BY DEANNA B. NARVESON | Staff writer Back in it: Almost a week after announcing he was dropping out of the March 29 mayoral race in St. George after he was confronted with a decades-old guilty plea for soliciting prostitution, Republican Jim Morgan now says he's back in. Read more about his decision. Reopening halted: A federal appeals court in New Orleans has halted a judge’s decision to reopen a legal challenge to Louisiana’s execution protocols while it considers an opposition from Attorney General Liz Murrill. A three-judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a one-sentence order on Monday, issued an administrative stay of U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick’s ruling from last week. Read the latest. High water: The Mississippi River has been on the rise, as tends to happen this time of year, but while relatively minor precautions are being put in place by the Army Corps of Engineers, an opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway seems unlikely so far. The river has risen to over 11 feet at New Orleans' Carrolton gauge, which translates roughly to 11 feet above sea level. Rising above 11 feet triggers what the Corps calls a phase 1 flood fight, which means increased levee checks in coordination with local authorities and restrictions on certain work near them. Read the full story. | 