1-22-15
An Opelousas woman has been arrested after her 5-year-old son was treated for burns to his hand and torso that appeared to have been caused by a cigarette. The St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office says the child’s mother, identified as 26-year-old Jessica Deville, was booked with cruelty to a juvenile Saturday and released on $3,500 bond. If convicted, she faces up to 10 years in prison. The sheriff’s office, in a statement Tuesday, said the child is recovering and living with his father.
SASOL WILL BE GIVING FIFTY SCHOLARSHIPS TOTALLING 340 THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO SEEK CRAFT TRAINING IN INDUSTRY. SO FAR SEVENTY PEOPLE HAVE APPLIED FOR THE SCHOLARSHIPS AND THE DEADLINE TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION IS JANUARY 30TH. SASOL EXECUTIVES ARE URGING ANYONE IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA TO APPLY, BUT THEY SAY WESTLAKE AND MOSS BLUFF RESIDENTS WILL BE GIVEN PREFERENCE. AN APPLICATION CAN BE SUBMITTED THROUGH THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA’S WEBSITE.
THE LAFAYETTE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD WAS TOLD LAST NIGHT THAT THEY NEEDED TO ADD 200 THOUSAND DOLLARS TO THE LEGAL SERVICES BUDGET. CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER BILLY GUIDRY SAYS LEGAL EXPENSES ROSE BECAUSE OF A WRONGFUL TERMINATION SUIT BY FORMER SUPERINTENDENT PAT COOPER AND THE COSTS OF THE BOARD’S INVESTIGATION OF COOPER. HE SAYS THE 200 THOUSAND DOLLARS WOULD COVER GENERAL COUNSEL SERVICES AND FILING AN ANSWER TO COOPER’S LAWSUIT. THE BOARD WILL CONSIDER A BUDGET REVISION TO COVER THE AMOUNT WITH PROPERTY TAX REVENUES AT THEIR FEBRUARY FOURTH MEETING.
A former leader at Louisiana College and a group of pastors are organizing a new Baptist association. They say it will create a “second option” for Louisiana Baptists that would allow churches to keep most of their money on the local level. Tim Johnson founded the nonprofit Southern Baptist Association of Louisiana. Johnson tells The Town Talk “multiple” pastors also are involved but did not want to include their names for fear of retaliation from the Louisiana Baptist Convention.
AN ACADIA PARISH WOMAN HAS BEEN CHARGED IN THE DEATH OF A LAKE ARTHUR TODDLER LAST SPRING. JULIE DARCE REPORTS.
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JOHN LANDRY THE THIRD WAS FOUND GUILTY BY JUDGE RON WARE OF SECOND DEGREE MURDER AND SIMPLE ROBBERY. LANDRY WAS ACCUSED OF SUFFOCATING AND KILLING 83-YEAR-OLD PRESTON LEBLEU AT THE CHATEAU DU LAC HIGH RISE IN LAKE CHARLES IN JULY OF 2012. LANDRY TESTIFIED THAT HE WAS HIGH ON COCAINE AT THE TIME AND HAD ONLY INTENDED TO ROB LEBLEU, AND HAD TIED HIM UP TO PREVENT HIM FROM ALERTING THE POLICE. LANDRY WAS SENTENCED LIFE IN PRISON, WITHOUT THE BENEFIT OF PAROLE, PLUS SEVEN YEARS CONCURRENT TO THE LIFE TERM FOR THE ROBBERY.
STONE ENERGY OF LAFAYETTE IS CUTTING ITS OPERATING BUDGET FOR 2015 BY NEARLY HALF. IN A NEWS RELEASE, STONE ENERGY ANNOUNCED THE BUDGET WILL DROP FROM 875 MILLION DOLLARS LAST YEAR TO 450 MILLION THIS YEAR. THE COMPANY SAYS THE CAPITAL BUDGET AND ALLOCATION OF CAPITAL IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE BASED ON SEVERAL FACTORS. THEY SAY THEY EXPECT TO DRILL WELLS IN THE MARCELLUS SHALE ONLY FOR THE FIRST QUARTER, WHICH IS LOCATED IN WEST VIRGINIA, OHIO AND PENNSYLVANIA.
Gamblers lost more than $234.8 million at Louisiana’s 20 major gambling venues in December, a combined year-over-year increase of 14.4 percent. Much of that gain came from the addition of a third riverboat in Lake Charles, which draws many of its customers from Texas. Those receipts totaled $72 million, which was 59 percent more than was collected in December 2013 when Lake Charles only had two riverboat casinos. Louisiana’s 15 riverboats collected $172.7 million in December, which was 20.7 percent higher than combined collections for December 2013.
