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President Joe Biden says the U.S. Army veteran who drove a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers in New Orleans had posted videos to social media hours before the carnage saying he was inspired by the Islamic State group and expressing a desire to kill. The driver killed 15 people as he steered around a police blockade and slammed into revelers before being shot dead by police. The FBI says it is investigating early Wednesday’s attack as a terrorist act and does not believe the driver acted alone. Investigators found guns and what appeared to be an improvised explosive device in the vehicle along with other devices elsewhere in the French Quarter.
ONE OF THE VICTIMS IN THE ATTACK WAS LAFAYETTE NATIVE TIGER BECH. HE PLAYED FOOTBALL AT ST. THOMAS MORE HIGH SCHOOL BEFORE GOING ON TO PLAY AT PRINCETON, WHERE HE GRADUATED WITH A DEGREE IN FINANCE AND WENT ON TO WORK FOR A NEW YORK BROKERAGE FIRM. BECH WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL AFTER THE ATTACK AND KEPT ON LIFE SUPPORT UNTIL HIS FAMILY COULD ARRIVE. A PRAYER SERVICE WAS HELD AT ST. THOMAS MORE LAST NIGHT FOR BECH.
THE MAURICE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT RESPONDED TO A HOUSE FIRE YESTERDAY ON SOOP ROAD. GEORGE FAUST HAS MORE.
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IN THE PAST YEAR ALONE, OVER SIX HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS IN PROJECTS WERE UNDERWAY IN LAKE CHARLES, ACCORDING TO MAYOR NIC HUNTER. HE TELLS KPLC TV MOST OF THOSE PROJECTS WERE HOUSING. HUNTER SAYS THERE ARE MORE RENTAL UNITS IN LAKE CHARLES NOW THAN THERE WERE BEFORE HURRICANE LAURA STRUCK THE CITY. HE SAYS THERE ARE PROBABLY MORE THAN TWO HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS OF INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS SET TO HAPPEN OVER THE NEXT COUPLE YEARS.
A NEW STATE LAW WENT INTO EFFECT YESTERDAY FOR SIXTY-SEVEN SCHOOL DISTRICT REQUIRING THEM TO DISPLAY THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN CLASSROOMS. THE EXCEPTIONS ARE EAST BATON ROUGE, LIVINGSTON, ORLEANS, SAINT TAMMANY AND VERNON PARISHES. THAT’S BECAUSE THE SCHOOL BOARDS THERE SUED TO BLOCK THE MEASURE AND A FEDERAL JUDGE ISSUED AN INJUNCTION ON THEIR BEHALF. THE ACLU OF LOUISIANA HAS THREATENED TO SUE ANY SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN THE STATE THAT DISPLAY THE TEN COMMANDMENTS BUT, IN RESPONSE, LOUISIANA ATTORNEY GENERAL LIZ MURRRILL HAS SAID SHE WILL SUPPORT ANY SCHOOL DISTRICTS THAT COMPLY WITH THE LAW.
STATE POLICE HAVE BEEN CALLED IN TO INVESTIGATE AN OFFICER-INVOLVED SHOOTING ON NORTHEAST EVANGELINE THRUWAY AT AROUND TWO-THIRTY WEDNESDAY MORNING. A LAFAYETTE POLICE OFFICER ARRIVED ON THE SCENE OF TWO GROUPS EXCHANGING GUNFIRE AND DISCHARGED THEIR FIREARM IN RESPONSE TO THE THREAT, ACCORDING TO OFFICIALS. ONE PERSON WAS SHOT BY POLICE AND IS IN STABLE CONDITION AT A LOCAL HOSPITAL. SEVERAL PEOPLE WERE INJURED IN THE SHOOTOUT AND WERE TREATED AT THE HOSPITAL FOR THEIR INJURIES.
RENOVATIONS WILL BEGIN SOON FOR DONALD GARDNER STADIUM IN OPELOUSAS. THE FOOTBALL STADIUM WILL BE GETTING A NEW FIELD TURF, BRAND-NEW BLEACHERS AND A TOTAL REFURBISHMENT. THERE ALSO ARE IMPROVEMENTS PLANNED FOR SOUTH CITY PARK, INCLUDING NEW BASKETBALL AND VOLLEYBALL COURTS, PLAY AREAS AND A NEW COMMUNITY CENTER TO REPLACE THE ABANDONED SOUTH CITY PARK POOL. MAYOR JULIUS ALSANDOR SAYS THEY ARE STILL WAITING FOR THE EXACT DATE WHEN THE RENOVATIONS WILL BEGIN.
TWO PEOPLE WERE HOSPITALIZED AFTER A SHOOTING IN IBERIA PARISH YESTERDAY MORNING. THEY WERE SHOT WHILE TRAVELING ON HIGHWAY NINETY AT THE EXIT TO HIGHWAY EIGHTY-EIGHT, ACCORDING TO THE IBERIA PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE. THE TWO WERE TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL AND THERE’S NO WORD ON THEIR CONDITION. INVESTIGATORS DO NOT YET HAVE A SUSPECT.
