State Wildlife & Fisheries agents arrest a Patterson man for illegally taking nutria, to collect bounties for the invasive species. LDWF spokesman Adam Einck (EYE-nk) says 45-year-old Harris DeHart is seen in online “how-to” videos catching nutria by gassing them, cutting off their tails and letting them go; impaired and badly injured. Einck says he faces a long list of charges…:

CUT 07(11)      “…that’s not allowed.”

Einck says the state pays a bounty for the invasive animals, and they pay by how many tails one turns in…but the manner in which the animals are dispatched is laid out in state law. He says DeHart was gaming the bounty system.

The Louisiana Legislative Auditor says the City of Westlake fell victim to an email hack that netted thieves over $64-thousand in illegitimately-billed overdue payments. The auditor found the city hadn’t properly vetted the bogus invoices before paying them.

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and while you’ll probably witness some last-minute shopping today, overall shoppers are predicted to spend a whopping $25.9-billion in the US this year. Katherine Cullen with the National Retail Federation says that’s up from $24-billion spent last year, and the second highest on record…:

CUT 03(11)      “…last year.”

Consumers are expected to spend $4.4-billion on an evening out and more than $5.5-billion on jewelry.

Bad news for the Pelicans as All-Star forward Zion Williamson will miss several more weeks after he re-aggravated his right hamstring. Pelicans’ executive vice president David Griffin says Williamson was set to return soon, but re-injured himself at practice…:

CUT 12(13)      “…to navigate.”

New Orleans is at Oklahoma City tonight.