Louisiana

A disease that’s killing deer is the rise in Louisiana

Published

2 years ago

February 12, 2024

A disease that’s killing deer is the rise in Louisiana

Two years after it was first discovered in Louisiana, state wildlife officials have detected seven additional cases of Chronic Wasting Disease, a fatal illness that has afflicted deer in more than 30 states.

There have now been 19 confirmed Louisiana cases of the disease, officials said Friday. CWD affects the nervous systems and brains of deer, elk moose and reindeer and can lead to erratic behavior, drooling and emaciation.

It is not believed to be a threat to humans or domesticated animals.

Biologists from Louisiana’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries have been on alert for the disease after a case was discovered in Mississippi’s Issaquena County in 2018, just across the Mississippi River from Tensas Parish. Two years before that, the disease had been found in a deer in Arkansas.

With its first confirmed case in January 2022, Louisiana joined a growing club of more than 30 states that have detected the disease.

Once this disease is discovered, it is extremely hard to eradicate, said Krysten Schuler, a Cornell University researcher who studies wildlife diseases.

“The best way to stop it is not to get it in the first place,” Schuler said.

The disease is easily transmitted among deer, elk and moose, but slow acting, she added.

“When a deer gets infected, it usually takes a year or two to die,” Schuler said. “It’s more likely to be killed by something else” like a predator or a car.

For a few years after the disease enters a population, the primary impact will be slowing deer population growth, Schuler said. But if the disease progresses, it can have a much greater effect on deer numbers.

After the discovery of the disease in 2022, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries declared an emergency and designated a CWD “control area,” which includes all of Tensas Parish and parts of Madison, Franklin and Concordia parishes.

Hunters in the control area are prohibited from hunting over bait such as grain or salt and are forbidden to take whole deer carcasses out of the area. They are free to transport deboned meat or other parts of the carcass under certain conditions.

Officials also put out coolers for hunters to drop off samples of the deer they killed for testing.

Since July 2023, state officials have collected approximately samples, the majority of those from deer killed by hunters. Five samples had been confirmed positive as of Jan. 23, with more expected from samples collected before Jan. 31, which was the end of deer season in the northeast part of the state.

All of the positive cases have been in Tensas Parish.

Despite its prevalence, Chronic Wasting Disease is largely mysterious to researchers, Schuler said.

“It’s hard,” she said. “We don’t have a lot of tools.”

Chronic Wasting Disease is caused by a mutated protein known as a prion, she said, and is the first known prion-caused disease in free-ranging wildlife. Other prion diseases include scrapie, which infects sheep, and mad cow disease.

The prion can be shed in saliva, urine or feces, Schuler said. Using grain or salt to lure deer can help the disease spread, she said, likening it to a salad bar where diners just lowered their faces into the serving bowls and ate.

“The pile of bait is problematic,” she said.

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Louisiana

Louisiana pastor convicted of abusing teenage congregant

Published

1 hour ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Louisiana pastor convicted of abusing teenage congregant

A Pentecostal pastor in Louisiana charged with sexually molesting a teenage girl in his church has been convicted of indecent behavior with a juvenile – but was acquitted of the more serious crime of statutory rape.

Milton Otto Martin III, 58, faces up to seven years in prison and must register as a sex offender after a three-day trial in Chalmette, Louisiana, resulted in a guilty verdict against him on Thursday. His sentencing hearing is tentatively set for 15 January in the latest high-profile instance of religious abuse in the New Orleans area.

Authorities who investigated Martin, the pastor of Chalmette’s First Pentecostal Church, spoke with several alleged molestation victims of his. But the jury in his case heard from just two of them, and the charges on which he was tried pertained to only one.

That victim’s attorneys – John Denenea, Richard Trahant and Soren Gisleson – lauded their client for testifying against Martin even as members of the institution’s congregation showed up in large numbers to support him throughout the trial.

“That was the most courageous thing I’ve ever seen a young woman do,” the lawyers remarked in a statement, with Denenea saying it was the first time in his career he and a client of his needed deputies to escort them out the courthouse. “She not only made sure he was accountable for his crimes – she has also protected many other young women from this convicted predator.”

Neither Martin’s attorney, Jeff Hufft, nor his church immediately responded to requests for comment.

