11-17-15
THE LAFAYETTE CITY PARISH GOVERNMENT AGREED TO GIVE MORE THAN 320 THOUSAND DOLLARS TO SETTLE A LAWSUIT AGAINST A WOMAN, WHOSE WRIST WAS BROKEN DURING AN ARREST BY A CITY MARSHALL. AS PART OF THE SETTLEMENT, THE WOMAN, SALLY M. SMITH, AND HER ATTORNEYS CANNOT DISCUSS THE CASE WITH THE MEDIA. THE DEPUTY CITY MARSHALL, JEFF MAHLER, SAYS SMITH WAS UNCOOPERATIVE AND USED NO MORE FORCE THAN WAS NECESSARY TO ARREST HER DURING AN INCIDENT MORE THAN FIVE YEARS AGO. SMITH WAS CONVICTED FOR RESISTING AN OFFICER, BUT THE COURT OF APPEALS THREW OUT HER CONVICTION.
A PETITION DRIVE HAS STARTED TO MAKE CHANGES TO AN INTERSECTION IN LAKE CHARLES THAT SOME THINK IS DANGEROUS. TWO PEOPLE WERE KILLED ON OCTOBER 31ST IN A COLLISION AT THE INTERSECTION OF RED DAVIS MCCOLLISTER ROAD AND SOUTHPARK DRIVE. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT ONE OF THE DRIVERS FAILED TO STOP AT THE STOP SIGN. SHANE DANOS, WHO WORKS NEAR THAT INTERSECTION, TELLS KPLC TV THAT HE SEES DRIVERS ROLL THROUGH THE STOP SIGN AT LEAST ONCE A DAY.
ST. MARY PARISH AUTHORITIES ARE INVESTIGATING SHOOTINGS SUNDAY THAT LEFT TWO MEN WOUNDED. ONE OF THE MEN, A THIRTY-YEAR-OLD, WAS FOUND WITH A BULLET WOUND AROUND FIVE P-M SUNDAY ON JONES ROAD NUMBER TWO IN THE FOUR CORNERS COMMUNITY AND HE WAS LISTED IN STABLE CONDITION AT A LAFAYETTE HOSPITAL MONDAY MORNING. A SECOND GUNSHOT VICTIM WAS FOUND A SHORT WHILE LATER AND TAKEN TO A FRANKLIN HOSPITAL, WHERE HE WAS TREATED AND RELEASED. ANYONE WITH INFORMATION ON THE SHOOTINGS IS ASKED TO CALL THE ST. MARY PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE.
Democrat John Bel Edwards and Republican David Vitter did little to mask their distaste for each other in the final statewide TV debate of the governor’s race ahead of Saturday’s election. Edwards, a state representative, at one point described Vitter as lacking a “moral compass” and in another moment called his Republican rival a “hypocrite.” Vitter, a U.S. senator, said Edwards can’t be trusted. At different times in the debate, Vitter tied Edwards to both President Barack Obama and term-limited Gov. Bobby Jindal, two men with high unfavorability ratings in Louisiana.
RESIDENTS IN ONE SCOTT NEIGHBORHOOD ARE BACK IN THEIR HOMES AFTER BEING EVACUATED DURING A DOMESTIC DISPUTE THAT ESCALATED INTO A SHOOTING ON LOWELL DRIVE. JULIE DARCE REPORTS.
VOICER D :26
IT’S BEEN ONE YEAR SINCE SASOL BEGAN SITE PREPARATION WORK ON THEIR 8-POINT-9 BILLION DOLLAR ETHANE CRACKER PLANT. SPOKESMAN MIKE HAYES SAYS THEY ARE JUST ABOUT COMPLETE ON THE PREPARATION WORK AND WILL SOON BEGIN ASSEMBLING THE PLANT. HE SAYS THEY HAVE, SO FAR, HIRED 200 SASOL EMPLOYEES AND THEY EXPECT TO HIRE A TOTAL OF MORE THAN 500. HE SAYS MORE THAN EIGHTY PERCENT OF THE NEW HIRES ARE FROM CALCASIEU PARISH.
A face-lift is underway for an antebellum plantation house that served as the governor’s mansion for nine months during the Civil War, when Union troops occupied Baton Rouge. Raymond Reinecke and Wilbert Dupont tell The Daily World that they’re working to preserve as much of the home’s history as they can.
Reinecke says they’re working from the outside in. He says interior work will include tearing out the floors, restoring some brick walls and rebuilding eight fireplaces.
Republicans are turning a national debate over the resettlement of Syrian refugees into a point of attack against Democratic candidate John Bel Edwards in the Louisiana governor’s race. Both GOP contender David Vitter and Edwards have released statements saying Louisiana should block Syrian refugees from entering the state, agreeing with term-limited Gov. Bobby Jindal. But Vitter and the Republican Governors Association are pointing to a Facebook post to suggest Edwards actually wants to help President Barack Obama settle more Syrian refugees in Louisiana. In the post, Edwards talks of working with the federal government to “both accommodate refugees who are fleeing from religious persecution and ensure that all our people are safe.”
