12-8-16
THE LAFAYETTE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM’S RECYCLING PROGRAM, WHICH STARTED WITH FIVE SCHOOLS AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS YEAR, HAS GROWN TO 18. THE SCHOOL BOARD AGREED TO START THE PILOT PROGRAM AFTER TWO PARENTS, AMANDA WADDLE AND CATHERINE SCHOEFFLER COMEAUX, STARTED A RECYCLING PROGRAM AT WOODVALE ELEMENTARY. SINCE AUGUST, THE SCHOOL SYSTEM HAS RECYCLED SIX TONS OF WASTE, ACCORDING TO SCHOOL BOARD FIGURES. SUPERINTENDENT DONALD AGUILLARD SAYS THEY WOULD LIKE TO SEE ALL FORTY SCHOOLS IN THE PARISH EVENTUALLY TAKE PART IN THE PROGRAM.
A CALCASIEU PARISH CORRECTIONAL CENTER TRUSTY, WHO WALKED OFF THE JOB TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND ESCAPED IN A HEARSE USED BY PET ANGELS CREMATORY, WAS RECAPTURED YESTERDAY IN ORANGE, TEXAS. ORANGE POLICE FOUND THE HEARSE ABANDONED WEDNESDAY MORNING AND SPOTTED 26-YEAR-OLD JONATHON B. ALEXANDER LATER IN ANOTHER VEHICLE, WHICH HE FOUND RUNNING AT A HOTEL AND STOLE. AUTHORITIES LEARNED THAT IN BETWEEN THE STEALING OF THOSE TWO VEHICLES, ALEXANDER HAD BROKEN INTO A PAINT AND BODY SHOP AND STOLE ANOTHER VEHICLE, BUT ABANDONED IT AT THE FLYING J TRUCK STOP IN ORANGE AFTER IT MALFUNCTIONED. THE OWNER OF THE HEARSE, ZEB JOHNSON, SAYS THERE WAS A CAT NAMED RAZ THAT WAS IN IT AND HAS NOT BEEN FOUND.
THERE’S NEW INFORMATION ON AN ACADIA PARISH HOMOCIDE INVESTIGATION. JEFF HORCHEK REPORTS.
VOICER J :24
Donald Trump will return to Baton Rouge this week, for a rally ahead of Louisiana’s Saturday election, to urge people to cast their ballots for Republicans.
The state Republican Party announced the president-elect will appear Friday at an airport hangar, in an event open to the public. The rally will feature Republican state Treasurer John Kennedy, who is in a runoff for an open U.S. Senate seat against Democrat Foster Campbell, a state utility regulator. Trump was last in Louisiana in August, to meet with flood victims.
LAST NIGHT THE LAFAYETTE CITY PARISH COUNCIL CHOSE A WHITE WOMAN, CHRISTINA OLIVIER, TO SERVE ON THE FIRE AND POLICE CIVIL SERVICE BOARD. COUNCILMAN KENNETH BOUDREAUX HAS COMPLAINED IN THE PAST ABOUT THE BOARD MEMBERS BEING ALL WHITE. BEFORE LAST NIGHT’S VOTE, HE ASKED HIS FELLOW COUNCIL MEMBERS TO CHOOSE MELVIN CEASER, A BLACK MAN, FOR THE SPOT ON THE BOARD, BECAUSE IT WOULD ADD DIVERSITY. THE COUNCIL VOTED 5-TO-3 FOR OLIVIER, REPLACING RALPH PETERS ON THE BOARD, WHO WAS REMOVED BECAUSE OF A STATE LAW THAT DOES NOT ALLOW PUBLIC EMPLOYEES TO SERVE.
A federal judge has been removed from a criminal case following the abrupt end to a trial — and it’s not the first time that has happened in her Louisiana courtroom this year. Court records don’t explain why the trial was cut short Tuesday or why U.S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi was removed from the case against a man charged with producing child pornography. A docket entry indicates the man’s trial in Lake Charles was adjourned less than an hour after it began, before a jury was picked. Chief Judge Dee Drell’s order says he was exercising his “prerogative” in canceling the trial and reassigning the case to himself.
THE EUNICE POLICE CHIEF SAYS AN INCREASE IN THE USE OF RESERVE OFFICERS HAS SAVED THE DEPARTMENT ABOUT FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS PER YEAR, WHILE INCREASING THE AMOUNT OF PATROLS TO HELP FIGHT CRIME. THE DEPARTMENT NOW HAS 24 RESERVE OFFICERS, WHICH IS NEARLY FIVE TIMES AS MANY AS THEY HAD A YEAR AGO. THAT’S BECAUSE OF AN INCREASE IN PAY. THE RESERVE OFFICERS NOW RECEIVE TWENTY DOLLARS PER CALL TO WHICH THEY RESPOND. POLICE CHIEF RANDY FONTENOT SAYS THAT THE RESERVE OFFICERS HAVE HELPED DOUBLE THE FORCE SIZE, WHICH HAS PLAYED A LARGE ROLE IN FIGHTING CRIME.
Republican lawmakers on the House budget committee are bristling at the spending increases in the state health department, saying the agency can’t keep growing every year. Rep. Rick Edmonds, a Baton Rouge Republican, called the growth in health care spending “astonishing.” Rep. Tony Bacala, a Republican from Prairieville, said state spending on the health department exceeds all state sales tax collections. Health Secretary Rebekah Gee says the poverty-ridden state has health care needs and the cost of providing such services is rising.
