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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — After a $5 million proposed settlement fell through, officials in Louisiana are now offering $4.5 million to settle the civil lawsuit brought by the family of Alton Sterling, a Black man who was killed in 2016 by police who approached him while he was selling homemade CDs in front of a convenience store.

The East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council voted 7-4 Wednesday in favor of offering the multimillion-dollar settlement to the family of Alton Sterling, news outlets reported.

Sterling’s death had inflamed racial tensions in Louisiana’s capital, cast a national spotlight on the history of strained relations between police and Black residents of Baton Rouge and sparked widespread protests.

“I am pleased our metro council was able to find a consensus and approve an offer of settlement in the Alton Sterling civil case,” Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome posted on social media. “After nearly five years, the people of Baton Rouge are finally one step closer to getting much needed closure in this traumatic episode in our history. Now we must continue the work of building a more fair and equitable community, where every citizen is treated justly, no matter their race or ethnicity.”

The governing council had narrowly rejected a proposed $5 million settlement in November.

The lawsuit names the city, its police department, a former police chief and two officers, one of whom has since resigned. It alleges the shooting fit a pattern of racist behavior and excessive force by the Baton Rouge Police Department and says poor training and inadequate police procedures led to Sterling’s death.

Former Baton Rouge police officer Blane Salamoni shot Sterling six times outside a convenience store on July 5, 2016. Sterling, 37, had been selling homemade CDs. Officer Howie Lake II helped wrestle Sterling to the ground, but Lake didn’t fire his gun. Footage of the incident was spread on social media, leading to large protests.

Internal investigators for the police department concluded Salamoni had used excessive force. He was fired in March 2018, but an August 2019 settlement allowed him to withdraw his termination and resign retroactively instead. Authorities did not file criminal charges after an investigation.

The offer comes less than three weeks before a trial in the civil suit was scheduled to begin. If the offer is rejected, the lawsuit would continue. Brandon DeCuir, one of several attorneys representing Sterling’s five children, declined to comment.

The offer calls for Sterling’s heirs to first get $1 million, paid out of the city-parish’s Insurance Reserve Fund, followed by annual $875,000 payments over the next four years.

OAKDALE, La. (AP) — The 12th Louisiana resident to die in a house fire this year may have been trying to stay warm, Louisiana State Fire Marshal H. “Butch” Browning said Friday, renewing his call for home heating safety as cold weather moved into the state.

The victim’s body was found in a bedroom after the Oakdale Fire Department put out the blaze Thursday afternoon, a news release from Browning’s office said. His identity has not been confirmed but he’s believed to be a 56-year-old man who lived in the house.

Deputies have not determined the cause but cannot rule out the possibility that a space heater in the living room was too close to combustible objects, according to the fire marshal’s office.

“This is now the 12th life lost to fire in Louisiana in 2021, and this time, as frigid temperatures make their way across the state, it seems this fire, sadly, may be related to an attempt to stay warm,” Browning said.

He said firefighters were called to the house about 2:30 p.m. Thursday. On Wednesday, house fires killed two men in Cotton Valley and one in Hammond.

Browning asked people to be sure space heaters are plugged directly into wall outlets rather than extension cords or power strips, and are at least 3 to 5 feet (1 to 1.5 meters) from anything that might burn.

“Never leave a space heater, or open flame like a candle, unattended,” the news release said. “In addition, do not use stoves or ovens as heat sources and do not leave fireplaces and wood-burning ovens unattended or overloaded with too much wood.”

A wood-burning stove may have been used to heat the Cotton Valley house where two men died, the fire marshal’s office said Wednesday.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Hospitality industry workers who will lose income because of an upcoming bar shutdown and other coronavirus restrictions in the French Quarter can apply for five days of part-time work with the city, the mayor’s office said Wednesday.