The documents containing Martin’s criminal charges alleged that he committed felony carnal knowledge, Louisiana’s formal name for statutory rape, by engaging in oral sex with Denenea’s client when she was 16 in about 2011. The indecent behavior was inflicted on her when she was between the ages of 15 and 17, the charging documents maintained.

A civil lawsuit filed against Martin in parallel detailed how he would allegedly bring the victim – one of his congregants – out on four-wheeler rides and sexually abuse her during breaks that they took during the excursions.

The accuser, now about 30, reported Martin to Louisiana state police before he was arrested in March 2023. Other accusers subsequently came forward with similar allegations dating back further. Martin made bail, pleaded not guilty and underwent trial beginning on Tuesday in front of state court judge Darren Roy.

Denenea said he believed his client’s testimony on Wednesday was pivotal in Martin’s conviction, which was obtained by prosecutors Barry Milligan and Erica Moore of the Louisiana attorney general’s office, according to the agency.

As Denenea put it, it seemed to him Martin’s acquittal stemmed from uncertainty over whether the accuser initially reported being 16 at the time of the alleged carnal knowledge.

State attorney general Liz Murrill said in a statement that it was “great work” my Milligan and Moore “getting justice for this victim”.

“We will never stop fighting to protect the children of Louisiana,” Murrill said.

Martin was remanded without bail to the custody of the local sheriff’s office to await sentencing after the verdict.

The lawsuit that Denenea’s client filed against Martin was stayed while the criminal case was unresolved. It can now proceed, with the plaintiff accusing the First Pentecostal church of doing nothing to investigate earlier sexual abuse claims against Martin.

The plaintiff also accused the Worldwide Pentecostal Fellowships to which the Chalmette church belonged of failing to properly supervise Martin around children, and her lawsuit demands damages from both institutions.

Martin’s prosecution is unrelated to the clergy molestation scandal that drove the Roman Catholic archdiocese of nearby New Orleans into federal bankruptcy court in 2020 – but the two cases do share a few links.

State police detective Scott Rodrigue investigated Martin after also pursuing the retired New Orleans Catholic priest Lawrence Hecker, a serial child molester who had been shielded by his church superiors for decades. Rodrigue’s investigation led to Hecker’s arrest, conviction and life sentence for child rape – shortly before his death in December 2024.

Furthermore, Denenea, Trahant and Gisleson were also the civil attorneys for the victim in Hecker’s criminal case.

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Louisiana

This Japanese partnership will advance carbon capture in Louisiana

Published

14 hours ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Newlab New Orleans is deepening its energy-tech ambitions with a new partnership alongside JERA, Japan’s largest power generator, to accelerate next-generation carbon capture solutions for heavy industries across Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, The Center Square writes.

The collaboration brings JERA Ventures into Newlab’s public-private innovation hub, where startups gain access to lab space and high-end machinery to commercialize technologies aimed at cutting emissions and improving industrial efficiency.

The move builds momentum as Newlab prepares to open its fifth global hub next fall at the former Naval Support Activity site, adding New Orleans to a network that includes Riyadh and Detroit. JERA’s footprint in Louisiana is already growing—from a joint venture on CF Industries’ planned $4 billion low-carbon ammonia plant to investments in solar generation and Haynesville shale assets—positioning the company as a significant player in the state’s clean-energy transition.

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Louisiana

Fed’s ‘Catahoula Crunch’ finished its first week in Louisiana

Published

1 day ago

December 11, 2025

Press Room

Federal immigration authorities are keeping a tight lid on key details as “Catahoula Crunch” closes its first week in southeast Louisiana, Verite writes.

The operation—one of Department of Homeland Security’s largest recent urban crackdowns—began with raids at home-improvement stores and aims for 5,000 arrests, according to plans previously reviewed by the Associated Press. While DHS publicly highlighted arrests of immigrants with violent criminal records, AP data shows fewer than one-third of the 38 detainees in the first two days had prior convictions.

Meanwhile, advocacy groups report widespread fear in Hispanic communities, with residents avoiding hospitals, schools, workplaces and even grocery stores amid sightings of federal agents.

Business impacts are already visible: restaurants and Hispanic-serving corridors like Broad Street appear unusually quiet, with staff shortages forcing menu cuts and temporary closures. School absenteeism has doubled in Jefferson Parish, and protests have spread across New Orleans and surrounding suburbs as local leaders demand transparency around federal tactics.

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