1-26-18
THE F-B-I BOARDED THE CARNIVAL TRIUMPH YESTERDAY IN NEW ORLEANS TO BEGIN AN INVESTIGATION INTO HOW A WOMAN WENT OVERBOARD. FAMILY MEMBERS IDENTIFIED THE WOMAN AS 44-YEAR-OLD JUWANNA BROOKS OF LAFAYETTE. PEOPLE ON THE SHIP SAY THE CRUISE SHIP CIRCLED THE AREA WHERE BROOKS FELL OVERBOARD BUT COULD NOT FIND HER AND NOW THE MEXICAN NAVY IS IN CHARGE OF SEARCH AND RESCUE EFFORTS. BROOKS MOTHER, MARILYN WINFREY, TELLS KLFY TV THAT SHE WANTS TO BELIEVE THEY’LL FIND HER AND BE ABLE TO PUT HER TO REST.
A MAN WAS SHOT AND KILLED WHEN HE TRIED TO BREAK INTO A HOME ON MADELINE STREET IN LAKE CHARLES AT AROUND ELEVEN YESTERDAY MORNING. LT. KEVIN KIRKUM SAYS TWO MEN FORCED THEIR WAY THROUGH A BACK DOOR AND WERE CONFRONTED BY THE RESIDENT. ONE OF THE TWO WAS SHOT, AND LATER DIED AT THE HOSPITAL, WHILE THE SECOND SUSPECT FLED ON FOOT. HENRY HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY AND LAGRANGE HIGH SCHOOL WERE PUT ON PRECAUTIONARY EXTERIOR LOCKDOWN AND STUDENTS AT MCNEESE STATE WERE TOLD TO STAY AWAY FROM THE NORTH PART OF THE CAMPUS WHILE POLICE SEARCHED FOR THE SECOND SUSPECT.
LAST NIGHT, THE VERMILLION PARISH SCHOOL BOARD ELECTED STACY LANDRY TO TAKE OVER AS BOARD PRESIDENT FOR ANTHONY FONTANA, WHO RESIGNED RECENTLY AFTER A BOARD MEETING WHERE A TEACHER WAS PUT IN HANDCUFFS AND REMOVED, CREATING A NATIONAL FUROR. LANDRY URGED BOARD MEMBERS TO WORK TOGETHER AND END THE STRIFE. THE TEACHER, DEYSHIA HARGRAVE, HAD BEEN REMOVED FROM THE PREVIOUS MEETING AFTER COMPLAINING ABOUT THE SUPERINTENDENT’S RECENT PAY RAISE WHEN TEACHERS HAVEN’T RECEIVED A RAISE IN YEARS. SO THE BOARD TOOK A VOTE ON WHETHER TO RESCIND THE RECENTLY APPROVED CONTRACT, BUT THE MEASURE FAILED ON A 4-TO-3 VOTE.
A judge has rejected environmental groups’ claim that Louisiana’s public record law applies to a private, for-profit company building a 162-mile-long crude oil pipeline in the state. State District Court Judge Michael Caldwell said Thursday that he sees no basis for ruling that Bayou Bridge Pipeline LLC is acting as an “instrumentality of the state” by taking or expropriating more than 400 parcels of private property for the pipeline project. But the judge gave the groups’ lawyers 15 days to amend their lawsuit against Bayou Bridge before he dismisses it. A separate lawsuit seeking to block construction of the pipeline is pending in federal court.
L-J ALLEMAN MIDDLE SCHOOL IN LAFAYETTE IS ONE OF NINE THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY THAT WILL SERVE AS A NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION SCHOOL FOR THE SPRINGBOARD LANGUAGE ARTS INSTRUCTION PROGRAM. SPRINGBOARD IS AN INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM IN MATH AND ENGLISH THAT’S USED IN MORE THAN 15-HUNDRED SCHOOLS NATIONWIDE. L-J ALLEMAN WAS SELECTED AS A DEMONSTRATION SCHOOL BECAUSE OF ITS EFFECTIVE TEACHING PRACTICES AND THE SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF SPRINGBOARD IN THE CLASSROOM. THAT MEANS THEY WILL BE ABLE TO BE REVIEW NEW MATERIALS, PARTICIPATE IN PILOT PROJECTS AND UNDERGO PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.
LAKE ARTHUR CHIEF OF POLICE RAY MARCANTEL HAS DIED AT THE AGE OF 73. ACTING POLICE CHIEF KEITH BROUSSARD SAYS MARCANTEL HAD STRUGGLED WITH LUNG ISSUES OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS. A FUNERAL MASS WILL BE HELD THIS AFTERNOON AT TWO AT OUR LADY OF THE LAKE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN LAKE ARTHUR. A SPECIAL TOWN COUNCIL MEETING WILL BE CALLED TO APPOINT A NEW POLICE CHIEF TO SERVE THE REMAINDER OF THE TERM, WHICH ENDS IN DECEMBER.
A LONGTIME NEW IBERIA TEACHER DIED TUESDAY FROM FLU COMPLICATIONS. 56-YEAR-OLD ROBIN DRESSEL HAD BEEN A KINDERGARTEN TEACHER AT MAGNOLIA ELEMENTARY FOR MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS. SUPERINTENDENT DALE HENDERSON TELLS THE DAILY ADVERTISER HE UNDERSTANDS THAT SHE DIED FROM A COMBINATION OF THE FLU AND PNEUMONIA. HE SAYS IT’S BEEN AN EXTREMELY EMOTIONAL TIME AND GUIDANCE COUNSELORS HAVE BEEN BROUGHT IN TO THE SCHOOL WITH ONE ASSIGNED TO HER CLASS.
THE STATE OF LOUISIANA IS OFFERING FREE FLU SHOTS NEXT WEDNESDAY IN ORDER TO STEM THE STATE’S WORST EPIDEMIC. DR. FRANK WELCH SAYS IN SEVERE SEASONS, THE FLU CAUSES APPROXIMATELY 700 DEATHS AND EIGHT THOUSAND HOSPITALIZATIONS IN LOUISIANA. HE SAYS LOUISIANA IS ON TRACK TO EXCEED THOSE STATISTICS FOR THIS FLU SEASON. THE VACCINES WILL BE OFFERED FOR FREE AT THE PARISH HEALTH UNITS ACROSS THE STATE ON WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON BETWEEN ONE AND 4:30.
