1-20-25
GOVERNOR JEFF LANDRY HAS ISSUED A STATE OF EMERGENCY FOR LOUISIANA. GEORGE FAUST HAS MORE.
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IF YOU ARE TRAVELING ON THE ATCHAFALAYA BASIN BRIDGE TODAY, BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR ROAD CREWS. THEY ARE PRETREATING THE BRIDGE IN ANTICIPATION OF WINTRY WEATHER. BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES TEND TO DEVELOP ICE SOONER THAN ROADWAYS. THE ATCHAFALAYA BASIN BRIDGE WAS CLOSED LAST YEAR WHEN THE AREA HAD ICY WEATHER.
A BICYCLIST WAS KILLED IN A HIT-AND-RUN WHILE TRAVELING ON WEST PINHOOK ROAD AT TWELVE-FIFTEEN A-M SUNDAY. A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE DRIVER OF AN S-U-V STRUCK THE BICYCLIST AND FLED THE SCENE. THE BICYCLIST, FORTY-NINE-YEAR-OLD DERRICK MILLER, WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL WHERE HE DIED. THE DRIVER OF THE S-U-V, FIFTY-FOUR-YEAR-OLD DARREL WHITTINGTON, WAS LATER FOUND AND ARRESTED ON MULTIPLE CHARGES INCLUDING SECOND OFFENSE O-W-I, FELONY HIT-AND-RUN AND VEHICULAR HOMOCIDE.
A SUSPECT IN A SHOOTING LAST MONTH AT A JENNINGS CONVENIENCE STORE WAS ARRESTED SATURDAY AFTERNOON DURING A TRAFFIC STOP, ACCORDING TO JENNINGS POLICE CHIEF DANNY SEMMES. NINETEEN-YEAR-OLD JAVIEL SETH PALFREY WAS BOOKED INTO THE JEFF DAVIS PARISH REGIONAL JAIL FACILITY ON MULTIPLE CHARGES INCLUDING ATTEMPTED SECOND-DEGREE MURDER. THE SHOOTING HAPPENED DECEMBER TWENTY-THIRD AT EVAN’S CORNER STORE ON SOUTH LAKE ARTHUR AVENUE IN JENNINGS. THERE WAS A TWENTY-EIGHT-YEAR-OLD VICTIM WHO SUFFERED NON-LIFE-THREATENING INJURIES.
Gov. Jeff Landry says the “Make America Great Again” flag will be raised at the governor’s mansion in honor of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration today. Landry also rescheduled a day of mourning and flag-lowering for Edward Pettifer, one of the victims of the New Orleans terror attack. Earlier this week, House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana ordered flags at the U.S. Capitol to be raised to full height on Inauguration Day, interrupting a 30-day flag-lowering order after the death of former President Jimmy Carter last month. Other governors, mostly Republicans, have announced they will also raise flags on Inauguration Day.
A MAJOR SYNTHETIC MARIJUANA DEALER HAS BEEN ARRESTED BY THE SAINT LANDRY PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE. SHERIFF BOBBY GUIDROZ SAYS AN INVESTIGATION WITH HOMELAND SECURITY AND POSTAL INSPECTORS FOUND THAT A MAJOR COMPONENT OF SYNTHETIC MARIJUANA WAS SHIPPED FROM CHINA TO THE HOME OF LOGAN THOMAS IN OPELOUSAS. GUIDROZ SAYS THEY’VE DETERMINED THAT THOMAS IS ONE OF THE LARGEST SUPPLIERS OF SYNTHETIC MARIJUANA IN SAINT LANDRY PARISH AND THE SEIZURE WAS THE LARGEST INTERCEPTION OF ITS KIND IN THE PARISH SO FAR. GUIDROZ SAYS THOMAS AND HIS GIRLFRIEND, SHANTE THOMAS, CONDUCTED NARCOTICS TRANSACTIONS IN THE PRESENCE OF A MINOR CHILD.
LAFAYETTE PARISH SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES ARE INVESTIGATING AFTER A BODY WAS FOUND SATURDAY IN THE VERMILLION RIVER. DEPUTIES RESPONDED AT AROUND FOUR P-M TO THE FOUR HUNDRED BLOCK OF WEST MILTON AVENUE, WHERE THE BODY WAS FOUND. THE BODY WAS TAKEN TO THE CORONER’S OFFICE. THE CORONER WILL ATTEMPT TO IDENTIFY THE BODY AND THE CAUSE OF DEATH.
A SHOOTING SUSPECT WAS TAKEN INTO CUSTODY SATURDAY AT ABOUT NINE A-M AFTER A SIX HOUR STANDOFF WITH NEW IBERIA AND IBERIA PARISH SWAT TEAMS. NEW IBERIA OFFICERS FOUND THE MALE VICTIM OF THE SHOOTING IN A YARD ON SOUTH HOPKINS STREET, WHO WAS TRANSPORTED TO A LAFAYETTE HOSPITAL AND IS IN CRITICAL CONDITION. THE SUSPECT, TWENTY-NINE-YEAR-OLD BRAD JOSEPH THOMAS, ALLEGEDLY FORCED HIS WAY INTO A RESIDENCE ON WEST DALE STREET, BUT THE OCCUPANT OF THE RESIDENCE ESCAPED UNHARMED. THOMAS BARRICADED HIMSELF INSIDE BUT EVENTUALLY WAS TAKEN INTO CUSTODY ON SEVERAL CHARGES INCLUDING ATTEMPTED SECOND-DEGREE MURDER.
