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.

The Louisiana National Guard's 769th Engineer Battalion returns home today from a year's deployment to Iraq. Guard spokesman Major Mike Kazmierzak says the approximately 175 citizen-soldiers, who are expected to land at Baton Rouge airport between 6 and 6:30 this evening, have had a long, tough year.

Mentioned weeks ago as a possible challenger for incumbent Republican District 5 Congressman Rodney Alexander, Ruston Representative Rick Gallot says he will NOT enter that race. Gallot says he was approached by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and he gave the matter serious thought. Gallot is chairman of the state House & Governmental Affairs Committee. He says he had been focused on that role, when Democrats asked him about challenging his long-time friend, Alexander. Alexander was a Democrat until 2004, and a close friend of Gallot's. Gallot says he's relieved now that he's made his final decision to NOT enter the race.

Nearly three years after Hurricane Katrina, a recent poll of 300 people conducted by telephone indicates 59-percent of those surveyed are satisfied with life in the still recovering city. The level of satisfaction is almost identical to results found in a pre-Katrina 2005 survey. However, Dr. Robert Sims, who directed the most recent survey, says Mayor Ray Nagin pulled only an eleven-percent approval rate among white residents. Nagin's approval rating among blacks was only 49-percent.

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.