2-22-18
A DUSON MAN WAS ARRESTED AFTER POLICE FOUND DRUGS AND FIREARMS IN HIS HOME. JEFF HORCHAK REPORTS.
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IT’S BEEN MORE THAN A DECADE SINCE THE LAKE CHARLES CITY COUNCIL MADE PLANS TO EXTEND ENTERPRISE BOULEVARD TO HIGHWAY 171 TO PROMOTE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN NORTH LAKE CHARLES, BUT IT HAS STILL NOT BEEN COMPLETED. LAST NIGHT COUNCIL MEMBER MARY MORRIS SUGGESTED ANOTHER PLAN TO GET THINGS ROLLING, WHICH WOULD HAVE INCLUDED WIDENING FITZENREITER ROAD AND MAKING IMPROVEMENTS TO MARTIN LUTHER KING HIGHWAY TO GOOS BOULEVARD. BUT SINCE THE CITY ONLY HAD HALF THE FUNDS FOR THE PROJECT, MORRIS WITHDREW THE PROPOSAL, BUT SAID SHE’LL CONTINUE TO WORK TO FIND WAYS TO COMPLETE THE ENTERPRISE PROJECT. MEANWHILE, MORRIS SAYS SHE WANTS TO TAKE THE MONEY ALLOCATED FOR THE PROJECT AND USE IT FOR OTHER PROJECTS THAT WOULD BENEFIT NORTH LAKE CHARLES RESIDENTS.
A former Louisiana law enforcement officer has pleaded guilty to assaulting an inmate at the Iberia Parish Jail. U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook, in a news release, says 38-year-old former Sgt. David Prejean (PRAY-jawn) entered the plea Wednesday. Federal authorities say Prejean ordered his K-9 officer to bite the inmate and he struck the man — all without justification — on Dec. 6, 2012 during a shakedown at the jail. Authorities say Prejean’s “unlawful use of force” resulted in an injury to the inmate.
Efforts to broker a tax compromise in the Louisiana Legislature have faltered, with lawmakers unable to cobble together enough votes to start moving any major tax bills. Disagreements threaten to crater the special session aimed at closing a massive budget gap. The House Ways and Means Committee stalled all big-ticket tax proposals Wednesday, with Republicans and Democrats at odds over how to close a $994 million shortfall in the financial year that begins July 1. The gap is caused by the expiration of temporary taxes passed in 2016.
A federal judge has ordered the state of Louisiana to pay more than $150,000 in fees and costs to attorneys for a man who successfully challenged a law that prevented him and other foreign-born U.S. citizens from getting married. U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle’s order Wednesday comes more than six months after he permanently blocked the marriage law. The Indonesia-born Viet Anh Vo of Lafayette sued in 2016 after he and his U.S.-born fiancee had their application for a marriage license rejected by court clerks in three parishes. The law blocked Vo from getting a license because he couldn’t produce a birth certificate.
THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND DEVELOPMENT ANNOUNCED THAT CONSTRUCTION WORK ON THE I-TEN BRIDGE IN LAKE CHARLES IS SCHEDULED TO BEGIN ON SATURDAY, MARCH THIRD. C-E-C INCORPORATED OF LAFAYETTE WILL BE REPLACING EXPANSION JOINTS ON THE BRIDGE. THE WORK WAS MADE NECESSARY BECAUSE OF AN INCREASED TRAFFIC LOAD THAT IS ANTICIPATED WHEN A REDECKING PROJECT ON THE I-210 BRIDGE BEGINS. THE I-TEN BRIDGE PROJECT, WHICH COSTS EIGHT-POINT-5 MILLION DOLLARS, IS EXPECTED TO LAST ABOUT FOUR MONTHS.
A FIVE-YEAR-OLD, WHO ATTENDS CECILIA PRIMARY SCHOOL, BROUGHT AN UNLOADED PELLET GUN IN HIS BOOK BAG ONTO THE SCHOOL BUS YESTERDAY MORNING. SUPERINTENDENT DR. LOTTIE BEEBE SAYS THE BUS DRIVER CONFISCATED THE GUN AND REPORTED THE INCIDENT TO THE PRINCIPAL. SHE SAYS THE STUDENT WAS INTENDING TO BRING THE GUN TO SCHOOL AT THE REQUEST OF ANOTHER STUDENT. BEEBE TELLS KLFY TV THEY ARE TAKING ALL INCIDENTS SERIOUSLY.
ON JANUARY FIRST, THE FEDERAL TAX ON UTILITIES DROPPED BY 14 PERCENT, BUT PRIVATE COMPANIES IN LOUISIANA CONTINUED TO COLLECT AT THE OLD 35 PERCENT RATE. YESTERDAY, THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION UNANIMOUSLY DEMANDED THAT THE COMPANIES RETURN THE EXTRA COLLECTED TAXES TO THEIR CUSTOMERS. INTERIM PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION SECRETARY BRANDON FREY TELLS THE ADVOCATE THAT THERE’S A LOT OF MONEY OUT THERE IN SAVINGS. THE COMMISSION ORDERED ITS STAFF AND COMPANY OFFICIALS TO FIND A WAY BY MARCH 21ST TO GIVE THE SAVINGS FROM THE CUT BACK TO CUSTOMERS.
