11-16-17
THE LAFAYETTE PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE IS INVESTIGATING A SHOOTING AND BURGLARY AT A MOBILE HOME PARK IN SCOTT. JEFF HORCHAK HAS MORE.
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A TRAFFIC STOP ON I-TEN IN CALCASIEU PARISH LED TO A MAJOR DRUG BUST. STEPHANE BARIL OF QUEBEC WAS PULLED OVER FOR A TRAFFIC VIOLATION BETWEEN SULPHUR AND VINTON AND GAVE WRITTEN PERMISSION FOR THE SEARCH OF HIS PICKUP TRUCK. NEARLY 220 POUNDS OF COCAINE, WITH A STREET VALUE OF OVER THREE MILLION DOLLARS, WAS FOUND IN MULTIPLE LUGGAGE BAGS IN THE BED OF HIS PICKUP TRUCK. CALCASIEU PARISH SHERIFF TONY MANCUSO SAYS THE COMBINED ANTI-DRUG TASK FORCE WILL CONTINUE THE INVESTIGATION TO TRY AND DETERMINE WHERE THE DRUGS WERE HEADED.
A ST. LANDRY PARISH MAN’S VEHICULAR HOMOCIDE CONVICTION HAS BEEN REDUCED TO NEGLIGENT HOMOCIDE BY THE FIRST CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEAL AND HE WILL BE RESENTENCED. 35-YEAR-OLD CHAD LEGER OF PALMETTO HAD BEEN INVOLVED IN A HIGH SPEED CAT AND MOUSE GAME WITH ANOTHER VEHICLE ON I-TEN IN BATON ROUGE IN 2011 WHEN HE LOST CONTROL OF HIS TRUCK AND HIT ANOTHER VEHICLE, KILLING ALL FIVE PEOPLE IN THAT VEHICLE INCLUDING THREE CHILDREN. HIS BLOOD ALCOHOL LEVEL WAS ABOVE THE LEGAL LIMIT, BUT THE APPEAL’S COURT FOUND NOT ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO DETERMINE IF IT WAS A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR, THUS THE REDUCED CHARGE. THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH DISTRICT ATTORNEY SAYS HE WILL APPEAL.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards’ two-day trip to Puerto Rico to discuss the island’s ongoing recovery from Hurricane Maria cost taxpayers about $5,100. Most of the money, according to expense information provided to The Associated Press, paid for the governor’s state police security detail. Troopers’ overtime, lodging, transportation and meals cost $4,200, according to an expense break-down from the agency Wednesday. Another $470 was spent on hotel rooms for Edwards, his wife Donna and his spokesman Richard Carbo for the trip made at the end of October.
A LAFAYETTE MAN, WHO MURDERED A TEENAGE NEIGHBOR IN 2002 WHEN HE WAS 15, COULD GET HIS PRISON SENTENCE REDUCED. MARK ST. JULIEN WAS SENTENCED TO LIFE in PRISON FOR MURDERING 13-YEAR-OLD ALYSSA CASE. BUT PUBLIC DEFENDER G. PAUL MARX SAYS THE SUPREME COURT RECENTLY RULED THAT LIFETIME SENTENCES WITHOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF PAROLE FOR JUVENILES IS EXCESSIVE AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL. THE MOTHER OF CASE HAS WRITTEN THAT SHE WANTS ST. JULIEN, WHO IS NOW 31, TO REMAIN IN PRISON FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE.
A dozen young whooping cranes from Wisconsin, Maryland, and Alberta, Canada, are being gradually introduced to the wild in a Louisiana refuge. The Audubon Species Survival Center’s assistant curator, Richard Dunn, says Tuesday was a big day. He brought the rare, endangered birds to the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge. That means 72 whooping cranes are now living in the wild in southwest Louisiana.
THE TOWN OF BALDWIN WILL BE WITHOUT WATER SERVICE TODAY. CREWS ARE REPAIRING A SECTION OF THE DISTRIBUTION LINE UNDER MAIN STREET. BECAUSE OF THE SITUATION, RAINTREE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IS CLOSED FOR TODAY. THE TOWN IS ALSO UNDER A BOIL ADVISORY.
U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy says he’s attached to the Senate tax overhaul legislation special disaster tax breaks for people affected by south Louisiana’s devastating flood last year. Cassidy said in a statement Wednesday that his amendment, if it wins final passage from Congress, would offer $200 million in tax relief to the state’s flood victims. The aid would be for Louisiana residents with damage from the August 2016 flooding, but not the March 2016 flooding in north Louisiana.
The Republican senator’s office says the tax provisions would allow people to withdraw some money from retirement accounts without penalty for storm-related expenses and to deduct personal casualty losses from the storm above $500 from their income tax liability.
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