BY DEANNA B. NARVESON | Staff writer Latest census data: A nationwide wave of international immigration in 2024 staunched years of population declines in Louisiana, according to newly released estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. That increase, which can be partly attributed to more accurate methods of counting foreign-born residents, was large enough to prevent Louisiana’s population from dwindling for the fourth consecutive year. But the state still suffers from the trends that caused those declines: large numbers of residents moving out of the state and a birth rate just barely above its death rate. Read the full story from data journalists Jeff Adelson. A man hunting on Christmas Eve in the Zachary area thought he was shooting at a deer but accidentally hit another hunter, Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries officials said. Both men had permission to be out on the small piece of property, but they were not aware they were hunting at the same time, according to a news release. One of the hunters shot the other with buckshot from a 20-gauge shotgun. Read more. Where did Scrim spend Christmas? According to security camera video captured in the wee hours of Christmas morning on Stella Street in Old Metairie, Scrim, the devotedly stray dog, has ventured farther out of his regular range than ever. Read the latest on Louisiana's favorite runaway dog. | 