11-1-23
A FORMER CLUB AND CAFÉ IN MORGAN CITY CAUGHT FIRE EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. WHEN FIREFIGHTERS ARRIVED, THERE WAS HEAVY FIRE AND SMOKE IN THE CONCRETE STRUCTURE ON PONCIO STREET. THE MAIN AREA OF THE FIRE AT THE SEVENTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLD BUILDING WAS QUICKLY EXTINGUISHED BUT THERE WAS EXTENSIVE DAMAGE. THE CAUSE OF THE FIRE IS UNDER INVESTIGATION.
A RAYNE MAN HAS BEEN ARRESTED BY LAFAYETTE POLICE FOR FIRST-DEGREE MURDER AND TWO COUNTS OF ATTEMPTED FIRST-DEGREE MURDER. TWENTY-TWO-YEAR-OLD TERRY JOSEPH JUNIOR IS ACCUSED OF SHOOTING THIRTY-NINE-YEAR-OLD PERCY JAMES ROCHESTER JUNIOR OF LAFAYETTE AT THE NORTH UNIVERSITY AVENUE AND WEST WILLOW STREET INTERSECTION AT AROUND ONE-THIRTY TUESDAY MORNING. ROCHESTER LATER DIED AT THE HOSPITAL. A SECOND PERSON IS IN CRITICAL CONDITION AFTER BEING SHOT, AND WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL BEFORE POLICE ARRIVED ON THE SCENE.
YESTERDAY GOVERNOR-ELECT JEFF LANDRY ANNOUNCED HIS TRANSITION COUNCILS AND THEIR CHAIRS. THERE ARE FOURTEEN COMMITTEES THAT ARE COMPRISED OF INFLUENTIAL BUSINESS LEADERS, MAJOR REPUBLICAN DONORS, A DEMOCRAT DISTRICT ATTORNEY AND THE INCOMING REPUBLICAN INSURANCE COMMISSIONER. LANDRY SAYS THE FOURTEEN COMMITTEES WILL DEAL WITH AREAS IN LOUISIANA THAT NEED THE MOST ATTENTION. HE SAYS THEY WILL TAKE A SERIOUS LOOK AT SOLUTION-DRIVEN IDEAS FOR THE CHALLENGES THE STATE IS FACING.
THE JEFF DAVIS PARISH SCHOOL BOARD IS IMPLEMENTING A CLEAR BAG POLICY THAT GOES INTO EFFECT ON JANUARY FIRST. FANS AND STUDENTS BRINGING ITEMS WITH THEM WHILE ENTERING SPORTS EVENTS WILL HAVE TO PUT THEM IN A CLEAR BAG. SHERIFF IVY WOODS SAYS THAT WAY LAW ENFORCEMENT WILL NOT HAVE TO GO THROUGH A BAG, BUT IT CAN BE PUT ON A TABLE AND THEY WILL BE ABLE TO LOOK THROUGH IT AND MOVE ON. JEFF DAVIS PARISH SCHOOLS CURRICULUM SUPERVISOR FRANCIS LEBLANC SAYS THE GOAL IS TO INCREASE SAFETY THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY.
LSU EUNICE WAS EVACUATED YESTERDAY AFTER THEY RECEIVED A BOMB THREAT. SCHOOL POLICE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT SEARCHED THE CAMPUS BUT FOUND NO SUSPICIOUS DEVICES. CLASSES AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS WERE CLOSED FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE DAY. THE CAMPUS REOPENS TODAY.
A FINANCIAL TECH COMPANY HAS RELEASED A LIST OF THE FASTEST-GROWING CITIES IN THE COUNTRY. NO CITY IN LOUISIANA SHOWED POPULATION GROWTH. LAFAYETTE’S POPULATION ACTUALLY DECREASED BY FOUR PERCENT, GOING FROM JUST UNDER ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-SEVEN THOUSAND IN TWENTY-SEVENTEEN TO ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-ONE THOUSAND, THREE HUNDRED SIXTY-SEVEN IN TWENTY-TWENTY-TWO. THE CITY WITH THE LARGEST GROWTH IN THE COUNTRY IS BUCKEYE, ARIZONA, WHICH SAW A FORTY-EIGHT PERCENT INCREASE OVER FIVE YEARS.
A NEW STUDY RANKS LOUISIANA AS THE FOURTH MOST DANGEROUS STATE FOR WORKERS. THE STUDY BY VENTURE SMARTER RANKED THE STATES BASED ON THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF FATAL WORK INJURIES. LOUISIANA HAD SEVEN-POINT-SEVEN ANNUAL FATALITIES PER ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND WORKERS, WHICH IS EIGHTY-EIGHT PERCENT HIGHER THAN THE NATIONAL AVERAGE AND A THIRTY-ONE PERCENT INCREASE OVER THE PREVIOUS YEAR. WYOMING WAS NUMBER ONE ON THE LIST WITH TEN-POINT-FOUR ANNUAL FATALITIES PER ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND WORKERS.
YESTERDAY, STATE AND LOCAL OFFICIALS MARKED THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE EIGHTEEN-MILE-LONG ATCHAFALAYA BASIN BRIDGE. THE CEREMONY WAS HELD AT THE BUTTE LAROSE BOAT LANDING IN SAINT MARTIN PARISH. THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND DEVELOPMENT’S CHIEF ENGINEER, CHAD WINCHESTER, SAYS THERE WERE NO ROADS TO ACCESS THE SITE SO CONTRACTORS HAD TO DIG FORTY MILES OF CANALS. IT TOOK TWO YEARS TO BUILD THE BRIDGE, WHICH OPENED IN NINETEEN SEVENTY-THREE, AND, AT THE TIME, WAS THE SECOND-LONGEST BRIDGE IN THE COUNTRY, BEHIND THE LAKE PONCHATRAIN CAUSEWAY BRIDGE.
