1-25-22
INVOLVED SHOOTING CASES THAT HAPPENED SUNDAY IN LAFAYETTE. ONE PERSON IS IN STABLE IN THE FIRST SHOOTING THAT HAPPENED AT AROUND ONE A-M ON NORTH SAINT ANTOINE STREET. IN THE SECOND SHOOTING LATE SUNDAY NIGHT, ONE PERSON WAS KILLED IN THE SIXTEEN HUNDRED BLOCK OF WEST PINHOOK ROAD. NO OFFICERS WERE INJURED.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards is proposing a raise for public school teachers of at least $1,500 a year. Edwards discussed his upcoming proposal for the fiscal year that begins July 1 during a news conference Monday at the Capitol. Edwards also proposed putting $500 million toward construction of a new Mississippi River bridge at Baton Rouge. That’s part of more than $1 billion in infrastructure projects he’s proposing including $100 million for a new Interstate 10 bridge at the Calcasieu River in Lake Charles and $500 million for water and sewerage projects around the state.
OFFICIALS AT OCHSNER HEALTH SYSTEM SAY OMICRON CONTINUES TO BE A FLUID SITUATION WITH STAFFING SHORTAGES AND BED AVAILABILITY, BUT THERE’S SOME GOOD NEWS TO SHARE. HERE’S CAROLINE MARCELLO.
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THERE WERE TWO HUNDRED THIRTY-NINE PEOPLE HOSPITALIZED WITH COVID-NINETEEN IN ACADIANA, WHICH IS THE THIRD CONSECUTIVE DAY THAT HOSPITALIZATIONS DECREASED IN THE AREA. DOCTOR HENRY KAUFMAN, THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER FOR OUR LADY OF LOURDES REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER, SAYS THAT THEY ARE PROBABLY AT PEAK HOSPITAL RESOURCE NOW, OR JUST PAST IT. HE TELLS THE ADVOCATE THAT THE REGION SHOULD SEE DECLINING NUMBERS OVER THE NEXT WEEK, WHICH IS HUGE. CORONAVIRUS HOSPITALIZATIONS FOR THE OMICRON WAVE PEAKED WEDNESDAY AT TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY-NINE, SIGNIFICANTLY LESS THAN THE DELTA WAVE PEAK IN MID-AUGUST OF FOUR HUNDRED NINE.
LAST NIGHT AT A SPECIAL COUNSEL MEETING, OAKDALE RESIDENTS QUESTIONED THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL ABOUT HOW A FORMER CITY CLERK MANAGED TO STEAL NEARLY ONE MILLION DOLLARS FROM THE CITY. THE THEFT WAS REVEALED SHORTLY BEFORE THE CLERK, MELISSA SCHAEFER, DIED, THAT SHE HAD MANIPULATED OUTDATED COMPUTER SOFTWARE TO TAKE MONEY FROM THE CITY’S BANK ACCOUNT. RESIDENTS ASKED THE MAYOR HOW THE CITY WILL RECOVER THE MONEY AND HOW ONE CITY EMPLOYEE WAS IN CHARGE OF ALL THE FINANCES. A CIVIL SUIT HAS BEEN FILED AGAINST SCHAEFER’S FAMILY AND PAUL SAYS THEY ARE LOOKING TO REPLACE THE CITY’S SOFTWARE SO IT DOESN’T HAPPEN AGAIN.
THE REPAIRS TO THE SOUND WALL ON AMBASSADOR CAFFERY IN LAFAYETTE BETWEEN CONGRESS STREET AND CURRAN LANE HAVE BEEN COMPLETED, AHEAD OF SCHEDULE. THE WALL HAD BEEN INSTALLED FIFTEEN YEARS AGO BUT HAD BEEN DAMAGED BY A NUMBER OF VEHICLE CRASHES. STEEL COLUMNS WERE REPAIRED AND PANELS REPLACED PLUS THE WALL HAS BEEN REPAINTED. THE CURRENT DESIGN WAS MODIFIED TO DEAL WITH STRUCTURAL FAILURES, ACCORDING TO A LAFAYETTE CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON.
Critics of Louisiana’s education board are raising questions about a five-member “working group” that has been meeting behind closed doors to review the state’s accountability system for public schools. The Advocate reports that officials with the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education defend the practice, saying the group’s work is not an attempt to get around the state open meetings law, and that a BESE attorney believes the group’s work is legal. However, after the newspaper’s initial report on the practice appeared online Friday, BESE president Jim Garvey said he wants BESE to get a second opinion on how the review is being done.
THE SECOND SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD WHO ESCAPED FROM THE ACADIANA CENTER FOR YOUTH IN SAINT MARTINVILLE HAS BEEN CAPTURED. THE YOUTH WAS APPREHENDED SUNDAY IN POINT COUPEE PARISH. THE OTHER SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD WHO ESCAPED WAS CAUGHT LAST WEEK. THE STATE OFFICE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE ANNOUNCED FRIDAY THAT HUMAN ERROR PLAYED A PART IN THE ESCAPE AND, ONCE AN INVESTIGATION IS COMPLETED, SOME PERSONNEL MAY BE FIRED.