Bars are being shut down throughout the city Friday, the beginning of what is usually a raucous Mardi Gras weekend. And there will be limits on automobile and pedestrian traffic in the French Quarter, where bars usually cater to shoulder-to-shoulder crowds.

In a $100,000 program, the city is offering up to 200 displaced workers jobs that officials say may include trash and litter pick-up and mask distribution, according to a news release from Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration. Workers selected can earn up to $100 a day for five hours of work a day Friday through Tuesday.

Affected workers can apply online and will need documentation including a state identification card and a paycheck stub

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A local charity is aiming to supply up to 1,000 Baton Rouge families with fresh fruits and vegetables for free.

The food giveaway is planned for Saturday in Baton Rouge, WBRZ-TVreported.

Outstanding Mature Girlz is partnering with the Baton Rouge Food Bank to host the Fresh Produce Box Drive-Thru.

People who show up are asked to remain in their cars as they receive curbside service, due to coronavirus restrictions

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The new trial for the man convicted of manslaughter in the 2016 shooting death of a former NFL player following a traffic dispute cannot include a murder charge, a Louisiana judge has ruled.

The Times-Picayune’The New Orleans Advocate reports that the decision came Wednesday in the case of Ronald Gasser. Prosecutors tried Gasser in 2018 for second-degree murder in a shooting following a traffic dispute in suburban New Orleans. But the jury came back with a 10-2 vote for conviction on a manslaughter charge in the death of Joe McKnight.

The U.S. Supreme Court has since held that Louisiana law allowing convictions on 10-2 or 11-1 votes is unconstitutional. That resulted in an order that Gasser be granted a new trial.

State District Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach said that trial cannot be a murder trial.

“To allow the State to retry the defendant on the second-degree murder charge violates defendant’s protections against double jeopardy,” District Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach said in her ruling, agreeing with Gasser’s lawyer, Dane Ciolino.

Prosecutors had argued that the Supreme Court’s ruling meant Gasser’s manslaughter verdict was void, but did not preclude another attempt to try him for murder.

“A 10-2 verdict is no verdict at all,” Assistant District Attorney Seth Shute wrote, later noting, “an illegal verdict acts as neither an acquittal nor a conviction.”

Ciolino had argued that the 10-2 verdict on a lesser charge in the murder trial was an acquittal on the murder charge and that the Supreme Court’s ruling “did not reverse or otherwise affect Mr. Gasser’s acquittal of the charge of second-degree murder.”

Prosecutors have indicated in state court records that they will appeal.

McKnight was a high school football hero at Louisiana’s John Curtis Christian School who played three seasons for the New York Jets and one with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Gasser fatally shot McKnight on Dec. 1, 2016, after what authorities described as a rolling a 5-mile (8-kilometer) traffic dispute and chase over a New Orleans area bridge.

Witnesses at the 2018 trial said McKnight had been weaving in and out of traffic at high speed before the shooting. Prosecutors acknowledged to the jury that he was, in the words of Shute, “driving like a jerk.” But they argued that Gasser escalated the conflict, following him down an exit that he would not ordinarily have taken.

Gasser claimed self defense and said McKnight lunged into his car. Prosecutors said physical evidence proved Gasser lied.

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — After three fire deaths in the last day and a blast of cold weather on the way, Louisiana’s fire marshal is urging caution when heating homes.

KSLA-TV reports that two men died in a house fire Wednesday morning in Cotton Valley. Deputy fire marshals are investigating the cause, but believe a wood stove was involved. The same day, a house fire killed an 83-year-old occupant in Hammond, according to the city fire department, which was investigating the cause.

Fire Marshal Butch Browning’s office released a news release Thursday urging safe practices for home heating as the state readies for some of its coldest temperatures of the winter starting this weekend.

The fire marshal’s office said space heaters should be placed away from combustible objects like blankets and all heating appliances should be plugged directly into wall outlets. The agency said stoves and ovens shouldn’t be used to heat homes and candles shouldn’t be left unattended.