Authorities in Iberia Parish and LA State Police are looking for Paul Stanley Collins Jr. who is accused of shooting to death his estranged wife - the mother of his two children.

The government is doling out $20-million to farmers in eight states, including Louisiana, to create habitats for migratory birds whose usual Gulf wintering spots may be fouled by the massive BP oil spill.

Louisiana is entering the grip of a summer heat wave for the weekend and into next week.

A man already incarcerated in the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison was arrested Tuesday in connection with a fatal shooting that happened December 23rd. Baton Rouge Police Sergeant Don Kelly says 23-year-old Marlon Dewayne Washington is charged with second-degree murder in the death of 34-year-old Harold Flowers. Officials say Flowers was shot to death following a fistfight with Washington. Kelly says Washington was in Parish Prison for a probation parole violation before the second-degree murder charge was added.

State police say investigators will attempt to re-create the circumstances involving an accident that killed a Baton Rouge police officer late Monday night. Troopers say Corporal Mark Beck and his K-9 partner, Xander [[ zander ]], were in a police cruiser when it slammed into the back of an 18-wheeler that was stopped at a railroad crossing. The crash occurred around 11:30 p.m. on Scenic Highway near the Exxon-Mobil Plastics Plant. Investigators say the rig, which was transporting methanol, had its hazard lights going as required by law. Beck was transported to a hospital, where he later died. He was 33 years old. The driver of the rig was uninjured, as was the dog. Officials say both Beck and the driver of the 18-wheeler, 63-year-old Bernard Jones of Prairieville, were both wearing seat belts and will be tested for drugs and alcohol.

The autopsy of a Zwolle man, found stuffed in the trunk of his girlfriend's car, points to murder. Sabine Parish deputy coronor Ron Rivers says 22-year-old Shawn Meshell died from a single gunshot to the head, from a large caliber weapon. Meshell was last seen alive Thursday. Police found his body in the car's trunk Sunday. The investigation is still underway. It's Zwolle's second homicide in less than a month.

Here's a look at stories making national news.

A new national poll finds former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is currently the Republican with the chance of defeating President Obama in 2012. 

Arizona has filed an appeal in the federal lawsuit which resulted in an injunction against portions of the state's new immigration law.