KAJN Jesus FM 102.9


2-11-16

LAFAYETTE MAYOR PRESIDENT JOEL ROBIDEAUX SAYS ADJUSTMENTS ARE GOING TO HAVE TO BE MADE TO THE CITY PARISH BUDGET BECAUSE OF REDUCED SALES TAX COLLECTIONS.  LAST WEEK CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER LORRIE TOUPS ANNOUNCED THAT SALES TAX COLLECTIONS FOR NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER WERE DOWN 26-POINT-5 PERCENT IN THE PARISH COMPARED TO THE SAME TIME PERIOD OF 2014, WHILE CITY TAX COLLECTIONS DROPPED FOUR-AND-A-HALF PERCENT.  ROBIDEAUX TOLD THE DAILY ADVERTISER THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE TO MAKE CUTS TO THE BUDGET OR FREEZES.  HE SAYS THE PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATION DID A GOOD JOB BUILDING UP THE RESERVE FUND, AND THEY MAY TAP INTO THAT.

 

A MAN WANTED FOR A HOMOCIDE IN JENNINGS WAS SPOTTED BY A CALCASIEU PARISH SHERIFF’S DEPUTY IN A CROWD AT A MARDI GRAS PARADE IN LAKE CHARLES.  29-YEAR-OLD LANCE WILSON OF LAKE CHARLES TRIED TO ELUDE DEPUTIES ON FOOT BUT WAS TAKEN INTO CUSTODY AND TRANSFERRED TO THE JENNINGS CITY JAIL.  WILSON IS ONE OF SEVERAL PEOPLE WANTED IN CONNECTION WITH THE DEATH OF TREY GANT ON DECEMBER 21ST, WHICH AUTHORITIES BELIEVE WAS A MURDER FOR HIRE.  WILSON HAD BEEN WANTED ON A CHARGE OF CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT MURDER.

 

AUTHORITIES HAVE IDENTIFIED A MAN WHOSE BODY WAS FOUND OVER A WEEK AGO, AND HAVE RULED HIS DEATH A HOMOCIDE.  JULIE DARCE HAS MORE.

 

VOICER F :23

 

THE FOUNDING PASTOR OF BETHANY CHURCH IN BATON ROUGE WENT TO BE WITH THE LORD TUESDAY.  THE REVEREND ROY STOCKSTILL WAS 97-YEARS-OLD.  HE STARTED THE CHURCH AT HIS HOME IN BAKER IN 1963 AND IT GREW TO BE ONE OF THE LARGEST CHURCHES IN LOUISIANA WITH MORE THAN TEN THOUSAND MEMBERS.  HE RETIRED IN 1983 AND HIS SON AND GRANDSON HAVE SUCCEEDED HIM IN THE PULPIT.  A MEMORIAL SERVICE IS PLANNED FOR THIS SUNDAY NIGHT AT SIX AT THE BETHANY NORTH CAMPUS IN BAKER.

 

LAFAYETTE PARISH SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT DONALD AGUILLARD SAYS THEY MAY NEED TO REDUCE ENROLLMENT AT THE EARLY COLLEGE ACADEMY BECAUSE OF RISING COSTS.  THE SCHOOL IS CONSIDERED THE MOST SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL IN THE PARISH SYSTEM, WITH A CURRENT ENROLLMENT OF 281.  AGUILLARD PROPOSED REDUCING THE CURRENT MAXIMUM ENROLLMENT IN NINTH GRADE FROM 75 TO 50 STUDENTS.  HE SAYS THE BOARD WILL EITHER HAVE TO DO THAT OR INCREASE FUNDING FOR THE SCHOOL AT A TIME WHEN THE SCHOOL’S BUDGET IS STRAINED.

 

WORKERS AT THE LAKE CHARLES KROGER STORE VOTED OVERWHELMINGLY LAST NIGHT TO STRIKE IF THE COMPANY DOES NOT FULLY FUND THEIR EMPLOYEE BENEFITS.  UNION SPOKESMAN RICK ALLEMAN TOLD KPLC TV THAT THE VOTE WAS OVER 95 PERCENT IN FAVOR OF STRIKING.  EMPLOYEES IN ALEXANDRIA, SHREVEPORT AND HOUSTON ALREADY VOTED FOR THE STRIKE, AND LAKE CHARLES WAS THE FINAL VOTE.  ALLEMAN SAYS THE COMPANY IS 13 MILLION DOLLARS SHORT OF FULLY FUNDING EMPLOYEE BENEFITS INCLUDING HEALTH INSURANCE, AND THAT IS WHY THEY ARE RAISING THE THREAT OF A STRIKE.

 

A COURTROOM IN CROWLEY WAS STANDING ROOM ONLY AS KERRY BERTRAND WAS TO BE SENTENCED FOR THE DEATH OF HIS STEPDAUGHTER, SKYLAR CREDEUR OF RAYNE, IN 2013.  JUDGE KRISTIAN EARLES SENTENCED BERTRAND TO LIFE IN PRISON WITH HARD LABOR AND NO CHANCE FOR PAROLE.  EARLES SAID THE CRIME BERTRAND COMMITTED WAS HORRIFIC AND DESCRIBED HIM AS COLD AND CALLOUSED.  BERTRAND ASKED TO SPEAK DURING THE HEARING, BUT JUDGE EARLES TOLD HIM HE HAD HIS CHANCE TO TAKE THE STAND DURING THE TRIAL.

 

In its proposed budget for 2017, the White House said Tuesday it wanted to repeal a 2006 provision that establishes a formula for sharing revenues from offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico with four Gulf states.  The vast majority of those revenues now go to the federal government, but starting next year Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas are slated to begin receiving a large portion of those funds.  In its new budget proposal, the White House called for “repealing” those payments, saying they were “unnecessary and costly.”  The White House proposal faces stiff opposition in Congress.