1-28-15
Lake Charles Police have identified the body of a 22-year-old woman who was allegedly murdered over the weekend by her boyfriend. The American Press reports Octavia Nicole Jack suffered multiple stab wounds Sunday. Her boyfriend, 30-year-old Christopher White, was identified as a suspect in her death. Deputy Chief of Police Mark Kraus said Tuesday that investigators learned White had fled to Lincoln Parish and authorities there contacted officers Sunday saying that White’s body, with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, was found in a rural area in that northwest Louisiana parish.
Lafayette-based Home Bancorp Inc. reported its fourth-quarter profit jumped to $2.8 million, or 40 cents per share, compared to $1.7 million, or 25 cents per share, a year ago. The fourth-quarter results include $307,000 of pre-tax expenses related to the acquisition of Britton & Koontz Bank in February. For the year, Home reported record earnings of $9.9 million, or $1.42 per share, compared to $7.3 million, or $1.06 per share, for 2013. While falling prices are likely to dampen expansion in the energy industry, John W. Bordelon, president and chief executive officer, tells The Advocate his company remain bullish on the growth prospects for many of their markets.
A BREAUX BRIDGE WOMAN ADMITTED SHE KILLED HER MOTHER IN NOVEMBER 2011. JULIE DARCE HAS MORE.
VOICER G :35
When it was created last year, a $40 million incentive fund to pay for college programs that fill high-demand jobs in Louisiana was hailed as critical to both higher education and the state’s workforce needs. Now, with the state grappling with deep budget problems, Gov. Bobby Jindal is proposing to strip financing from the fund that only months ago he described as among his top priorities. At Jindal’s urging, lawmakers set up the Workforce and Innovation for a Stronger Economy — or WISE — Fund to link higher education dollars directly to projected workforce demand. But with Louisiana facing a $1.6 billion budget gap next year, WISE is on the chopping block.
A COUPLE FROM LEAGUE CITY, TEXAS, WHO GREW UP IN THE LAKE CHARLES AREA, ARE EXPECTING QUINTUPLETS. ADAM BUSBY AND HIS WIFE, DANIELLE, UNDERWENT FERTILITY TREATMENTS AND FOUND OUT THAT THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE FIVE DAUGHTERS. DANIELLE IS AT 18 WEEKS AND WILL SOON UNDERGO BED REST WITH THE HOPE THAT SHE WILL NOT GIVE BIRTH UNTIL THE 28TH WEEK. ADAM TELLS KPLC TV THAT THEY WANT TO TAKE THE SITUATION GOD HAS PUT THEM IN AND USE IT GLORIFY HIM IN WHATEVER WAY THEY CAN.
A FIRE PROTECTION CONSULTANT SAYS ONE THIRD OF LAFAYETTE HOUSEHOLDS ARE IN THE UNINCORPORATED AREAS OF LAFAYETTE THAT HAVE NO FULL TIME FIRE DEPARTMENTS AND ITS GETTING HARDER TO FIND VOLUNTEER FIRE FIGHTERS. THOMAS CASSISA WAS HIRED LAST YEAR BY THE CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT TO ASSESS THE FIRE PROTECTION SITUATION FOR THE WHOLE PARISH. CASSISA RECOMMENDED THAT 15 NEW FIRE STATIONS BE ADDED FOR THE UNINCORPORATED AREAS, MORE FULL TIME FIRE FIGHTERS NEED TO BE HIRED, AND THEY SHOULD PROVIDE FINANCIAL INCENTIVES TO ATTRACT VOLUNTEERS. HE SAYS THE BIGGEST GAP IN THE PARISH IS THE WESTERN PART, WHERE HOMEOWNERS RELY ON VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENTS IN DUSON, MILTON, AND JUDICE.
A ST. LANDRY PARISH JURY FOUND 34-YEAR-OLD ROBERT E. RIDEAUX JUNIOR NOT GUILTY FOR THE MURDERS OF TWO PEOPLE, WHOSE BODIES WERE FOUND INSIDE A HOUSE THAT WAS GUTTED BY FIRE THREE YEARS AGO. THE VICTIMS, 36-YEAR-OLD DESMOND LEWIS AND 49-YEAR-OLD GARY RICHARD, HAD BEEN SHOT AND STABBED, AND POLICE BELIEVED THE HOUSE HAD BEEN SET ON FIRE TO COVER UP THE HOMOCIDES. RIDEAU WAS ARRESTED AND CHARGED WITH TWO COUNTS OF FIRST DEGREE MURDER AFTER A PISTOL, BELIEVED TO BE THE MURDER WEAPON, WAS FOUND IN BAYOU TECHE. DISTRICT ATTORNEY EARL TAYLOR SAYS THAT, BECAUSE OF THE JURY’S VERDICT, HE’S NOT SURE IF HE WILL PROCEED WITH TAKING RIDEAU’S TWO ALLEGED ACCOMPLICES TO TRIAL.
The Louisiana Board of Ethics says the Lafayette school board’s former insurance consultant allegedly violated ethics laws by offering a board member tickets to a Saints game while conducting business with the school board. The Ethics Board filed a charge against Rina Tikia on Jan. 15 for giving then-board member Mark Cockerham two tickets to the Nov. 17, 2013, New Orleans Saints game against the San Francisco 49ers. The face value of the tickets was $300 apiece. Cockerham had admitted publicly to receiving the tickets and said he attempted to return them.
