The Associated Press

Spirit Airlines is starting service to New Orleans, offering daily non-stop flights between Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

New Orleans International says the low-cost carrier plans to start the flights on Jan. 24 with either a 145-seat Airbus A319 or 178-seat Airbus A320.

The planned flight schedule calls for one round trip between New Orleans and Dallas daily.

Librarians in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes say the loss of $23,000 in technology money from the state is forcing them to put off plans for software upgrades, such as Internet security programs, and hardware purchases, such as electronic readers.

The Houma Courier reports that Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes lost $11,500 each from the State Aid to Public Libraries program, the same amount trimmed for Louisiana's other 62 parishes.

With the Mississippi River running at low levels, salt water is moving up from the Gulf of Mexico.

The Times-Picayune reports that denser, heavier saltwater flows upriver beneath fresh water flowing downstream when the river's flow drops below normal. The Army Corps of Engineers says salt water is not yet considered a threat to water supplies in the New Orleans area.

ASSUMPTION PARISH — A top geologist at the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources says bubbling gas in bayous in Assumption Parish may be connected to a salt dome deep underground.

The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/LsftDK) that Madhurendu Kumar, director of DNR's geological oil and gas division, told residents last week that gas that has collected in pockets of a fault along the Napoleonville Dome could be being released naturally.

The ferry that carries passengers across the Mississippi from White Castle to Carville ferry has been temporarily docked since June due to a mechanical malfunction, but state transportation officials say it will be shut down permanently by year's end to save $800,000 annually.

It is a plan that U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond hopes the state will reconsider. Richmond has asked Gov. Bobby Jindal to reconsider his proposal to shut down the White Castle and Reserve-Edgard ferries.

Authorities are investigating the latest deadly shootings in the New Orleans area.

Sunday night, Jefferson Parish deputies received a call about a shooting at an intersection in Harvey. Responding deputies found the body of a 34-year-old man in a parking lot.

Around 1 a.m. Monday, in New Orleans' Central City neighborhood, police responded to a call about shots being fired. They found a 37-year-old man who had been shot multiple times. He died at the scene.

No arrests have been reported in either shooting.

The Biloxi City Council is being asked to make a zoning change that could allow more horses in the city.

Community Development Director Jerry Creel says the city's current land development ordinance requires horse owners to have property zoned for agriculture. And it requires at least three acres for ownership of one horse.

Produce growers in Louisiana have a new organization for marketing, lobbying and providing information about production.

LSU AgCenter gardening specialist Kiki Fontenot says a vegetable growers' group stopped functioning a few years ago. She says the same people usually grow both fruits and vegetables, so the new organization is the Louisiana Fruit and Vegetable Growers.

Officers elected at the first meeting represent growers from each area of the state.

Moses Malone, Spencer Haywood, Cazzie Russell and Mark Eaton are among retired professional basketball stars offering their company in an Aug. 17 fishing tournament to benefit Children's Hospital of New Orleans.

For $2,000, each three-angler team gets a boat, a local guide and a big-name angler to fill out the team. They also can attend an Aug. 18 gala with more than 100 former NBA players.

The tournament will be at Joe's Landing in Lafitte.

RUSTON — Lincoln Parish shoppers will find they are paying a little more at the checkout as a new quarter-cent sales tax to support the Sheriff's Office went into effect in July.

The Daily Leader reports (http://bit.ly/NkZ8Qw) Sheriff Mike Stone says revenue from the tax would pay for technology, continuation of services and to help offset a $100,000 deficit from the previous fiscal year.

Jerry Smith, the sheriff's chief civil deputy, says the sales tax affects all purchases and is in effect throughout Lincoln Parish.