1-19-21
A BICYCLIST WAS STRUCK BY A CAR AND KILLED IN LAFAYETTE LAST NIGHT. CAROLINE MARCELLO HAS MORE.
VOICER D :20
KLFY TV HAS RELEASED THE NAME OF ONE OF THE TEENAGERS WHO WERE SHOT AND KILLED IN NEW IBERIA SUNDAY EVENING. THEY SAY THE FAMILY HAS IDENTIFIED SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD I’EGAN (EYE zhun) HARRISON. POLICE SAY HARRISON AND ANOTHER SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD, WHOSE IDENTITY HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED, BOTH PULLED GUNS ON EACH OTHER AND SHOT EACH OTHER. BOTH DIED ON ROSALIE STREET.
People in Lake Charles who need help paying their water bills will soon be able to apply for grants. Mayor Nic Hunter told the American Press that the city put a hold on disconnecting people who couldn’t pay their bills during the pandemic. But months into the pandemic, they’re now asking people to catch up on their bills. Under a program with Catholic Charities, people who meet certain eligibility requirements can apply to have up to three months of their water bill paid for by a grant.
A new audit says Louisiana’s state government employee ranks have thinned over the last seven years, but the decline in workers hasn’t dropped the state payroll’s costs. Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera’s office found that the number of state workers across dozens of executive branch agencies dropped by nearly 4% from the 2012-13 budget year through the 2019-20 budget year. But auditors found that salary expenses increased more than 5% from $1.7 billion to $1.8 billion during that time. And other employee costs for overtime, retirement and health care benefits surged. Much of the pay increase was driven by salary adjustments made by Gov. John Bel Edwards for rank-and-file workers a few years ago.
AMERICAN AIRLINES IS EXPANDING THEIR SERVICES AT THE LAFAYETTE REGIONAL AIRPORT, OFFERING TWO DAILY FLIGHTS TO CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA. THE FLIGHTS WILL DEPART AT SEVEN A-M AND ONE-THIRTY P-M EACH DAY BEGINNING APRIL SECOND. THE AIRPORT’S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR STEVEN PICOU SAYS THEY ARE EXCITED ABOUT THE EXPANDED SERVICE AND CREDITED THE ACADIANA COMMUNITY FOR CHOOSING TO FLY OUT OF LAFAYETTE. A NEW TERMINAL AT THE LAFAYETTE REGIONAL AIRPORT IS SET TO OPEN LATER THIS YEAR.
A RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY IS PLANNED FOR TODAY TO CELEBRATE THE COMPLETION OF THE I-TEN WIDENING PROJECT BETWEEN HENDERSON AND THE ATCHAFALAYA BASIN BRIDGE. THE NEARLY FIFTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLAR PROJECT BEGAN IN MAY OF TWENTY-SEVENTEEN AND INCLUDED THE REPLACEMENT OF PAVEMENT IN EACH LANE BETWEEN L-A THREE-FORTY-SEVEN AND THE BASE OF THE ATCHAFALAYA BASIN BRIDGE. IT ALSO INVOLVED THE CREATION OF AN ADDITIONAL LANE ON THE WESTBOUND SIDE. THE PROJECT WAS COMPLETED LAST MONTH.
FOR THE SECOND DAY IN A ROW, COVID-NINETEEN HOSPITALIZATIONS DROPPED IN LOUISIANA, ACCORDING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. THEY WERE DOWN BY THIRTY-SIX YESTERDAY. THE NUMBER OF PATIENTS ON VENTILATORS INCREASED BY TWO. LOUISIANA HAD NINE HUNDRED FIFTY-THREE MORE POSITIVE CASES, WHICH PUTS THE TOTAL ABOVE THREE HUNDRED TWENTY-SEVEN THOUSAND. THERE WERE FORTY-TWO MORE DEATHS STATEWIDE.
ACADIANA REPORTED THREE MORE DEATHS DUE TO COVID-NINETEEN. THAT INCLUDES TWO IN IBERIA PARISH AND ONE MORE IN VERMILLION PARISH. THERE ARE FIVE MORE DEATHS IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. CALCASIEU PARISH HAD FOUR AND JEFF DAVIS ADDED ONE. EIGHTY-EIGHT MORE CONFIRMED CASES OF COVID-NINETEEN WERE REPORTED IN ACADIANA, INCLUDING TWENTY-TWO IN LAFAYETTE PARISH. MEANWHILE, SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA HAD THIRTY-NINE MORE CASES. CALCASIEU PARISH HAD THE MOST WITH TWENTY-FOUR.
