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Major crime in Kenner dipped by 4 percent in 2012. That's according to statistics released Monday by Kenner police officials.

The city saw decreases in six of the seven categories when compared with 2011.

Police Chief Steve Caraway tells The Times-Picayune the only crime category to record an increase was rape, up by two with a total of 12 sexual assaults reported last year.

Two top zoos are creating a home where endangered antelope can roam and help repopulate their species on 1,000 acres in New Orleans.

More than two dozen species of hoofed animals and birds may live in the facility planned by the San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Conservancy and New Orleans' Audubon Nature Institute.

Of 28 species under consideration, about half are endangered, vulnerable or near threatened.

A federal judge has agreed to postpone the trial of a former BP engineer charged with deleting text messages about the company's response to the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Kurt Mix's trial was scheduled to start Feb. 25, but U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. moved it to June 10 after conferring with defense attorneys and prosecutors on Monday. Duval agreed to give both sides more time to prepare.

A second top official of the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service is retiring.

The LSU AgCenter said Monday that Dwight Landreneau — an AgCenter associate vice chancellor and associate director of the extension service — will retire June 1.

On Jan. 4, extension service director and AgCenter vice chancellor Paul Coreil said he will leave the administration July 1 and continue with other professional obligations until Sept. 15.

Barbara Hanson says she's excited and ready to step into her new role as Louisiana Delta Community College's newest chancellor.

Hanson, who was vice president for learning at San Jacinto College-Central Campus in Pasadena, Texas, was chosen for the position Jan. 4 during a special meeting of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System Board of Supervisors in Baton Rouge.

The News-Star reports Hanson will assume her new responsibilities on Jan. 28.

Mississippi and Louisiana are among more than a dozen states participating in a new interstate travel permit for horse events.

Officials say the Equine Interstate Event Permit allows horses and their owners to travel to events in participating states for six months. The permit can be used in lieu of a 30-day certificate of veterinary inspection.

The permit can be obtained from an accredited veterinarian.

An airman stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base is facing possible federal charges after police say he was in possession of child pornography.

The Times reports 21-year-old Issac Boger, of Auburn, Ind., was arrested on a warrant from Springhill Police Department for distribution of child pornography.

Police say Boger was arrested following an execution of a search warrant at Boger's residence on the base last Thursday.

Lamb Weston, the ConAgra-owned company that operates a sweet potato processing plant near Delhi, will have a new boss in February.

ConAgra Foods has announced Greg Schlafer will join the company on Feb. 25 as president of its Lamb Weston frozen potato business.

Schlafer will have specific responsibility for running Lamb Weston's global business, which ConAgra said serves more than 2,500 restaurant, food service and retail customers in 120 countries.

East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff's deputies say a 41-year-old man was shot and killed when he answered the door of his apartment.

Spokeswoman Casey Rayborn Hicks identified the victim as Ellis Banks.

Hicks says Banks was shot at 6:25 p.m. Sunday when he answered a knock at his front door. The Advocate reports Banks was taken to a hospital where he died from his injuries.

Detectives have yet to determine a motive or suspects in the case.

The number of teachers retiring jumped more than 25 percent as the administration of Gov. Bobby Jindal pushed an overhaul of public education that changes the rules on how teachers are evaluated. That's according to the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana.

The Advocate reports the number of retirements from public kindergarten through 12th-grade schools has hovered around 2,500 in recent years: 2,598 for the 2011 fiscal year; 2,512 during the previous fiscal year.