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LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR BILLY NUNGESSER WILL BE IN LAFAYETTE TODAY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE MARTIN LUTHER KING JUNIOR DAY OF SERVICE. JULIE DARCE HAS MORE.
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Officials at the Port of Lake Charles say one plan for temporary worker housing on port property has fallen through, but other companies are interested. Port attorney Mike Dees tells the American Press that seven other companies are interested — and so is the original applicant, Greenfield Logistical Solutions. He says Greenfield had a lease option for the 200-acre tract, but failed to get permits and meet other commitments on time. Dees says the port does not have a deadline for evaluating the various offers.
A WORLD FAMOUS ZYDECO DANCE HALL IN OPELOUSAS, THAT OPENED IN 1947, IS CLOSING. OWNER TONY GRADNEY TELLS THE DAILY ADVERTISER THAT SLIM’S Y-KI-KI HELD THEIR LAST EVENT ON DECEMBER 29TH AND HE’S PUT THE BUSINESS UP FOR SALE. GRADNEY SAYS HE AND HIS SISTER DECIDED TO CLOSE BECAUSE OF THE STRESS CAUSED BY YOUNGER, AND OFTEN, UNRULY CROWDS AND THE EXPENSES OF BRINGING IN THE BANDS. HE SAYS THEY MISS THE DAYS WHEN PEOPLE DRESSED UP AND BROUGHT THE WHOLE FAMILY.
Eight Walmart stores in Louisiana are closing as part of the company’s plan to shutter 269 stores worldwide. More than 100 of the closures will affect the smallest format stores, Walmart Express, which has been in the pilot stage since 2011. The Louisiana stores affected include Mamou, Lake Arthur, and Iowa. They will be closed to the public beginning Jan. 28.
RICHARD HAIK, A LONG TIME FEDERAL JUDGE IN LAFAYETTE, RETIRED FRIDAY AND WILL RETURN TO PRIVATE PRACTICE WITH HIS SON IN OPELOUSAS. HAIK WAS APPOINTED TO THE BENCH IN 1991 BY PRESIDENT GEORGE H-W BUSH. HE HAD A LIFETIME APPOINTMENT, BUT THE 65-YEAR-OLD SAYS IT WAS ALWAYS HIS DREAM TO GO INTO PRACTICE WITH HIS SON. THERE’S NO WORD YET ON WHO WILL REPLACE HIM.
Police say a Fort Polk soldier shot another person in what they’re describing as a road rage incident. Chris Rudy, Deridder’s deputy police chief, tells the Beauregard Daily News that Shawn Zawistowski followed a vehicle that cut across the street in front of him into a parking lot Thursday night. Rudy says that after an argument, Zawistowski shot the driver of the other vehicle in the arm. Rudy, who isn’t identifying the other driver, says injuries weren’t life threatening.
A KAPLAN MAN GOES TO TRIAL TOMORROW FOR THE HIT-AND-RUN DEATH OF A BICYCLIST IN JULY OF 2014. THE HIT-AND-RUN ACCIDENT HAPPENED ON HIGHWAY 92 NEAR MILTON WHEN THE CYCLIST, 30-YEAR-OLD LON LOMAS, WAS KNOCKED INTO A WATER-FILLED DITCH. THE LAFAYETTE PARISH CORONER DETERMINED THAT LOMAS WAS KNOCKED UNCONSCIOUS AND DIED FROM DROWNING. 43-YEAR-OLD FITZPATRICK DOUCET FACES SEVERAL CHARGES TO WHICH HE’S PLEADED NOT GUILTY INCLUDING NEGLIGENT HOMOCIDE.
An Iberia Parish spokesman says a 55-year-old man has been killed by a train in New Iberia. Maj. Ryan Turner tells KLFY-TV that the man was standing between two freight cars when the train began to move. He’s the sixth person killed by a train in New Iberia in less than a month. Five people died after the car they were in was hit by an Amtrak passenger train on Dec. 22.
