1-16-15
A 32-year-old Westlake woman has been indicted after a 2-year-old boy suffered severe burns last October. KPLC-TV reports Melynnie Shannone Dade-Fondel was indicted Thursday on a charge of second-degree cruelty to a juvenile. Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s spokeswoman Kim Myers says Dade-Fondel told investigators the alleged incident happened as she was running water for the child’s bath and the toddler crawled into the tub as she stepped out of the room. Myers says doctors told detectives the burns were not consistent with accidental burns but with being submerged in hot water.
HALLIBURTON HAS LAID OFF SOME EMPLOYEES IN LAFAYETTE. IN AN EMAIL TO THE DAILY ADVERTISER, HALLIBURTON SPOKESPERSON CHEVALIER MAYES SAYS THE COMPANY MADE WORKFORCE REDUCTIONS IN HOUSTON AND MINIMAL WORKFORCE REDUCTIONS IN LAFAYETTE. SHE DID NOT GIVE ANY SPECIFIC NUMBERS. MAYES CITED CHALLENGING MARKET CONDITIONS AS THE REASON FOR THE LAYOFFS. THE PRICE OF OIL HAS DROPPED BY MORE THAN HALF SINCE THE MIDDLE OF LAST YEAR.
EIGHT FAMILIES IN PINE PRAIRIE ARE NOW BACK AT HOME AFTER BEING EVACUATED THURSDAY FOLLOWING A HOSTAGE SITUATION, THAT ENDED WITH THE SUSPECT DEAD AND THE HOSTAGE RESCUED. JULIE DARCE REPORTS.
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A federal judge in Baton Rouge says he won’t drop his temporary order against enforcing Louisiana’s latest abortion law. Judge John deGravelles (deh GRAH vel) says it stands until a March 30 hearing about whether to continue the ban until there’s a verdict in the case. The new law requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic. The temporary order forbids any penalties against doctors who perform abortions while their applications for admitting privileges are pending.
A BATON ROUGE ACCOUNTANT SAYS HE WARNED THE FORMER WESTLAKE MAYOR AND CITY ADMINISTRATOR ABOUT A PENDING FINANCIAL CRISIS THAT NEEDED TO TAKE STEPS TO CORRECT. DAVID MEDLIN WITH GOVERNMENT CONSULTING INC TELLS THE AMERICAN PRESS THAT HE TOLD FORMER MAYOR DAN CUPIT AND CITY ADMINISTRATOR LONNIE SMART SEVERAL TIMES BETWEEN 2012 AND 2014 THAT THEY NEEDED TO EITHER RAISE TAXES OR CUT EXPENSES TO BALANCE THE BOOKS. THE FISCAL CRISIS PROMPTED THE CITY COUNCIL TO APPROVE RAISING UTILITY RATES BY FIFTY PERCENT FOR WESTLAKE, NORTH WESTLAKE AND MOSS BLUFF RESIDENTS. THE MOVE IS EXPECTED TO GENERATE 200 THOUSAND DOLLARS A MONTH, WHICH WILL BE USED TO BALANCE THE CITY’S BUDGET.
A LAFAYETTE MAN FIRED MULTIPLE SHOTS AT SEVERAL MEN WHO ALLEGEDLY BROKE INTO HIS HOUSE ON WEBB STREET YESTERDAY AFTERNOON. ONE OF THE MEN WAS FOUND AT A HOSPITAL WHERE HE WAS BEING TREATED FOR A BULLET WOUND IN THE BACK. CORPORAL PAUL MOUTON OF THE LAFAYETTE POLICE DEPARTMENT SAYS TWO OTHER SUSPECTS WERE ALSO LOCATED AT THE HOSPITAL AND DETAINED FOR QUESTIONING. THE CASE REMAINS UNDER INVESTIGATION.
A BREAUX BRIDGE MAN, WHO ALLEGEDLY WAS DRIVING TWICE THE SPEED LIMIT WHEN HE STRUCK THREE GIRLS WALKING TO SCHOOL LAST OCTOBER, HAS BEEN FORMALLY CHARGED. 32-YEAR-OLD JOHN ABRAHAM FACES TWO COUNTS OF VEHICULAR HOMOCIDE AND ONE COUNT OF FIRST DEGREE VEHICULAR NEGLIGENT INJURING. ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHESTER CEDARS SAYS ABRAHAM WAS IMPAIRED AT THE TIME, WHICH IS A REQUIREMENT BEFORE SOMEONE CAN BE CHARGED WITH VEHICULAR HOMOCIDE. TWO OF THE GIRL WERE KILLED IN THE ACCIDENT, 15-YEAR-OLD CORNASHA FLUGENCE AND 14-YEAR-OLD KYLEE HENRY.
Gov. Bobby Jindal will tell a conservative think tank that “Islam has a problem” with extremists and will call on Muslim leaders to condemn acts of violence in the name of religion. Those are included in the prepared remarks released by Jindal’s office in advance of the possible presidential candidate’s Monday speech to the Henry Jackson Society in London. Referencing the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris, Jindal will say that Islamic leaders who don’t agree with such actions must work to stop them. The Republican governor’s speech calls on Muslim leaders to denounce the people who commit such attacks as enemies of Islam.
