2-26-18
Lafayette’s red light traffic cameras are gone for good, but they may be replaced with traffic cameras in select school zones. The Advertiser reports the traffic cameras were unplugged in June, when the city’s contract with Redflex expired. Mayor-President Joel Robideaux said his administration was negotiating with American Traffic Solutions to take over the program. But Robideaux said this week the cameras will not be coming back. Instead, he is negotiating with ATS and Redflex to provide cameras in some school zones.
A PEDESTRIAN WAS STRUCK AND KILLED ON HIGHWAY 90 SATURDAY NIGHT EAST OF LAKE CHARLES. STATE POLICE SAY 50-YEAR-OLD KELLY RAY WHITE WAS STANDING IN THE EASTBOUND LANE OF HIGHWAY 90 IN FRONT OF THE SUNRISE INN WHEN HE WAS HIT. THE DRIVER OF THE VEHICLE THAT HIT HIM, 80-YEAR-OLD PAUL SIMIEN FROM IOWA WAS THE DRIVER AND WAS UNINJURED. POLICE BELIEVE WHITE WAS IMPAIRED AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT AND WAS WEARING DARK COLORED CLOTHING WHEN HE WAS STANDING IN THE ROADWAY.
CROWLEY POLICE HAVE ARRESTED A MAN WHO RAN OVER GRAVES IN THE WOODLAWN CEMETARY, DAMAGING HEADSTONES AND GRAVE MARKERS. POLICE FOUND A PIECE OF THE VEHICLE AND WERE ABLE TO IDENTIFY IT THROUGH THE HELP OF THE PATROL DIVISION. THE MAN WILL NOT BE CHARGED FOR DAMAGES, BECAUSE THERE WAS NO SPECIFIC CRIMINAL INTENT. POLICE CHIEF JIMMY BROUSSARD TELLS KLFY TV THAT THE MAN GOT MIXED UP ON THE ROADWAY, ENDING UP IN THE CEMETARY, AND THEN PANICKED AND FLED.
Lawmakers in the Louisiana House have broken through their gridlock, reviving tax bills that had stalled the special session and averting collapse of talks to plug a nearly $1 billion budget gap. The Ways and Means Committee advanced a sales tax bill favored by House GOP leaders and an income tax bill sought by Democrats. They are continuing work to broker a deal to lessen the shortfall.
It’s unclear if the measures can win support from the full House.
ACCORDING TO AT LEAST ONE LAFAYETTE PARISH RESIDENT, THE QUALITY OF GARBAGE SERVICES IN CERTAIN AREAS HAS DROPPED. JEFF HORCHAK HAS MORE.
VOICER C :25
A Lake Charles veterinarian and an Omaha, Nebraska-based pharmacy have been sentenced for selling an unapproved opioid drug 40 times more powerful than morphine for the purpose of improving the performance of race horses. U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook, in a news release Friday, said 43-year-old Kyle James Hebert was sentenced to 15 months in prison for one count of conspiracy, two counts of receipt of adulterated or misbranded drug with the intent to defraud and mislead; and one count of misbranding a drug while held for sale with the intent to defraud and mislead. Hebert was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.
Kohll’s Pharmacy & Healthcare Inc. was sentenced to five years of corporate probation and ordered to pay a $200,000 fine in the case.
ON FRIDAY, A DRUG DEALER FROM BREAUX BRIDGE WAS SENTENCED TO 12 YEARS IN PRISON FOR HIS PART IN A DRUG RING. 32-YEAR-OLD DERWIN S. WILLIAMS PLEADED GUILTY IN OCTOBER TO CONSPIRACY TO DISTRIBUTE AND TO POSSESS WITH THE INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES. U-S ATTORNEY ALEXANDER C. VAN HOOK SAYS WILLIAMS AND 39-YEAR-OLD ANTONIO BOYD OF PARKS TRAVELED TO CALIFORNIA TO PURCHASE LARGE QUANTITIES OF METH, WHICH THEY SHIPPED TO VARIOUS LOCATIONS IN LOUISIANA, INCLUDING ARNAUDVILLE AND BREAUX BRIDGE. WILLIAMS WAS THE LAST OF SEVEN MEN WHO WERE INDICTED AND SENTENCED IN A DRUG TASK FORCE OPERATION KNOWN AS CAJUN COKE.
Louisiana Republicans have chosen their new chairman, a New Orleans businessman who will lead the party as it readies for a heated effort aimed at unseating Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards in 2019. Louis Gurvich was chosen for the two-year term Saturday by the party’s governing body. He defeated three other candidates. He takes over from Roger Villere who served as chairman for 14 years, the longest tenure in the state party’s history.
