2-10-23
A TWELVE PERSON LAFAYETTE JURY UNANIMOUSLY CONVICTED A NINETEEN-YEAR-OLD MAN FOR FIRST DEGREE ROBBERY. TRAVONTAE WHITE WAS SEVENTEEN AT THE TIME HE HELD UP A PREGNANT WOMAN WALKING ON DARREL STREET, TAKING HER PURSE THAT HAD TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS IN IT. HE WAS ARRESTED FOUR MONTHS LATER IN ANOTHER JURISDICTION AND TRANSPORTED TO LAFAYETTE. WHITE FACES UP TO FORTY YEARS IN PRISON WHEN HE IS SENTENCED.
THE RAYNE CITY COUNCIL WILL DECIDE AT THEIR NEXT MEETING WHETHER TO AMEND THE ORDINANCE THAT REGULATES ALCOHOL SALES. DEVIN BEARB, OWNER OF DAIQUIRI DIVAS, HAS A PETITION WITH SIX HUNDRED SIGNATURES OF PEOPLE WHO WANT THE ORDINANCE TO ALLOW HARD LIQUOR SALES ON SUNDAYS. THE ORDINANCE HAS MADE IT ILLEGAL FOR OVER THIRTY YEARS, WITH AN EXCEPTION FOR RESTAURANTS. EIGHT MONTHS AGO, THE COUNCIL VOTED TO KEEP THE ORDINANCE AS IT IS.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited Lake Charles yesterday to celebrate a $150 million grant to help replace the outdated Interstate 10 Calcasieu River Bridge. The project is among the first major grant recipients under President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure deal. The bridge, which was built 70 years ago, was designed for a 50-year lifespan and a capacity of 37,000 vehicles per day. Currently, around 90,000 vehicles cross the bridge, which is a key route between Louisiana and Texas.
THE DAUGHTER OF FORMER GOVERNOR KATHLEEN BABINEAUX BLANCO HAS ANNOUNCED HER INTENTIONS TO RUN FOR LAFAYETTE MAYOR PRESIDENT. MONIQUE BLANCO BOULET IS A REPUBLICAN WHO IS CURRENTLY CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE ACADIANA PLANNING COMMISSION. THE ONLY ONES TO ENTER THE ELECTION ARE INCUMBENT JOSH GUILLORY AND ATTORNEY JAN SWIFT, ALSO REPUBLICANS. NO DEMOCRATS HAVE YET ANNOUNCED THEIR INTENTIONS TO RUN FOR LAFAYETTE MAYOR PRESIDENT. THE PRIMARY TAKES PLACE OCTOBER FOURTEENTH.
SOME SAINT LANDRY PARISH RESIDENTS ARE ASSESSING DAMAGE TO THEIR HOME AFTER A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN WEDNESDAY NIGHT. SYLVIA MASTERS HAS MORE.
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A KAPLAN MAN WAS ARRESTED BY ENFORCEMENT AGENTS WITH THE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES FOR HUNTING GUIDE VIOLATIONS IN VERMILLION PARISH. THEY BEGAN INVESTIGATING FORTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD RYAN FREDERICK AT THE END OF THE LATEST HUNTING SEASON. FREDERICK HAD HIS LICENSE REVOKED AND CANNOT POSSESS A HUNTING LICENSE UNTIL THE YEAR TWENTY-TWENTY-SEVEN, BUT THEY FOUND HIM TAKING CUSTOMERS ON GUIDED GOOSE HUNTS IN A RICE FIELD NEAR KAPLAN. AGENTS HAD PREVIOUSLY CITED FREDERICK IN DECEMBER ON SIX COUNTS OF FAILING TO COMPLY WITH HUNTING GUIDE REGULATIONS.
SERGEANT MICHAEL HEBERT WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES SAYS THEY’VE REALLY BEEN CRACKING DOWN ON GUIDED HUNTS WITHOUT A PROPER LICENSE. HE TELLS KLFY TV THAT PEOPLE WHO ADVERTISE THEMSELVES AS HUNTING OR FISHING GUIDES AND GET PAID HAVE TO HAVE A BASIC HUNTING OR FISHING LICENSE AS WELL AS A GUIDE LICENSE. HE SAYS AGENTS ARE CATCHING MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ACROSS THE STATE GIVING GUIDED TOURS WITHOUT ONE. GUIDES WITHOUT THE PROPER LICENSE FACE HEFTY FINES AND CITATIONS.
THE LOUISIANA SUGARCANE INDUSTRY PRODUCED MORE THAN TWO MILLION TONS OF RAW SUGAR LAST YEAR FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, AND LOUISIANA IS NOW THE NUMBER ONE SUGAR PRODUCING STATE. THAT’S ACCORDING TO AMERICAN SUGAR CANE LEAGUE DIRECTOR JIM SIMON, WHO MADE THE ANNOUNCEMENT THIS WEEK DURING THEIR ANNUAL MEETING IN BATON ROUGE. SUGAR CANE ACREAGE HAS BEEN STEADILY INCREASING IN LOUISIANA, ESPECIALLY IN VERMILLION PARISH. HOWEVER, HE SAYS A CHRISTMAS FREEZE SOURED THE END OF THE HARVEST RESULTING IN A GOOD CROP, INSTEAD OF A BUMPER CROP.
