10-16-20
YESTERDAY A DISTRICT JUDGE SENTENCED LAFAYETTE CITY MARSHAL BRIAN POPE TO HIS TWENTY-EIGHTEEN ORIGINAL SENTENCE, WHICH IS THREE CONCURRENT YEARS FOR THREE FELONY CONVICTIONS WITH ALL BUT ONE YEAR SUSPENDED. POPE SPENT AN HOUR IN THE LAFAYETTE PARISH CORRECTIONAL CENTER YESTERDAY BEFORE BEING RELEASED. HIS ATTORNEY TELLS KATC TV THAT POPE IS OUT ON HIS ORIGINAL TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLAR BOND UNTIL HE REPORTS BACK TO THE JAIL ON NOVEMBER FOURTH TO SERVE HIS SENTENCE. A LAFAYETTE PARISH JURY FOUND POPE GUILTY IN TWENTY-EIGHTEEN OF USING CITY MARSHAL FUNDS FOR HIS PERSONAL BENEFIT.
A CROWLEY WOMAN WAS KILLED YESTERDAY AFTERNOON IN A TWO VEHICLE CRASH ON HIGHWAY THIRTEEN. STATE POLICE SAY SIXTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD PAULINE MARTHA FAULK FAILED TO YIELD TO ONCOMING TRAFFIC WHEN SHE ATTEMPTED TO TURN ON TO HIGHWAY THIRTEEN FROM A PRIVATE LOT. HER CHEVY PRISM WAS STRUCK BY A MERCURY GRAND MARQUIS, AND FAULK, WHO WAS WEARING A SEATBELT, WAS KILLED. THE DRIVER OF THE MERCURY GRAND MARQUIS SUBMITTED A BREATH SAMPLE AND WAS FOUND NOT TO HAVE ALCOHOL IN HIS SYSTEM.
THE JEFF DAVIS PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM HAS DECIDED NOT TO PRODUCE A REPORT CARD FOR STUDENTS ON THEIR FIRST NINE WEEKS OF SCHOOL. THAT’S BECAUSE OF ALL THE DISRUPTIONS WITH HURRICANES AND THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC. INSTEAD THEY WILL ISSUE A REPORT CARD COVERING THE FIRST EIGHTEEN WEEKS COMBINED. STUDENTS WILL BE ALLOWED TO DROP THE TWO LOWEST GRADES ON THEIR REPORT CARD WITH THE REMAINING GRADES USED TO DETERMINE THE SEMESTER GRADE.
Louisiana lawmakers have agreed to steer $20 million in state cash to local pet projects through a list crafted behind closed doors that received little public discussion and followed no specific vetting process. The spending plans were given final passage Thursday in a special session called to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. The earmarks ran into criticism from rank-and-file House lawmakers Wednesday night. But those complaints evaporated, at least publicly, by Thursday after behind-the-scenes negotiations and a slight reworking of the list.
A ONE-YEAR-OLD CHILD WAS STRUCK BY A VEHICLE LAST NIGHT AT AROUND NINE IN THE ILLE DE CANNE AREA OF LAFAYETTE. CAPTAIN JOHN MOWELL OF THE LAFAYETTE PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS THE CHILD WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL AND IS IN CRITICAL CONDITION. MOWELL SAYS THE DRIVER, JOSEPH BROUSSARD, HAS BEEN ARRESTED. HE HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH FIRST OFFENSE O-W-I, FELONY HIT AND RUN, AND FIRST DEGREE NEGLIGENT INJURING.
TWO MEN, ACCUSED OF A DRIVE BY SHOOTING IN ABBEVILLE, WERE ARRESTED AFTER POLICE CHASED THEM THROUGH SEVERAL PARISHES. MULTIPLE SHOTS WERE FIRED FROM A VEHICLE IN THE SEVEN HUNDRED BLOCK OF GRACELAND AVENUE IN ABBEVILLE ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND POLICE LEARNED ONE MAN WAS TREATED FOR A GUNSHOT WOUND AT A LOCAL HOSPITAL. THE SUSPECT VEHICLE WAS LATER SPOTTED ON THE I-TEN ATCHAFALAYA BRIDGE AND THE DRIVER LED OFFICERS ON A CHASE THAT WENT THROUGH WEST BATON ROUGE, EAST BATON ROUGE, LIVINGSTON, AND TANGIPAHOA PARISHES BEFORE CRASHING THROUGH A FENCE ON I-TWELVE. TWO PEOPLE WERE ARRESTED AND ARE IN JAIL IN TANGIPAHOA PARISH ON CHARGES RELATED TO THE PURSUIT.
THERE ARE TWENTY MORE DEATHS FROM COVID-NINETEEN IN LOUISIANA, ACCORDING TO TODAY’S REPORT FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. SEVEN HUNDRED SEVENTY-FOUR NEW CASES WERE REPORTED IN THE STATE, MOVING THE TOTAL PAST ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-FOUR THOUSAND. HOSPITALIZATIONS FOR COVID-NINETEEN WERE DOWN BY NINE WHILE THE NUMBER OF PATIENTS ON VENTILATORS DECREASED BY ONE.
ACADIANA AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA EACH HAD ONE MORE COVID-NINETEEN DEATH. THEY WERE IN ST. LANDRY AND ALLEN PARISHES. ACADIANA HAD FORTY-EIGHT NEW CASES, INCLUDING TWENTY-NINE IN LAFAYETTE PARISH. THE OVERALL TOTAL HAS ECLIPSED TWENTY-SIX THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED. SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA HAD THIRTY-TWO NEW CASES. THERE WERE FORTY TOTAL IN CALCASIEU AND ALLEN PARISHES, BUT THE NUMBERS WERE ADJUSTED LOWER IN JEFF DAVIS AND CAMERON PARISHES. THE TOTAL IS NOW OVER TWELVE THOUSAND, FIVE HUNDRED.
