• Flood rates going through the roof
St. Charles Parish residents who don't have federal flood insurance should get it as soon as possible, to avoid dramatically higher rates expected to go into effect next year.

• Cooler school buses on the way
The St. Charles Parish School Board will buy air-conditioned school buses this year, starting a journey that eventually will result in its entire fleet being equipped with air.

• Paradis clamoring for library
Presented with a choice of opening a built-from-scratch library in the Paradis area several years from now or moving into an existing building sooner, most of the residents who attended a town hall meeting Tuesday said they want to borrow books in their area as quickly as possible.

• Water filtering system almost ready
Representatives of a water-filtration system aimed at removing bacteria from St. John the Baptist Parish's drinking water have told officials startup is days away.

• Council rejects Montz zoning change
Facing a roomful of Montz residents who said the area cannot support more development, the St. Charles Parish Council on Monday voted down a request to rezone 24 acres for single-family homes.

• Hearing scheduled on levee tie-in
A public hearing on proposed levee alignments affecting property owners along U.S. 90 near the Jefferson Parish line will be held Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Cytec plant in Waggaman.

• St. John adds 6 new bins for recycling
St. John the Baptist Parish is kicking off a pilot recycling program with free drop-off locations starting today.

• Library views to be aired in Paradis today
Residents of Paradis, Des Allemands and Bayou Gauche tonight will have a chance to voice their opinion about whether to build a new library in the area or to convert an existing building that would provide service to residents several years sooner.

• Campus named for first schools chief
The St. Tammany Parish School Board has decided to honor its past by naming the new elementary school in Madisonville after the district's first recorded superintendent.

• Man dies after being shot in St. Rose
Tameka Lee was supposed to be planning a surprise birthday party on Friday; instead, she was attempting to contain her grief after authorities say someone shot and killed her 26-year-old boyfriend in St. Rose.

• PINT-SIZE PATRIOT
St. Timothy's Episcopal Pre-School students put their patriotism on parade as they marched around the school grounds and the surrounding neighborhood during the LaPlace school's annual Red, White and Blue Parade on Thursday. The parade was held in part to celebrate the completion of the first unit of the reading readiness program.

• Road, drainage repair budgets doubled
St. John the Baptist Parish officials recently approved a $48.5 million budget that more than doubles the spending for road and drainage repairs in 2009.

• POLICE REPORTS
ST. CHARLES ARRESTS

• Church worker booked in sex abuse
A youth leader at Reserve Christian Church was arrested and booked with several counts of molestation after a 13-year-old church member told authorities that the man assaulted him several times during the past seven months, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Office said Thursday.

• Storm in 2009 would trim break
St. Charles Parish students will have fair warning next school year that their Thanksgiving vacation could be cut short if another hurricane forces schools to close.

• Ferry status riles officials
For many St. John the Baptist Parish Council members this week, a meeting on the west bank of the parish gave way to talks of the missing Reserve-to-Edgard ferry.

• Luling church given reprieve by board
St. Charles Parish School Board President John Smith said the board will give preservationists time to try to save the old St. Anthony of Padua Church in Luling, but he warned the time is limited.

• Schools look for advice on security
The St. Charles Parish School Board will seek a security consultant to advise it on beefing up school security systems.

• Council holds off on budget vote
St. Charles Parish Council members discussed employee pay and opted not to set up their own e-mail system, but put off a decision on whether to adopt the parish's $123 million budget that would finance both.

• Schools rewarded for ACT progress
Two St. John the Baptist Parish high schools and one in St. James Parish were honored recently for raising their ACT scores, as well as the number of students taking the college-readiness test over the past five years.

• School scores rise in River Parishes
Both St. Charles and St. John the Baptist parishes improved their school district performance scores last year, according to figures released Friday.

• St. John to press lawmakers on future of Miss. River ferry
The future of St. John the Baptist Parish's Reserve-to-Edgard ferry remains a mystery, but parish officials are hoping the state can provide some answers.

• Pay scale could be rising for St. Charles personnel
St. Charles Parish's employees might get cost-of-living raises totaling 3.9 percent and merit raises of as much as 4 percent under the administration's proposed 2009 budget.

• POLICE REPORTS
ST. CHARLES ARRESTS

• Man gets 40 years in rape of girl, 4
A Hammond man who authorities say raped a 4-year-old girl last year while visiting relatives in Destrehan pleaded guilty to forcible rape and was sentenced to 40 years in prison Thursday.

• St. John aims for good bond rate
St. John the Baptist Parish school officials are optimistic that bonds to finance construction projects will sell at a low interest rate.