5-22-17
A HOUSE FIRE IN SCOTT EARLY SATURDAY MORNING RESULTED IN THE DEATH OF A PET DOG AND FERRET. SCOTT FIREFIGHTERS WERE DISPATCHED TO THE HOME, LOCATED IN THE 500 BLOCK OF DELHOMME AVENUE, AT AROUND THREE A-M SATURDAY. ONE OF THE OCCUPANTS OF THE HOME ATTEMPTED TO REENTER THE HOUSE TO GET A CELLPHONE TO MAKE AN EMERGENCY CALL, AND SUFFERED MINOR BURNS TO HIS LEGS. THE CAUSE OF THE FIRE IS STILL UNDER INVESTIGATION.
A STUDENT, WHO WAS ACCIDENTALLY SHOT AT MOSS BLUFF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LAST MONDAY, WAS ABLE TO RETURN HOME ON SATURDAY. RESIDENTS GATHERED OUTSIDE THE HOME WITH SIGNS OF SUPPORT AS SEVEN-YEAR-OLD GAGE MECHE ARRIVED. FAMILY ATTORNEY RON RICHARD SAYS DOCTORS AT LAFAYETTE GENERAL HOSPITAL PERFORMED SURGERY FRIDAY TO REMOVE A BULLET FROM HIS BACK. HE SAYS GAGE’S CONDITION IS STILL CONSIDERED SERIOUS BUT DOCTORS HAVE GIVEN A POSITIVE PROGNOSIS.
TWO VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS, ONE FROM JEANERETTE AND THE OTHER FROM THE ST. MARY PARISH DISTRICT ELEVEN FIRE STATION, HAVE BEEN COMMENDED FOR DRIVING A WOMAN TO BE BY HER HUSBAND AT A LAFAYETTE HOSPITAL. THE HUSBAND, 62-YEAR-OLD ERNEST DUGAS OF JEANERETTE, HAD TO BE TAKEN TO THE LAFAYETTE HOSPITAL AFTER HE WAS INVOLVED IN A SINGLE VEHICLE CRASH FRIDAY NIGHT ON HIGHWAY 318 IN IBERIA PARISH. THE WIFE HAD NO TRANSPORTATION AND NO FAMILY TO HELP GET HER TO THE HOSPITAL. KNOWING HOW EXPENSIVE A TAXI RIDE WOULD BE, FIREFIGHTERS SHERRY LANDRY AND LETROY JOHNSON VOLUNTEERED TO TAKE THE WIFE TO LAFAYETTE IN THEIR PERSONAL VEHICLES.
Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon has extended an emergency regulation limiting an insurance company’s ability to cancel or terminate policies in the state.
Donelon’s decision is aimed at protecting people whose homes and businesses were damaged by the August flooding across south Louisiana. He says the emergency regulation will give people flexibility in their recovery process. Insurers will continue to be unable to cancel policies due to the inability of policyholders in a federally-declared disaster area to comply with certain provisions, like a requirement that someone live in an insured structure.
A DOWNTOWN LAFAYETTE BUSINESS OWNER HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH SECOND DEGREE BATTERY. JULIE DARCE HAS MORE.
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A new dress code has been approved by the Jefferson Davis Parish School Board — for school employees. The American Press in Lake Charles reports the policy includes prohibitions against visible face piercings or distracting tattoos. Frayed jeans, flip-flops and low necklines are among the items on the dress code’s list of unacceptable attire. While a student dress code has been in place since 2000, the parish schools superintendent said no written parish-wide policy was in place for employees.
MOTORISTS TRAVELING EASTBOUND ON I-TEN IN ST. MARTIN PARISH MAY SEE SOME DELAYS OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS. THE LEFT LANE BETWEEN THE VERMILLION RIVER BRIDGE AND THE BREAUX BRIDGE EXIT WILL BE CLOSED. CREWS WILL BE INSTALLING CONCRETE BARRIER RAILS. THE LANE CLOSURE IS EXPECTED TO LAST UNTIL JUNE FIRST.
Louisiana’s unemployment rate ticked back up to 5.8 percent in April from 5.7 percent in March, as more people entered the labor force than could find jobs.
The jobless rate remained below last April’s 6.2 percent. A total of 123,000 Louisianans were jobless, up 3,000 from March, but below the 133,000 in April 2016. Louisiana’s jobless rate is third-highest among states, with New Mexico worst at 6.7 percent.
