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SAINT LANDRY PARISH SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES HAVE ARRESTED A WOMAN ACCUSED OF SHOOTING HER BOYFRIEND IN THE BACK. DANIELLE JOHNSON REPORTS.
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THE DIRECTOR OF ZOOSIANA SAYS A DOZEN SQUIRREL MONKEYS WERE TAKEN FROM THEIR HABITAT AT THE ZOO. MATT OLDENBURG SAYS THE THEFT HAPPENED SOMETIME BETWEEN MIDNIGHT SATURDAY AND EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. HE SAYS THEY’VE BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL WITH THEIR FAMILY OF SQUIRREL MONKEYS AND HIS COLLEAGUES HAVE BEEN RECOGNIZED RECENTLY FOR THEIR EFFORTS IN BREEDING THE SPECIES. BROUSSARD POLICE CHIEF VANCE OLIVIER SAYS THEY HAVE BEEN VIEWING SURVEILLANCE VIDEOS IN AN EFFORT TO IDENTIFY THE SUSPECTS AND, SO FAR, THEY HAVE RECEIVED NO TIPS.
LOUISIANA LAWMAKERS ARE BACK IN SESSION IN HOPES OF TACKLING THE INSURANCE CRISIS HERE AT HOME. DANIELLE JOHNSON HAS MORE.
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THE COMMUNITY OF RAGLEY IS RECOVERING FROM LAST WEEK’S STORM THAT INCLUDED A TORNADO. DEPUTY SCOTT GREENMUM OF THE BEAUREGARD PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS SEVEN HOMES WERE DESTROYED AND ELEVEN OTHERS HAD MAJOR DAMAGE. ONE RESIDENT, DEANNA YANCEY, TELLS KPLC TV THE FORCE OF THE WIND WAS SO STRONG, IT SUCKED HER INTO A HOUSE AND THREW HER INTO A REFRIGERATOR MOMENTS BEFORE THE ROOF CAME DOWN. MEL PENNARTZ SAYS SEVEN OR EIGHT TREES WERE KNOCKED DOWN AND HE COULDN’T LEAVE HIS HOUSE.
PASTOR LAWRENCE LEVY AND SHAUNA SIAS, WHO IS THE FOUNDER OF THE BULLYING BOX PASSION PROJECT, HELD A ONE DAY REVIVAL IN OPELOUSAS TO HELP RESTORE THE COMMUNITY FOLLOWING A STRING OF VIOLENCE. IT WAS HELD AT THE DELTA GRAND THEATRE WITH THE APPROVAL OF PARISH PRESIDENT JESSIE BELLARD. SIAS SAYS THE COMMUNITY HAS HAD NUMEROUS SENSELESS MURDERS OF YOUNG PEOPLE AND THE REVIVAL PROVIDED A WAY TO COME TOGETHER AND HEAL. THE OPELOUSAS POLICE DEPARTMENT SAYS THEY RECEIVED TWENTY-SEVEN CALLS FOR SHOTS FIRED SO FAR THIS MONTH, THOUGH ONLY NINE HAD SOME EVIDENCE VERIFYING THE SHOTS WERE ACTUALLY FIRED.
THE LAFAYETTE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM HAS ANNOUNCED THAT ONE OF THEIR STUDENTS HAS BEEN NAMED A CANDIDATE FOR THE TWENTY-TWENTY-THREE U-S PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARS PROGRAM. KERRY PAN, A SENIOR AT LAFAYETTE HIGH SCHOOL, IS ONE OF NEARLY FOUR THOUSAND, FIVE HUNDRED STUDENTS NATIONWIDE CHOSEN BY THE U-S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION FOR THIS DISTINCTION. THE LIST WILL BE NARROWED TO FIVE HUNDRED SEMIFINALISTS IN MARCH AND ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-ONE FINALISTS IN APRIL. PAN HAS BEEN IN THE GIFTED PROGRAM FOR TWELVE YEARS AND SERVES AS LAFAYETTE HIGH’S BETA CLUB PRESIDENT, ESPORTS VICE PRESIDENT AND IS A NATIONAL MERIT SEMIFINALIST.
BLACK STUDENTS IN LOUISIANA ARE MORE THAN FIVE TIMES AS LIKELY TO ATTENT A D OR F GRADED PUBLIC SCHOOL THAN A WHITE STUDENT, ACCORDING TO A REPORT FROM LEGISLATIVE AUDITOR MIKE WAGUESPACK. ABOUT FORTY-ONE PERCENT OF BLACK STUDENTS ATTEND A POORLY RATED SCHOOL COMPARED TO EIGHT PERCENT OF WHITE STUDENTS. MEANWHILE ENROLLMENT AT A-RATED SCHOOLS ARE CLOSE TO SIXTY-SIX PERCENT WHITE STUDENTS AND JUST OVER TWENTY- PERCENT PLACK STUDENTS. THE REPORT ALSO FOUND THAT OVER EIGHTY PERCENT OF THE ENROLLMENT AT PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN THE STATE IS WHITE WHILE THREE-QUARTERS OF THE ENROLLMENT AT CHARTER SCHOOLS IS BLACK.
STUDENTS AT MORGAN CITY JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL WERE DISMISSED EARLY YESTERDAY AFTER THE SCHOOL HAD BEEN EVACUATED. SOME STUDENTS WERE GETTING SICK BECAUSE OF SOME AIRBORNE SUBSTANCE. CAPTAIN BETTY AUGMAN WITH THE MORGAN CITY POLICE SAYS THEY LEARNED THAT PEPPER SPRAY HAD BEEN DISPERSED INTO THE AIR AND GOT INTO THE A-C SYSTEM OF THE SCHOOL. THEY ARE STILL INVESTIGATING TO DETERMINE WHO DISPERSED THE SUBSTANCE.
