1-29-18
FORMER LAFAYETTE POLICE CAPTAIN DUANE PREJEAN WAS ARRESTED FOR DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. JEFF HORCHAK HAS MORE.
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SOME BUSINESSES IN VINTON WERE SHUT DOWN FOR AWHILE SATURDAY AFTER AN ACCIDENT INVOLVING AN 18 WHEELER CARRYING HAZARDOUS MATERIALS. THE CHEMICAL THAT WAS SPILLED IS USED IN MAKING POLYURETHANE PRODUCTS. FIVE BUSINESSES WERE CLOSED AND EVACUATED AS A PRECAUTION AND WEST STREET BETWEEN THE INTERSTATE AND PENNY STREET WAS CLOSED TEMPORARILY. VINTON FIRE CHIEF CHRIS VICE TOLD KPLC TV THAT THERE WAS NO HAZARD TO THE PUBLIC.
THE MAYOR OF OPELOUSAS WILL BE FORMALLY ARRAIGNED THIS WEEK. REGGIE TATUM WAS NAMED IN A 15 COUNT INDICTMENT IN THE FALL THAT STEMMED FROM NEARLY 13 THOUSAND DOLLARS HE PAID HIMSELF AFTER THE 2016 HISTORIC FLOODS. AT THAT TIME, TATUM APPEARED BEFORE A JUDGE AND POSTED A TEN THOUSAND DOLLAR BOND. AT THE HEARING THIS WEEK, THE CHARGES AGAINST HIM WILL BE FORMALLY READ AND HE IS EXPECTED TO SUBMIT A PLEA OF NOT GUILTY.
With a severe flu season rippling across Louisiana, the state health department is offering free flu vaccines at more than 55 parish health units. The vaccines are available Wednesday from 1 to 4:30 p.m. The health department says walk-ups are welcome, and people seeking vaccines are asked to wear short or loose-fitting sleeves and bring an insurance, Medicaid or Medicare card if they have one.
While 5 percent of people seek medical care for flu-like symptoms in a typical season, the health department says the number this year is more than 10 percent.
A Lafayette man has been sentenced for enticing a juvenile into sending images of child pornography online. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a Thursday news release that 29-year-old Steven Anthony Lemoine was sentenced to 168 months in prison on one count of receiving child pornography. He was also sentenced to 15 years of supervised release and must register as a sex offender. According to a guilty plea, Lemoine posed as a female on Facebook and enticed a child to send him images of child pornography.
A SULPHUR MAN HAS BEEN ARRESTED FOR CRUELTY TO A JUVENILE. STAFF AT A LAKE CHARLES HOSPITAL NOTIFIED CALCASIEU PARISH SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES AFTER THEY FOUND BRUISING ON A THREE MONTH OLD BOY’S HEAD, EYES, EARS, BACK AND INSIDE HIS MOUTH. THEY SAID THE BRUISING WAS IN VARIOUS STAGES OF HEALING. 23-YEAR-OLD JORDAN M. VIDRINE ADMITS STRIKING THE CHILD BUT SAID IT WAS AN ACCIDENT AND HE WAS AIMING FOR A DOG.
THE STATE HAS ORDERED A TAKEOVER OF THE FINANCES FOR THE CITY OF JEANERETTE. THE DECISION WAS MADE BECAUSE THE CITY HASN’T COMPLETED ANY FINANCIAL AUDITS SINCE 2014 AND HAS NOT RECONCILED ITS BANK RECORDS SINCE AUGUST. THE CITY IS NOW WAITING FOR A JUDGE TO APPOINT A FISCAL ADMINISTRATOR, WHO WILL HAVE BROAD POWERS TO CHANGE THE BUDGET, REARRANGE CITY DEPARTMENTS AND OVERSEE ALL EMPLOYEES. WHEN ASKED BY KATC TV WHAT HER DUTIES WILL BE AFTER THE ADMINSTRATOR IS APPOINTED, JEANERETTE MAYOR APRIL FOULCARD SAID THAT IS TO BE DETERMINED.
SO FAR, 13 SHERIFF’S FROM LOUISIANA HAVE SIGNED UP WITH THE LABORDE EARLES LAW FIRM IN LAFAYETTE TO SUE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES FOR THE RISE IN OPIOID ABUSE. THE ATTORNEY’S MADE A PITCH AT A SHERIFF’S MEETING HELD LAST SEPTEMBER IN MONROE. INCLUDED AMONG THE THIRTEEN ARE THE SHERIFF’S IN ALLEN, AVOYELLES, CALCASIEU, EVANGELINE, JEFF DAVIS AND LAFAYETTE PARISHES. ATTORNEY DAVID LABORDE SAYS HE ALSO EXPECTS TO REPRESENT INDIAN TRIBES IN LOUISIANA, WHICH ARE SOVEREIGN ENTITIES.
