11-19-21
THE LAFAYETTE FIRE DEPARTMENT RESPONDED TO A HOUSE FIRE LAST NIGHT. CAROLINE MARCELLO HAS THE DETAILS.
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TWO LAFAYETTE PARISH MEN WERE ARRESTED AFTER THEY WERE ACCUSED OF STEALING HORSES IN SAINT LANDRY PARISH. OFFICERS WITH THE LIVESTOCK BRAND COMMISSION RECEIVED A TIP THAT TWO HORSES UP FOR AUCTION WERE STOLEN. AFTER CONFIRMING THE INFORMATION, THEY ALONG WITH SAINT LANDRY PARISH SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES, ARRESTED FORTY-NINE-YEAR-OLD SHANE JONES AND THIRTY-SIX-YEAR-OLD WARREN EBOW, WHO WERE CHARGED WITH CONSPIRACTY TO COMMIT LIVESTOCK THEFT AND RESISTING ARREST BY FLIGHT. THE HORSES, WHO WERE RETURNED TO THEIR OWNER, WERE VALUED AT THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS.
GOVERNOR JOHN BEL EDWARDS WAS IN LACASSINE YESTERDAY TO ATTEND A GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY FOR A NEW RICE MILL. THE TWENTY-ONE-MILLION DOLLAR SOUTHERN LOUISIANA MILL FACILITY, TO BE LOCATED IN THE LACASSINE INDUSTRIAL PARK, WILL BE ABLE TO ACCOMMODATE UP TO TWENTY-FOUR-HUNDRED RAIL CARS. THE STATE PARTNERED WITH AGREETA U-S-A AND THE SOUTH LOUISIANA RAIL FACILITY OVER A YEAR AGO TO MAKE THE PROJECT HAPPEN, BUT IT HAS BEEN DELAYED DUE TO HURRICANES AND THE COVID-NINETEEN PANDEMIC. GOVERNOR EDWARDS SAYS THE NEW RICE MILL WILL ALLOW LOCAL FARMERS TO ADD MORE VALUE TO THEIR PRODUCT AND SHIP THE RICE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
Louisiana officials have blocked banking giant JP Morgan Chase from participating in a bond refinancing deal. Thursday’s Bond Commission decision is part of Republicans’ escalating effort to keep some large investment firms sidelined from state work because they limit business with firearm manufacturers. The commission chose Wells Fargo to refinance the $700 million borrowing debt to get a better interest rate and lower repayment cost. JP Morgan Chase had been in line for the work, but Treasurer John Schroder and Attorney General Jeff Landry raised objections about the company’s policy not to do business with manufacturers of “military-style weapons for civilian use.”
AN ARREST HAS BEEN MADE IN THE CASE OF A NINE-YEAR-OLD GIRL, WHO WAS SHOT IN LAFAYETTE ON NOVEMBER SECOND. THE GIRL, A’KAYLEN BEALE, WAS HIT BY A STRAY BULLET, AFTER SHE GOT OFF A SCHOOL BUS ON EAST SIMCOE STREET AND WHILE ENTERING HER GRANDMOTHER’S APARTMENT. EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD JONATHON VILTZ WAS ARRESTED IN BATON ROUGE ON THREE COUNTS OF ATTEMPTED FIRST DEGREE MURDER. VILTZ IS BELIEVED TO BE THE PERSON WHO GOT INTO AN ARGUMENT WITH ANOTHER PERSON AND THEN PULLED OUT A GUN AND STARTED SHOOTING AT THE OTHER PERSON.
Federal prosecutors said Thursday that a longtime employee for a Louisiana company has been sentenced to two years in prison on wire fraud charges. U.S. District Judge Michael J. Juneau also ordered 51-year-old Tracie Sonnier, of Breaux Bridge, to pay restitution in the amount of $335,015. Sonnier pleaded guilty July 19 to a bill of information charging her with one count of wire fraud. Authorities said Sonnier created a scheme to defraud Aries using its bank accounts, without authorization, to pay for personal expenses.
A MISSISSIPPI MAN WAS ARRESTED IN ACADIA PARISH FOR A ROAD RAGE INCIDENT ON TUESDAY. THIRTY-ONE-YEAR-OLD JACOB PENDER IS ACCUSED OF POINTING A GUN AT ANOTHER DRIVER ON I-TEN NEAR MILE MARKER SEVENTY-SIX. ACADIA PARISH SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES AND JENNINGS POLICE WERE ABLE TO LOCATE HIS VEHICLE AND PULL HIM OVER. PENDER WAS ARRESTED AFTER THEY FOUND A SEMI-AUTOMATIC HANDGUN THAT MATCHED THE DESCRIPTION PROVIDED BY THE VICTIM.
Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain came under fire from state lawmakers who complained his regulatory agency was moving too slowly in expanding the medical marijuana products available to patients. The News-Star reports that Strain told a special legislative commission looking at the state’s medicinal pot program Thursday that he won’t compromise public safety to fast-track new products. Gov. John Bel Edwards and lawmakers have approved new laws expanding the medical marijuana products available and the ability for doctors to recommend the drug for any illness, but Strain’s agency controls the pace of that rollout with product testing and regulations. Several lawmakers suggested Strain’s department appeared to unnecessarily micromanage the program.
