1-26-16
THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA AT LAFAYETTE IS PREPARING FOR STEEP MID-YEAR BUDGET CUTS, WHICH WOULD INCLUDE FURLOUGHS AND PAY CUTS FOR HUNDREDS OF EMPLOYEES. JULIE DARCE REPORTS.
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G2 LNG HELD AN OPEN HOUSE IN CAMERON PARISH YESTERDAY TO EXPLAIN TO RESIDENTS THE POTENTIAL IMPACT OF A PROPOSED NEW ELEVEN BILLION DOLLAR FACILITY. PRESIDENT AND C-E-O THOMAS HUDSON SAYS THE FACILITY IS EXPECTED TO EXPORT 14 MILLION TONS OF LIQUID NATURAL GAS INTERNATIONALLY. HE SAYS DURING CONSTRUCTION, THEY’LL EMPLOY FOUR THOUSAND WORKERS AND, ONCE IT’S UP AND RUNNING, THE PLANT WILL HAVE 300 FULL TIME WORKERS. BEFORE CONSTRUCTION CAN BEGIN, THEY WILL HAVE TO GET PERMITS APPROVED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
AN AUTOPSY WILL BE PERFORMED TODAY ON THE BODY OF A WOMAN FOUND INSIDE A BURNING HOME. FIREFIGHTERS DISCOVERED THE BODY OF 45-YEAR-OLD AMBER L. CALLAHAN INSIDE HER MOBILE HOME, LOCATED ON JOE VIATOR ROAD IN NEW IBERIA. THE HOME WAS ENGULFED IN FLAMES AND PARTIALLY COLLAPSED. HER BOYFRIEND, 53-YEAR-OLD EUGENE HALEY, SUFFERED INJURIES FROM TRYING TO ENTER THE HOME.
A FEDERAL JUDGE IN BATON ROUGE STRUCK DOWN A LOUISIANA LAW THAT REQUIRED ABORTION CLINIC DOCTORS TO HAVE ADMITTING PRIVILEGES AT HOSPITALS WITHIN THIRTY MILES OF THE CLINIC. U-S DISTRICT JUDGE JOHN DEGRAVELLES RULED THAT THE LAW SEVERELY RESTRICTED ACCESS TO ABORTIONS AND CONSTITUTED “IRREPARABLE HARM FOR LOUISIANA WOMEN SEEKING ABORTIONS.” STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL JEFF LANDRY PLEDGED THAT HE WOULD APPEAL THE JUDGE’S RULING. THE LAW WAS OVERWHELMINGLY APPROVED BY THE STATE LEGISLATURE IN 2014 AND SIGNED BY FORMER GOVERNOR BOBBY JINDAL.
THE LAFAYETTE CITY PARISH COUNCIL TOOK A STEP THAT COULD LEAD TO CHANGES OF A 12-YEAR-OLD BAN ON BARS IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA. THE COUNCIL UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED A RESOLUTION THAT ASKS THE ZONING COMMISSION TO RESEARCH ALLOWING BARS TO OPEN UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS. THOSE CONDITIONS WOULD INCLUDE MEETING CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS AND RECEIVING APPROVAL FROM THE ZONING COMMISSION AND THE COUNCIL. THE BAN ON NEW BARS BEGAN IN 2003 OVER CONCERNS THAT JEFFERSON STREET WAS TURNING INTO A VERSION OF BOURBON STREET IN NEW ORLEANS.
SOME CALCASIEU PARISH SCHOOL EMPLOYEES ARGUE THAT THEY SHOULD BE RECEIVING THE SAME FIVE THOUSAND DOLLAR STIPEND THAT TEACHERS AND COUNSELORS NOW RECEIVE. NATIONALLY CERTIFIED EMPLOYEES LAID OUT THEIR CASE TO THE SCHOOL BOARD’S BUDGET COMMITTEE YESTERDAY. THEY SAID THOSE EMPLOYEES WHO HAVE THE SAME LEVEL OF NATIONAL CERTIFICATION AS TEACHERS, SUCH AS SPEECH PATHOLOGISTS AND SOCIAL WORKERS, SHOULD RECEIVE THE STIPEND. THE COMMITTEE DECIDED THEY WOULD RESEARCH THE MATTER AND DISCUSS IT AGAIN AT THEIR NEXT MEETING.
A CROWLEY MAN WAS KILLED IN A FOUR VEHICLE CRASH ON INTERSTATE TEN NEAR EGAN YESTERDAY MORNING. 25-YEAR-OLD TREMAYNE LEBLANC WAS TRAVELING WESTBOUND ON THE INTERSTATE WHEN, FOR YET UNKNOWN REASONS, HE CROSSED THE MEDIAN INTO THE EASTBOUND LANES. LEBLANC DIED AT THE SCENE, WHILE A PASSENGER IN HIS VEHICLE SUFFERED MODERATE INJURIES. TOXICOLOGY SAMPLES WERE TAKEN FROM LEBLANC FOR ANALYSIS.
THE NEW SECRETARY FOR THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WAS CRITICAL OF HIS PREDECESSOR FOR APPROVING PAY RAISES IN THE DEPARTMENT ON ONE OF HER LAST DAYS IN OFFICE. THE FORMER SECRETARY, SHERRI LEBAS, APPROVED A FOUR PERCENT PAY INCREASE FOR NEARLY ALL OF THE DEPARTMENT’S 38-HUNDRED EMPLOYEES. THE NEW SECRETARY, SHAWN WILSON, SAYS THAT DECISION WILL COMPLICATE EFFORTS TO FIND NEW DOLLARS FOR ROAD AND BRIDGE PROJECTS. SECRETARIES IN THE THREE OTHER STATE AGENCIES ALSO APPROVED PAY HIKES ON THEIR LAST DAYS IN OFFICE, INCLUDING THE DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES, THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND THE COASTAL PROTECTION AND RESTORATION AUTHORITY.
