• Armed man in Nazi garb arrested
A Westwego man found walking down the street in a German Nazi uniform and carrying a high-powered rifle was arrested after he told police he was on his way to kill his sister's next-door neighbor.

• Jefferson plans less for capital projects
Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard wants to set aside $62 million for capital projects next year, less than half what the parish has spent this year, according to his proposed 2009 budget.

• Marinello phone records go to court
Providing a glimpse of the evidence they have against Vince Marinello, prosecutors Monday got the green light to present testimony of a cellular phone expert to help explain to a jury the former broadcaster's whereabouts on the day his wife was shot.

• Crack addict found guilty in grandma's beating death
An admitted crack-addicted prostitute from Indiana who migrated to Jefferson Parish in search of work after Hurricane Katrina was convicted of manslaughter Friday night in the beating of a 94-year-old woman in her home.

• Darensburg announces candidacy for bench
Judge June Berry Darensburg of the 24th Judicial District Court has announced she will run for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeal.

• LOYALTY'S REWARD
It had all the trappings of a typical groundbreaking, including a swarm of politicians, a row of shovels and a muddy site marked with wooden stakes.

• Parish budget settles back down
Hurricane Katrina's stamp on Jefferson Parish's annual budgets has been all but wiped away from the spending proposal for 2009.

• Schools plan would shift administrators
After years spent following an outdated plan, the Jefferson Parish public school system is considering updating the way it allocates school-based administrators, in hopes of scaling back costs and balancing the number of principals and vice principals across the system.

• Zeno to hang up robes for good
Judge Melvin Zeno, feted Friday in a ceremony marking his retirement next month from the 24th Judicial District Court, will not run for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeal.

• Jeff man indicted in kidnap-murder case
A Kenner man accused of killing another man after allegedly abducting him from a River Ridge home was indicted Thursday on a second-degree murder charge.

• Nagin: Trash talk at hearing over line
Incensed by apparently erroneous accounts of Tuesday's heated confrontation between New Orleans City Councilwoman Stacy Head and the director of the city's Sanitation Department, Mayor Ray Nagin has accused Head of "very crude race-baiting" and has directed all his department heads to walk out of council meetings "if they are verbally assaulted or personally insulted."

• Corps plans canal upgrade
When Tropical Storm Frances flooded the Louisiana Newpack Shrimp Co. in 1998 thanks, in part, to an incomplete floodwall along the adjacent Company Canal, owners of the Westwego business took matters into their own hands, renting a Bobcat and ordering truckloads of dirt.

• Man held in rape from 23 years ago
A 49-year-old Florida man has been arrested in the rape of a woman more than two decades ago.

• Clearer picture sought on cameras
Under fire for crime cameras that critics say often don't work and haven't proved an effective tool for fighting crime, officials of New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's administration tried Tuesday to redefine the equipment's purpose to justify spending another $1.6 million on maintenance next year.

• Council unhappy with signs of recovery
Hoping to boost public confidence in New Orleans' recovery, Mayor Ray Nagin's administration in recent months has erected a host of large neutral-ground signs touting millions of dollars in construction projects that are on the way.

• Jeff deputy booked in drug case
For the third time in nearly two years, a Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office deputy has been booked with "doctor shopping" to illegally obtain prescription drugs.

• Issues pile up for new mayor
Westwego Mayor-elect John Shaddinger faces several challenges during his short tenure, including learning the ropes of a new job while preparing for a spring re-election campaign.

• Board sticks to East Jeff site
Those petty, cross-river tensions have flared again among Jefferson Parish School Board members, this time during a curious, out-of-the-blue discussion over where to hold the December meeting.

• Judge-elect plans to quit School Board
With months of campaigning behind her, Judge-elect Ellen Kovach said she's planning a resignation from the Jefferson Parish School Board while preparing to join the 24th Judicial District Court bench in January.

• Scores for Jeff schools delayed as state recalculates
BATON ROUGE -- As it released new performance scores for almost every public school system in the state Friday, the Department of Education withheld most of those for Jefferson Parish.

• Jeff awaits extradition of 2 in killings at Marrero bar
With the final suspects in the quadruple killing at a Marrero bar last week in custody in Texas, Jefferson Parish authorities are now waiting for their return to Louisiana.

• Connick squelches rumors he will replace Letten
Is Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick Jr. in line to be the next U.S. attorney in New Orleans?