2-23-17
ABOUT 750 PEOPLE CAME LOOKING FOR A JOB YESTERDAY AT THE SECOND ANNUAL INDUSTRIAL TRADES CAREER FAIR HELD AT THE CAJUNDOME. NINETEEN COMPANIES SET UP BOOTHS, AND SOME OF THEM HAD JOBS TO OFFER. RONNIE GULINO, DIRECTOR OF FIELD SERVICES FOR I-S-C CONSTRUCTORS, TOLD THE DAILY ADVERTISER THAT QUALIFIED AND CERTIFIED ELECTRICIANS SHOULD HAVE AN EASY TIME GETTING A JOB BECAUSE THEY ARE HARD TO FIND. CORTNEY BOUTTE BREAUX OF THE LOUISIANA WORKFORCE COMMISSION SAYS THE FAIR SERVED ANOTHER PURPOSE IN HELPING JOB SEEKERS POLISH THEIR RESUMES AND PRESENTATION SKILLS AND HELP THEM SEE HOW THEIR SKILLS CAN TRANSFER TO DIFFERENT JOBS.
A STANDOFF WITH POLICE HAPPENED YESTERDAY IN LAKE CHARLES WHEN OFFICERS ATTEMPTED TO ARREST A SUSPECT ON THEFT CHARGES. IT HAPPENED AT A MOBILE HOME PARK IN SOUTH LAKE CHARLES. THE SUSPECT BARRICADED HIMSELF IN HIS HOME WITH A SHOTGUN BEGINNING AT AROUND 4:30 YESTERDAY AFTERNOON. KPLC TV IS REPORTING THAT THE STANDOFF ENDED PEACEFULLY IN THE OVERNIGHT HOURS.
U-S SENATOR BILL CASSIDY FACED A DISRUPTIVE CROWD YESTERDAY AT A TOWN HALL MEETING IN METAIRIE. HUNDREDS OF PROTESTERS CHANTED OUTSIDE OF THE PROCEEDINGS AND 180 PEOPLE INSIDE TOOK OVER THE PODIUM WHEN CASSIDY WAS LATE FOR THE MEETING. CASSIDY IS HOSTING FIVE TOWN HALL MEETINGS ACROSS THE STATE. ONE IS SCHEDULED FOR TOMORROW MORNING AT NINE AT BREAUX BRIDGE CITY HALL.
Louisiana’s lawmakers are heading home, having ended their budget-rebalancing special session with a deal to close the $304 million deficit. With the pieces of the deal approved, the House and Senate adjourned the session seven hours before Wednesday’s deadline. A deal between the House, Senate and governor’s office had been struck in principle for days. But House Speaker Taylor Barras had trouble pulling together the two-thirds vote of 70 lawmakers needed to take $99 million from the state’s “rainy day” fund. The legislation won support in the final hours of the session.
PROCEDURES OF ARRAIGNMENTS AT THE LAFAYETTE PARISH COURTHOUSE ARE BEING CHANGED BECAUSE OF A KATC REPORT ON TUESDAY THAT THE PUBLIC WAS BEING DENIED ACCESS AND DEFENDANTS WERE LOCKED IN DURING THE HEARINGS. THE RESTRICTIONS HAD BEEN HAPPENING IN COMMISSIONER THOMAS FREDERICK’S COURT AND IT WAS BEING ATTRIBUTED TO LIMITED CAPACITY, BECAUSE HE DEALS WITH BETWEEN 150 AND 250 DEFENDANTS AT EACH PROCEEDING. THE 15TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT RELEASED A STATEMENT THAT BAILIFFS WILL STILL BAR ENTRY TO THE COURTROOM WHILE THE DOCKET IS BEING READ AND THEN THE PUBLIC WILL BE ALLOWED ACCESS AS SPACE IS AVAILABLE. ACCORDING TO THE STATEMENT, COMMISSIONER FREDERICK HAS INSTRUCTED BAILIFFS TO NOT LOCK THE DOORS BUT INSTEAD STAND AT THE DOOR TO MANAGE AND MINIMIZE DISRUPTIONS TO THE PROCEEDINGS.
WITH A WARMER THAN NORMAL WINTER, MOSQUITOES ARE COMING OUT EARLY THIS YEAR. CALCASIEU MOSQUITO CONTROL DIRECTOR SCOTT WILLIS TELLS KPLC TV THAT THEY’VE BEEN GETTING CALLS THIS MONTH AND LAST MONTH, WHICH IS A HINT OF THINGS TO COME. THEY HAVE BEEN PREPARING THEIR PLANES AND TRUCKS FOR THE EARLY SEASON, AND YESTERDAY THEY SENT OUT TRUCKS TO SPRAY PARTS OF THE PARISH. WILLIS SAYS THEY DON’T USUALLY SEE MOSQUITOES THIS EARLY, AND IT COULD CREATE BUDGET PROBLEMS IN THE FUTURE.
TWO COUSINS IN OPELOUSAS ARE BEHIND BARS FACING FIVE COUNTS OF ATTEMPTED MURDER. JULIE DARCE HAS MORE.
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A new report says as many as 1,700 public school teachers in Louisiana have left classrooms because of the state’s tougher tenure law. The report issued Wednesday by Tulane University says many of those leaving the classroom were educators nearing retirement and teachers working in troubled schools. The review says at least 3 percent of the state’s teacher workforce has left since the law took effect two years ago. The new law tied job protections to annual ratings based mainly on student achievement.
