1-26-22
THE LAFAYETTE PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE NOW HAS HUNDREDS OF CAMERAS WATCHING AND RECORDING CRIME IN REAL TIME. CAROLINE MARCELLO HAS MORE.
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THERE WERE TWO SHOOTINGS SUNDAY NIGHT AT THE KATHY APARTMENTS IN CROWLEY. AT AROUND SEVEN P-M, A PERSON IN A PASSING VEHICLE WAS SHOT, BUT THE WOUND WAS NOT LIFE-THREATENING. LATER THAT NIGHT AT AROUND ELEVEN, THE OCCUPANTS OF A DARK COLORED SEDAN, BELIEVED TO BE A HONDA, FIRED MULTIPLE SHOTS AT THE APARTMENT BUILDING, THOUGH NO ONE WAS INJURED. ANYONE WHO MAY HAVE INFORMATION ON THESE SHOOTINGS IS ASKED TO CALL SEVEN EIGHT-NINE-TIPS. UP TO A TWENTY-FIVE HUNDRED DOLLAR CASH REWARD IS BEING OFFERED FOR INFORMATION LEADING TO AN ARREST.
THE LEADERS OF THE STATE’S TWO TEACHER UNIONS SAY THE GOVERNOR’S PLAN TO BOOST TEACHER PAY BY FIFTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS A YEAR IS A START BUT NOT ENOUGH. GOVERNOR JOHN BEL EDWARDS ANNOUNCED PLANS TO SPEND ONE HUNDRED FOURTY EIGHT MILLION DOLLARS TO GIVE TEACHERS THE FIFTEEN HUNDRED DOLLAR ANNUAL PAY RAISE AS WELL AS INCREASING SUPPORT PERSONNEL SALARIES BY SEVEN HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS A YEAR. LARRY CARTER OF THE LOUISIANA FEDERATION OF TEACHERS SAYS THEY WOULD LIKE TO SEE A TWENTY-FIVE HUNDRED DOLLAR A YEAR BOOST TO GET LOUISIANA COMPETITIVE WITH THE SOUTHERN REGIONAL AVERAGE. LOUISIANA RANKS TWELFTH OUT OF SIXTEEN STATES AS MEASURED BY THE SOUTHERN REGIONAL EDUCATION BOARD.
CALCASIEU PARISH CONTINUES TO BE ONE OF THE MOST TROUBLED HOUSING MARKETS IN THE COUNTRY. A REAL ESTATE RESEARCH FIRM HAS FOUND TWENTY-ONE-POINT-NINE PERCENT OF PROPERTIES WITH LOANS ARE CLASSIFIED AS UNDERWATER, MEANING THE HOME LOAN HAS A HIGHER PRINCIPAL THAN THE HOME IS WORTH. CALCASIEU PARISH IS RANKED FOURTEENTH HIGHEST FOR THIS CATEGORY AMONG FIVE HUNDRED SEVENTY-SEVEN COUNTIES SURVEYED BY THE FIRM. FOURTEEN-POINT-EIGHT PERCENT OF PROPERTIES IN LAFAYETTE PARISH ARE CONSIDERED TO BE UNDERWATER.
Funeral services are set Saturday for longtime south Louisiana photojournalist Peter Piazza Jr. Walters Funeral Home said Piazza died Thursday at age 71. Piazza’s work history included time as a photographer for the Abbeville Meridional and a videographer at KLFY-TV in Lafayette, but most of his career was spent at The Advertiser in Lafayette. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at St. Elizabeth Seton Church in Lafayette.
EVANGELINE PARISH SHERIFF CHARLES GUILLORY SAYS HE’S STRUGGLING TO RECRUIT THE NEXT GENERATION OF OFFICERS. NORMALLY GUILLORY WANTS AT LEAST FIVE PATROLMEN PER SHIFT, BUT HE CURRENTLY EMPLOYS FOUR ON TWO SHIFTS. GUILLORY TELLS KLFY TV THAT HE IS INTERVIEWING CANDIDATES WEEKLY BUT HE WILL NOT COMPROMISE QUALITY FOR QUANTITY. GUILLORY SAYS THE PANDEMIC HAS ALSO IMPACTED HIS OFFICE THIS MONTH WITH TWENTY PEOPLE HAVING CONTRACTED COVID.
State officials said Tuesday that a St. Mary Parish woman is barred permanently from working as a tax preparer in Louisiana after she pleaded guilty to multiple fraud charges and the Louisiana Department of Revenue sued her. Dawanna Monay Monroe, of Patterson, was arrested in 2020 for a tax fraud scheme involving fabricated business losses for companies that did not exist. After Monroe pleaded guilty to charges of filing false public records and illegal transmission of monetary funds, the Department of Revenue sued to prevent her from working as a tax preparer in the state.
AN OPELOUSAS MAN HAS BEEN ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH A SHOOTING ON NORTH SAINT ANTOINE STREET JUST BEFORE ONE A-M SUNDAY. EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD LEANDRE GUILLORY WAS BOOKED INTO THE LAFAYETTE PARISH CORRECTIONAL CENTER ON A CHARGE OF ATTEMPTED SECOND-DEGREE MURDER. OFFICERS ARRIVING ON THE SCENE FOUND A MAN SUFFERING A GUNSHOT WOUND. STATE POLICE ARE INVESTIGATING BECAUSE THEY SAY AT LEAST ONE OFFICER FIRED THEIR WEAPON.
