10-1-15
A FORMER U-L LAFAYETTE PROFESSOR AND RENOWNED SCHOLAR BURTON RAFFEL DIED IN HIS SLEEP TUESDAY AT THE AGE OF 87. RAFFEL PUBLISHED MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED BOOKS INCLUDING A 1963 TRANSLATION OF BEOWULF. HE CAME TO U-L IN 1989 AND TAUGHT THERE AS A DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF ARTS AND HUMANITIES UNTIL HIS RETIRMENT IN 2003. THE FORMER HEAD OF THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT MARCIA GAUDET TELLS THE ADVOCATE THAT RAFFEL BROUGHT A CERTAIN PRESTIGE AND DIGNITY TO THE DEPARTMENT.
PANHANDLING SEEMS TO BE A GROWING PROBLEM IN LAKE CHARLES. POLICE CHIEF DON DIXON TELLS KPLC TV THAT IT HASN’T BEEN A PROBLEM IN THE PAST, BUT IN THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS THEY’VE BEEN GETTING MORE REPORTS OF IT, PARTICULARLY IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA. HE NOTES THAT THERE IS A CITY ORDINANCE THAT PROHIBITS PANHANDLING. HE SAYS USUALLY DECLINING TO GIVE TURNS THEM AWAY, BUT IF THE SITUATION BECOMES AGGRESSIVE, HE URGES THAT YOU CALL THE POLICE.
AUTHORITIES HAVE FOUND EVIDENCE THAT A EUNICE MOTHER CAREFULLY PLANNED A MURDER SUICIDE THAT HAPPENED SOMETIME AFTER MIDNIGHT SATURDAY. 39-YEAR-OLD CARLA WATFORD SHOT HER 16-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER, JULIA, AND HER NINE-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER, JAYIA, SET HER HOUSE ON FIRE, AND THEN SHOT HERSELF. BRANT THOMPSON WITH THE STATE FIRE MARSHAL’S OFFICE SAYS WATFORD PURCHASED A GUN NINE DAYS BEFORE THE SHOOTINGS ALONG WITH FIFTY ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION. INVESTIGATORS ALSO FOUND A HAND WRITTEN DOCUMENT OUTLINING HER INTENTIONS, AND, THOUGH HE WOULDN’T GIVE DETAILS, THOMPSON SAYS SHE EXPRESSED DISSATISFACTION WITH A NUMBER OF THINGS AND SEEMED TO BE AT PEACE WITH HER DECISION.
State Treasurer John Kennedy says routine audits of life insurance company policies have uncovered $35 million that should have been paid to Louisiana residents. Kennedy, in a news release Wednesday, said the department recently paid $80,000 to a New Orleans widow who didn’t know her late husband had a life insurance policy. Working with Versus Financial, Kennedy’s office compares outstanding policies to the Social Security Death Master File. Kennedy says insurance companies often don’t make concerted efforts to locate heirs, resulting in unpaid policies.
THE PRESIDENT OF THE OIL AND GAS ASSOCIATION SAYS ACADIANA HAS TAKEN A MAJOR HIT FROM THE DROP IN OIL PRICES. JEFF HORCHEK HAS MORE.
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TOMORROW IS THE THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF FRIEND SHIPS, A MISSIONARY ORGANIZATION OUT OF LAKE CHARLES THAT DELIVERS FOOD TO NEEDY FAMILIES, HUMANITARIAN AID, MEDICAL CARE, DISASTER RELIEF, AND THAT TRAINS UP YOUNG CHRISTIAN LEADERS. THE MINISTRY WAS FOUNDED BY DON TIPTON IN 1983. HERE’S HIS WIFE SONDRA.
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A GRAND JURY HAS INDICTED A MORGAN CITY MAN ON A FIRST DEGREE MURDER CHARGE. 25-YEAR-OLD QUENTIN COOPER IS ACCUSED IN THE SHOOTING DEATH OF 18-YEAR-OLD DRAVIN STEVENSON ON THE MORNING OF JULY 27TH. WITNESSES SAY THEY SAW TWO MEN ENTER A HOME ON SUNNYSIDE LANE WHERE THE SHOOTING HAPPENED. POLICE BELIEVE THE SECOND MAN WAS 37-YEAR-OLD LAWRENCE BLACKBURN OF MORGAN CITY, WHO DIED FROM AN APPARENT SELF-INFLICTED GUNSHOT WOUND AFTER A SHOOTOUT WITH BATON ROUGE POLICE OFFICERS.
A former state Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control agent, fired in August for allegedly texting racial and sexual comments to co-workers, is fighting back with a federal lawsuit against ATC Commissioner Troy Hebert. The Advocate reports Brette Tingle contends the reasons for his termination were “false and bogus” and that his firing was the culmination of a “relentless campaign” by Hebert to discredit him as a witness in state and federal court litigation alleging systematic racial discrimination by the commissioner to eliminate black employees from supervisory positions at ATC. In his suit, filed Sept. 16, Tingle seeks reinstatement and damages.
