1-19-15
Louisiana Rice Promotion Board chairman Kevin Berken says lifting the Cuban trade embargo could mean the return of a major market for Louisiana rice. He says Cuba imports about 600,000 metric tons of rice a year, with Vietnam as its biggest supplier. The Advertiser reports that Berken was among four panelists at a conference last week in Lafayette. It was held a day after the government announced President Barack Obama’s amendments to existing Cuban sanctions.
Police in Lake Charles say they have broken up a crime ring that would scout banks for people leaving with money, follow them, then burglarize their unattended vehicles. The American Press reports that Lake Charles Police Chief Don Dixon discussed the allegations at a Friday news conference. Dixon says three men and two women have been arrested and are suspected of carrying out similar crimes in Lafayette and in Beaumont, Texas. Police began investigating in December.
A BREAUX BRIDGE MAN IS WANTED FOR ATTEMPTED SECOND DEGREE MURDER. 29-YEAR-OLD DAMIEN FONTENETTE ALLEGEDLY SHOT AND WOUNDED 26-YEAR-OLD ABRUM FONTENETTE AFTER A DISTURBANCE BETWEEN THE TWO SATURDAY EVENING. MAJOR GINNY HIGGINS, WHO ISSUED THE NEWS RELEASE, DID NOT SAY WHETHER THE TWO MEN WERE RELATED. ST. MARTIN PARISH AUTHORITIES ARE SEARCHING FOR DAMIEN FONTENETTE, WHO FLED AFTER THE SHOOTING.
An inventory of untested rape kits gathered from Louisiana’s law enforcement agencies — from city police departments to small town sheriff’s offices — found more than 1,160 kits have not been tested for DNA evidence by crime labs. But the inventory data released Friday was far from complete because 128 police departments did not submit a report as required under a new law. The inventory was mandated by a 2014 bill pushed by state Sen. J.P. Morrell, a New Orleans Democrat. Morrell says the data shows a problem in Louisiana with kits going untested.
IN HONOR OF THE MARTIN LUTHER KING JUNIOR HOLIDAY TODAY, SEVERAL ACTIVITIES ARE PLANNED THROUGHOUT ACADIANA. JULIE DARCE HAS THE DETAILS.
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THE CALCASIEU PARISH DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE HAS DECIDED TO APPEAL A JUDGE’S DECISION TO QUASH A SECOND DEGREE MURDER INDICTMENT AGAINST WOODROW KAREY. IF JUDGE CLAYTON DAVIS’ DECISION STANDS, KAREY WILL FACE A CHARGE OF MANSLAUGHTER FOR SHOOTING AND KILLING PASTOR RONALD HARRIS OF TABERNACLE OF PRAISE WORSHIP CENTER DURING A REVIVAL SERVICE IN SEPTEMBER OF 2013. A GRAND JURY CHARGED KAREY WITH MANSLAUGHTER, BUT THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE BROUGHT THE EVIDENCE TO A SECOND GRAND JURY, WHICH OPTED FOR THE SECOND DEGREE MURDER CHARGE. THE DEFENSE SAID THEY HAD AN AGREEMENT WITH THE PROSECUTION WHEN THE CASE WAS BROUGHT BEFORE THE FIRST GRAND JURY, AND THEY RENEGED ON THE AGREEMENT BY TAKING THE CASE TO SECOND GRAND JURY, AND JUDGE DAVIS AGREED WITH THEM.
State police are investigating separate accidents that killed two pedestrians. The first happened around 5 a.m. Friday in Evangeline Parish. State police say 64-year-old Keith Stakes of Eunice was walking in the southbound lane of Louisiana Highway 374 when he was hit by a pickup truck. He died at a hospital. The second pedestrian fatality happened Friday night. The report says 50-year-old Elvina Stermer of Krotz Springs was standing in the westbound travel lane of U.S. Highway 190, when she was struck by a Honda Odyssey.
The state labor department says first-time claims for unemployment insurance in Louisiana for the week ending Jan. 10 increased to 3,601 from the previous week’s total of 1,814. For the comparable week a year earlier, there were 3,330 initial claims, officials said Friday. An increase in initial claims is customary the first week of a new quarter. Also, the previous work week was shorter due to the New Year holiday, and retail employment typically declines following Christmas.
