Louisiana deputy shot while directing traffic near school

Louisiana deputy shot while directing traffic near school

LULING, La.

In what authorities call an apparent ambush by an angry motorist, a south Louisiana deputy sheriff was shot three times Thursday, suffering injuries to his eye and chest in a gunfight that broke out at a school traffic zone.

St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne identified the suspect as John Paul Devillier, 58, currently of Gulfport, Miss. Champagne said Devillier had been fired from the Transportation Safety Administration approximately two years ago but had no details.

The wounded deputy, Cpl. Burt Hazeltine, 36, is a married father of four. He was in stable but guarded condition at a New Orleans hospital Thursday evening. He was hit in the elbow and the chest, and one bullet was lodged behind his left eye, Champagne said.

Snow falls in parts of Rockies, causes pileups in Wyoming

CHEYENNE, Wyo.

Wintry weather swept across parts of the Rockies on Thursday, leaving behind some wrecks and road closures.

Heavy snow was being blamed for several pileups involving some 60 cars and trucks on Interstate 80 in southeastern Wyoming. No fatalities were reported, but about two dozen people were taken to a Cheyenne hospital.

Kathy S. Baker, spokeswoman for the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, said Thursday that only three of the people taken to the hospital were admitted, and the rest were treated and released. She said she couldn’t release information about the condition of the three.

Lawsuit seeks to legalize prostitution in California

SAN FRANCISCO

Advocates for California sex workers are seeking to legalize the world’s oldest profession.

A federal lawsuit filed March 4 seeks to strike down the California law criminalizing prostitution as an unconstitutional violation of equal protection and free-speech rights. The lawsuit alleges that California’s criminalizing of prostitution deprives sex workers or their right to participate in a private, consensual activity.

“The rights of adults to engage in consensual, private sexual activity (even for compensation) is a fundamental liberty interest,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit was filed by the San Francisco-based advocacy group Erotic Service Providers Legal, Education and Research Project along with three women who say they want to work legally as prostitutes in California.

Al-Qaida expands control of largest province in Yemen

SANAA, Yemen

Al-Qaida’s branch in Yemen consolidated control over much of the country’s largest province Thursday, capturing a major airport, an oil terminal and the area’s main military base, and striking an alliance with local tribal leaders to administer the region.

The gains highlight how al-Qaida has exploited the chaos in Yemen, where Shiite rebels are battling forces loyal to exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. A 3-week-old Saudi-led air campaign in support of Hadi has so far failed to halt the rebels’ advance.

Military officials and residents said al-Qaida fighters clashed briefly with members of one of Yemen’s largest brigades outside Mukalla, the capital of Hadramawt province, which the militants overran earlier this month. The militants then seized control of Riyan airport and moved to secure their hold on the city’s main seaport, which is also an oil terminal.

Associated Press