11-7-22
TWO OF THE FOUR SUSPECTS WANTED IN CONNECTION WITH THE HOMOCIDE OF A FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD OPELOUSAS TEEN HAVE BEEN ARRESTED. SYLVIA MASTERS REPORTS.
VOICER W :21
THREE ADULTS ESCAPED A HOUSE FIRE SOMETIME AFTER MIDNIGHT SATURDAY BY CLIMBING THROUGH A WINDOW. SCOTT FIRE CHIEF CHAD SONNIER SAYS SOMEONE DRIVING BY THE HOUSE, LOCATED IN THE FOURTEEN HUNDRED BLOCK OF L-A NINETY-THREE, SPOTTED THE FIRE AND BEGAN HONKING HIS CAR HORN TO WAKE THE PEOPLE INSIDE. ONE OF THE OCCUPANTS WOKE AND ALERTED THE OTHER TWO WHO MANAGED TO GET OUT BY BREAKING A WINDOW, THOUGH ONE OF THE THREE GOT A CUT ON THEIR FOOT FROM BROKEN GLASS. SONNIER SAYS THE OCCUPANTS HAS USED A CHARCOAL GRILL EARLIER AND WINDS REIGNITED THE FIRE, WHICH SPREAD TO THE PORCH AND THEN INTO THE HOUSE.
AS A REMINDER, IF YOU HAVE AN ABSENTEE BALLOT, TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO TURN IT IN. SYLVIA MASTERS HAS ELECTION DETAILS.
VOICER V :20
ONE PERSON WAS KILLED IN A HEAD-ON CRASH FRIDAY NIGHT ON INTERSTATE TEN NEAR LACASSINE. STATE POLICE SAY TWENTY-EIGHT-YEAR-OLD CALEB LEE BOWERS OF JENNINGS, FOR AN UNKNOWN REASON, LOST CONTROL OF HIS VEHICLE AND TRAVELED THROUGH THE MEDIAN INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC, HITTING AN S-U-V HEAD-ON. THE DRIVER OF THE S-U-V, SIXTY-ONE-YEAR-OLD GAY DALE FERGUSON OF ORANGE, TEXAS WAS KILLED WHILE A PASSENGER IN THE VEHICLE, A THREE-YEAR-OLD CHILD, WAS TAKEN TO A LAKE CHARLES HOSPITAL WITH SERIOUS INJURIES. BOWERS SUFFERED NON-LIFE-THREATENING INJURIES. THE CRASH REMAINS UNDER INVESTIGATION.
TWO BROTHERS FROM ACADIANA HAVE BEEN CHARGED WITH CONTRACTOR FRAUD IN LAFOURCHE PARISH. THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS TWO RESIDENTS FROM LAFOURCHE PARISH HIRED TWO BROTHERS AND A VAN OF LEE’S CONSTRUCTION TO REPAIR DAMAGE CAUSED BY HURRICANE IDA. IN BOTH CASES, THE RESIDENTS WERE CHARGED FOR WORK THAT WAS NOT COMPLETED AND, IN ONE CASE, THE WORK DONE WAS SHODDY WHICH LED TO FURTHER DAMAGE OF THE HOME. DETECTIVES WITH THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE DETERMINED THE TWO BROTHERS, FORTY-FOUR-YEAR-OLD CLARKE LEE OF BREAUX BRIDGE AND THIRTY-EIGHT-YEAR-OLD HARRIS LEE JUNIOR OF OPELOUSAS, WERE NOT PROPERTY LICENSED TO PERFORM THE WORK.
LAFAYETTE’S FIRST FEMALE POLICE CHIEF WAS INTRODUCED AT A NEWS CONFERENCE FRIDAY. JUDITH ESTORGE SAYS SHE IS PROUD TO TAKE OVER AS THE FIRST WOMAN POLICE CHIEF FOR LAFAYETTE AND THE SUPPORT SHE’S RECEIVED HAS BEEN OVERWHELMING. SHE SAYS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM THE DEPARTMENT FACES IS THE AMOUNT OF GUN VIOLENCE AND SHE WANTS TO MAKE COMMUNICATION AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT ONE OF HER TOP PRIORITIES. ESTORGE SAYS IN HER FIRST SIXTY DAYS, OFFICERS AND COMMAND STAFF WILL BE MORE INVOLVED IN COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS.
HOME SCHOOLING IN LOUISIANA IS ON THE RISE, ESPECIALLY SINCE THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC CAUSED SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO GO TO REMOTE LEARNING. IN TWENTY-NINETEEN, THERE WERE THIRTEEN-THOUSAND, SIX HUNDRED SEVENTY-TWO STUDENTS IN HOMESCHOOL PROGRAMS APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION. THAT NUMBER GREW TO SIXTEEN THOUSAND, ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-FOUR IN TWENTY-TWENTY-ONE, THE LATEST YEAR THE NUMBERS ARE AVAILABLE. CALCASIEU PARISH HAD THE MOST HOME SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH ONE THOUSAND, TWO HUNDRED THIRTY-NINE.
A VILLE PLATTE MAN, TRYING TO FLEE FROM POLICE, WAS KILLED LATE THURSDAY NIGHT. FORTY-ONE-YEAR-OLD GARY SIMS ROLLED THE VEHICLE WHEN HE EXITED L-A TEN NEAR PELICAN ROAD AND HIT A UTILITY POLE. SIMS WAS EJECTED AND PRONOUNCED DEAD AT THE SCENE. AN OFFICER ATTEMPTED TO PULL SIMS OVER AT AROUND TEN-THIRTY THURSDAY NIGHT AFTER THE OWNER OF THE VEHICLE REPORTED ITS UNAUTHORIZED USE.
