10-28-16
A ONE-AND-A-HALF MILE STRETCH OF THE PROPOSED I-49 PROJECT IN LAFAYETTE WILL COST BETWEEN 355 MILLION AND 668 MILLION DOLLARS. CONSULTANTS WORKING ON THE PROJECT PRESENTED THOSE FIGURES TO THE I-49 COMMUNITY WORKING GROUP LAST NIGHT. THE CONSULTANTS HAVE NARROWED DOWN THE DESIGN CONCEPTS TO TWO FOR THE AREA BETWEEN PINHOOK AND THE RAILROAD SPUR. ONE IS AN ELEVATED INTERSTATE, AND THE OTHER IS SEMI-SUNKEN OR A TUNNEL CONCEPT, WHICH WOULD COST MORE.
ECONOMIC EXPANSION IN LAKE CHARLES HAS BROUGHT HIGH RENTAL PRICES WITH IT. CALCASIEU PARISH POLICE JURY DIRECTOR OF HUMAN SERVICE, TAREK POLITE, TELLS KPLC TV THAT A NUMBER OF PEOPLE ARE VULNERABLE OF FALLING INTO HOMELESSNESS. POLITE IS URGING PEOPLE TO ATTEND A HOUSING FAIR THAT WILL BE HELD TOMORROW FROM 10:30 TO ONE AT THE ALLEN AUGUST MULTIPURPOSE CENTER ON MOELING STREET. LANNY ROY, OF THE ORGANIZATION A COMMUNITY VOICE, WHICH IS PUTTING ON THE HOUSING FAIR, SAYS THEY HAVE A LOT OF FREE INFORMATION THEY WANT TO SHARE WITH PEOPLE TO HELP THEM FIND AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
A supervisor for the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office has pleaded guilty to a charge that he joined other officers in beating a prisoner. Gerald Savoy’s guilty plea Wednesday leaves Sheriff Louis Ackal as the only defendant to be tried next week on charges over the alleged beatings of prisoners at the parish jail. Savoy faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison following his guilty plea to a civil rights violation. Nine other former employees of the sheriff’s office already have pleaded guilty to related charges.
STATE AGENCIES AND COLLEGES ARE PREPARING FOR BUDGET CUTS AS THE STATE CLOSED THE BOOKS ON THE LAST FISCAL YEAR WITH A DEFICIT OF 313 MILLION DOLLARS. GOVERNOR JOHN BEL EDWARDS’ ADMINISTRATION IS CONSIDERING ACROSS THE BOARD BUDGET CUTS TO CLOSE THE DEFICIT. COMMISSIONER OF ADMINISTRATION JAY DARDENNE SAYS THEY COULD TAP THE RAINY DAY FUND, BUT BUDGET CUTS WOULD STILL BE NECESSARY. AGENCIES HAVE BEEN ASKED TO DRAW UP PLANS FOR DEALING WITH A SEVEN TO TEN PERCENT CUT.
LAFAYETTE POLICE HAVE ARRESTED A MAN WANTED IN CONNECTION WITH A SHOOTING ON PHILOMENE STREET. JULIE DARCE REPORTS.
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LAST NIGHT A FLOWERS IN THE LAKE CEREMONY WAS HELD AT THE LAKE CHARLES CIVIC CENTER SEAWALL TO REMEMBER THOSE KILLED IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. THE ANNUAL EVENT IS PUT ON BY THE SHELTER, OASIS-A SAFE HAVEN. DIRECTOR KATHY WILLIAMS SAYS THAT THOSE WHO ARE IN A DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SITUATION CAN REACH OUT TO OASIS AT ANY TIME. SHE TELLS KPLC TV THAT SOMETIMES GOING TO A SHELTER ENVIRONMENT IS SAFER THAN A FAMILY OR FRIENDS HOUSE.
THE BODY OF KOREAN WAR VETERAN LAWRENCE JAMES SMITH, A CROWLEY NATIVE WHO DIED IN A NORTH KOREAN PRISONER OF WAR CAMP 65 YEARS AGO, WILL BE BURIED TODAY IN CROWLEY. IN THE EARLY 1990’S, NORTH KOREA RETURNED TO THE U-S THE REMAINS OF MORE THAN 600 U-S SERVICEMEN WHO FOUGHT IN THE KOREAN CONFLICT. THIS PAST SPRING, THE ARMY, USING D-N-A SAMPLES FROM SMITH’S FAMILY, FOUND A POSITIVE MATCH. SMITH, KNOWN AS “MIKE” BY HIS FAMILY, WILL BE GIVEN FULL MILITARY HONORS AT HIS BURIAL, WHICH TAKES PLACE THIS AFTERNOON AT TWO AT THE NORTH HANKS CEMETARY, JUST OUTSIDE OF CROWLEY, AND HIS WIFE, ZOKIE, WHO DIED IN 2006, WILL BE BURIED BESIDE HIM.
A judge has ruled a group of attorneys will divide $555.2 million for their work on behalf of people and businesses who suffered economic damages because of BP’s 2010 Gulf oil spill. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier (BAHR’-bee-aye) of New Orleans issued a 42-page ruling spelling out reasons for the award, the result of work on a 2012 settlement that is expected to account for at least $13 billion of the energy company’s spill-related costs. Barbier’s Oct. 25 ruling didn’t specify the number of attorneys involved and said the way in which the money will be allocated will be determined later. He said the award, which was requested by the attorneys, amounts to about 4.3 percent of the settlement.
