4-1-15
THE MAYOR OF YOUNGSVILLE IS PUSHING FOR A NEW HIGH SCHOOL. JULIE DARCE HAS MORE.
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PLANNING IS UNDERWAY TO CELEBRATE THE 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARRIVAL OF THE ACADIENS TO SOUTH LOUISIANA. OPENING CEREMONIES WILL BE HELD IN LAKE CHARLES ON OCTOBER THIRD AND FOURTH, AND DIFFERENT EVENTS WILL BE HELD THROUGH OCTOBER TWELFTH IN CITIES THROUGHOUT SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA, ACADIANA, AND ALL THE WAY TO NEW ORLEANS. JEFF DAVIS PARISH TOURIST COMMISSION COMMUNICATION COORDINATOR JAMIE LEE TELLS THE AMERICAN PRESS THAT THE MISSION OF LE GRAND REVEIL ACADIEN IS TO EDUCATE PEOPLE ON THE ACADIAN HERITAGE AND CULTURE AND THE IMPORTANCE OF PRESERVING IT. MORE INFORMATION ABOUT LE GRAND REVEIL ACADIEN OR THE GREAT ACADIAN AWAKENING CAN BE FOUND ON THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE.
AN OPELOUSAS WOMAN WAS ARRESTED SATURDAY FOR SENDING EXPLICIT MESSAGES TO THREE TEENAGERS. THE PARENTS OF ONE OF THE TEENS ASKED POLICE TO INVESTIGATE AND SHOWED EVIDENCE OF THE INAPPROPRIATE MESSAGES. DURING THE INVESTIGATION, POLICE FOUND THAT 35-YEAR-OLD FRANCHESCA SPEARS HAD ALSO CONTACTED TWO OTHER TEENS. SHE WAS BOOKED ON NUMEROUS CHARGES INCLUDING COMPUTER AIDED SOLICITATION OF A MINOR, AND SHE WAS RELEASED FROM PRISON AFTER POSTING HER BOND.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is sending political staff to Iowa for a possible 2016 presidential campaign. Two of Jindal’s top aides, deputy chief of staff Taylor Teepell and legislative affairs director Matt Parker, have resigned from the governor’s office and are moving to the key presidential campaign state. There, they’ll work for Jindal’s new political organization called the America Future Project, which was created last month. An announcement isn’t expected until after the state legislative session ends in mid-June.
THE EXPANSION OF THE EMERGENCY ROOM AT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER IN LAFAYETTE COULD BEGIN THIS SUMMER. BIDS FOR THE PROJECT ARE DUE BY APRIL 16TH. DARRYL CETNAR, THE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR LAFAYETTE GENERAL HEALTH, SAYS THE U-M-C EMERGENCY ROOM WILL GO FROM TEN CURTAIN BAYS TO TWENTY PRIVATE ROOMS. HE SAYS THE STATE WILL PAY FOR THE EXPANSION, WHILE LAFAYETTE GENERAL WILL PAY FOR THE EQUIPMENT AND FURNISHINGS.
A NEW STUDY INDICATES THAT SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH HOUSING FOR AN EXPECTED INFLUX OF TEMPORARY CONSTRUCTION WORKERS. AN ESTIMATED 39 THOUSAND WORKERS ARE EXPECTED TO BE NEEDED FOR MAJOR PROJECTS IN THE AREA, SOME OF WHICH WILL COME FROM OUTSIDE. DAVID CONNOR WITH THE SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ALLIANCE SAYS THAT FOUR PERMITTED TEMPORARY WORKER VILLAGES WILL BE ABLE TO TAKE ABOUT 76-HUNDRED WORKERS, WHICH IS ABOUT TEN THOUSAND SHORT OF WHAT IS NEEDED. HE TELLS KPLC TV IF THE TEMPORARY VILLAGES ARE NOT BUILT OR ALLOWED, THEN THE WHOLE COMMUNITY ENDS UP BECOMING A TEMPORARY CAMP THAT IS UNMANAGED, UNCONTROLLED, UNREGULATED AND UNRESTRICTED.
THE DIOCESE OF LAFAYETTE RELEASED FINANCIAL INFORMATION EXPLAINING WHY THEY DECIDED TO CLOSE TRINITY CATHOLIC SCHOOL IN ST. MARTINVILLE. THE ENROLLMENT FOR 2015 WAS 172 STUDENTS AND AT 170, THE DIOCESE PROJECTS THEY WOULD HAVE A 157 THOUSAND DOLLAR DEFICIT. THE SCHOOL HAD ONLY RECEIVED 125 REGISTRATION PACKETS, AND AT THAT LEVEL, THE DEFICIT WOULD GO UP TO 335 THOUSAND. MONSIGNOUR RICHARD GREENE LISTENED TO PARENT’S CONCERNS FOR MORE THAN TWO HOURS MONDAY, AND SAID HE WOULD PASS THEM ALONG TO THE BISHOP.
The U.S. Justice Department is asking a federal judge in Texas to reconsider his order temporarily blocking federal rules that would have expanded medical leave benefits to some gay couples. In a filing Tuesday, attorneys sought an April 13 hearing to argue that the preliminary injunction shouldn’t have been issued. Last week, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Wichita Falls stayed expansion of the definition of “spouse” under the Family and Medical Leave Act to include same-sex couples. That ruling came after Texas sued to block the change, which would have taken effect March 27. Louisiana, Arkansas, and Nebraska joined Texas’ lawsuit.
