of New Orleans’ best-known restaurants has been sold at a sheriff’s auction. Brennan’s restaurant’s French Quarter property was purchased Thursday for $6.8 million by mortgage holder Leggo/4. An attorney for two Brennan family members says they will need to negotiate a lease with the new property owner. Last week, a federal judge’s ruling didn’t resolve a bitter struggle for control of the debt-ridden restaurant. Ted Brennan and his daughter, Bridget, sued his brother, Pip, after he called a shareholder meeting last month to oust them as Brennan’s directors. U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan agreed with Ted and Bridget that the meeting was invalid, but she also upheld Pip’s right to vote his shares. Lawyer sentenced in fraud case BATON ROUGE — James M. Bernhard III has been sentenced to 27 months in prison Thursday for wire fraud in connection with the theft of over $453,000 from his former law firm’s trust account. Bernhard, who pleaded guilty to the wire fraud charge, surrendered his law license shortly before he appeared for sentencing Thursday before Chief U.S. District Judge Brian A. Jackson in Baton Rouge federal court. Jackson also fined Bernhard $10,000. The career of Bernhard, son of former Shaw Group Inc. Chairman Jim Bernhard, nosedived in March 2012. That’s when Crawford Lewis PLLC fired him for allegedly misappropriating more than $1 million in state film tax credits that belonged to clients of the law firm. From The Associated Press..

BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana’s not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.2 percent in April, an increase of 0.2 percent over the month and over the year, according to a news release from Louisiana Workforce Commission. St. Mary Parish’s jobless rate in April was 6.9 percent, up from 6.7 percent in March, but down from 7.3 percent a year ago in April, stated the report released Thursday. The U.S. not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 7.1 percent in April, down 0.5 percent from last month and down 0.6 percent from a year ago. Louisiana’s not seasonally adjusted civilian labor force — the number of people working or looking for work — rose to 2,083,585 in April, an increase of 8,961 over the year and 19,043 over the month. There were 21,514 people employed in St. Mary Parish in April, up from 21,423 in March. The number of unemployed rose from 1,543 in March to 1,588 in April. St. Mary Parish had 1,708 unemployed in April 2012. The number of employed in April was 1,954,430, an increase of 4,920 over the year and 13,614 over the month. The number of unemployed in Louisiana was 129,155 in April, an increase of 4,041 over the year and 5,429 over the month. Not seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment was 1,951,000 in April, up 19,500 over the year. Private employers added 24,200 jobs over the year, pushing not seasonally adjusted private employment to 1,601,900. Not seasonally adjusted unemployment rates were up over the year in six of eight of Louisiana’s metro areas. The metro area April rates were: —Alexandria, 6.2 percent, up from 5.9 percent in April 2012; —Baton Rouge, 5.9 percent, down from 6.0 percent; —Houma, 4.4 percent, up from 4.2 percent; —Lafayette, 4.6 percent, up from 4.4 percent; —Lake Charles, 5.6 percent, down from 5.7 percent; —Monroe, 6.7 percent, up from 6.5 percent; —New Orleans, 6.2 percent, up from 6.1 percent; —Shreveport, 6.6 percent, up from 5.9 percent. Curt Eysink, executive director of the Louisiana Workforce Commission, said, “Not seasonally adjusted rates bounce around from month to month. The long-term trends for Louisiana have been strong for well over two years now and remain strong.” Parish employment numbers are not adjusted for seasonal factors such as holidays and weather.