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2-8-16

American oil giant Chevron has reaffirmed forecasts that it may cut as many as 385 jobs in the Gulf of Mexico this year — 45 of them working offshore and the remainder in offices in Covington and Lafayette. The cuts could equal up to about one-fifth of Chevron’s Gulf of Mexico business unit’s 1,800 workers. The unit employs about 195 in Lafayette,  740 workers in Covington, and the rest offshore. The cuts are slated to begin April 4 and to be completed by June 7.

 

A state district court jury deliberated four hour before convicting former Lake Charles priest Mark Broussard of five counts of sexual abuse — including two counts of aggravated rape. Multiple news outlets report the verdict came Friday after four days of testimony from four men who said Broussard abused them as children. Broussard was on trial for assault against two of the men, both of whom served as altar boys in the late 1980s and early ’90s. The statute of limitations has run out for the third victim.

 

Acadia Parish officials say a 42-year-old Crowley man is accused of stabbing two sheriff’s deputies who were trying to arrest him.  Sheriff Wayne Melancon says Jason Broussard’s bond was set at more than $1 million for two counts of attempted murder, three of resisting arrest and one of possessing a weapon. The weapons charge and one resisting charge were from an earlier incident.

Melancon tells KLFY-TV that officers were called to a disturbance Saturday evening at a grocery store near Church Point, and found Broussard nearby.  Melancon says both deputies were stabbed and cut multiple times.

 

President Barack Obama has declared an emergency in Louisiana in areas affected by flooding that occurred Dec. 28 through Feb. 1. Obama signed the declaration Friday. It authorizes the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate all disaster relief efforts in the parishes of St. Landry, St. Mary, Concordia, Plaquemines, Pointe Coupee, Terrebonne and West Feliciana.  The White House, in a news release, said FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.

 

A LAFAYETTE MAN IS RECOVERING AFTER A FALL FROM A FLOAT AT A FRIDAY NIGHT PARADE.  JULIE DARCE HAS MORE.

 

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Alcoa has told the state it is laying off up to 37 employees at a plant in Lake Charles.  However, the state labor department said Friday the company expects the layoffs to be temporary.  The company blamed the job losses on unspecified unforeseeable business circumstances.  These layoffs follow 130 job losses last year when the company closed another production facility at the same plant.

 

Louisiana prosecutors have ruled out any criminal charges in the death of a south Louisiana man who was fatally shot while handcuffed in the back of a patrol car.

A statement Friday from the 16th Judicial District Attorney’s Office says there is “insufficient credible evidence” to conclude that 22-year-old Victor White III did not shoot himself while he was in the custody of the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office in March 2014.  A coroner ruled White shot himself in the chest despite being handcuffed behind his back following his drug-related arrest.  The Justice Department announced in December that no federal charges would be filed in connection with White’s death.

 

First-time claims for unemployment insurance in Louisiana for the week ending Jan. 30 increased from the previous week’s total.  The state labor department figures released Friday show the initial claims rose to 3,083 from the previous week’s total of 2,658. For the comparable week a year earlier, there were 2,676. The four-week moving average, which is a less volatile measure of claims, increased to 3,357 from the previous week’s average of 3,201.